Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Dan Casler, 35, has just finished his first month as Wahkiakum High School’s interim principal. Casler is from Olympia and, for the present, commutes to work several days a week. He has taught for the past eight years in the Olympia school district and did his undergraduate work at The Evergreen State College. In 2000 he received his high school teaching certificate from Western State. “I’ve taught math and science for the last nine years in the Olympia School District,” said Casler. He said he received his administrative training through...
The Washington State Auditors Office recently released the results of an independent accountability audit for the Wahkiakum Conservation District (WCD) for January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2008. The auditor’s office looked at the district’s internal controls to determine if it had complied with state laws and regulations and its own policies and procedures. The report said auditors were unable to issue a finding on the WCD’s financial statements. “We were not able to obtain statements supporting the financial activities of the Wahkiakum Co...
“He’s just the nicest guy,” were the first words Lynn Wilson said when she was asked about Rodney Prestegard of Little Island. Prestegard has lived and worked on Puget Island for 69 years. He isn’t sure when his family first moved to the Island. “You know,” he said, “I never really thought about it, but I really don’t know when my family moved here.” He went to school in Cathlamet and then joined the Navy in 1959. He returned to the Island after his tour of duty. “I built my house across the street over there,” he said, pointing to a little...
Over 60 voters gathered at the Johnson Park Community Center last Thursday to meet the new candidates and hear again from the incumbents. Krist Noveselic lowered the gavel to begin the forum, which was sponsored by the Grays River Grange. County commission Lori Scott, running for the District # 3 County commissioner’s seat was unprepared but told the audience she was running because she felt that selling real-estate, managing the Grays River Hardware store, and being a good listener had prepared her for the job. “I don’t have a political backg...
Fire departments from Cathlamet to Naselle were called to fight a three alarm fire on South Satterlund Road around noon last Thursday in Grays River. They were called to the home of Trudy and Delvin Fredrickson. Grays River Fire District 3 and Skamokawa Fire District 2 firefighters were already on scene when Cathlamet Fire District 1 arrived a few minutes later. The Fredrickson home was fully engulfed. Flames shot through the roof of the two-story house into the sky. The fire was hot and the burning three-tab roof sent billows of gray-black...
Wahkiakum voters can be proud. They’re a hard headed lot in Washington’s Third Congressional District. They ask the politicians who want to represent them – to prove their worth. Denny Heck, a Democrat, running to replace Brian Baird this fall in the Third Congressional District, phoned the Eagle last week to request an interview. Heck said that whoever represents Southwest Washington in Congress must be an independent thinker, willing to buck their political party. Heck became a five-term state legislator in the 1970’s. He said he knows t...
State Representative Dean Takko represents the 19th district position 1 which includes Wahkiakum, Pacific and parts of Grays Harbor and Cowlitz counties. During a forum last Friday in Long Beach, he told the audience he is a lifelong citizen of southwest Washington and knows the area’s priorities. “I have worked and raised a family; I know joys and the difficulties that each of us face," he said. "I will work diligently to restore trust in government and try to make our values a priority. “One thing that’s important, when you’re in the legis...
Kurt Swanson is challenging incumbent Dean Takko for State Representative Pos. 1, Legislative District 19. Swanson says he prefers the Republican Party. His website says “I am a first-time candidate. I have never run for or held public office before.” Swanson shared his background with an audience at a community forum in Long Beach this past Friday night. “My wife and I moved to Washington about four years ago, from California,” he said. He said he’s always had a fascination with the history of our country and paid attention to what’s be...
The Wahkiakum School District board of directors met last Wednesday and approved budgets for the 2010-11 school year. Mike Quigley, vice-chair, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. No members of the public were in attendance. Superintendent Bob Garrett made a presentation regarding the 2010-2011 budget for each of the district’s funds. Garrett responded to the few questions that board members asked. The board approved the General Fund in amount of $ 4,920,028, the ABS fund in the amount of $169,730, the Debt Service Fund in the amount of $210,...
The Port District No. 2 board of commissioners had a light agenda they met July 20. Commissioners Brian O’Connor and Kayrene Gilbertsen--Commissioner Carlton Appelo was absent--approved and signed off on last month’s minutes, then opened the floor to public comment. Lower Economic Development Council Executive Director David Goodroe asked commissioners to view some of the advertisements he’d placed in different publications showing Vista Park. “I don’t know if you’ve seen this one,” said Goodroe, holding up Sky magazine from Delta Airline...
In an interview with The Eagle, Brian Blake, Democratic Rep. for the 19th District, including Wahkiakum County, said he enjoyed the Bald Eagle Days festivities. Events also remind him of the importance of community and connections with the community. “Events like that keep me connected with people,” he said. “I get to meet the people and hear from them first-hand what they think is important.” Blake said his record shows he is interested in protecting and supporting small communities in the lower Columbia region Blake got into politics advocati...
Puget Island resident Bill Coons is running to be Wahkiakum County’s new assessor. Coons said people around the county started encouraging him to run for the assessor’s position early on and he feels his background in selling real-estate in Wahkiakum County makes him the best qualified candidate. “The first step was that I was appointed to the board of equalization,” said Coons. While on the equalization board Coons said he began to learn about the ins-and-outs of Washington’s property tax system. He said he thought the assessor’s job looked...
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – that’s the name given to the latest threat to the survival of the European honey bee. CCD is characterized by the unexpected die-off of entire bee colonies. For unknown reasons commercially managed hives are suddenly abandoned and bees, by the millions die unexpectedly. Millions more simply disappear without a trace. Laura Grandin is a beekeeper in Vancouver. “In 2006 in France, five million bees died in a 24 hour period,” she said, “and to this day they don’t know why.” Grandin said in cases of colony collap...
June ended with Wahkiakum shoppers paying a higher sales tax on candy, gum, bottled water and some snack foods and non-micro beers. Labeled “candy tax” by the media, the tax is part of $800 million tax package Washington Democrats approved early this year to help close a nearly $3 billion dollar hole in the state budget. The state budget office says tax represents about a one-fifth of a down payment on what the state needs to balance the budget. The Washington Department of Revenue said it created a database for Washington retailers that out...
Steve Anderson has rocks on the brain. He’s collected rocks since he was a child. As a woodsman he collected stones while hiking, hunting and fishing along the quiet trails and streams that wend their ways through the forests of Washington and Oregon. Today Steve is retired but he still keeps a close eye on the ground wherever he goes. Anderson spent the first half of his life working in the forests. “I was a logger for the first 17 years of my working life,” said Steve. “Even then I’d keep and eye out for pretty stones." Anderson said he e...
More than 90 percent of the state’s high school seniors passed the reading and writing portions of Washington State’s new High School Proficiency Exam this year but the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) says scores in math are still down. Only about 70 percent of seniors passed their math test this year. The OSPI said it also expects that test scores will continue to drop statewide as it reorganizes its graduation requirements, and continues to make changes to testing requirements for graduation. To graduate from hig...
Last week, the Department of Ecology (DOE) issued its final Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) in the application of Evergreen Septic of Seaview for the permit it needs to apply Class B biosolids on 80 acres of Philip and Sulema Zerr’s ranch in Grays River. Peter Lyons, DOE’s regional manager, wrote in the DNS that his agency has addressed the comments and criticisms received during a meeting held at Grays River Grange in May. His statement reads, “Comments received during the public review process criticized the Ecology checklist for n...
The free-for-all of Washington’s top-two primary creates a place holder for would-be politicians, including Tim Sutinen who says he is aligned with the “Lower Taxes Party.” A Longview businessman, Sutinen said he’s running for office as an independent conservative against state Rep. Brian Blake, an Aberdeen Democrat whose district includes Longview, Kelso, Cowlitz County and Wahkiakum and Pacific counties. “I’m running for office because I’m tired of the out of control spending which leads to never-ending tax increases and job losses,” said Sut...
People who sign initiative and referendum petitions may no longer expect their names to stay secret. The US Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that signing a petition is a public act. The case in the Supreme Court came from last year’s Referendum 71 on gay domestic partnership rights here in Washington. The case sparked a debate between gay activists and the sponsors (Protect Marriage Washington) of the referendum as to who blocked release of the names of petition signers. The nation’s highest court, however, has decided petitions are public rec...
The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors called itself to order last Wednesday to deal with a short agenda. The board approved agenda items and then called for public comment and suggestions about improvements for the next school year. No public comment was presented. The board moved on to its consent agenda and approved the school’s supplemental contracts. It also accepted the resignation of the girl’s eighth grade physical education teacher, Mary Moonen. School Superintendent Bob Garrett was placed as trustee on the account of the...
"It’s a mess! Everything is confused. It’s Balkanized." These are just a few terms used by residents and those familiar with the controversy to describe the problems at the Columbia Ridge Estates (CRE) in the Town of Cathlamet. The development, just off Columbia Street, is an unfinished housing subdivision started by Hanes/Zoller Joint Enterprises. “The original development was to build a mobile-home park,” said Building and Planning Manager Charles Beyer. He said he was the county’s building inspector at the time. Early in the developme...
The Lower Columbia Economic Development Council’s (LCEDC) plan for a new incubator business park in Wahkiakum County is on hold. During his report to county commissioners last Tuesday LCEDC Director David Goodroe said Port District No. 1 had informed him they were no longer going to act as the sponsoring agency involved in developing a business park. “Port 1 identified the business park plan as one of its development goals in 2006,” said Goodroe. He went on to say the Town of Cathlamet and the county also had identified the LCEDC’s business par...
On Tuesday State Republican Representative Jamie Herrera notified The Eagle by email she had received the endorsement of the Wahkiakum County Republican party. Herrera is running to replace retiring Congressman Brian Baird in Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. “We endorsed her because she represents the things we believe in,” said Wahkiakum GOP Chairman Richard Riley. The Wahkiakum GOP voted to support Herrera’s candidacy during their central committee meeting. The Wahkiakum GOP became the third county Republican organiz...
Wahkiakum is filled with amazing and innovative people. Local reaction to the winter snow on Christmas day 2008 proves it. It only took Mother Nature a few minutes and tons of snow to turn the Wahkiakum Fairgrounds Arena into a twisted heap of steel and corrugated scrap tin. Fast forward to last Saturday morning, with the first annual Silver Buckle Series Open Game Show sponsored by the Wahkiakum County Fair Board and its volunteers. The event was held in the Fair’s new arena. It was the brain child of Ginger and Stewart Moonen. “This was col...
It was hard to tell if it was sun or the ceremony making everyone smile during the Naselle High School graduation. The graduating Class of 2010 had a total of 31 students. Alan Erickson was valedictorian and Karli Nelson salutatorian. Erickson, Nelson and Drew Macy also graduated with High Honors and grade point averages between 3.75 and 4.0. Erickson also won the Bob Chamberlain Award. Educational Honors also went to Emily Green, Nicole Laney, Calen Thompson, Orianne Condon, Tim Blaylock and Jesus Martinez for receiving GPA’s between 3.2 ...
