Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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The run for the 3rd Congressional seat got attention last Thursday when candidates gathered at the Lower Columbia College’s Wollenberg Auditorium for a “Meet the Candidates” forum. The open discussion drew over 150 visitors. The candidates’opening statements offered the crowd insight into their views and thoughts on the state of Federal government. State Senator Craig Pridemore (D) of Vancouver said everyone needs to realize Congress is out of touch. “I don’t think they represent the interests of working people and I’d like the opportunity t...
The owners of Larry’s Auto and Marine will retire Friday. Penny and Larry Bonds have spent the last few days on the job helping the store’s new owner Joel Moore with details of the hand-over. Penny Bonds said she and husband Larry wound up moving to Wahkiakum after they came to visit her sister in Skamokawa and fell in love with the county in 1981. “We decided to move here and we thought ‘you know they need a parts store here’ and that’s what started it,” said Penny. “Actually we discussed op...
Wahkiakum drivers need to be aware of the new driving laws that took effect in Oregon January 1. Some of the new laws are quite strict. One law in particular has changed and is yet to be referenced in the Oregon Driver Manual and has to be broken first before one realizes there is such a law. The law most Washingtonians could get nabbed for is Oregon’s new “hands free” wireless law. Under the wireless hands-free law, if you are over the age of 18, you may use a wireless device in conjunction with a hands free accessory that allows you to keep...
The Washington Department of Natural Resources says the worst may be over for beleaguered Northwest sawmills and timber companies. In a report released this past September, the DNR said Wahkiakum’s timber sales hit bottom in the last quarter of 2009. The DNR is now saying the industry can look forward to slow but steady growth over the next two years. The recovery however depends on a huge number of factors starting with employment and interest rates. Work Source of Washington says u...
Washington State’s College Bound Scholarship program funds a variety of financial aid programs to help students and their families pay for college. The College Bound Scholarship program offers both guidance and incentive to low-income students and families who might not otherwise consider college as an option after high school because of the cost. “This is a program that primarily starts in middle school,” said Wahkiakum School Superintendent Bob Garrett. “It started in 2007 with the seventh grade classes and the legislature has extende...
Skamokawa Vista Park is filled with the sounds of chainsaws after getting a needed breather from bad weather. The park’s storm damage clean up has begun. During the past couple of months the bad weather has knocked over large trees, and in December the deep freeze burst pipes in several of the park’s bathrooms. The trouble began the second week of November. One of two trees came down in the park, crushing a small camping trailer. “There was about a 35mph wind coming from the south that morning a...
The 2010 Washington Legislature convened for an emergency 60-day session Monday with lawmakers searching for ways to fix a $2.6 billion budget deficit. Washington’s budget is fairly lean already after legislators tried to make cuts during the last session. Democrats say that unless lawmakers increase taxes and fees the law makers will need to cut even more as they deal with one of the steepest economic declines on record. Services ranging from higher education to programs for the elderly could be in jeopardy. This session could also bring n...
If there is one thing that makes Wahkiakum County stand out - it's the people. Nowhere else would you find a television repair man willing to drive into the hills of Wahkiakum to find a little hermit living in a blue-tarped shack with a radio controlled plane for sale. He buys the plane, drives home and on his way into the garage, tosses it into the garbage because it was rotten. "He needed the money," said television repairman Paul Dufek of Puget Island. That attitude of kindness is often your...
Christmas is for the birds! That’s the annual message from the Audubon Society. Last week, volunteers from the Willapa Hills chapter of the Audubon Society braved rain, wind and snow to count a total of 115 bird species in parts of Wahkiakum, Clatsop and Cowlitz counties after Christmas. The bird count event isn't new. For over 100 years Audubon Society members and volunteers nationwide have counted birds a few days after Christmas. In the early days, prior to the turn of the century, bird counting had a slightly different meaning. One h...
Finally! A theater in Wahkiakum ... well, almost. The Skamokawa Grange will host its first “Family Movie Night” celebration this weekend. The featured movie is an incredibly intimate look into the lives of birds and their “Winged Migration.” The movie event includes two short movies produced by Wahkiakum middle and high school students. The program is sponsored by the WSU Wahkiakum County Extension program (WCE). It is administered by instructor Lisa Frink and overseen by WCE Director Carrie...
In 2008, Fish and Wildlife implemented new policies and strategies for trapping salmon hatchery fish in the lower Columbia River region. Fish and Wildlife's Regional Fish Manager Pat Frazier explained it is because the old methods of rearing fish in pens have had an adverse affect on the growth of wild salmon and steelhead populations in the lower Columbia River. The study outlined by WDFW in 2008 is to help recover endangered and threatened wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River. Frazier said, "These modifications are...
The Wahkiakum County Fair still struggles to survive in a financial climate less hospitable than in years past. Late in 2009, Wahkiakum County commissioners told the fair board they hadn’t budgeted funds for the 2010 fair season. The state also has threatened to reduce its contribution to fair operations, so far, not saying by how much. "Part of the problem is the fair board and fair manager both came to us in 2009 and said they wouldn’t need the $17,500 the county usually budgets for the fair each year,” said Commissioner Blair Brady. Brady...
The saga of the Wahkiakum’s Family Practice Clinic is over. The ‘i’-s have all been dotted and the ‘t’-s all crossed. As of January 4, Longview-based Family Health Center (FHC) will be the new owner/manager of the Family Practice Clinic in Cathlamet. “What this means for the clinic is we don’t lock the doors,” said Crystal Stanley. Stanley is the Wahkiakum clinic business manager. She believes the clinic’s new ownership will bring much needed stability to the health clinic. It also means the Wahkiakum Family Health Center qualifies for federal...
Winter fires may be cozy but pollutants in smoke can damage lungs, hurt eyes and smell up your house. When it drops into the teens outside we all like to spend time indoors with family and friends. Often that time is spent enjoying a fire in the home fireplace. Sometimes however that fire can be a health hazard to a more fragile person. From November through February winter weather causes us all to seal up our homes against the chill. That can cause air stagnation in the home. Opening and closing a burning fireplace door to stoke it releases...
Last Friday, representatives from The United States Department of Agriculture met in Cathlamet with about 20 shareholders and customers of the Skamokawa Westside Water (WW) system and informed them of the USDA intent to foreclose on the water system. Stunned by the news, shareholders and customers of Westside Water learned their system was both in arrears and behind on its operational documentation. “At this point, what we’re hoping is that someone is interested in acquiring the system and will take it over,” said USDA Rural Specialist Bruce...
Authorities say a Cathlamet man ended his night shooting another man in the stomach at the Duck Inn. During his arraignment on November 23, Superior Court Judge Michael Sullivan ordered Jack Sebade, 73, to undergo a forensic mental health evaluation at Western State Hospital to determine if the defendant is competent to stand trial for shooting Darren Hall during an altercation at the Duck Inn. The court advised Western State to check Sebade’s competency, sanity and mental state and determine if Sebade has the capacity to understand the p...
November always gets Lewis and Clark historians stirred up. It’s the month when William Clark mentions in his diary that the Corps of Discovery finally saw the Pacific Ocean. It is also the culmination to a set of journals that record many of the amazing moments the Corps of Discovery had exploring America 200 years ago. For the historian, Clark’s journals are more than a record of an arduous, scientific journey, filled with quiet moments in the huge expanse that would become America. The journals are also one man’s personal experience that...
She’s sailed up and down the West Coast for 20 years. During that time, her romantic shape, tall spars and billowy square sails have attracted gawkers in ports from Alaska to Panama City, and from Hawaii to Japan. But now the “sunshine state” of California has cast a dark shadow across the Lady Washington’s bow. The move to keep the Lady Washington out of California’s coastal ports began in September when the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority (GHHSA), owner of the Lady Washington, learned the ship’s diesel engine no longer met Califor...
Powerful wind swept through Wahkiakum, knocking out power to the entire county and sending trees crashing across roads and power lines Sunday morning. The winds roared in during the early morning hours on Sunday. The National Weather Service clocked wind gust of over 60 mph in Astoria. The steady blow knocked down trees everywhere. Around 3:30 a.m. the Bonneville Power lost is main feeder line into the Grays River substation. The outage forced Wahkiakum PUD to shut down the county grid while the BPA crew repaired and reconnected. “We had to s...
“The Great American Smokeout” has success stories in Wahkiakum County. The annual smokeout challenge asked smokers to quit for 24 hours last Thursday. Smokeout organizers say that during that focused time, smokers realize they have the will power to quit. “Tobacco use costs lives and money, and secondhand smoke puts people at much higher risk of serious health problems like lung cancer and heart disease,” said Wahkiakum Health and Human Services Prevention Specialist Linda Hartung. Hartung said that she wants people to think of the smokeou...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 of Wahkiakum County were in good spirits November 17 when Chair Brian O’Connor called the meeting to order to go over port business. O’Connor asked Auditor Sharon Mast how things were. Mast had been on a family emergency during last month's meeting and said things were fine. She then asked commissioners if they would mind if she submitted both months’ Vista Park vouchers for their approval at this meeting. “This first page is the list of vouchers and totals $142,422,” she said. Mast said she also needed vo...
Kelly Guest is Wahkiakum County’s Americorps Volunteer. Guest runs the Physical Activity and Nutrition program for the Wahkiakum Health and Human Services Department. Guest and her seven year old daughter moved to Cathlamet last June from Portland. “We needed a change,” said Guest, “and when we came here I just fell in love with this place.” Guest said she’d been in Wahkiakum for a short while before looking for a job. She canvassed the area, passing out resumes, and finally applied for the Americorps position. For the last 10 months she...
The Washington State Auditors Office released its final audit of the Wahkiakum County Public Utilities District’s financial statement for 2008, last week. The November 9 report looked at the areas of highest risk for noncompliance and misappropriation or misuses of PUD assets. The audit included billing, adjustments, cash receipts, assets, disbursement, payroll expenditures and benefits. Auditors also looked at the PUD’s electrical distribution system and the management of Western Wahkiakum Water and the Puget Island Water system. The sta...
You can almost hear Skamokawa’s economy draining into Steamboat Slough. The recession has left the town’s residents with fewer dollars in their jeans and the question, “Where does the town go from here?” Skamokawa saw what might be called a small renaissance when Colorado developer Warren Rovetch came to town and bought and restored the Skamokawa Town Center in 1994. Rovetch’s remodel added six new condos, a refurbished dock, a cafe, bed and breakfast and rental space to house Columbia River Kayaking. The improvements lured the locals ba...
The aircraft escort carrier Liscome Bay was struck by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine around 5 a.m. on November 24, 1943, while her planes were being readied for the dawn invasion of Tarawa and Makin Islands. The explosions and fierce fires afterward sunk the 500-foot vessel. The flash of the explosion was seen for miles across the South Pacific. It only took the ship another 20 minutes to sink below the waves. The ship went down with over 700 sailors, and during the next eight hours, 272 survivors in various stages of injury, mostly from...
