Monday Update: Wild Grizzly owner eyes June reopening
Monday, April 28, 2008 12:01 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleThe owner of the Wild Grizzly Casino in Kelso hopes to reopen the business in mid-June, he said last week.
Just how soon depends on when Dan Dale gets approval from state licensing agencies.
"It's just a matter of sitting and waiting now," said the Toutle resident, who also owns the Riverdale Racetrack in Toutle. The opening date could be pushed back to July, he said.
Dale bought the Grizzly from Las Vegas investor Eric Nelson in March just before it was set to go to public auction.
Nelson said he had hoped the business could stay open under his gaming and liquor licenses, but the state requires Dale to apply for his own license.
Dale filed a license application in mid-March, but the process could take three months, according to the state's gambling commission.
- Erik Olson / The Daily News
Community rallies to help girls stricken by illness
Support continues to pour in for Hannah Wicken, a Robert Gray Elementary School student diagnosed with leukemia early this month.
The Longview Soccer Club will donate all profits from concession stand sales during the next six Saturdays, plus last Saturday's profit.
The money will go to Hannah's family as well as those of two other girls at Robert Gray Elementary School also battling leukemia, said Tasha Simmons, Webmaster for the Longview Soccer Club.
The club also will accept additional donations, she said.
The car wash last weekend to raise funds for Hannah, 9, was a huge success, said Mike Bettineski, a co-worker of Hannah's mother at Chicago Title Insurance Company.
"We raised almost $3,000 in three hours," he said.
- Carrie Pederson / The Daily News
Castle Rock schools wait for word on program
Castle Rock officials haven't heard back from the state about High Schools that Work funding, but the participating schools aren't giving up, the school board was told recently.
If the state continues to be a member state in the national non-profit school improvement program — at a cost of $17,500 — all six participating high schools get a price break.
With state participation, schools like Castle Rock will pay $17,000 next year for the program. Without the state, Castle Rock's cost is $40,000.
Castle Rock officials credit the program with improving student math scores and getting students to take school more seriously.
State officials say they're re-evaluating the program, but Interim Superintendent Susan Barker told the school board Tuesday that she's "not holding out great hope."
Regardless, the principals of the six participating school districts already are talking about how they'll continue the program without state help, Castle Rock High School Principal Jenny Risner said.
"We're all committed to continuing," Risner said of the other districts. "We're looking at how we can pool resources and other options."
The six participating high schools are in Castle Rock, Bonney Lake, Oak Harbor, Anacorates, Aberdeen and Shelton.
- Barbara LaBoe / The Daily News
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