Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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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,...
It doesn't take long to get a sense for the kind of performers Bela R. Balogh and Courtney Von Drehle are. It took about five seconds into our phone call for me to realize that these guys like to have fun. And though they may approach their craft with the seriousness and rigor of trained classical musicians, as the leaders of the musical group 3 Leg Torso, they also bring a hefty dose of humor and joie-de-vivre. They're also careful to manage expectations. "One thing you can't tell over the...
David Hansen, son of Julia Butler Hansen, opened his house to reporters last week ahead of the vote to make the Cathlamet house a state park heritage site. Photo by Ian Brandon....
The Cathlamet Town Council received an update about the waterfront park, a forestry report, approved county funding for the pool and the library, and aired some of their grievances on Monday night. Mike Johnson, an engineer from Gray and Osborne shared the latest plans for the first phase of the town’s waterfront park, which included moving some of the fill to shape the grounds and make it more useable as a park, development of trails, a gazebo, some planted areas in the corners of the old lagoo...
Frustrated Westend residents filed into the Wahkiakum County PUD Board of Commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday morning to talk about water issues after they received notice from Wahkiakum Fire District 3 that volunteer firefighters would no longer be available for water deliveries to the community after April 11. About five years ago, the Grays River Fire Department saw a way to help residents during the driest two months of the year, according to Fire Chief Robert Maki. They had a truck with a t...
Wahkiakum County residents have an opportunity to participate in the 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) Feb. 16 through 19. The GBBC is a worldwide citizen science opportunity in which anyone can count wild birds anywhere on one or more days and enter their sightings at birdcount.org. The information gathered by tens of thousands of individuals helps track bird population changes on a massive scale. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Soc...
As is sometimes the case, the public comment portion of the weekly meeting of the Wahkiakum County commissioners wound up as the main event. Several residents of Oneida Road came to the commissioners meeting directly from the recently-concluded Port Utilities District meeting Tuesday morning. Corbett McMaster said that there were about 25 people at the PUD meeting and that the board had told them to take up their issues with the commissioners. McMaster said that they are paying approximately $2,000 in taxes for 10 acre parcels that they cannot...
Mecha Mules, the robotics team for Wahkiakum School District, won their first two matches and lost their last three to place 23rd out of 32 teams at First Tech Challenge State in Seattle. The team brought home the Motivate Award and good memories including a visit to the Capitol in Olympia, problem solving in an Escape Room at the Museum of Curiosity, and time with a couple of the team's alumni. Courtesy photo....
THURSDAY Johnson Park Advisory Board, 10:00 a.m. West End Food Pantry, Johnson Park, 1- 5 p.m. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Noon, Hope Center 320 S 3rd St. Cathlamet. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Noon, Rosburg Hall, Rosburg. Eastside Play & Learn Group, 1:30-3 p.m., St. James Family Center 1134 Columbia St. Cathlamet Community Library & Computer Center 12-5 p.m. Johnson Park, Rosburg SAIL Program, Exercise for Seniors, 12:45-1:45 p.m. Hope Ctr. 320 S. 3rd St. Cathlamet. Cathlamet Fire Department, 7 p.m. Skamokawa Fire Department, 7 p.m. Grays River...
By Diana Zimmerman Westend residents filled Rosburg Hall last Tuesday for the third in a series of workshops on flooding in the Westend, led by Jackson Blalock of the Pacific Conservation District, and hosted by the Washington Sea Grant, the Pacific Conservation District, and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Using information gleaned from the first two workshops, Blalock presented maps of each area in the Westend showing possible solutions for the flooding issues, while looking for input...
A nearly unanimous state Senate on Tuesday backed the creation of a specialty license plate showcasing Mount St. Helens. Under Senate Bill 5590, proceeds from plate sales would go to the Mount St. Helens Institute, a private nonprofit organization, to support youth education, land stewardship and science at the state's most active volcano, which is located in the southwest corner of the state. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, passed 47-2. It passed by the same margin last s...
