SNOWCAT SKIING -- A North Idaho snowcat skiing operation has be issued a temporary permit to continue operating their backcountry ski business out of Cataldo, the owners told S-R reporter Becky Kramer Tuesday.
Peak Adventures, as the company has for years, soon will take advantage of this season's generous early snowpack to operate in the St. Joe Mountains.
By January, the company should be offering trips, said Carey Stanley, who owns Peak Adventures with her husband, Ryan. The couple told the S-R they have received permission to operate on 3,200 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, as well as several thousand acres of Idaho Department of Lands property, Stanley said.
But the couple plan to appeal the BLM’s decision not to extend the permit for use of federal land beyond the 2010-’11 season.
Peak Adventures uses tracked vehicles to take clients to snowy ridgetops. In earlier interviews, BLM officials said that’s the same type of high-elevation terrain where wolverines build winter dens. Wolverines are classified a “sensitive species” by the BLM, and the agency’s planning documents prohibit commercial activities near wolverine dens or potential den sites, according to BLM officials.
The Stanleys purchased Peak Adventures last year and wanted permission to operate on 13,000 acres of BLM land.
Eastern Washington University 6-foot-10 center Martin Seiferth will return to his native Germany for an opportunity to play professional basketball for Alba in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague in 2014-15, EWU head men’s basketball coach Jim Hayford announced Monday.
Seiferth signed a two year agreement with the Berlin-based club, after previously playing for Alba’s youth teams. He helped his club to the U19 German title in 2009.
The Berlin native was on EWU’s Dean’s List this past spring, and he will complete requirements for his communications studies degree this summer. He was twice named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team and has a 3.33 grade point average at Eastern.
Dale Brandt-Richards of Sydney, Australia followed up his first-round, 6-under par 64 with a 3-under 67 to claim medalist honors in the stroke play qualifying rounds of the 113th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman.
Brandt-Richards’ total of 131 was two shots ahead of Krank Garber of Kirkland, Washington, and Hans Reimers of Lake Oswego, Oregon, who tied for second.
Local players to advance to match play are Tyler Carlson of Clarkston; Cooper Wright of Moscow, Idaho; Derek Bayley of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Eric Ansett of Spokane.
Tim Cawley, an 11-year assistant track and field coach at Colorado State, has been hired as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Idaho.
Cawley, 38, arrives at Idaho with 15 years of collegiate coaching experience. In addition to his collegiate experience, he has spent time on the international level coaching Olympian Janay DeLoach. DeLoach won the bronze medal at the London Olympics in the long jump.
Third baseman Jose Trevino of the Spokane Indians has been named Northwest League Player of the Week for June 30-July 6.
• Former Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers great Steve Garvey will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. game between the Indians and Tri-Cities Americans.
Garvey, a 10-time major league all-star, played thrid base for the 1970 Spokane Indians PCL champions. He hit .319 with 15 home runs in 95 games.
Eastern Washington junior quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and sophomore receiver Cooper Kupp are on the initial watch list for the Walter Payton Award presented annually by TSN to the top player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Rep. Devin Nunes sued after fundraiser event | The Spokesman-Review
In this July 28, 2017, file photo, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)
In 2015, Alene Anase was asked by her employer Alpha Omega Winery to serve guests as part of a charity cruise on the San Francisco Bay.
But what she expected to be a routine shift serving wine turned into a nightmare, according to court documents.
The guests aboard the yacht that night – described in her 2016 lawsuit as 25 of the Napa Valley-based winery’s top investors, all men – were openly using what appeared to be cocaine and “drawing straws” for which sex worker to hire, according to the lawsuit.
Alpha Omega, which boasts “world-class wines in a convivial setting,” settled with Anase for an undisclosed amount in Napa County Superior Court the same year. The winery is owned by Robin Baggett, a major benefactor of Cal Poly, and its investors include his friend Rep. Devin Nunes.
Anase alleges that on the Aug. 12, 2015 cruise she could hear sexual activity happening in the yacht’s bedrooms and witnessed men “fondling and suckling” sex workers’ breasts – some who appeared to be “too young to consent.” At least one of the several John Does listed as defendants allegedly suggested that Anase should also “provide services of a sexual nature.”
She called the winery seeking help, and a higher-up employee told her to “lie low” to avoid harassment, the lawsuit says.
Alpha Omega and Phase 2 Cellars are owned by Baggett, former general counsel for the Golden State Warriors and the namesake of the baseball stadium at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo – where he and Nunes graduated from. Carter described Baggett, who is originally from Salinas, and Nunes as friends.
It’s unclear how much of Alpha Omega Nunes owns, if he was aware of the lawsuit or was affiliated with the fundraiser.
The Alpha Omega Foundation, the winery’s philanthropy arm, has raised nearly $1 million this year alone through auction lot donations benefiting charities in Napa, San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, Carter said. The yacht has been offered numerous times as part of auction packages helping a variety of charities.
“Alpha Omega refined its policies for the charitable donation of the yacht immediately upon learning of the incident and before a lawsuit was filed. Since 2008, the USS Alpha Omega has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various charities,” Carter said. “Through the Alpha Omega Foundation, the winery will continue to be involved in philanthropic endeavors and remains committed to helping others.”
Limited partners are only liable for the debts equal to their investment in the company, and typically have “little knowledge or participation in the activities of the partnership,” according to the California Tax Service Center.
While Nunes’ ties to Alpha Omega made national headlines last year because it was discovered the winery sold wine to Russian clients while the congressman was at the helm of a federal investigation of Russian meddling into the presidential election, there has been little mention of the lawsuit.