Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum County election officials counted their latest batch of ballots Thursday morning, and incumbent county Commissioner Mike Backman took a 45-vote lead over challenger Greg Prestegard. Prestegard had five-vote lead, 999-994 in the Nov. 8 election day tallies. Meanwhile, in the county's other commission election, incumbent Dan Cothren maintained a solid lead over challenger Robert L. Jungers, 1,245-987. In other tight races: --Mike Turner overcame an election night deficit to lead Doug Goelz in the race to fill the Pacific-Wahkiakum...
Wahkiakum County commissioners discussed concerns over countywide emergency medical services (EMS) at their meeting Tuesday. Commission Chair Blair Brady said he had heard concerns about how EMS funds are used. After some discussion, Commissioners Brady and Mike Backman (Commissioner Dan Cothren was ill and absent) said they would hold a workshop to discuss various issues. The issues included payments to EMS personnel, equipment purchases, lack of paramedics on ambulance crews, and slow response times. Brady said he had been told some EMS...
The 2016 Wahkiakum Mule football season came to an end with a 36-6 loss to the Pe Ell/Willapa Valley Titans last Friday. The win gave the Titans a berth in the state Class 2B playoffs; they'll travel to Sedro Wooley next Saturday to take on the LaConner Braves. The Mules' season may have ended with a loss, but their coaches are proud of the team's effort. When junior Terris Record left the game for neck injury analysis, the Mule line up featured two seniors, eight freshmen and sophomores, and one eighth grader standing up to a team of larger,...
Dredging, fairgrounds improvements, and office space allocations occupied the Wahkiakum County commissions on Tuesday. County efforts to set up dredge spoils deposits on eroding beaches are making progress, officials reported. Beaches at Cape Horn and East Sunny Sands have sustained erosion, and residents have been pressing county officials to work with the US Army Corps of Engineers to set up the beach nourishment. Consultants are working on project designs and necessary permits, and commissioners have been working with Corps officials to...
The Wahkiakum Mule football team closed the regular season with a 38-12 win over the Toutle Lake Ducks last Friday and emerged from a three-team tiebreaker Monday to qualify for an inter-league crossover playoff game this coming Friday. Friday's win put the Mules, Ducks and Mossyrock Vikings in a tie for the third, fourth and fifth places in the River League standings. On Monday, the Ducks edged the Mules and Vikings, and the Mules shut out Mossyrock and lost to Toutle. That put the Ducks in third place, the Mules in fourth and the Vikings in f...
Wahkiakum County officials have started work on 2017 budgets, and it's a story that's been repeated for several years. Commissioners have asked department heads not to ask for anything new, and they say projected expenses will exceed projected revenue. The board finished meeting with department heads this week to go over requests. The budgets will go to the county auditor's office for compilation, and the board will work on them late in November, with final action coming the first week in December. Meeting with Treasurer Tammy Peterson on Monda...
With a 42-6 win over the Winlock Cardinals last Friday, the Wahkiakum Mules kept themselves alive in a quest to advance to post season football playoffs. The Mules need to win at Toutle Lake this Friday. That would most likely put them in a tie with Toutle Lake and Mossyrock, and the teams would hold a playoff on Monday, with two of the three teams advancing to the crossovers on November 4. A loss to Toutle Lake would bring the season to an end. The Mules left no doubt last Friday, scoring twice...
The Cathlamet town council on Monday took initial steps to raise water and sewer rates for customers of its utilities. The council is reacting to reports from an accountant and town staff who have stated that current rates aren't high enough to keep the two systems solvent. Rates are set in ordinances, and the council voted to approve for first reading an ordinance temporarily increasing water rates 10 percent and sewer rates 20 percent. The ordinance must be approved at two council meetings; the second approval should come at the council's...
People will be able to dispose of unused or expired medications this Saturday in Cathlamet. Members of the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office and Wahkiakum Community Network will collect the medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday in the Cathlamet Pharmacy parking lot. The collection is for prescription and over the counter drugs and medications. The main goal of the collection is to keep the chemicals out of the groundwater and environment, said Undersheriff Gary Howell. People shouldn’t throw them into the garbage or flush them int...
In the past two months, we've printed a lot of election coverage in The Eagle. Last week, it was candidates for state representative and senate; the week before, it was county commission. We've printed Associated Press (AP) stories on state races and most initiatives. We've attended candidate forums in Skamokawa and Cowlitz County. We missed the forum in Grays River because our Cathlamet crew was busy at meetings there and the Grays River crew was flooded in. We've even had a bit of coverage of the presidential debates. One issue we haven't...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday discussed the future of the county's four flood control zone districts (FCZD) and how to handle land owners reluctant to participate in beach nourishment projects. Commissioners have established the districts in order to organize and finance projects to place dredge spoils on eroding beaches at Cape Horn and on Puget Island. The county is working with consultants to obtain permits for projects at Cape Horn and East Sunny Sands. County officials have also asked property owners in the districts to sign...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 adopted a balanced $638,955 budget for 2017 when they met Tuesday. The port expects to start 2017 with a $500,000 balance on hand. They expect $203,300 in non-operating revenue (taxes and grants) and $435,655 in operating revenue (park fees, sand sales and so on). They expect $39,250 in non-operating expense (interest and sales and leasehold taxes), $284,705 in salaries and other operating expenses, and $315,000 in capital projects. They expect to end 2017 with $526,500 in cash on hand and investments. One...
In wet and sloppy conditions, the Toledo Indians pounded the Wahkiakum Mules for a 41-12 Victory last Friday. Toledo scored twice and the Mules once in the first quarter as the hosts took a 14-6 lead. The Mules' touchdown came on a 15-yard pass play from Lucas Brown to Hank Ferguson. Toledo added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to lead 28-14 at halftime. They scored in the third quarter to boost the lead to 35-6 and early in the fourth quarter to go ahead 41-6. Brown connected with James Anderson at 4:46 of the fourth quarter to...
Will Wahkiakum County come to the aid of the Town of Cathlamet in an effort to increase connections to the town's sewer system? Council Member Dick Swart and the county board of commissioners broached that subject Tuesday at the commission's weekly meeting. Swart had reported that the council is studying its water and sewer rates, with increases coming soon. One report to the council stated rates would have to increase 110 percent to keep the sewer system solvent. "One of the underlying issues, at least for sewer rates, is the small customer ba...
Wahkiakum County is on track to pick up an extra $900,000 in revenue this year from the state Department of Natural Resources. This year, county government should receive just over $1 million from the harvest of timber off the county's DNR managed trust timber lands. In addition, the county should receive another $900,000 in compensation for 300 acres of trust timberland which has become encumbered by either steep soils concerns or habitat conservation for marbeled murrelets, an endangered species. The encumbered timberland will be transferred...
The Kalama Chinooks exploded for five third quarter touchdowns to roll to a 48-6 win over the Wahkiakum Mules last Friday. The host Chinooks led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter as Jacob Herz scored on a 63-yard run. In the second quarter, the Mules put together a scoring drive which Hank Ferguson completed on a 3-yard run. The conversion attempt failed, and the Mules trailed their hosts 8-6 at halftime. The floodgates came open in the third quarter as the Chinooks scored on runs ranging from 26 to 95 yards. They also shut down the Mule...
Wahkiakum County Commissioners Dan Cothren and Mike Backman added staff to the county clerk's office, discussed dredging issues, and handled other business in their meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Blair Brady was on vacation and was excused from the meeting. Clerk Kay Holland asked that the board authorize her to hire another clerk to help her office handle its workload. The office is in the long process of implementing a new statewide, computerized records keeping program, Odessey, that requires staff to be away at trainings. In addition, some...
Size and experience matter in football. The Mossyrock Vikings used their advantage in those categories to hand the Wahkiakum Mules a 43-21 River League football loss last Friday. The Vikings converted three turnovers into touchdowns, and until the Mules got their defense adjusted, the visitors dominated the game. The Vikes opened the game with a strong drive that gave them a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter. The Mules responded with a good drive that ended when they fumbled away the ball at...
Washington Governor Jay Inslee made a quick trip through Cathlamet on Sunday to get acquainted with Wahkiakum County's ferry. The governor met county Commissioner Mike Backman, County Engineer Paul Lacy, and commission candidate Greg Prestegard at the Puget Island ferry landing. Speakers told him how the ferry system is funded, the history of ferry service, and how it is used as a detour route when SR 4 is closed. Lacy explained that the state covers 80 percent of the cost of operations up to...
Efforts to obtain right of entry easements from flood control zone district (FCZD) land owners are moving slowly, Commissioner Dan Cothren said Tuesday at the meeting of the board of commissioners. Many Puget Island land owners are concerned about language in the easements that could possibly grant dredging crews unrestricted access to their entire parcels, Cothren said. "I've been getting a lot of calls," he said. "There's some big concern on the right-of-entries on how far they will come in with big machines and if they might do things like t...
So, our two main candidates for president come with baggage. That was evident on Monday night's televised debate. The former secretary of state had to answer about her use of a private email server while she served in that office; she admitted it was a mistake and took responsibility. Billionaire Donald's baggage was exposed, too, from his reluctance to release his income tax reports, as candidates have done in recent elections, to his claim, only recently renounced, that President Obama wasn't born in the United States. I thought the two...
The Wahkiakum Mule team hit the wall last Friday in a 27-6 loss at Raymond. The Mules led 6-0 at halftime. In the third quarter, fatigue set in on the short-handed Mules, and the Seagulls took control of the game. "We have so few players that everyone has to play both ways," Coach Eric Hansen commented. "It's hard to give people a rest. We have to get in better shape. "We held them to 99 yards in the first half. They had 83 yards in the third quarter, and 173 in the fourth." Quarterback Luke Brown put the Mules on the scoreboard at 9:56 of the...
Rates for customers of Town of Cathlamet water and sewer utilities may soon rise. Faced with accountants' predictions that the utilities' operations aren't sustainable under current rates, the council agreed Monday to develop new rate schedules for the two systems. The town's sewer system fund will probably end the year in an $85,000 shortfall, officials reported. The town will be able to use fund reserves to cover the shortfall, but the reserves will be depleted in 2017, they said. Public Works Director Duncan Cruickshank presented an...
After a long discussion, the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners agreed to support a state sponsored salmon recovery project in Skamokawa's Middle Valley. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) wants to purchase a three-acre parcel as part of a chum salmon spawning channel. WDFW's Bryce Glaser explained that the agency has applied to the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board for a grant to fund the project. The channel is a filled in swale fed by a spring. It crosses two properties; owners of one have granted a conservation...
The Wahkiakum Community Center should soon re-open under direction of a new manager. The center, located in the first floor of the Cathlamet library building, has been closed since the end of July when funding ended for its Americorps manager. Some programs in existence at that time have continued under direction of volunteers, but the center has been closed. Volunteers have pressed both the Town of Cathlamet, which owns the center building, and Wahkiakum County, which has contracted with the town to operate the center, to get the center open...
