Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Restrictions on testing workers for marijuana use, a waiting period for firearm purchases, stronger voting rights for Washington residents and harsher penalties for street racing are among the new laws set to take effect next week. Washington's Legislature passed more than 450 bills last session, which ended in April. Most took effect in July but a handful don't until Jan. 1. Here's a look at a few notable ones: Marijuana testing Although recreational marijuana has been legal for adults in Washi...
In the first Commissioners meeting of the year the board convened with Dan Cothren as chair. They began the meeting by reappointing the members of the County Fair board, the Board of Equalization, and by renewing the service agreement with the county museum. Additionally the commissioners agreed to match the funding for the community pool with the Town of Cathlamet up to $50,000. Duncan Cruickshank of Wahkiakum Health and Human Services (WHHS) told the commissioners about his effort to renew employees training in Moral Reconation Therapy...
The Wahkiakum County PUD held their State of the Utility on Tuesday, Dec. 19, with the commissioners and entire staff on hand to hear the report. “This is just a big thank you to the commissioners and the staff for all the hard work they’ve put in,” General Manager Dan Kay said. The hour-long presentation covered the utility’s finances, staff, infrastructure, system reliability statistics, a review of 2023, and plans for the coming year. Or, as Kay put it, “People, pipes, and poles.” ...
The future of the Cathlamet Town Hall is up in the air after an inspection uncovered leaks and mold. On Monday, Dec. 18, the town council agreed to a temporary fix; approving a five year lease for space in the Scarborough Building. Town employees expect to move into the new offices by the end of January, but efforts to solve the problem in the long term are just beginning. Four days earlier at the Wahkiakum County Port 1 meeting, Mayor David Olson spoke to port commissioners about what he...
Volunteers for the West End Food Pantry prepared holiday meals last Friday. Pictured here are Cheryl Tutka, Jamie VanBuhler, Paula Marx-Rush, Mark Erickson, and Pearl Blackburn. Photo courtesy of Jamie VanBuhler....
About 25% of all the remaining old-growth trees across all national forests and grasslands in the lower 48 states are in national forests in the Northwest that are managed by federal agencies. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) America's oldest trees, most of which are in the West, will get added protection from wildfire and climate change under updated forest plans from the U.S. Forest Service. In announcements over the past week, officials from the Forest Service said they would begin the...
From the Chinook Observer Responding to complaints that the Washington Legislature doesn’t care about public records issues, Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, has introduced a bill that aims to revitalize the state’s ‘Sunshine Committee.’ According to a statement from the senator last week, Senate Bill 5779 is the first element in his plan to make public records issues a higher priority for Olympia. Earlier this year, the Legislature’s advisory committee on public records considered a proposal that would have disbanded the panel, as frustrate...
Tyson Vogeler’s recent letter (“Readers deserve better, Dec. 21) was written in response to Karen Bertroch’s Dec. 7 article “School board swears in two new members” and not her Oct. 26 school board opinion piece. We regret any confusion....
Ramps, half pipes, and quarter pipes will finally be installed in a long hoped for skatepark at Erickson Park in early 2024. Mayor David Olson thanked Lee Tischer, now a Wahkiakum County Commissioner, and everyone else involved in fundraising and for laying the foundation for a skatepark in Cathlamet so many years ago. “We’re going to finish it and make it better,” Olson said. The Cathlamet Town Council unanimously approved a bid of $93,000 plus tax from American Ramp Company to build the skate...
On Dec. 19, the Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors learned how a Career Connect Washington grant, which was just renewed for a second cycle, is benefiting students at the district and at Naselle/Grays River Valley School District thanks to 4-H and the Wahkiakum WSU Extension office. “We applied for and received another year’s worth of funding from Career Connect Washington,” Extension Director Carrie Backman said. “It was pretty stiff competition. I think that’s just a testament...
From the Chinook Observer The commercial crabbing season around the mouth of the Columbia River will begin either Jan. 15 or Feb. 1 after sampling found that local crab are slow to put on meat. A Dec. 20 meeting of Washington, Oregon and California Tri-State policy representatives did have some good news for local seafood processors and workers, in that “Vessels that participate in the Dungeness crab fishery south of Cape Falcon, Oregon may only deliver into the ports of Ilwaco and Chinook until further notice.” Cape Falcon is between Can...
THURSDAY Westside Play & Learn Group, Valley Bible Church, 9:30-11 a.m. West End Food Pantry, Johnson Park, 1- 5 p.m. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Hope Center, Noon. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Rosburg Hall, Noon. Cathlamet Fire Department, 7 p.m. Skamokawa Fire Department, 7 p.m. Grays River Fire Department, 7:30 p.m. Puget Island Fire Department, 7 p.m. District No. 4 Fire Department, 7 p.m. Food Addicts Meeting, Hope Center, 3rd & Maple, Cathlamet, 6-7 p.m. FRIDAY River City Strippers, St. Catherine Catholic Church, 9 a.m.-3 p.m AA Meeting, Hope...
Santa Claus greets throngs of children on the newly landscaped Wahkiakum County Courthouse lawn on a surprisingly dry Dec. 2....
The Town of Cathlamet’s offices are moving to the Scarborough Building, possibly as early as the end of January. The Cathlamet Town Council voted quickly and unanimously at their meeting on Monday night to authorize Mayor David Olson to sign a five year, $1,250/month lease agreement with David Nelson, who owns the property. Town Clerk Sarah Clark and the new Clerk Assistant/Project Manager Annie Watters met with Nelson recently to discuss the lease. Nelson agreed to install HVAC before June, t...
For much of the last century, fish hatcheries have been built in the Northwest, across the U.S. and around the world, to boost fish populations where wild numbers have gone down. But an analysis of more than 200 studies on hatcheries programs meant to boost salmonid numbers across the globe – including salmon, trout, and whitefish – shows that nearly all have had negative impacts on the wild populations of those fish. Most commonly, hatchery fish reduced the genetic diversity of wild fish, lea...
On Monday, Lower Columbia College (LCC) and the Lower Columbia College Foundation (LCCF) announced that they will be the recipients of a $1 million-dollar gift from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. “The Cowlitz Indian Tribe invests in education because we understand the value it brings to individuals and the community,” said Timi Marie Russin, Cowlitz Tribal Foundation manager. “We are honored to be a part of the mission and grateful for the partnership with Lower Columbia College.” The investment made by the Cowlitz Tribal Foundation will be used to...
The federal government will plunk down more than a half-billion dollars to help cover the cost of replacing the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River, between Washington and Oregon. A grant of $600 million will go to the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, the entity overseeing the effort. It's the first sizable slug of federal funding for what is one of the most significant infrastructure projects pending in the region and along the West Coast. Three Washington Democratic lawmakers...
Come January 2025, a transition of power will occur for the first time in more than a decade in the Washington state governor’s office. The work to ensure the shift goes smoothly after a new governor is elected next year will begin long before the swearing-in ceremony. “Think of it like a small independent agency,” said Kelly Wicker, Gov. Jay Inslee’s deputy chief of staff. “There’s the winding down of the current administration and the coming in of a new administration.” Inslee is not running for a fourth four-year term in 2024. Transitioning...
Wahkiakum County Port 2 continues to look for ways to encourage small local businesses. Along with the new business incubators at the Appelo Annex and a grant workshop to help small business owners scheduled for the end of January, Port 2 Manager Sam Shogren has reached out mentoring organizations like the Small Business Development Centers and SCORE to talk about opportunities. At the December meeting with Port 2 commissioners, the conversation turned to potential grants. Shogren plans to seek...
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. The number of Washington residents calling the state’s 988 suicide prevention hotline has climbed in the past year and is expected to keep rising, prompting Gov. Jay Inslee to request more money for the program. Around 7,000 to 8,600 Washington residents a month have called the 988 suicide hotline and in the past year, according to a November report from the state Department of Health and the Health Care Authority. Since the l...
THURSDAY Westside Play & Learn Group, Valley Bible Church, 9:30-11 a.m. West End Food Pantry, Johnson Park, 1-5 p.m. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Hope Center, Noon. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Rosburg Hall, Noon. Cathlamet Fire Department, 7 p.m. Skamokawa Fire Department, 7 p.m. Grays River Fire Department, 7:30 p.m. Puget Island Fire Department, 7 p.m. District No. 4 Fire Department, 7 p.m. Food Addicts Meeting, Hope Center, 3rd & Maple, Cathlamet, 6-7 p.m. FRIDAY River City Strippers, St. Catherine Catholic Church, 9 a.m.-3 p.m AA Meeting, Hope...
After receiving approval from port commissioners at their meeting last Thursday, Wahkiakum County Port 1 Manager Todd Souvenir will apply for grants to replace the aging pump out system at the marina, used to remove sewage waste from boats. Another grant could secure a secondary mobile pump out system to be used as back up or for vessels that could not access the primary station. “It’s a 25 percent match,” Souvenir said, “but we can use employee time and any work we do towards that match,...
Last Friday, students at Wahkiakum School District spent the afternoon showing off what they've learned in robotics at the Wahkiakum Wohbot Woundup, an event that started a few years ago, but which was interrupted by the pandemic. Teachers, Washington State University's Wahkiakum County Extension, 4-H Liaison Jessica Vik, WSD Tech Advisor Ron Wright, retired school board director Paula Culbertson, and Mecha Mule Mentor Mark Sutton were all involved in facilitating the event. Wright and Sutton...
Music teacher Darla Mead conducts her K-3 students before a standing-room-only audience at J.A. Wendt Elementary's annual holiday program, which included skits and songs. Photo by Ian Brandon....
An alliance of conservative groups on Tuesday submitted nearly 425,000 signatures for an initiative to guarantee parents access to materials their children are taught in K-12 classrooms and information about medical services public schools provide. The proposed ballot measure, Initiative 2081, would codify a “parents’ bill of rights” on matters ranging from reviewing textbooks and curriculum to obtaining medical records to being able to opt their child out of assignments involving questions about a child’s sexual experiences or their family...