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July 19-21 The Blues Ranch, Winthrop. Located at the Blues Ranch on the Methow River in the resort town of Winthrop, Washington, the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is a three-day event packed full of exciting national and regional entertainment for all ages. There is on-site camping, food and craft vendors, portable showers, and a beer garden. The Blues Ranch is the perfect setting for one of Washington’s finest music festivals. The Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is the largest and longest running blues festival in the state of Washington. Over eighty thousand people have attended this event in the past thirty-plus years. Past festivals have featured such national artists as Los Lobos, Larkin Poe, Los Lonely Boys, Samantha Fish, The California Honeydrops, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Johnny Winter, Royal Southern Brotherhood featuring Cyril Neville and Devon Allman, Allen Stone, The Holmes Brothers, Roy Rogers, Janiva Magness, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Too Slim & the Taildraggers, Jimmie Vaughan, Booker T., Commander Cody, Little Feat, Mavis Staples, Bo Diddley, JJ Cale with Christine Lakeland, Bobby Rush, Susan Tedeschi, Koko Taylor, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Tower of Power, Delbert McClinton, Elvin Bishop, Little Milton, Tommy Castro, Eric Burdon, Chubby Carrier, Charlie Musselwhite, The Blasters, Buckwheat Zydeco, James Harman and many others. The festival has rightfully become a destination event with fans traveling from all over the world to enjoy and celebrate the Blues.

Walshes sell Twisp business after 40 years of ownership. After 40 years as owners of Methow Valley Lumber, Larry and Heidi Walsh are passing the torch. The transition is a serendipitous one for this family-owned and family-oriented business because Brady Gardner, the Walshes’ nephew, has bought the venerable lumber and hardware store off Highway 20 on the south side of Twisp.

Cowboy hats and boots are not required, but will certainly be appropriate for the 79th annual Winthrop ’49er Days celebration, three days of events revisiting the town’s pioneer heritage that will take place May 10-12. The celebration is presented by the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce and the Washington...

Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris has to examine about 100 to 150 deceased bodies every year, in the course of death investigations. For years, the space where he conducts his business has been old and limited. But last week, the county announced a $1.8 million purchase of land for a new facility to house multiple county agencies on Ohme Garden Road.

Police agencies say they’re still working to bring two missing women home from the North Central Washington region. Chelan resident Adriana Nunez-Gutierrez, 37 has not been seen since Feb. 15, when witnesses saw her at her home. The last text message from her phone was sent early the following day, and Chelan County sheriff’s deputies say her phone lost power after that. She was officially reported missing Feb. 23, after she missed several appointments and did not pick up a paycheck from her workplace.

The Mountain Lion softball season has been one of growth, experience and long-term development. “It’s hard, sometimes,” said first-year coach Jacob McMillan after his charges lost game one of a double-header on Saturday to Okanogan. “We just have to keep learning and building on that, looking for the good stuff, and gaining experience.”

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The Chelan County Sheriff's Office rescued and arrested a man suspected of arson who became lost in the woods.