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  • Commission OK's shoreline permit, plans comp plan work

    Rick Nelson|Nov 11, 2021

    Besides approving their agenda and standard resolutions, Wahkiakum County commissioners had only one item of business when they met Tuesday. Commissioners approved a shoreline management conditional development permit from Paul Bakkom and Holly E. Guntermann to install a dock at in the Columbia River at their West Sunny Sands residence. The dock would be 8' x 40' and be accessed via a 105' ramp and walkway supported by four steel pilings. The county planning commission reviewed the permit application and approved it, finding that it met...

  • Spartans corral Mules and put end to season

    Rick Nelson|Nov 11, 2021

    The Wahkiakum Mule football season came to an end Saturday as the Mules fell to the Forks Spartans 40-14. The game was close for three quarters, but the Spartans' hurry-up offense wore down the Mules as the game progressed. "The young guys pulled through and worked hard all year," said Mule Coach Ryan Lorenzo. "The kids left everything on the field at Forks, and I couldn't ask for anything more. "It's tough being a small team with 21 players, including two foreign exchange students, and trying...

  • Voters pick Olson for Cathlamet mayor

    Rick Nelson|Nov 4, 2021

    Wahkiakum County voters made their choices Tuesday in elections for school boards, port districts and Cathlamet mayor and council members. And in advisory votes, they also overwhelmingly supported repealing tax and financial measures passed by the state legislature. Council Member David Olson overwhelmed opponents in winning the election as Cathlamet's new mayor. In Tuesday's count, he drew 129 votes, 74 percent, while write-in candidate Ashlenn Coleman had 26 and Council Member Robert Stowe 19. Elected to council positions in uncontested...

  • Commissioners act on broadband, other varied issues

    Rick Nelson|Nov 4, 2021

    Wahkiakum County commissioners covered a lot of ground when they met Tuesday, from approving needed staffing for the mental health program to approving a franchise for Western Wahkiakum County Telephone Company's broadband expansion into the eastern portion of the county. Commissioners got started by approving a request from county Health and Human Services to hire a part-time mental health therapist. Department Director Chris Bischoff said the position is needed immediately, for the mental health program is down to one therapist instead of...

  • Mules collar Bulldogs; shut out Adna Pirates

    Rick Nelson|Nov 4, 2021

    Photos by Todd Wilson The Wahkiakum Mule football team ended the 2021 fall season in good form, beating the King's Way Knights 54-27 last Thursday and blanking the Adna Pirates 17-0 on Monday. The 5-3 Mules enter the post season cross over playoffs on the road this Saturday, 7 p.m., against the seventh ranked 4-2 Forks Spartans. The winner moves into the statewide playoffs and the loser's season is over. The Mules showed a good balance of defense and offense against King's Way. They gained 460...

  • Playoff seedings at stake tonight in Mule/Pirate football game

    Rick Nelson|Oct 28, 2021

    Post season playoff seedings are on the line tonight when the Wahkiakum Mules host the 4-2 Adna Pirates in a rescheduled Central League football game. Coming off a 52-27 win over the King's Way Knights last Thursday, the 5-3 Mules and Pirates are playing for the fourth and fifth positions in crossover round of the Class 2B playoffs. The winner will enter as the league's fourth place entry and travel to play seventh ranked, 6-1 Forks next Saturday. Monday's loser will enter as the fifth place...

  • Voters pick Olson for Cathlamet mayor; school board races decided

    Rick Nelson|Oct 28, 2021

    Updated: Correction for totals in Amy Chadwick/Ryan E. Carter school board election. By Rick Nelson Wahkiakum County voters made their choices Tuesday in elections for school boards, port districts and Cathlamet mayor and council members. And in advisory votes, they also overwhelmingly supported repealing tax and financial measures passed by the state legislature. Council Member David Olson overwhelmed opponents in winning election as Cathlamet's new mayor. In Tuesday's count, he drew 129 votes, 74 percent, while write-in candidate Ashlenn...

  • Commissioners start 2022 budget

    Rick Nelson|Oct 28, 2021

    Wahkiakum County commissioners had an eye on the future when they met Tuesday. The board breezed through the brief business on their agenda, took a recess, and then began three days of workshops with department heads and other parties to hear requests for 2022 budgets. On the agenda for Tuesday's budget workshops were Assessor Bill Coons, Cathlamet Public Works Superintendent David McNally, Extension Agent Carrie Backman, court Clerk Kay Holland, Cathlamet Librarian Carol Blix, Noxious Weed Supervisor Andy Lea, Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce...

  • Mules collar Bulldogs; games rescheduled

    Rick Nelson|Oct 28, 2021

    Photos By Todd Wilson After taking a week off, the Wahkiakum Mule football team roared back last Friday with a 41-2 win over the Stevenson Bulldogs. The Mules' Oct. 15 home game with the Adna Pirates was postponed as the Pirates had to deal with covid-19 exposures. That game has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. next Monday. Consequently, the Mules' game this week with the King's Way Knights in Vancouver has been advanced a day and will be played this afternoon (Thursday), with a 6 p.m. start. Last...

  • Council proceeding with study of LID for sewer expansion

    Rick Nelson|Oct 21, 2021

    A proposal to provide sewer system service to areas surrounding Skyline Golf Course outside Cathlamet took a step forward Monday evening at the meeting of the Cathlamet Town Council. Council members reviewed an initial analysis from John Hinton of the Gibbs and Olson (G&O) engineering firm and asked Hinton to meet with Wahkiakum County officials and gather information to develop a detailed concept for formation of a local improvement district. Town officials have asked Hinton to analyze the feasibility of extending sewer service into the Cochra...

  • Council refines study of sewer rate change

    Rick Nelson|Oct 21, 2021

    The Cathlamet Town Council reviewed an analysis of possible changes to sewer rates Monday and asked consultants to refine three for future consideration. Sewer rates are now based on equivalent customer units (ECU) and don't reflect the actual quantity of waste a customer puts into the system. The new models, prepared by Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), a non-profit organization providing analytical services to municipalities and other entities, are based on a customer's water meter size. The water meter size is considered to...

  • Port 2 approves loan for church purchase

    Rick Nelson|Oct 21, 2021

    Commissioners of Port District 2 on Tuesday approved a loan agreement with Wahkiakum County that will allow the purchase of the Skamokawa Methodist Church property adjacent to Skamokawa Vista Park. The $164,000 loan will be repaid over five years. The port will remodel the church building into a facility that can be "leased to a tenant who will benefit the community," said port Manager Jeff Smith. Commissioners also reviewed an updated proposal for the port's 2022 annual budget. The $489,433 preliminary budget includes operating revenue from...

  • Updated: Council handles varied business

    Rick Nelson|Oct 21, 2021

    The Cathlamet Town Council handled a variety of business Monday in a meeting lasting from 6 to 9:50 p.m. Business items included: •Internet Technology consultant Chrise Leike of More Power Technology Group reported that the firm has addressed potential hacking vulnerabilities in the town's computer system. • Council Member Robert Stowe had asked that the council discuss the practice of giving council members portfolios of activities to which they are the liaisons. There's nothing in municipal codes defining the position of liaison, Stowe said,...

  • County commission covers varied agenda

    Rick Nelson|Oct 21, 2021

    The Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners handled a variety of business at their weekly Tuesday morning meeting. • Members of the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group asked the commission to include funding in the 2022 county budgets to support the group, which is a non-profit group whose mission is to assist with animal problems throughout the county. Commissioners thanked the group for its presentation and said they would take the request into consideration. • Commissioners approved requests from department heads to approve contracts with st...

  • Commissioners okay fish trap permit, call for hearing on shoreline program

    Rick Nelson|Oct 14, 2021

    Wahkiakum County commissioners approved a controversial application for a shoreline management permit for a fish trap when they met Tuesday. Commissioners also authorized development of a resolution to adopt an update to the county shoreline management program, and joined department heads in a discussion of budget plans and information technology program needs. Two local men working with the group Wild Fish Conservancy and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have applied to install a fish trap along Hunting Island below...

  • Chinooks chop Mules; senior night Friday

    Rick Nelson|Oct 14, 2021

    Photos by Todd Wilson The Kalama Chinooks jumped to a 35-0 first quarter lead enroute to a 42-0 win over the Wahkiakum Mules last Friday. The host took the opening drive in for a score and took advantage of Mule miscues on two subsequent kick offs to put three touchdowns before the Mules could run an offensive play. Kalama added another seven points in the second quarter to lead 42-0 at halftime. The hosts dominated with a passing game, completing 15 of 26 passes for 251 yards of offense while...

  • Commissioners, planners discuss concerns for proposed fish trap

    Rick Nelson|Oct 7, 2021

    The debate over the proposed location of a second fish trap in the Columbia near Cathlamet continued this week at the meeting of the county board of commissioners. In September, the county planning commission voted to deny the application for a shoreline development permit without listing reasons. County commissioners invited planning commissioners to this week's meeting to learn what the objections might be. The county commission will take formal action on the permit application at a subsequent meeting. Planning commissioners on Tuesday said...

  • Commission, advisory committee review comments for shoreline program

    Rick Nelson|Oct 7, 2021

    The process of updating Wahkiakum County's Shoreline Master Program took another step toward completion Tuesday. The program outlines guidelines for waterfront development and use along county shorelines. County commissioners and members of the county Real Property Rights Committee reviewed public comment that came after the program was presented at a public hearing in the summer. Committee representatives Nick Nikkila and Chuck Hendrickson listed the comments from the public and how the proposed program addressed them. Several persons expresse...

  • Council works on budgets, considers changing sewer rates

    Rick Nelson|Oct 7, 2021

    In a meeting lasting three hours and 13 minutes on Monday, members of the Cathlamet Town Council started work on their 2022 budgets and began a process to revise rates for sewer service. The council went through the preliminary budgets page by page, asking department heads to explain requests or changes in their budgets. Updated figures will be reviewed at their October 18 meeting. The council closed the meeting with an examination of a consultant firm's study of sewer rates and how they could be adjusted to be fairer for small consumers while...

  • Mules stamp Ducks for homecoming win

    Rick Nelson|Oct 7, 2021

    Photos by Todd Wilson The Wahkiakum Mules trampled the Toutle Lake Ducks in a 50-14 homecoming football game victory last Friday. The Mules dominated the line of scrimmage and piled up 256 yards rushing while holding the visitors to 22. Dominic Curl opened the scoring for the Mules with a 3-yard run in the first quarter. Gabe Moon followed with a 9-yard touchdown, and Curl closed the quarter with a 14-yard run. The Mules put the game out of reach in the second quarter, which ended with the...

  • Applicant: Make trap decision based on facts

    Rick Nelson|Sep 30, 2021

    Following Wahkiakum County Planning Commission's rejection last Thursday of a permit to build a pound net fish trap in the Columbia below Cathlamet, applicant Blair Peterson had a request for the county board of commissioners: "Please make your decision based on facts and law," Peterson asked the county board on Tuesday. Cathlamet resident Peterson and Kurt Beardslee of the Wild Fish Conservancy are listed as applicants for a shoreline management permit to construct the trap along Hunting Island downriver from Cathlamet. Peterson has already...

  • Riverhawks stop Mules; Ducks here for homecoming

    Rick Nelson|Sep 30, 2021

    Photos by Todd Wilson The Wahkiakum Mule football team encountered another powerful Central League football team when they traveled to Toledo last Friday where the Riverhawks ran to a 44-17 victory. The hosts led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. Toledo got on the scoreboard first, but the Mules scored twice to take the lead. Gabe Moon scored on a 47-yard run at 5:32 and followed with a 7-yard touchdown at 2:35. Elijah Cothren kicked both conversions. Toledo took the lead on a 56-yard run...

  • Town council reviews unfinished projects

    Rick Nelson|Sep 23, 2021

    A potentially short meeting of the Cathlamet Town Council turned into a sometimes contentious discussion of unfinished projects. The council did authorize staff to work with Wahkiakum West Telephone Company to develop a franchise agreement that would permit the company to install broadband equipment in the town limits. Wahkiakum West Chief Executive Officer Ken Johnson said that the company has joined an effort to install a high-speed fiber-optic network in the eastern part of Wahkiakum County to provide ultra-high-speed broadband. The company...

  • Closures ahead for county ferry

    Rick Nelson|Sep 23, 2021

    The ferry Oscar B. will be out of service twice this fall, Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced at the Tuesday meeting of the board of county commissioners. The first closure will be next Monday, Beyer said, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for repair of a failing radar. Crews will also install heaters in the commuter cabin and inspect the hull. A five-week closure will start November 2 and run through December 9, if necessary. During that time, crews working for Clatsop County will repair the ramp and some pilings at the...

  • Port District 2 will buy Methodist church building

    Rick Nelson|Sep 23, 2021

    Commissioners of Port District 2 on Tuesday adopted a resolution to purchase the Skamokawa Methodist Church property situated adjacent to Skamokawa Vista Park. The Methodist congregation has shrunk, and the group has agreed to sell the building to Port 2 for $164,000. Plans for use are yet to be settled, but the port's 2022 budget says it may be leased to a long-term tenant. In other business Tuesday, port commissioners reviewed a proposed budget for 2022. The commission will hold a public hearing on the budget at their October 19 meeting....

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