The Wenatchee World

WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee wrestling team got off to a smashing start to its highly-ancticipated 2009-10 season, ripping through the overmatched Pasco Bulldogs 61-10 on Thursday night. The Panthers, who return four state qualifiers and 10 regional qualifiers from last year, picked up falls at seven weight classes in dominating the young Bulldogs. Full Story »

LEAVENWORTH — A Grant County PUD official said Wednesday the PUD is willing to allow an independent science review of plans for spring chinook salmon recovery along Nason Creek and the White River, which drains into Lake Wenatchee. An independent review was one of the requests area residents and local conservationists made to the PUD prior to Wednesday’s public meeting. Full Story »

QUINCY — The Quincy City Council swore in a new chief of police and approved a $46 million 2010 budget at its meeting Tuesday evening. Richard Ackerman started work Tuesday as Quincy’s new police chief. He will be paid $81,000 a year, a similar figure to what was paid to Bill Gonzales, who resigned last summer, said Tim Snead, city administrator. Ackerman spent most of his police career working ... Full Story »

HANFORD — The last of the nuclear materials requiring high security has been removed from Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant. “It eliminates the need for special security requirements for deactivation and decommissioning workers at the Plutonium Finishing Plant,” said Geoff Tyree, spokesman for the Department of Energy. “It becomes like any other facility at the Hanford Site going through D and ... Full Story »

WENATCHEE — A section of Second Street that has been closed while a pedestrian walkway is being repaired will open today. On Wednesday, Seth Moore of Contech Services in Seattle cuts concrete away from one of five support columns of the skybridge between the Wenatchee Center and The Coast Hotel. Full Story »

Cameron A. Duncan, 81, of Tonasket, died Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Full Story »

Frances Manenica, 96, of East Wenatchee, died Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Full Story »

Gerald John Haberman, 82, of Moses Lake, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. Full Story »

For those weary of the cuddly Robert De Niro, the gentle uplift of his latest film, “Everybody’s Fine,” probably isn’t going to be tonic for the soul. But midway through the movie, there is a flash of the old, unpredictable and delightfully unmanageable De Niro when his character, feeling unappreciated by his grown children, goes off on a subway panhandler for a perceived breach of etiquette. Full Story »

“Brothers” is a movie built on that jarring disconnect between combat zone and “back home.” Part POW thriller, part romance, with a big helping of melodrama, Jim Sheridan’s film is about a brother who went off to war, was declared dead, but returns a changed man. And it’s about the brother left behind, a man changed by his soldier sibling’s sacrifice, and by stepping into his brother’s role with ... Full Story »

Even if the snowfall is patchy when the Backcountry Film Festival screens next week, it can still provide tips for making the ski scene. Among the shorts offered at the Dec. 10 festival is “Fast Grass and Dirty Corn,” a four-minute film about a group of skiers who won’t bow to weak snowfall and thawing in their native Vermont. Full Story »

Get a look at “Warren Miller’s Dynasty,” a world tour on skis directed by Max Bervy and featuring famous athletes. Full Story »

Now’s the time to nominate bedecked homes in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee for The Wenatchee World’s 2009 Christmas Lighting Contest. Fill out the nomination form online at wenatcheeworld.com by clicking on the Christmas Lighting Contest button. Nominate as many houses as you want. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, Dec. 9. Full Story »

Nintendo’s flagship franchise, “Super Mario Bros.,” has always consisted of solo journeys. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to change that, so “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” has been designed so up to four people can play it at once. Full Story »

Chuck Berry, meet Emily Dickinson. She should dig the duck walk. George Washington, bid farewell to the nation and say hello to cool jazz. Try not to flip your wig. You all get to rub shoulders in the mammoth “New Literary History of America,” an extraordinary anthology of literary culture brought to you by a seat-of-the-pants polyglot of a country. Full Story »

Tom Petty has assembled an impressive collection of his live work with his band the Heartbreakers. Full Story »

“Paper Heart” Starz/Anchor Bay, DVD $29.98, Blu-ray $39.98 Full Story »

You can’t help but stand for the “Hallelujah” chorus of George Frideric Handel’s “The Messiah.” Blame it on King George II. The English monarch purportedly rose to his feet during the famous chorus, which closes the second act of Handel’s 1742 oratorio. Full Story »

Wenatchee Valley Symphony music director and conductor Marty Zyskowski resigned from his post earlier this year, so the season’s concerts are led by a series of guest conductors. Full Story »

Local author Emma Hox signs her new novel for a pair of two-hour sessions at Hastings. Full Story »

The Leavenworth handbell chorus keeps on ringing with its annual holiday tour swing through NCW. Full Story »

The Wenatchee Figure Skating Club puts on its 10th annual Christmas show, putting 46 bladers of all ages on ice to perform solo, duet and group numbers to classic Yuletide songs. Full Story »

San Francisco-based a cappella group the Kinsey Sicks bills itself as a “Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet,” skewering politics and pop culture with original songs and new riffs on the classics. Full Story »

If local government has a fundamental duty, it is protecting the lives and property of its citizens. Paving streets, writing codes and regulations, planning and zoning, sewers and water lines, helping out here and there, all of it is very important, but consuming local tax dollars most voraciously are the services that protect us from the people and things that would do us harm. For educational ... Full Story »

WASHINGTON — A traveler asks a farmer how to get to a particular village. The farmer replies, “If I were you, I wouldn’t start from here.” Barack Obama, who asked to be president, nevertheless deserves sympathy for having to start where America is in Afghanistan. But after 11 months of graceless disparagements of the 43rd president, the 44th acts as though he is the first president whose ... Full Story »