Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum County highways are busy these days with a variety of construction projects. Tree removal will close SR 4 intermittently today at Milepost 47 for tree removal, travelers are dealing with night time closures of the Puget Island bridge, and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) began preparations for changing traffic flow on SR 4 in the Cathlamet area. Highway closure today A crew today (Thursday) will remove four large leaning trees looming high above the highway at...
The Town of Cathlamet is asking water system customers to reduce voluntarily consumption of water from the municipal water system. While supply from the Elochoman river is holding steady, the dry summer and several leaks are making the conservation advisable. The system is losing as much as 175,000 gallons per day, Public Works Superintendent Duncan Curickshank said this week. That's about half the water plant's daily production. Department staff have been searching for possible leaks, and a...
Tree removal will close SR 4 intermittently Thursday, Aug. 2, at Milepost 47 between County Line Park and Mill Creek in western Cowlitz County. The crew will remove four large leaning trees looming high above the highway. The highway may be closed as long as an hour for each tree, regional communications officer Tamara Greenwell said Tuesday. The work will occur between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. "The crew will have to rappel down a slope to get to them," Greenwell said. "Once they're down, they have to clean up the highway and get ready for the next...
Local officials are still waiting for a geotech report before deciding what to do about the closure of the Elochoman Valley Road. Wahkiakum County commissioners closed the road last winter after area residents observed a timbered hillside was sliding and threatening their homes. Hancock Forest Industries owns the sliding hillside and has commissioned the geotech report to determine the scope and structure of the slide. On Monday, County Engineer Paul Lacy met with Hancock representatives and viewed a preliminary draft of the report. The report...
The Wahkiakum County board of commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to approve a new contract with most employees and department heads and acted on other business at their meeting Tuesday. The contract, effective July 1, runs through the end of 2020, said Commissioner Blair Brady, who negotiated for the board. The raises included elected officials, non-elected employees and most union employees. It doesn't cover ferry workers, who have their own union contract, judges and the prosecuting attorney, whose salaries are set by a state board, and the...
Well, the vote by mail ballots for the 2018 primary election are out, and some are already headed to the auditor's office to be ready for counting August 7, the official election day. With Washington's top two primary system, we have just a few races that will be decided in the primary. One of the more interesting races is that for US House of Representatives. Incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler faces challenges from four Democrats and two Republicans. Herrera Beutler is bound to advance to the general election, so who will advance with...
A Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) asphalt grinding crew is scheduled to start work Monday to create left turn lanes on SR 4 in Cathlamet. WSDOT communications officer Tamara Greenwell said Wednesday that the crew will remove the rumble strips and pave them over at the intersections to receive the turn lanes. The highway will be partially closed, with traffic escorted by a pilot car. The work is part of a project to add left turn lanes on the highway in the Cathlamet area and slow the speed limit to 45 mph. Elsewhere, a...
With eight-hour night time closures starting soon for Puget Island bridge construction, travelers may want to keep up with unexpected issues. The first of the closures, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., are now tentatively scheduled to start next Monday, Beau Renfro, Coordinator of Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Office Department of Emergency Management, announced late Tuesday afternoon. The county ferry Oscar B. is scheduled to run all night to offer an alternate route on and off the Island during the closures. However, with the ferry sometimes out of service...
It has happened for many years: Nevada resident Willow Bill paddled a dugout canoe past Cathlamet last Friday. Bill provides education programs for youth and was part of the group that paddled dugouts to replicate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition a dozen years ago. The canoe, named the Flying Eagle, was used in the replication, and Bill has been making the trip almost annually since. This year, a young woman from Italy joined him for the lower Columbia passage. The Flying...
The battle over the Town of Cathlamet's purchase of a vacant lot on Main Street isn't over yet. The town council voted 3-2 to buy the lot in quick action after an executive session at the June meeting. Following that meeting, a group of citizens angered by the vote collected over 100 signatures on a petition asking the council to rescind the decision. The citizens planned to present the petition at the council's monthly meeting on Monday, but they learned earlier that day that the sale had close...
Washington's election season advances another step this Friday as election officials will mail primary election ballots to registered voters. Voters in every county will be able to return their ballots via the U.S. Postal Service without having to pay for a stamp. The official primary election day is August 7. The candidates with the top two vote tallies will advance to the general election no matter their party preference. Voters in the Wahkiakum County primary election will have contested races only at the state and legislative district...
With two members attending via telephone, Tuesday's meeting of the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners was short. Commissioners Mike Backman and Blair Brady were out of town but on the telephone; Dan Cothren sat alone at the board's table and chaired the session. --Cothren and Public Works Director Chuck Beyer reported that county consultants are still working with the Seattle and Portland offices of the US Army Corps of Engineers to complete permitting for dredge spoils deposits to protect...
Tuesday's meeting of the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners covered a lot of ground as the day started with a regional forum and moved into the board's regular business. The forum, hosted by the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Council of Governments, brings local officials together with state representatives and representives of members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. In the forum, Commissioner Dan Cothren reported that although discussion might be heated at a newly formed Solutions Table for marbeled murrelet management, members...
By Rick Nelson People are saying the next meeting of the Cathlamet town council (Monday, 6 p.m. in the Cathlamet fire hall) should be moved to a bigger venue, for they expect a large crowd to attend and protest the council's vote last month to purchase a Main Street parking lot. Eagle readers may have seen some reporting and several letters to the editor concerning the issue. Some of the objections to the purchase which readers have expressed include: 1. The town's offer was much higher than appraisals from the county assessor's office and a...
Wahkiakum County commissioners discussed addiction treatment and other health care issues when they met Tuesday in Cathlamet. Dian Cooper, executive director of the Cowlitz Family Health Clinic, said staff of the center's clinics will soon be certified to prescribe a new treatment of opiate addiction and overdoses, suboxone. Once certified, clinic staff will be able to administer the treatment to the public and in the county jail. The new treatment, however, is expensive, about $100 per month for generic brands. "So, before we start using it,...
By Rick Nelson State highway construction work around Cathlamet is almost ready to enter new stages. Painters on the Puget Island bridge last week completed work on their first section and are moving curtains to begin work on the next portion. The subcontractor who will replace roadway decking on the bridge will mobilize on July 9, Tamara Greenwell, Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) communications officer, reported this week. They'll do much of their work at night, 9 p.m. to 4...
Commissioners of Port District 2 breezed through their monthly meeting June 19 at Skamokawa Vista Park. The board accepted a bid of $15,000 from Columbia Contractors LLC for installation of three 25x25' concrete pads for permanent teepees at the park in July. Manager Janet Bryan asked board approval to purchase a new Gator utility vehicle, but Commissioner Brian O'Connor suggested buying a small used pickup that would be more versatile. After discussion, Bryan and the board agreed to look for a used pickup. The board backed off from pursuing...
The Cathlamet Town Council on Monday voted to buy a parking lot and unleashed a storm of reaction from town citizens. The property in question is on the corner of Main and Butler streets adjacent to the Bank of Pacific parking lot. Owner is Bernadette Goodroe, a former council member. The council reconvened in open session after an executive session to discuss the possible real estate purchase, and Mayor Dale Jacobson called for a motion to purchase the lot. "They were asking $75,000, and I was able to get it down to $68,000," Jacobson said. "I...
Wahkiakum County commissioners had a light agenda and breezed through their meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Dan Cothren reported that the county's dredging program consultant has received the final reviews and will be able to submit final permits to the Seattle office of the US Army Corps of Engineers. However, Cothren said, Consolidated Diking District No. 1 of Puget Island is having trouble getting sand deposited along the eroding North Welcome Slough Road Dike because the bank is too steep. Commissioner Blair Brady reported that as president...
On Tuesday of last week, Wahkiakum County officials said they were going to open a gate closing the upper Elochoman Valley Road. However, as The Eagle went to press on Wednesday, Public Works Director Chuck Beyer telephoned The Eagle’s office to say the road would not be opened. Last week’s print edition contained a story saying the road would be opened. Commissioners Dan Cothren and Mike Backman held a special meeting Thursday afternoon to review the situation. The road reopening was rescinded for a couple reasons, they said: 1. The road was...
Candidates for local and regional elected offices will appear at a candidate forum June 27 at the Skamokawa Grange. "It will be an old fashioned forum starting with a potluck dinner at 5 p.m. followed by the forum at 6 p.m.," said coordinator Deborah Lincoln. "The potluck will be a relaxed; bring what you want and can, and just enjoy eating with other community members. Hot dogs will be available, and food in crockpots can be plugged in. "The forum will provide information in a nonpartisan, impartial, educational environment. It is an...
The Cathlamet Town Council adopted an update of the town park and recreation plan and addressed other business at the monthly meeting on Monday. Town Attorney Heidi Heywood suggested a clarification on a page with a map showing the proposed waterfront park on the old sewage lagoon site. Land at the edge of the site is owned by Port District 1, but the town has an easement there for the outfall pipe for the town sewer system. Bob Kizziar, a member of the Port 1 board of commissioners, pointed out that the map shows vendor kiosks on the easement....
On Tuesday, Wahkiakum County officials said they were going to open a gate closing the upper Elochoman Valley Road. However, as The Eagle went to press, Public Works Director Chuck Beyer telephoned The Eagle’s office Wednesday to say road will not be opened. This week’s print edition contains a story saying the road would be opened. Wahkiakum County commissioners held a special meeting Tuesday and reviewed the situation. "We opened the road prematurely," said Commissioner Dan Cothren. First, the closure had been set in place by a formal res...
Wahkiakum County officials and residents expressed frustration with efforts to obtain permits needed to deposit dredge spoils on eroding beaches. The county and its consulting engineer have been working for two years to establish a 10-year beach nourishment program for eroding beaches on Puget Island and at Cape Horn. Last week, officials had hoped that a Thursday teleconference with US Army Corps of Engineers officials would see the completion of the permitting process. It didn't happen that way. Corps officials said more information was...
Candidates for local and regional elected offices will appear at a candidate forum June 27 at the Skamokawa Grange. "It will be an old fashioned forum starting with a potluck dinner at 5 p.m. followed by the forum at 6 p.m.," said coordinator Deborah Lincoln. "Mariane Brightbill will be the master of ceremonies. "The potluck will be a relaxed; bring what you want and can, and just enjoy eating with other community members. Hot dogs will be available, and food in crockpots can be plugged in. "The forum will provide information in a nonpartisan,...
