Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1180 - 1204 of 2579
To The Eagle: I urge Wahkiakum County to re-elect Blair Brady as District 3 county commissioner. As commissioner, Blair will continue to dedicate himself to working with issues that will benefit Wahkiakum County. Blair has served on the Legislative Steering Committee for eight years and has built connections necessary to pass the upcoming timber bill that is so vital to our county. Please, vote for Blair Brady as he is the only District 3 candidate who can get this done. Thank you, Dan L. Cothren Wahkiakum County Commissione...
To The Eagle: I wrote a letter to each of our legislators in our state of Washington, including President Trump even though our president has nothing to do with this. I just received my renewal for licensing: $30 License fee funds road construction and maintenance projects. $25 Vehicle weight fee funds highway improvements, transit and other transportation needs. $3 Filing fee funds go directly to the county in which the fee is paid. $5 Service fee retained by subagent or funds ferry replacement if renewed at county auditor/DOL. $.25 License...
To The Eagle: Matt Kuhl is the right choice to serve as the next Wahkiakum County Auditor. I have had the privilege of getting to know Matt through his membership in the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Cathlamet. For a man so young, Matt has already chosen to dedicate much of his life to public service. He joined the United States Army at 20 years of age and served two tours of combat duty in Iraq before he was 25. As Matt told me, he believed it was his duty to volunteer to serve in Iraq because if he didn’t, somebody else would have t...
To The Eagle: Mark Howie had the leadership skills needed, even back in 2006 according to the Tukwila yearly report to the mayor. In a statement from the report, Sergeant Mark Howie and three others worked together to provide a peak level of supervision to the patrol staff. This team of leadership met on a regular basis, developing and providing to its staff consistent goals and objectives, with an end result of improving public safety within the City of Tukwila. Nothing has changed and that is why I’m encouraging you to join me in voting M...
To The Eagle: We, the people of the 3rd congressional district, have the opportunity to choose a leader that will fight for us, not for special interests. That leader is Carolyn Long! She will fight for us on all fronts. For example: 1. She will work to assure medical coverage for all including keeping everyone with pre-conditions safe. 2. She will work to keep Social Security and Medicare safe. 3. She will work to improve education and educational opportunities for all. Unlike her opponent, Carolyn has visited every corner of our district....
To The Eagle: My wife and I are relatively new to Cathlamet having moved here about five years ago but we certainly like this little town. During the past year, we have gotten to know Mark Howie and are very impressed with the way he conducts himself. There have been a large number of endorsements for Sheriff Howie in The Eagle which has also impressed us. We believe that Mark has a good feel for what is needed in this county and what we can afford. We are going to vote for the man wearing the big cowboy hat. Dan and Nona Preble...
For weeks, I've been waiting for the edition when we didn't have a letter to the editor regarding the election for county assessor. I've wanted to write an opinion column about the race, but I've wanted to avoid giving the impression that I'm responding to a letter. However, there's been so much interest in the race, the letters keep coming, and I don't think there will be a lull before the ballots come out later this month. And so, here it goes. I met Bill Coons not long after he moved to Wahkiakum County in the early 1990's. At that time, he...
To The Eagle: Nicci Bergseng has done a commendable job as our county auditor, overseeing a multi-million dollar budget for Wahkiakum County. Nicci assists the county commissioners and department heads in balancing the budget and reporting financials to the state auditor. She has been involved in three state audits, overseeing the last two. Nicci has received outstanding marks in every one. Being county auditor requires a skill set that goes beyond being great at accounting and numbers. Nicci has proven to be a great manager as well. Nicci, as...
To The Eagle: Every vote is needed and counts. I have bragged about our county’s voters for years with our high turn outs. I hope to continue doing so. Your party affiliation or how you vote pales to the importance of registering and voting in our elections. Vote on the issues and the people not the hype. Having had a tie election in the past I can assure you every vote is important. Please encourage everyone to participate in voting. Thank you. Commissioner Blair Brady Rosburg...
To The Eagle: I have lived in Wahkiakum County for 50 years. I worked in the assessor’s office for almost 10 years appraising timber and real property. I am now a board member on the Board of Equalization and have been for 10 years. The Board of Equalization is an appeals board for the assessor’s values. Normally the board hears 10-12 appeals most years. The previous assessor had 168 appeals in her last as assessor. She had no experience in property valuation. The board also had to revalue Puget Island land values. Bill Coons has done a goo...
To The Eagle: It’s not surprising that Bill Coons is conducting a negative campaign when it was he who insisted it should be clean. It’s not out of character for him to take another person’s comments out of context to design an attack ad. And it’s to be expected that he would make a campaign promise to hold an appeals workshop but renege on it in the end. Mr. Coons plays politician as he has conducted himself as assessor. However, what does surprise and bother me is the number of people, including Bill Coons himself, who point proudly to his...
To The Eagle: It's time to Tidy the Town again! The Pioneer Center Association will be holding the biannual event Saturday, October 27, and are hoping to have a good turnout of people looking to improve the town's appearance. Meet at the Community Center on Main Street at 9 a.m., with gloves and tools, and plan to have a good time making Cathlamet trash and weed-free once more. If you have questions, please contact Suzanne Holmes (360-430-6184), April Peterson (971-404-6184) or Pat Battaglia (360-703-1185). We are looking forward to seeing...
To The Eagle: After speaking with Matt Kuhl and asking many questions of him, we feel that Matt is fully qualified to fill the position as Wahkiakum County Auditor. His education, accounting degree, experience as well as his ability to listen to and answer questions are also huge assets. He is honest and believes in being transparent and accountable to the citizens of the county. We support Matt Kuhl in his run for Wahkiakum County Auditor. Sincerely, John & NovaLee Knopp Cathlamet...
To The Eagle: Recent letters to the editor have been great reading. I have a concern, though. In Wahkiakum County, rarely do we have great voter turnout! In our current political races, I fervently wish for all who can vote, to vote! Remember when we had to go somewhere to vote? Not anymore. It only takes a short time to fill out the ballot and send it in. No trip anywhere and no gas used. You can leave your robe on by the fire and just make some marks, if you’d like, then mail it in or drop it off at the Courthouse. How easy is that? I even r...
To The Eagle: A few of last week’s letters to the editor about my candidacy deserve a response. Mary Gustafson questioned my integrity due to a structure on my wife’s property. She should get her facts straight. My wife owns the property where I live. The title is in her name along with her late first husband. I have no ownership interest in her property. She has lived here for over 40 years. She is Finnish. She built the mökki on her land. Mary attributes everything about the mökki to me. It’s no secret that Michael Baccellieri launche...
To The Eagle: We are voting for Matt Kuhl because he is truly the wise choice to fill the position of Wahkiakum County Auditor. Matt grew up in Cathlamet and graduated from Wahkiakum High School. Matt served in the military after high school and was deployed twice for active duty in the ongoing Middle East conflict. After military service Matt attended WSU/Vancouver where he received an accounting degree, and is currently working at an accounting firm in Longview. Matt is a homeowner in Cathlamet and is currently volunteering at our local...
To The Eagle: Mark Howie has proven he is the only candidate for the job. When I first met Mark and his wife Debb, they were both so excited about being a part of our community, and to this day he is still volunteering, attending and promoting community development. Mark is a professional, he goes above and beyond the call, and is very concerned and dedicated about mental and physical health issues. He is a positive leader and expects his officers and staff to treat everyone with respect. He is very dedicated to his career and the safety of...
To The Eagle: The word most often used in the assessor’s race between the incumbent, Bill Coons and the challenger, Brian McClain, is experience. There is another word that needs to be added to the discussion – integrity. Follow the storyline: Bill Coons, the incumbent assessor with experience, is in the process of building a “mokki” on the property he resides on located on Welcome Slough which is defined as a Finnish word for cottage which is defined as a simple house, one near a lake or beach. Now we’re rolling in Wahkiakum County to build...
To The Eagle: Last week's writer Mr. Watts doesn't know me and I don’t know him. I would never assume something about him because I have no idea who he is. I pay property taxes on two separate pieces of real estate, along with personal property taxes on a business I own that produces income for Wahkiakum County. Mr. Watts asked me a question, kind of sarcastically: Why I support Mr. McClain and why Wahkiakum voters should cast their vote for Brian? In most cases voters have to choose the lesser of two evils. In this case, they don’t. Mic...
To The Eagle: We do live in interesting times. Our little county is forever trying to find more revenue to the point of being willing to strip our mountains of every tree of a ‘certain' size, ever smaller of course. Replacing the trees bound for everywhere else with a mono culture that precludes normal diversity and involves spraying herbicides to kill everything that won't be marketable in, say, sixty years or so. When was the last time you saw a grouse or heard the hooting of owls? Finally something that may actually bring in the much s...
To The Eagle: Due to our various parcels we own, I have made several trips to the assessor’s office. Every time my visits are always friendly and welcomed. Bill Coons and Marsha, along with their co-workers, have treated me with the utmost respect and I very much appreciate that. Just recently we sold a piece of property and there was debate on who should pay what percentage of the property taxes for the remainder of the year. I immediatly drove over and asked Bill for help. He dropped what he was doing and proceeded to assist me. Within 15 m...
To the Eagle: By now, most of you are aware of the large, negative, political ad that was published in last weeks paper and paid for by Bill Coons, which featured my name and parts of a column that I wrote several years ago. You may also be aware of just how unhappy I am about it. I had written quite a long letter in response, in total outrage about this but you know what? I'm pretty sure everyone has figured out by now that my words were taken out of context and spun to fit the negative agenda of the writer, so writing a long tirade about it...
To The Eagle: The job of county auditor includes five departments, Dept. of Licensing, recordings, accounts payable, elections and HR/payroll. When I hired Nicci Bergseng I knew she would be the perfect fit for the job and when I retired last year I knew she was the one to carry on as county auditor. She has the abilities to multi-task, communicate and work with the county commissioners, elected officials, dept. heads, employees, other agencies and Wahkiakum County citizens. County commissioners finalize the budgets and the auditor oversees...
To The Eagle: I want to take this opportunity to address what I feel is misinformation being directed at Wahkiakum Sheriff's Office candidate Graham Phalen. That misinformation relates to allegations and inferences that Phalen, while employed as a lieutenant in the Professional Standards Unit of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office was somehow derelict in his duties in the tragic Jeff Grahn incident in Gresham, Ore., in 2010. First, my name is Mark White and I am a retired Police Officer from the Portland Police Bureau. I have a total of over...
To The Eagle: Several items in last week’s Eagle beg response, but we’ll keep it in the realm of general information and elucidation since our editor has adopted the Wehrfritz Commandment limiting specific political criticisms to one shot: For those of you fascinated with the concept of “experience” as it applies to political candidates, the day-to-day nuts ‘n bolts of property valuation are handled by an appraiser who works for the Assessor and one of the most experienced we ever had here was a fella by the name of Funderburg who raised a...
