Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum county officials said Tuesday they would lobby against a proposal to replace county health districts with region-wide districts. Officials fear they will lose local control over public health issues if decisions are made at a regional level. The proposal comes from Governor Jay Inslee. It arose in response to some political conflicts involving county health districts around the state, said Chris Bischoff, director of Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services. County commissioners from around the state have discussed the proposal in...
Wahkiakum County commissioners elected Gene Strong chair of the board for 2021 and acted on other business when they met Tuesday in their first meeting of the year. Lee Tischer, attending his first meeting as a newly elected county commissioner, was voted vice-chair. In his report to the commissioners, who were acting as the county board of health, county Health and Human Services Director Chris Bischoff said department staff and volunteers are proceeding so fast with covid-19 vaccinations that he's under pressure to slow the process and share...
Wahkiakum County commissioners breezed through business Tuesday in what was the last meeting of the year for the board and the last meeting as a member of the board for Mike Backman. Backman has served eight years on the board but lost his bid for a third term to Lee Tischer. Before adjourning the meeting, Commissioners Dan Cothren and Gene Strong presented Backman a plaque thanking him for his service. "It has been a pleasure working with you," Cothren said. "You do go the extra mile." "I echo Dan's comments," Strong said. "It has been a...
I hate to do this, especially in what should be a celebratory week, but this week, I'm going to toughen our standards for letters to the editor and refuse to print a letter that appears to be largely fiction. The writer repeats debunked claims that the US presidential election was rigged and goes from there. The electoral college has done its thing: Joe Biden, Jr., has been elected president and Kamala Harris vice-president. Lawsuits challenging election results have been thrown out of court for lack of merit and evidence. An article in this...
Commissioners of Port District 2 are looking for a new member of their board. It was the last meeting for Commissioner Lee Tischer, who represents the Puget Island portion of the district. He was elected to the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners this fall and has resigned to join that board. The district is advertising for applicants (see page 9 of this edition); applications are due on January 8. The board meets monthly. In other business, Manager Jeff Smith reported that construction of a new drainfield has been completed and passed its...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday approved budgets for 2021 and, by 2-1 votes, raised county levy rates by 1 percent. County budgets, ranging from the General Fund to the Road Department total $26.19 million. The county's three levies total $1.71 million. The General Fund levy will be $878, 390.54. The Road District levy will be $600,805.38; of that, $250,000 will be shifted to the General Fund. The Emergency Medical Services levy will be $237,750.45. It is a voter-approved levy; voters set the rate and any increase. The county...
Time is running out for Wahkiakum County officials to complete their budget preparation process for 2021, and questions and concerns about revenue remain to be answered. The covid-19 pandemic has impacted the economy in a variety of ways, and the county's budgets will feel those impacts. "Revenues are down, and expenses are always increasing," Auditor Nicci Bergseng said at a public hearing Monday to gather public comment on the budgets. "It's impacting us all the way around," said commission Chair Dan Cothren. According to the preliminary...
Throughout the fall season, The Eagle has printed letters to the editor reflecting a wide range of opinion. We have long been committed to providing that forum. Note that these, for the most part, are opinions. As seen on the increasingly widespread use of digital media such as Facebook and Twitter, some might well be labeled as lacking veracity. Moving on, there has been debate over the effectiveness of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the covid-19 virus. Our local, state and federal health professionals have all come to recommend the...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday acted on a variety of business, including agreeing to reduce in-person access to their meetings. The board supported Commissioner Gene Strong's suggestion to limit visitors to just the people speaking on agenda items as a measure to combat the spread of the covid-19 virus. On Tuesday, commissioners also approved a software update for the courts' jury management system; they made an appointment to the fair board and supported applications for a liquor license and a marijuana retail license, and they...
Updated with new results for Wahkiakum County commissioner based on Thursday's new count: Lee Tischer boosted his lead over incumbent Mike Backman to 1,602-1,194 (first report reversed totals on image showing returns). Incumbent Dan Cothren increased his lead over challenger Tim Lawry to 1,850-857. New figures are correct and reflected in following story. Initial results of the long anticipated general election are in, and Wahkiakum County voters showed a strong conservative streak, supporting Republican candidates and rejecting statewide...
Initial results of the long anticipated general election are in, and Wahkiakum County voters showed a strong conservative streak, supporting Republican candidates and rejecting statewide issues. The results mirrored votes across the region; in state District 19, voters have retired Senator Dean Takko and Brian Blake and supported re-election of Republican Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler. While Wahkiakum voters supported the Republican Trump/Pence presidential ticket in the national race...
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved creation of a new behavioral health position to work in local schools when they met Tuesday. Commissioners handled a variety of other business and set a schedule for working on departmental budget requests for 2021. The new position should allow the new therapist to provide substance use disorder service and link students to mental health therapists when needed. "Health and Human Services (H&HS) has been struggling to fill a couple gaps in the behavioral health program," reported Tristan Wozniak, county...
Tuesday was a day for discussions for Wahkiakum County commissioners and a variety of representatives of local organizations who came together for two online Zoom meetings. Economic relief for business was a major topic during the meeting of the county board of commissioners. The Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce introduced new Interim Director Stacey Lane who, with board member Sandi Benbrook Rieder, initiated a discussion about state and federal funding for assisting businesses in dealing with the covid-19 pandemic. The Chamber has handled an...
And so we've arrived at the point in the 2020 election season when Washington voters receive their mail-in ballots. The adoption of vote-by-mail has changed the dynamics of elections; although election day is Nov. 3, two weeks away, this will be the time campaigns peak. With all the interest in the presidential election and national controversy around mail-in ballots, people will most likely be marking their ballots almost as soon as they receive them. I know I will. And as The Eagle still counts as a worthwhile media in this digital age, we...
A hot timber market should bode well for Wahkiakum County's Current Expense Fund, county officials learned Tuesday. The county relies on revenue from state managed trust timber land to support the fund, which supports most courthouse offices. Last fall, representatives of the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which manages the trust timberland, estimated the county's 2020 revenue from timber sales would be $1.3 million. However, a hot timber market will boost those revenues to $1.4 million, said Padraic Callahan, DNR district...
Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners breezed through a light agenda Tuesday. At the recommendation of the Public Works Department, commissioners declined to accept bids for paving and other work on Columbia Street between Jacobson Road and SR 4. County Engineer Paul Lacy had estimated the project cost at $237,790, and the lowest of the three bids the county received was $302,260. "We recommend we don't award a contract now," Lacy said. "We'll redesign the project, take some items off for the county forces to do, like installing a catch...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 relinquished ownership of Coffee Pot Island and took a look at a proposed budget for 2021 when they met Sept. 14. Coffee Pot Island lies in the Columbia between the Port's Svensen Park in Puget Island and the Georgia Pacific paper mill in Oregon. In 2016, Coffeepot Island Holdings, LLC (CPI), a limited liability corporation involving Puget Island residents Doug and Jill Martin, gifted the island to the port district for use as a recreational area. Both the port district and CPI intended that CPI would...
The Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in Skamokawa may be called into service to house persons and animals displaced by regional wildfires. Commissioner Gene Strong brought the idea to the board of commissioners Tuesday, saying people evacuating from advancing wildfires could benefit from using fairgrounds facilities. There are spots for trailers and camping, there are barns and pens for animals, and there are water and other facilities, he said. "Having it available would be a good use of the grounds," he said. Commissioners Mike Backman and Dan...
Wahkiakum County commissioners discussed vaccines and looked ahead to budget preparation for 2021 when they met Tuesday. Dian Cooper, executive director of the Cowlitz Health Center, which operates a clinic in Cathlamet, said clinics will start receiving flu vaccine in October, and she urged everyone to be vaccinated in order to cut down the spread of disease during the covid-19 pandemic. Commission Chair Dan Cothren asked about covid-19 vaccines, saying he has been hearing that agencies won't be ready to administer the vaccine once its...
Wahkiakum County commissioners breezed though a light agenda Tuesday, approving some personnel changes, discussing 9-1-1 telecommunication issues and hearing a report from the county's health department administrator. Health and Human Services Department Director Chris Bischoff had three issues to discuss as the commission met as the county board of health: 1. Anticipation of another appropriation of CARES Act funding to address pandemic issues; 2. the start of in-school classes in Cathlamet schools, and 3. the approach of the flu season....
East Sunny Sands beach front residents have been warned to clear their frontages of personal property in preparation for placement of dredged sand spoils, Wahkiakum County officials announced this week. The U.S. Army Corps and the Port of Portland will start staging equipment for sand placement along the shoreline of Pancake Point on Puget Island as early as next Monday, the county board of commissioners announced Tuesday. In other business at their meeting this week, county commissioners...
Long Beach resident Kent Craford came with friends and family to the Elochoman Slough Marina last Saturday to launch his gillnet boat, the John M. The 22-foot double ender boat reflects the transition between sail power and gasoline engine power in the early 20th century. The boat was once owned by Cathlamet residents Steve and Sharon Hart; they sold it to Craford in the mid-1990s, and he began a restoration process. Steve Hart said the boat was built in 1907 by Oregon boat builder Tim Driscoll...
In a brief meeting Tuesday, Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners approved purchase of two new patrol vehicles for the sheriff's office and acted on other business. Commissioners had some discussion about replacing the patrol vehicles before voting to approve the purchase, for the purchase price would be higher than the replacement funds being collected to pay for them. The county has its Equipment Rental and Replacement (ER&R) fund, which regularly collects money from various departments to save enough for equipment replacement costs....
Tent campers at Skamokawa Vista Park recently heard a thunk as something struck a tree and hit their tent. The object was a bullet, ricocheting from nearby target shooters on private property. They reported the incident to park officials and the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Department who investigated, determined that the round came from a large caliber pistol. And on Tuesday, the county board of commissioners hosted a discussion about establishing a no shooting zone in the vicinity of Vista Park. After the discussion, commissioners suggested...
Updated vote tallies late last week for Washington's primary elections produced no changes in results for local, regional or state wide races. In primary elections, the candidates with the top two vote counts advance to the general election. Also, in races for seats on a county commission, only voters in the commissioner district vote for the candidates, with all voters in a county voting on the races in the general election. Wahkiakum County had two races on the ballot, both for county commissioner, and both with only two candidates. In...
