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Okanogan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,104. The county seat is Okanogan, while the most populous city is Omak. Its area is the largest in the state.
Omak is a city located in the foothills of the Okanogan Highlands in north-central Washington, United States. With a population of 4,860 residents as of 2020, distributed over a land area of 3.43 square miles (8.9 km2), Omak is the largest municipality of Okanogan County and the largest municipality in Central Washington north of Wenatchee. The Greater Omak Area of around 8,229 inhabitants as of the 2010 census is the largest urban cluster in the Okanogan Country region, encompassing most of its twin city of Okanogan. The population has increased significantly since the 1910 census, reporting 520 residents just prior to incorporation in 1911.
Twisp is a town in Okanogan County in north central Washington, which sits at the confluence of the Twisp and Methow rivers. The population was 919 at the time of the 2010 census and increased to 992 at the time of the 2020 census.
Winthrop is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. It is east of Mazama and north of Twisp. The population was 394 at the 2010 census, and increased to 504 at the 2020 census. Winthrop adopted an Old West theme for its downtown architecture in 1971 to prepare for the opening of the North Cascades Highway.
The Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Okanogan County in north-central Washington, United States.
Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaper publisher founded in 1975 by David Holmes Black, who has no relation to Canadian-born media mogul Conrad Black. Based in Surrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher of Toronto Star and Black (80.65%).
State Route 20 (SR 20), also known as the North Cascades Highway, is a state highway that traverses the U.S. state of Washington. It is the state's longest highway, traveling 436 miles (702 km) across the northern areas of Washington, from U.S. Route 101 (US 101) at Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula to US 2 near the Idaho state border in Newport. The highway travels across Whidbey Island, North Cascades National Park, the Okanagan Highland, the Kettle River Range, and the Selkirk Mountains. SR 20 connects several major north–south state highways, including Interstate 5 (I-5) in Burlington, US 97 through the Okanogan–Omak area, SR 21 in Republic, and US 395 from Kettle Falls to Colville.
State Route 153 is a 30.78-mile (49.54 km) long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving as part of the Cascade Loop in Okanogan County. The Methow Valley Highway begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 97 (US 97) in Pateros at the confluence of the Methow River and the Columbia River. SR 153 travels northwest, parallel to the Methow River, to end at SR 20 south of Twisp. The highway was first established in 1897 as the Methow-Barron Road and was designated as various highways, including State Road 12 from 1905 to 1919, the Roosevelt Highway from 1919 to 1923, and Primary State Highway 16 (PSH 16) until the 1964 highway renumbering, when it became SR 153.
State Route 215 (SR 215) is a 6.24-mile long (10.04 km) state highway serving Okanogan County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels northeast parallel to the Okanogan River from SR 20 in Okanogan to SR 155 Spur in Downtown Omak. SR 215 turns east to end at an intersection with SR 20 and U.S. Route 97 (US 97) in North Omak. The highway was previously part of State Road 10 and Primary State Highway 10 (PSH 10), concurrent with US 97, until a bypass of Omak was built in the 1960s. SR 20 was routed onto the highway after the 1964 highway renumbering, but was moved to the bypass and replaced by SR 215 in 1973.
State Route 213 (SR 213) is the shortest state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The 0.35-mile-long (0.56 km) unsigned highway serves Malott, a community in Okanogan County. Extending from U.S. Route 97 (US 97) over the Okanogan River via a bridge to First Avenue in Malott, the roadway is semi-complete, as state law designates that the road should extend to SR 20 southwest of Okanogan. First appearing in a map in 1954, SR 213 originated as a branch of Primary State Highway 16 (PSH 16) in 1959 and later SR 20 Spur in 1964. SR 20 Spur became SR 213 in 1973 because another SR 20 Spur was recently established in Anacortes.
Eagle Newspapers was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The company originated in 1948 when Elmo Smith purchased the Blue Mountain Eagle. He would later sell the paper but the company's name would be derived from that title. Smith served a partial term as Oregon Governor and upon his death the business was managed by his son Denny Smith, who rapidly grew it from three newspapers to nearly twenty in the span of two decades. By 1985, Eagle Newspapers publications accounted for nearly one-half of the weekly newspapers sold each week in Oregon. The company sold off its last paper in 2020.
Omak Airport, also known as Omak Municipal Airport or Omak City Airport, is a regional airport located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Omak, Washington, a city in the Okanogan region of United States. It is owned and operated by the Omak City Council and serves Omak, although it is situated in nearby town Riverside's city limits rather. The airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces around 1942 and was approved for public use the following year. After World War II ended, it was closed and turned over for local government use by the War Assets Administration (WAA). Throughout its history, a number of improvements and expansions have occurred with its terminal, runways and taxiways, specifically in June 1979, when improvements made around that month were celebrated with an air show presentation.
Omak School District, officially known as Omak School District 19, is a school district that serves Omak, Washington, a city in the Okanogan region of United States. It consists of three elementary schools, two middle schools and three high schools. The district was established in 1912. Its first high school, Omak High School, was built in 1919. More schools were constructed in September 1954, when land was leased in North Omak.
The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle is a newspaper serving North-Central Washington's Okanogan County. The weekly newspaper also covers Ferry County and parts of Douglas County. The newspaper's primary readership is on the U.S. Route 97 corridor stretching from Pateros, Wash., north to the U.S.–Canada border.
The 2014 Washington wildfires were a series of 1,480 wildfires that burned 386,972 acres (1,566 km2) over the course of 2014. The first occurred primarily on the east side of the Cascade Range in Chelan and Okanogan counties. The fires burned private land, state land, and within the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, ultimately covering over 350,000 acres. The first fire began on July 8 near the Entiat River. On July 14 a lightning storm started dozens more fires across the eastern Cascade Range. Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency, activating the Washington National Guard. More lightning strikes later in the summer started additional fires.
The Okanogan Complex Fire was a wildfire affecting Okanogan County in north-central Washington state. It was composed of five fires that were caused by lightning strikes on August 15, 2015, with two of the fires near Conconully merging days later on August 19. At its peak, it burned over 304,782 acres (123,341 ha) of land and forced the evacuations of numerous towns, including Conconully, Twisp and Winthrop. Over 1,250 firefighters were deployed to the Okanogan Complex. Three United States Forest Service firefighters were killed in an accident near Twisp on August 19. Traditional methods of containing such wildfires, such as creating bulldozer lines, were not readily available due to the irregular terrain and because an inversion layer trapped smoke in the valley, making it difficult to fly in water by helicopter.
TranGO, also known as the Okanogan County Transit Authority (OCTA), is a public transit agency that provides bus service in Okanogan County, Washington.
The Santa Maria Times is a daily American newspaper on California's Central Coast serving the cities of Santa Maria; Orcutt; Guadalupe; Nipomo; unincorporated parts of northern Santa Barbara County and southern San Luis Obispo County. It is published Tuesday through Saturday, and is part of Santa Maria California News Media Inc., which also publishes the Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News, among other newspapers.
The 2021 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2021. By late April, all of Eastern Washington had been classified by the United States Drought Monitor as "abnormally dry" with moderate to severe drought conditions. The state had more than 630 wildfires by the first week of July, on par with the state's record 2015 wildfire season.
References
- ↑ "The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy" (PDF). League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund. 2022-11-14.
- ↑ "Methow Valley News". Mondo Times.
- ↑ "Methow Valley News (Twisp, Wash.) 1903-Current". Library of Congress .
- ↑ "Surviving newspapers have been scarce". The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle. March 24, 2020.
- ↑ Nelson, Don (2022-07-29). "No Bad Days: The News at 11 – Methow Valley News". methowvalleynews.com. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
- ↑ Dudley, Brier (2025-01-17). "The question of succession dogs small-town WA newspapers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
- ↑ "Chronicle staff brings home awards in state contest". The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle. October 15, 2019.
