Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 926 - 950 of 2280
In their quest to enable nourishment of eroding Puget Island beach front property, Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday found themselves caught between people who want sand on their property and those who don't. The opposing comments came as commissioners were holding a public hearing on a proposal to modify the East Sunny Sands portion of the Puget Island Erosion Control District. Commissioners had proposed removing a section on the west end of the beach, including the ferry landing, and adding a stretch of property on the eastern end. Co...
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council gave first approval of their proposed 2016 budget on Monday. By law, the council will hold three readings of the budget to give it final approval. The first came Monday; subsequent readings will come at the council's November and December meetings. As part of the process, the council also approved a 1 percent increase in property taxes, an increase of $737.86. Overall, the town will collect $73,785.80 in property taxes in 2016. The town's total budget, according to the preliminary draft, will total $3.5...
Port District No. 2 may be doing a variety of cleaning and improvements around the boat launch at Skamokawa Vista Park. Port commissioners have been considering how they could improve boat launching facilities at the park. The current ramp is short and lacks any dock, and Skamokawa Creek estuary is shoaling in. A consulting engineer evaluated the ramp and other sites around the park at the end of September and reported to commissioners at a special meeting October 2. Saying ramps closer to the Columbia would be subject to ship wakes and siltati...
Story by Rick Nelson Photos by Diana Zimmerman Hard times continue for the Wahkiakum Mule football team as they lost 35-16 last Friday at Winlock. Big plays were the Mules' undoing. The Cardinals scored on runs of 50, 80, 20, 63 and 44 yards. " Overall, I thought our defense played well,"said Mule Coach Eric Hansen. "When we did our jobs, we did all right. When we didn't, they killed us. "Scoring twice was the high point for us." Sophomore Zach Brown put the Mules on the scoreboard on a 55-yard...
Wahkiakum County commissioners took care of business Tuesday before recessing to executive session and then adjourning to continue their meeting Thursday morning. Commission Chair Mike Backman sparked a discussion during the report of Public Works Director Chuck Beyer. The county should pick the cost of heating of Johnson Park, Backman said. "Volunteers have paid $6,900 to keep that place from deteriorating," he said. "It's our building. We need to make something happen. They're holding bake sales and selling food to heat Johnson Park, which...
It's election time. We'll receive our vote-by-mail ballots soon, so here are some thoughts about issues. First, however, elsewhere in this issue you'll find candidates' responses to our invitation to fill out a brief candidate interview form. These are the local races, and it's very interesting to read the responses. We have many intelligent, dedicated people willing to step into the often unappreciated positions on local boards, councils and commissions. It is a true form of public service. Now, here are some thoughts on the initiatives on...
The Onalaska Loggers proved to be too much for the Wahkiakum Mule football team to handle, and the visitors went home with a 59-0 win on the Mules' homecoming last Friday. The Loggers simply overpowered the younger, smaller Mules. They scored three times in the first quarter and three times in the second to lead 46-0 at halftime. In the third quarter they scored on a 40-yard pass play, and a kicked one-point conversion put them up 53-0. A two-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter made the final...
Wahkiakum County should expect another year of low revenue from state managed county trust timberland, county officials learned Tuesday. A decline in log prices has led the Department of Natural Resources to reduce its estimate of revenue expected from a county trust timber sale. DNR District Manager Steve Ogden told county commissioners that they could expect $921,840 from the Mill Fir Sorts timber sale in 2016, which, he said was down from an earlier estimate a bit over $1 million. And in 2017, the agency has planned a sale that should...
Inexperience made the difference as the Morton/White Pass Timberwolves beat the Wahkiakum Mules 40-6 in a Central League football game last Friday. The young Mules held their own, but when they missed a tackle or got out of position, the Timberwolves feasted on the mistakes. After a scoreless first quarter, the visitors got on the scoreboard first with a 47-yard touchdown play. The conversion run made the score 8-0 with 3:48 left in the first half. With 1:11 left in the half, the Timberwolves...
In a special meeting last Friday afternoon, members of the Cathlamet town council approved their updated comprehensive water plan. The plan is required by state regulations administered by the Department of Health (DOH). The council also approved a resolution establishing goals for water production and conservation. Besides being a normal part of the plan, the water plant improvements and conservation goals are needed to keep the DOH from imposing restrictions on the number of new connections for both the Cathlamet and Puget Island water...
Commissioners of Port District 2 looked at their 2016 budget and filled a vacancy on their board when they met Tuesday. Commissioners Lori Scott and Brian O'Connor appointed Lee Tischer to fill the vacancy created by Kayrene Gilbertsen's resignation. Gilbertsen had announced earlier this year that she wouldn't seek re-election, and Tischer filed as a candidate for election to the position. After taking his oath of office from attorney Tim Hanigan, Tischer took a seat at the table with Scott, O'Connor, Hanigan and Port Manager Janet Bryan. All...
The Town of Cathlamet is drawing closer to making upgrades to its water plant intake. The action comes as the council prepares to hold a special meeting tomorrow (Friday), 3 p.m., to go over and probably adopt its updated water system comprehensive plan. According to a summary presented at the council meeting, the raw water intake capacity is a major system deficiency. And according to the formulas of the Department of Health, which oversees water systems, demand could exceed intake capacity in 2016. "The raw water intake is the key limiting...
If there's going to be sand placed on eroding Puget Island beaches, Wahkiakum County officials need to get to work. That's the message Commissioner Dan Cothren gave to Islanders hoping to get dredged sand to protect their property from the Columbia River. About 16 people gathered in the commissioners meeting room Tuesday to discuss dredging issues with the board of commissioners and Karla Ellis, dredging project manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages dredging of the shipping channel. Cothern addressed the audience before...
For the second week in a row, the Wahkiakum Mule football team fell hard to a top-ranked Class 2B football team. Last Friday, the Adna Pirates beat the Mules 39-0. The young Mules, with a majority of the starters being underclassmen, struggled against the upperclassmen of the Pirates, and injuries took a toll. Zach Brown, the Mules' starting quarterback, sustained an injury to his throwing hand early in the first quarter. Mule coaches moved him to running back and shifted running back Hank Ferguson to quarterback. Soon, 125 lb. freshman James A...
Pete Ringen, Wahkiakum County's public works director and county engineer, came to the office Tuesday for his last day there in that position. During his time with the county, he has overseen projects ranging from bridge construction and road washout repair to overseeing recycling programs and the construction and installation of a new county ferry. Ringen's staff hosted a party for him Tuesday, and his bosses had kind words to say about him. Commissioner Dan Cothren was on the board when...
Mechanics were finishing the latest repairs on Wahkiakum County's new ferry, the Oscar B, on Tuesday morning when the retirement party began for retiring Public Works Director Pete Ringen. The ferry went into service in March and since then has had a series of problems that interrupt service and bring technicians from the builder and subcontractors to Puget Island to make repairs. "It may be helpful to remind the public the new ferry continues to be under warranty for one year following delivery," Ringen told The Eagle on Monday. Ringen said...
Long Beach resident Tiffany Turner has announced she will be a candidate to fill Rep. Dean Takko's position if he is appointed to fill a vacancy in the state Senate. Senator Brian Hatfield resigned at the beginning of this month to take a job in the office of Governor Jay Inslee, and Takko is interested in taking Hatfield's position. If Takko is appointed to the Senate, his seat in the House of Representatives will become vacant, and persons interested in that seat have been announcing their candidacies. Democrat party precinct committee...
It might have been compared to a battle between David and Goliath, but this time, Goliath won. In other words, the Napavine Tigers rolled over the Wahkiaum Mules 49-7 in a Central League football game last Friday. With a small squad this year, the Mules suited up only 15 players, a majority of them freshmen and sophomores. Napavine, on the other hand, suited up more than 30 players, including plenty of juniors and seniors with playoff experience. The Tigers got going with a 57-yard touchdown...
The Napavine Tigers overwhelmed the short-handed Wahkiakum Mules 49-7 in the Mules' home football opener Friday. The Mules suited up only 14 players. Hank Ferguson scored on a 4-yard run as time wound down, and Zach Brown kicked the conversion for the Mules....
Our community is coming off a series of well-planned, entertaining and rewarding community events. Just last week, volunteers and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post put on a fishing derby for veterans, widows of veterans, and children of veterans. Local anglers took them out on the river, and about half caught a salmon. The positive energy of the event was amazing, one skipper told me. Another said, "It might be bigger next year, but it won't be better." I don't know all the people who were involved, but when people like Bud Mickelsen, John...
There's good news and bad news for the Cowlitz Family Health Center Clinic in Cathlamet. Making a quarterly report to the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners on Tuesday, health center Executive Director Dian Cooper acknowledged the clinic's staff turnover is a problem for patients. However, the health center is doing well financially, she said, and center managers are expanding services by opening more clinics in Cowlitz County and by connecting with TriWest Health Alliance for services for veterans. Connecting with TriWest will allow the...
Wahkiakum County health officials aren't impressed with the state of Washington's draft plan for the distribution of marijuna funds. The state has collected millions in taxes from the sale of legalized marijuna in the past year, and $7.25 million of those funds are destined to programs that will educate youth about hazards of marijuana use by young people. County Health Officer Dr. Sarah Present on Tuesday told Wahkiakum County commissioners that the state plans a hotline, $35,000, prevention effforts, $2.25 million, and media based education,...
Wahkiakum County Commissioners handled a variety of business when they met Tuesday. Commissioners heard a suggestion for working with a consultant to plan placement of dredge spoils on eroding Puget Island beaches. Public Works Director Pete Ringen said Coast and Harbor Engineering, who handled the county's previous dredge spoils planning, is available to handle the currently planned projects. Ringen suggested the county could ask the firm to include an analysis of the effects of deposits on the Puget Island ferry channel. Ringen said this is...
The ferry "Oscar B." resumed service Wednesday morning instead of being closed all week. That's the good news. The bad news is that the contractor will have to return once design and fabrication issues are settled. On Monday, an inspector noted that the ramp extension which the contractor had planned to weld on site needed to be fabricated in a shop for highest quality welding. Workers from Legacy Contracting, Inc., also noted that, because of the design, only a small portion of the extension, which is supposed to distribute weight and improve...
First the good news: The Town of Cathlamet's water plant is keeping reservoirs filled during this dry summer. Now the bad news: State water officials may be ready to limit the town and Puget Island Water systems to a maximum of 35 new connections. The issue touched off an explosive discussion at Monday's monthly council meeting, and after much discussion, the council authorized Public Works Director Duncan Cruickshank to draft a request for proposals for engineering services to construct a new intake for the water plant on the Elochoman River....
