Citizens, Parents and Students Speak Out About Fake Newspaper Rife With Misinformation About Wenatchee Schools
Some Wenatchee Valley citizens are pushing back against the Chelan-based activist responsible for the publication as well as Wick Communications for printing it, while others applaud the mailer
In the week since it arrived, parents and Wenatchee High School graduates have been pushing back against a political mailer designed to look like a legitimate newspaper and the anti-public education and anti-LGBTQ+ and trans messages in it.
The publication was produced by a Chelan resident and political activist named Glenn Dobbs and was printed by the Wenatchee World’s press facility on Ninth Street in Wenatchee. It’s the second edition of the publication, titled “The Wenatchee Record,” to hit Wenatchee mailboxes and the second time the World’s press has printed Dobbs’ misinformation-filled broadsheet.
The first edition broke state election law because he failed to disclose that the fake paper was nothing more than a political ad, but he faced no reprimand from the Washington State Political Disclosure Commission because it was his first offense. His latest publication likely violates state law for the same reason and there have already been multiple complaints by citizens lodged with the PDC.
Marilyn Crouch took issue with the fact that the article on the front page claims the current Education Programs & Operations (EP&O) levy on the current ballot out now will raise property taxes, when in reality it will replace an existing levy and district administrators say it won’t increase taxes.
She filed a complaint the day she got the mailer.
“The entire publication is full of lies and false statements that is meant to cast doubt upon our local school district,” Crouch wrote. “‘The Wenatchee Record’ is close to the ‘Wenatchee World’ local newspaper, creating more confusion.”
Another citizen, Sharyl Bohart, filed an official complaint about Dobbs’ mailer the day after it arrived, on Jan. 31. She too took issue with the misinformation, the design that seems intended to mislead gullible readers and the fact that the it’s so similar to the local paper of record.
“The attached paper arrived in my mailbox looking like it could be printed as our local town paper the Wenatchee World. It is full of false and misinformation and does not identify itself as political propaganda and is a political mailer,” she wrote. “This person was warned before and did not heed that warning. This misinformation coming in the look alike form of a respected newspaper like the ‘Wenatchee World’ is despicable and those who do not read carefully could be misled when filling out their ballots in our upcoming levy election.”
Parents like Alyssa Bones took to social media to make their voices heard. Some reported that they cancelled their Wenatchee World subscriptions because of the lack of discernment from Wick Communications – the Arizona-based parent company of the Wenatchee World and its printing facility on Ninth.
“I think the mailer is a mean-spirited attack on what makes Wenatchee Schools great: their diversity and inclusivity. It’s a scare tactic and it’s full of lies and I thinks it’s disgraceful that our local paper printed it, no matter how they justify their actions,” Bones wrote. “I’m particularly concerned it, along with the national political climate, will cause the levy to fail. I wrote a letter to the editor of the World in support prior to the mailer coming out - it seems to ring a bit hollow now that we know the World printed the mailer.”
Patricia Maxwell is the mother of a Wenatchee High School graduate, and has another child currently attending WHS. She pointed out the lack of attribution for many of the quotes in the publication and pushed back against the narrative that WHS students are not being adequately prepared for college.
“I can see how this publication could be taken very seriously. It ‘quotes’ a lot of facts that most people would never question because there was a time when journalism was ethical and facts were checked. We live in such an odd time where people will believe any source without fact-checking something for themselves,” Maxwell wrote. “As a parent of a current and past WHS student, I already saw things that were off to me in the Record. Both of my children had an IEP in school. Everyone who was involved in helping my children were not only worried about how they did in high school, but talked about college prep was/is at the forefront of the goal planning. Is WSD without flaws, no. But no school district can please everyone 100% of the time. The Wenatchee Record seems helbent on fostering a narrative of failure and hate to the point that you have to wonder about the underlying motivation.”
Evan Williams and Victoria Mena are both Wenatchee High School graduates currently attending Wenatchee Valley College.
Mena said she’s living proof Dobbs’ claims are bunk and Wick Communications should be ashamed of itself for platforming such misinformation.
“The mailer made me feel disgusted. While reading through it with my mom we obviously saw the lies. When it mentioned that WHS doesn’t prepare its students for college I laughed. As a graduate of WHS I’m doing pretty amazing in college now,” she wrote. “I know Glenn put together this ‘edivence’ to show how awful the public school system is but don’t you think that this would be proof of why people should vote for the levy? And I think Wick Communications shouldn’t be printing stuff like this. It puts a bad name on journalism and journalists in town.”
Like Maxwell, Williams remarked on Dobbs’ fixation on culture war talking points like blaming diversity, equity and inclusion policies for all of society’s ills. Bottom line is it’s all about money.
“This is peak misinformation at its finest. Of course, our schools are struggling, but there are much bigger factors that DEI being the main culprit,” Williams wrote. “This was just an attack piece against the school district to have voters go against helping out their community because of taxes.”
But some Wenatchee residents, like Wick Communications employee and Wenatchee World columnist Carey Condotta, are applauding Dobbs’ activism and urging others to vote no on the levy renewal.
In fact, his advice to the nearly 85,000 members of his political activism group “Restore Washington” on Facebook is to vote no on any local levies and if you’re a parent, get your children out of public schools.
“A FEW THINGS TO DO. NOW! You still have time to mail your NO ballot in on local levies,” he wrote in Restore Washington on Feb. 10. “You may also start planning on how to get your kids out of public schools ASAP. You may also want to make your next gun purchase sooner than later.”
Condotta is a former state legislator and major advocate of the “Liberty State” movement, which was a succession movement with the goal of splitting Washington state in half and tacking Eastern Washington onto Idaho.
After that project failed in 2019 Condotta rebranded it as “Restore Washington” and has since used that outlet to direct his followers on how to vote and what to put their political weight behind.
One of his current top priorities is to get folks to vote no on any public school levy across the state. In addition to his new column for The Wenatchee World, Condotta hosts a far-right political program on the NCWlife channel.
Both companies are owned by Wick Communications.
For others the political campaign against public schools takes on the overtones of a religious crusade.
Kyle McMullen, a pastor at Grace City Church in Wenatchee and head of GCC’s “Vector Academy” college alternative, has also been urging the community to vote against school levies.
“Vote NO on school levies,” he wrote on Twitter on Jan. 10. “We have to stop letting the government steal from property owners to fund their hate campaign against children and families. For the sake of children and families today, for the sake of homeschoolers and Christian schools, and for the sake of the next generation still having a prayer at owning their own homes… vote NO. It has to stop.”
Condotta is one of just two local media members who can get McMullen’s boss, Josh McPherson, to sit down for an interview and the two share a common goal.
They both want to see Washington state turn “red,” as a gun-toting McPherson told his friend and mentor Mark Driscoll on election night 2024.
For Condotta, the former politician, advancing rightwing policies in Olympia was once a full-time job and since leaving the legislature he had continued to do so as a professional member of the media.
But for McPherson, McMullen and others that political project seems to be approached as if it’s a mandate from on high. It’s not just about winning at the ballot box but “taking” ground from the enemy and exercising “dominion.”
“We will take Washington State for Christ,” McMullen wrote on Twitter. “He will have his dominion.”
For many non-religious folks or those who were raised in mainline evangelical Christian or orthodox Christian households, this type of language seems radical and foreign. But for many raised in households that skew more toward the uniquely American charismatic style of Christianity, like Pentecostalism, words like “dominion” are easily recognizable and loaded with meaning.
Basically dominion theology and the “Seven Mountain Mandate” is a far-right political ideology that dictates Christians “dominate” all “seven mountains” of societal influence, including politics, business, education and more.
Understanding the basics of dominion theology is like discovering the Rosetta Stone when it comes to understanding the motivations of McPherson, McMullen and other Christian nationalists.
It helps explain why they’re so committed to undermining, attacking and gaining control over public schools, among other institutions.
For a deeper dive on GCC and dominionism, start here:
Election Day is Feb. 11
Time will tell is Dobbs, Condotta, McPherson and McMullen get their way and the Wenatchee School District’s EP&O levy fails. Election Day is Tuesday, Feb. 11 and ballots have to be in by no later than 5 pm.
If you’d like to vote but you’re not registered, you can still register and vote up to and even on election day. Find all the info you need to do that here.
A few comments from a former homeschool parent.
As much as Mr McMullen may wish, WA State homeschoolers have always been a diverse group. I was a board member with the Washington Homeschool Organization (WHO) for yrs. This organization has informed,educated and lobbied for homeschoolers for 40 yrs. Never has religious affiliation been promoted. Never. Fought that lie decades ago.
Many yrs ago I visited Mr Condotta when he was our Representative in Olympia. I was personally dismayed at his overtly anti public school, "slash and burn" attitude toward others.
These folks are free to live in their own reality. The moment they threaten others, they must be met with resistance.
Victoria has it right. If WSD is failing it will only be worse if the replacement levy fails.