Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 576 - 600 of 9202
"Woah, it's like an airplane," one of my schoolmates said in awe. We all loaded onto the charter bus. The wood panel floor, the reclining seats, and on-board bathroom were fancier than the yellow school buses we were all used to. It was five in the morning, and we were headed to the Kitsap Naval Base in Bremerton for a tour of the U.S.S. Maine (S.S.B.N. 741), an Ohio-Class Ballistic Submarine, and the Trident Training Facility in Bangor. The trip was arranged following the success of our school'...
Wahkiakum High School students are learning about all the work that goes on behind the scenes of film and television production, thanks to Ken Johnson and Jeremiah Rounds of Wahkiakum West. The hands-on class is taking the teens through the whole process from pre- production to post-production, and making what may seem like an out of reach career entirely accessible. "We've been talking to both Wahkiakum and Naselle schools about ways to engage the kids and some of the stuff we do as far as...
by the Staff of The Chinook Observer The latest major work to extend the lifespan of the Astoria-Megler Bridge was recently wrapped up more than a year ahead of schedule and under budget. The Oregon Department of Transportation estimated this project would take three years, ending in November 2024, and cost about $24.3 million for design and construction. However, ODOT and its contractor finished more than a year ahead of schedule at total cost of about $17.5 million. “Completing the Astoria-Megler Bridge restoration project ahead of s...
Last Thursday, volunteer firefighters from departments across the county attended a drill at the Puget Island Fire Department to learn how to respond to chimney fires. At one station, participants got an overview of chimney fires from District 4 volunteer Jack Leavitt and a lesson in how to describe the kinds of scenes they respond to over the radio. District 4 volunteer Billy Peek gave a lesson on all the elements included in a chimney kit at another station, and Puget Island Fire Chief Mike...
Story & photos by Brandon J. Simmons In September of 2022, Steve Carson received the welcome news that his company, Computer Link NW, located on Third Street in Cathlamet, would receive nearly $300,000 in a grant intended to help new internet users, most of whom are low-income, connect to the internet, and receive basic services such as computer repair, or even new devices. For nine months, Computer Link NW distributed Chromebooks, made internet connections, and offered various kinds of tech sup...
The Wahkiakum PUD Board of Commissioners spent most of the morning going over the proposed budget for 2024 before attending to reports and adoption of a resolution regarding the district’s policy for capital assets. Revenue for the proposed $8,471,027 budget includes $186,100 in interest income, $333,700 from advance for upcoming construction, and six grants ranging from $50,000 for a feasibility study to a $435,000 grant/loan for a Puget Island Water Service looping project. Miscellaneous i...
County officials will allow outdoor burning per Wahkiakum County Outdoor Burning Ordinance. A burn ban had been in effect since July 4. The ban was lifted at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday. Officials from Wahkiakum County will allow outdoor burning in accordance with the Wahkiakum Outdoor Burning Ordinance 122-94. The lifting of the current Wahkiakum County imposed burn ban does not apply to Washington Department of Natural Resource and federally managed land within Wahkiakum County. For more information on local fire restrictions, call The Department...
County commissioners met Tuesday with Dan Cothren presiding and Lee Tischer and Gene Strong attending online. Several expenditures were approved along with declaring October as domestic violence awareness month. Caroline Backman gave an extensive update on WSU extension projects. These projects included the Master Gardeners that guide the work at the community garden. This includes 25 garden plots for county residents as well as dedicated plots to provide produce to both local food banks. In the last two growing seasons the volunteers grew and...
The Cathlamet chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs will host a Wahkiakum School Board Candidate Forum on Wednesday, October 11, at the Pioneer Center. A non-partisan organization, GFWC encourages citizens to be well informed before voting. Questions for candidates may be submitted via email before the forum. No campaign materials are permitted during the forum. Parents and all members of the community are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, email Caroline Walton at 9...
THURSDAY Cathlamet Fire Department, 7 p.m. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Hope Center, Noon. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Rosburg Hall, Noon. Skamokawa Fire Department, 7 p.m. Grays River Fire Department, work night, 7:30 p.m. Puget Island Fire Department, drill, 7 p.m. District No. 4 Fire Department, 7 p.m. Wahkiakum Fire District 2 Commissioners, Skamokawa Fire Hall, 7 p.m. Food Addicts Meeting, Hope Center, 3rd & Maple, Cathlamet, 6-7 p.m. Westside Play & Learn Group, Valley Bible Church, 9:30-11 a.m. West End Food Pantry, Johnson Park, 1- 5 p.m....
Maddalena Fontana, 17, who came to Cathlamet all the way from one of the biggest and oldest cities in the world, is one of four exchange students studying at Wahkiakum High School this year. Fontana is from a northern suburb of Rome. It takes about an hour by public transport to arrive in the city center, she said, but only a minute and a half to walk to her neighborhood school. An adventurous spirit and an interest in English led to her participation in the exchange program. She was able to...
By Diana Zimmerman Cathlamet town council members began talking about the 2024 budget at their meeting on Monday and heard concerns from the public. Some of the items on their wish lists for the next year’s budget include signage, a handrail along the Angle Street stairway, street and speed limit signs, library capital items, a part time employee to care for parks during the summer months, drainage for Queen Sally’s spring, a truck and snowplow attachment, town hall improvements, lan...
An after school program for local youth has become so popular that Wahkiakum County 4-H is looking for more volunteers. The club, Robo Rascals, is for kids who have an interest in robotics and engineering, and a desire to continue those activities outside of regular school hours. Along with robots, programming, and engineering, the youth get hands-on experience with a 3-D printer, designing with TinkerCad, and whatever else their 4-H leader, Jessica Vik, can dream up. Unfortunately Vik has had...
Westend residents turned out last Tuesday for the second workshop in a planned series of four to talk about how flooding is impacting the property and lives of people living in the Grays River, Rosburg, and Deep River communities and to brainstorm ways to tackle the issue. Jackson Blalock of the Pacific Conservation District led the workshop with the assistance of representatives from his conservation district, the Washington Sea Grant organization, and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership....
Over the years, flooding has become an increasing problem for people in the Westend of Wahkiakum County. It was hard to imagine when I drove up to Nick and Dee Nikkila's home in Deep River on a beautiful late summer day last week, but Nick had evidence. Not long after sitting down to talk to the pair about what they were seeing on their property, Nick pulled up a video he made and posted on Youtube. You can see high water covering Wirkkala Road, the long drive to the Nikkila house, and how Nick...
There have been questions about what local emergency planning, including evacuation and communication, is in place for Cathlamet in the event of a large fire or other disaster, and Cathlamet Fire Chief Vernon Barton, PUD General Manager Dan Kay, and Undersheriff Gary Howell were at the Cathlamet Town Council meeting last Monday to give some answers. “It’s still fire season,” Mayor David Olson said. “We want to get the conversation started.” Olson wanted to know: How are emergency alerts gi...
Lorraine Heilman, an oceanographer with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, talked to an audience in Cathlamet recently about a project she led to survey the current in the Columbia River. As part of the National Current Observation Program, she and her colleagues go all over the country to update the tidal current tables, using "ever more interesting and new and fancy pieces of equipment," she said. They used Cathlamet as a staging area in the last year. "The marina is...
County commissioners approved a number of practical measures Tuesday, and heard a comment about missing sand. Kevin Prestegard said he was “looking for sand” because he had lost approximately a quarter acre of beach at his south side Puget Island property. The missing sand, Mr Prestigard blamed on the dredging of the ship channel. All the commissioners agreed that they had no information about plans to replenish the beach because the Army Corps of Engineers would not respond to requests for information in a timely manner. They suggested tha...
The Wahkiakum County Port 2 Board of Commissioners talked about potential funding, events, and purchased a boat at their September meeting last week. Port 2 Manager Sam Shogren proposed that the port purchase an 18 foot wooden work skiff, based on a historical boat design by the Danielsen family of Puget Island. Wide and stable, with a flat bottom, the boat was restored in 2020 by Welcome Slough Boatworks and by members of the local Traditional Small Craft Association, of which Port...
The Wahkiakum County Port 1 Board of Commissioners met last Wednesday for a quick update on activity at the marina. Mayor David Olson was in attendance. He invited Port Manager Todd Souvenir to a workshop on the design of the waterfront park at the town council meeting on October 16. “The decisions made there will affect the overall design, and it’s right adjacent to you, and we want to know what your druthers are, in terms of how things are placed, and how we can work together to make sure tha...
Every household in the United States can now receive four free covid-19 rapid tests by mail by calling 1-800-232-0233, or by visiting covidtests.gov online. The tests should be good through the end of the year. Some of the tests may appear to have passed their expiration date, but the dates were extended by the US. Food and Drug Administration....
THURSDAY Cathlamet Fire Department, 7 p.m. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Hope Center, Noon. Senior Citizen Luncheon, Rosburg Hall, Noon. Skamokawa Fire Department, 7 p.m. Grays River Fire Department, commissioners, 7:30 p.m. Puget Island Fire Department, fire/Ambulance, 7 p.m. District No. 4 Fire Department, 7 p.m. Food Addicts Meeting, Hope Center, 3rd & Maple, Cathlamet, 6-7 p.m. Westside Play & Learn Group, Valley Bible Church, 9:30-11 a.m. Eastside play and learn group, St James Family Center 5:30-7p.m. West End Food Pantry, Johnson Park, 1- 5...
The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors started their meeting with a presentation from Apollo Solutions, which looks for ways to reduce energy consumptions in buildings, and has been helping Wahkiakum in the background find ways to address their aging facilities. Scott Lewis gave a recap and provided a timeline for what comes next with the $5 million grant the district was recently awarded. He said a $35,000 had been approved for an engineer to determine project costs, and that...
"Certain places kind of haunt you," Carl Wirkkala told me on the phone the other day. He remembers grinding cascara bark and catching crawdads with poles cut by his grandmother, who lived in an old house along Knappton Road in Naselle. When he was young, he would tell his dad and his uncle "weird stories about police." The two men would take little Carl on trips looking for scrap iron among the dark, dilapidated houses of Frankfort, a ghost town that was set to be the new Astoria. "It never...
The Society for Creative Anachronism met on Saturday. An international organization with 130,000 members worldwide, the group meets regularly at the fairgrounds. Above, Lady Elovel of Avalon, also known as Cathy, instructs a local in medieval archery, as a participant in red demonstrates their skill. Photo by Ian Brandon....
