Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Thursday marks the end of this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers put the finishing touches on legislation, approved budget proposals, and prepared to bail out of Olympia. Barring an unexpected special session, they are not scheduled to return until January 2025. Here are five storylines that shaped what happened this year: Initiatives overshadowed the session Democrats were forced to take a detour after getting pelted with six citizen initiatives they weren’t eager to embrace. They approved three this week and hope to defeat the other thr...
On Thursday, March 14, five young ladies from Wahkiakum High were treated to the latter learning center, a facility that many know by a different name – The Long Beach Peninsula. Lead by Kyle Hurley, wearer of many hats and professional educator for subjects and extracurriculars including Ag Mechanics, Environmental Science, Natural Resources, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Trapshooting, and assisted by ... well ... me, M.D. Johnson, the group travelled to the Peninsula to take part in a...
Washington lawmakers approved plans on Wednesday to spend $306 million more on school construction. The funds are part of the capital budget passed by the House and Senate. The legislation now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk for a final sign-off. The money for schools is spread across four areas: the School Construction Assistance Program, small districts, career and technical education facilities and heating, cooling and ventilation systems. Lawmakers raised state support for the School Construction Assistance Program from $271.61 to $375 p...
Yesterday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) and Rep. Chuck Edwards’s (NC-11) bipartisan amendment, including their Federal Use it or Lose it Leases (FULL) Act, passed the House of Representatives as a part of the USE IT Act which now heads to the Senate for consideration. The FULL Act amendment will reduce wasteful government spending on office space the federal government does not use.The federal government’s office leases cost taxpayers more than $6 billion a year, but reports of unused space in federal buildings have increased with con...
Washington remains 51st in the nation for police officers per capita, and one answer to that problem might be allowing officers to work part-time. SB 5424, sponsored by Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, awaits the governor's signature. “The idea behind these flexible work schedules is…intended to increase the diversity in Washington law enforcement,” Lovick said. “To increase the presence of female officers and to retain senior officers who have a lot of value to provide but cannot maintain a standard 40-hour work week.” His goal is to have a 30...
Daffodils announce the coming of springtime, heralding in the warmer days like nature’s trumpets. They can be seen planted in flowerbeds, along roadsides and in abandoned homesteads. They are usually a brilliant shade of yellow, which contrasts with the new green grasses and rainy spring skies. Daffodils are perennial bulbs. In order to bloom in the spring, the bulbs need to experience a period of cold temperatures to promote root development, which is why they don’t grow well in hot cli...
The Collabrorative Partners Initiative will be offering county residents free help with the working families tax credit at the Cathlamet Fire Station on Saturday, March 30th from 12:30pm-4:30pm, and at the DeBriae Meeting Room 255 2nd Streetin Cathlamet. The group will also be at the Longview Public Library, 1600 Louisiana Street on Saturday, March 23rd from 12pm to 4pm. On both days, they will be providing Free Tax Help to individuals and families so they can claim the working families tax credit. This is a new program from Washington State...
Before the colonization of what is now the United States, the Clatsop lived on the south shore of the Columbia River. At the river’s mouth, where the Columbia rushes into the Pacific Ocean, were the Lower Chinook on the north shore and the Willapa Chinook on the bay north of the river. The Lower Chinook and Clatsop had close familial and kinship ties to the Wahkiakum and the Cathlamet, who lived just a canoe ride to the east. Today, the Chinook Indian Nation encompasses all five nations that h...
In a packed hearing room on Tuesday, Washington lawmakers heard loud and clear from members of the public that many do not want an income tax in their state, county, or city. 6,000 signed in either for or against a citizen backed initiative that would prohibit state and local governments from imposing a tax on personal income. Almost 90% of those signed were in favor of the initiative. “This initiative is designed to do one thing: codify in law the state’s longstanding tradition of not having an income tax,” initiative sponsor Rep.Jim Walsh...
The Naselle-Grays River School District is assessing damage to Naselle High School after a vehicle crashed into the building on Saturday, March 3 at around 8:22 p.m. The district is still determining how much repairs will cost. Emergency responders from the Naselle Volunteer Fire Department, Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and Washington State Patrol responded to the scene. At the time of the collision, the driver was described as intoxicated.“[The] driver [was] issued a citation and given a courtesy transport to a residence in Ocean Par...
Elementary school children, unhoused residents, electric vehicle owners and soccer fans are all covered in the Washington Senate’s capital budget proposal. Budget writers on Thursday released their $1.3 billion plan, which funds construction and infrastructure projects across the state. It includes new money for affordable housing, K-12 schools and behavioral health facilities, with increases of more than $100 million in each of those areas. Nearly half the money in the plan comes from the state’s new auction of air pollution allowances to busi...
Undocumented individuals are now a small step away from pursuing careers in nursing, dentistry, architecture, psychology, among others. Careers monitored by the Department of Licensing were previously denied on the basis of citizenship status. A new state house bill allows undocumented individuals to apply for these licenses using their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, in place of a Social Security Number. The bill was introduced by Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, who personally ran into...
At Ron Thielen’s house near the end of Oneida Road in Wahkiakum County, Wash., an engineered rainwater collection system is his source of water. He is not alone. There are no water facilities along this stretch of State Route 4, from the Wahkiakum County-Pacific County line to the Deep River Bridge just past Oneida Road. All of Thielen’s neighbors rely on wells, collection systems and storage tanks — or some combination. Thielen feels confident in his collection system. He has thousands of gallons of water on hand and the system includes sever...
A $1.5 million appropriation to combat sea lion predation on the lower Columbia River and its tributaries was approved by the state Senate Friday as it passed a $71.6 billion operating budget bill. The Senate passed the budget measure Friday as lawmakers continued their march to adjournment of the 2024 legislative session. Both chambers must negotiate and pass budget bills before the scheduled conclusion of the 60-day session on March 7. The supplemental operating budget bill, SB 5950, amends...
Washington currently has the fewest adult entertainment establishments per capita in the country. The reason? They are not allowed to serve alcohol. But if a bill in the state Legislature wins approval, Washington could soon join the rest of the country in allowing alcohol sales in strip clubs. Adult dancers say if this change is approved, workplace security should be required. “Washington State has had a war on strip clubs for a long time, and that is the reason why we have bikini barista stands,” an adult dancer said outside of a hearing roo...
Twenty-nine Pacific County shellfish farms produced $43.25 million in oysters and clams in 2022, according to just-released results of the U.S. Census of Agriculture. This more than doubles the $20.8 million sold by 27 producers in 2017, when the definitive agricultural census was last conducted. Washington’s oystering counties shuffled places between 2017 and 2022. Pacific moved from third place to second, behind Mason on south Puget Sound, which sold $50.5 million in farmed shellfish in 2022, up from $37.4 million in 2017. Thurston County, i...
The Willapa National Wildlife Refuge received a significant boost earlier this year when more than 2,000 acres of industrial timberland and a network of salmon streams came under its protection. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a 2,366-acre transfer from Western Rivers Conservancy, a conservation group that acquires lands along rivers throughout the West to conserve critical habitat and improve access for public use. The land in question, the Willapa Coastal Forest,...
The Washington State Legislature that is. Wahkiakum High School senior Lilian Hale will act as proxy for her step-father, Washington State Representative Joel McEntire during the final days of the current session of the legislature. It took approval from the county commissioners of all six of the District 19 counties represented by McEntire. It seems they were entirely amenable, including the three commissioners from her own county, Wahkiakum, who voted on the matter at their regular meeting on February 20. “It’s a great opportunity that is...
To protect young people from the dangers of high-strength cannabis, two bills have been proposed in this year’s Washington State Legislature. SB 6220, recently passed in the Senate, establishes the minimum purchase age for high-THC cannabis at 25 and older. The bill defines high THC as greater than 35% THC and mandates the Liquor and Cannabis Board to define concentration levels following extensive market research. THC is the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana. “When we legalized marijuana, we thought we were legalizing the plant,” Sen....
Attendees of this summer’s annual Wahkiakum County Fair will have the opportunity to participate in a spate of free contests for the second year in a row. Last summer’s treasure hunt, pet rock, and daily rubber chicken toss so exceeded fair planners’ expectations that they decided not only to bring them back, but to expand the docket of activities. Members of the public are invited to submit their ideas for possible games. Fair staff hope that the games will be not only immense fun, but will also serve as a means for educating fairgoers about h...
To curb traffic fatalities, lawmakers are proposing reducing the legal limit for driving while intoxicated. SB 5002 amends the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for driving a motor vehicle from .08% to .05%. Typically, consuming less than one standard drink per hour maintains most individuals’ BAC below .05%. Former state trooper and primary sponsor Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, who previously served as a sergeant with a DUI emphasis patrol, called on the Legislature to enact tougher laws. “We have just tolerated drunk driving for a l...
A proposal to fine counties and cities when untreated sewage is released into Puget Sound is part of an effort to save dwindling salmon runs. The bill, proposed by Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, imposes a 1-cent-per-gallon fee on municipal discharges of untreated sewage into Puget Sound. The bill, HB 2290, is part of a comprehensive five-bill bipartisan initiative to preserve salmon populations and support the fishing community. The Department of Ecology did not oppose the bill but suggested other approaches might be more effective. King County,...
The Writer’s Guild of Astoria will host an author reading on Saturday, March 23 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in honor of Women’s History Month. The event is free to the public and will feature three authors from the lower Columbia region: Marianne Monson, Kama O’Connor, and Deb Vanasse. The authors will read from their work, share about their writing processes, and take questions from the audience. Books will be available for purchase, with a reception and signing to follow. Marianne Monson is the author of twelve books for children and adults with...
The Finnish American Folk festival will present this weekend a concert featuring Brownsmead Flats, a musical group specializing in what they call “Crabgrass” style music, a unique fusion of acoustic folk and bluegrass. Focusing on tight and rich vocal harmonies, and composing many of their own original songs, Brownsmead Flats features musicians Dan Sutherland on hammered dulcimer, fiddle, and mandolin; Ray Raihala on banjo, guitar, and mandolin; Ned Heavenrich on harminica and guitar; John Fenton on bass; and Larry Moore plays mandolin, whi...
On Saturday, Feb. 10, personnel from all four Wahkiakum County fire districts, including Puget Island, District 4, Skamokawa, and Grays River, along with firefighters and emergency medical staff from the Town of Cathlamet, attended a half-day 'live fire' training event at Clatsop Community College (CCC) near Astoria. The training was held at the college's Marine and Environmental Research and Training Station, or MERTS, which offers a variety of educational scenarios, such as maritime science,...
