Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1276 - 1300 of 2586
To The Eagle: Just wondering since the city seems to have unlimited funds if they might use some for the grounds at the pool. It looks pretty shabby. And speaking of the pool, it is open and the guards are doing a great job. Swim lessons begin July 15 and there are scholarships available. The Cathlamet Woman’s Club offers scholarships each summer, ask the guards for information. JoAnn Prestegard Cathlamet...
To The Eagle: After reading the letter from Elizabeth Brinker of June 21, I would like to address some of her issues with our little piece of heaven and the Grays River Valley, in particular. She did get two things right, it is beautiful where we live and, yes, everyone should ask questions, speak their minds and vote for new ideas and responsible leadership. Lack of compassion for animals? In my years here, I have witnessed nothing like she alludes to. Unlike the city where people dump or lose animals all the time, they get picked up by...
To The Eagle: The Town of Cathlamet is carrying a debt of $6,272,000 in principal plus interest of $3,658,000 that will accrue over the life of the various loans, for a total of about $9,933,000. According to the most recent census, the town had 532 people, 258 households and 136 families. Broken down by those demographics, that equals about $18,671 per resident, $38,500 per household, and $73,036 per family. How do you feel as residents of Cathlamet about your elected officials saddling you with that kind of debt? How do you feel about them...
To The Eagle: Like most voters, I consider candidates for office as applicants for a job. My duty is to examine their credentials and cast a vote for the most qualified. No matter how amiable a candidate is, if they can't cut the mustard, they won't get my vote. The campaign for Wahkiakum County assessor is a case in point. In my view, incumbent Bill Coons is qualified for the job. But he is also a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, resulting in an occasional brusque demeanor. Challenger Brian McClain, on the other hand, a U.S. Navy retiree k...
To The Eagle: Wahkiakum County is fortunate to have such a dedicated leader for our office of sheriff. Mark Howie and his professional staff help in maintaining order in our community, and especially in Deep River where we reside. We support Mark Howie for Sheriff! Ron and Eva Malerich Deep River/Naselle...
To The Eagle: Start making money and stop spending money! I am concerned not only that the town is buying a parking lot and turning it into a “Green Space,” but that the cost of the new sewer plant is driving up sewer rates that really affect local citizens on a fixed income and small businesses trying to stay open. I am afraid the so called green space will turn in to a money pit because it will require maintenance. The town has trouble maintaining the parks it has now. I have been told the town won't put trash cans on Main Street because the...
To The Eagle: I do not know whom Prudence Diem was referring to in her July 5 letter to the editor when she stated “we still owe the county around $360,000 for hookups for Boege.” Certainly with her involvement with the Town Planning Commission she would know that hookup fees are the responsibility of the property developer or owner. Fact, the town owes nothing to the county for the county’s Sewer Line Extension Project. If Ms. Diem is not aware of this fact then where did she get her misinformation from? Ms. Diem did not live in our commu...
To The Eagle: I will quote again from Thomas Sowell: “If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference and choose their news sources accordingly.” I am referring to the photo of the little crying girl supposedly separated from her family at the Mexico-US border. As most of us now know, that never happened. The child was right there next to her mother with the border patrol. There is a picture to prove it....
To The Eagle: Great things can happen when we work together! The Kiwanis Club of Cathlamet has joined in the effort to feed our local kids this summer from July 16 – August 16. Partners also include First Interstate Bank, Wahkiakum Health & Human Services, WSU Extension, local churches, and many interested community members. Thrivent is generously donating $250 to help. Additional contributions are most welcome and can be mailed to Kiwanis Club of Cathlamet, Summer Lunch Program, PO Box 515, Cathlamet, WA 98612. With additional financial h...
To The Eagle: The town’s water system has had two large leaks this past week. During both events, there were neighbors who helped trouble shoot which I sincerely appreciate. Our leak on 3rd Street has really damaged the road there, and I will work to get that fixed as quickly as possible. The other leak, which we had a hard time finding, will be much more difficult to repair. It occurred on Sunday night and caused homeowners effected to have low to no pressure at their homes. We lost about a quarter of our reservoir storage in around two h...
To The Eagle: I don’t know if you saw last week’s letter in The Eagle, but there will be more to come about the mayor having the town treasurer pay $1,000 earnest money to purchase a parking lot, prior to their executive session. Later, it was on the town council’s upcoming agenda under “Property acquisition – action expected.” This was at least three months ago. What happened between then and their last June 18 meeting, I don’t know. Did the Department of Ecology do a soil inspection and sign off, allowing change of ownership, or are we now...
To The Eagle: We’ve been fortunate to live and work in Wahkiakum County most of our lives. Gordon has lived here his entire life and I’ve been here for more than 60 years of marriage. But we’ve also lived here long enough to have seen many changes in the community--some good and some not. Today, it’s encouraging to see a new generation of community leaders like Sheriff Mark Howie and his wife Debb. We’ve gotten to know them over the years. While we call him Sheriff, we also call them friends. They’re good people and they’ve both given their tim...
To The Eagle: I had to re-read Elizabeth Brinner’s article in last week’s Eagle a couple of times to make sure it was a serious letter. Initially I thought it was a poor attempt at satire. Not so I guess. I’m assuming she’s recently moved from Seattle, Portland or a city of similar size, which would explain her problem adjusting to the lifestyle we all enjoy living in Wahkiakum County. Before retiring to Cathlamet, I left a big city, fast paced, professional career working under neon lights and in front of a computer screen all day. After work,...
To The Eagle: Our editor’s entrance into the fray with commentary on the ethics of tax assessment might possibly constitute rushing in where angels fear to tread. In the normal course of events, a person setting up a for-profit enterprise gets a tax number from the fed and then later registers personal property used in that enterprise with state (if their state has a personal property tax law). The current imbroglio involves our local assessor placing people on the rolls involuntarily and without due process. In my case protests were simply i...
To The Eagle: First off, to no surprise of anyone who has ever met me or read my letters to this paper, I am a progressive liberal. The reasons are numerous and include liking child labor laws, laws that help keep the earth safe for us and our future generations. My education in science and human biology allows me to know the difference between a fetus and a baby and to understand that about 10 percent of all people in all cultures are homosexual. Enough history to realize that if I like what is happening in our country today, I would...
To The Eagle: The recent vote by the Cathlamet town Council to purchase the property owned by former Council member Bernadette Goodroe was clearly unethical and an obvious gift of public funds. When the existing gas station and auto repair shop were removed the site went through a remediation process to remove the majority of the contamination, but due to technical difficulties the site could not be fully abated. Consequently, the State of Washington Department of Ecology placed a restricted covenant on the property because residual...
To The Eagle: A top-two primary election is on August 7, 2018. Three Democrats are candidates in the primary for the 3rd Congressional District, David McDevitt, Caroline Long and Dorothy Gasgue. While Gasgue, Long and McDevitt are all Democrats there are differences. David McDevitt is the Progressive candidate. Long self-identifies as a moderate. Gasgue has said she is a “Libertarian Progressive.” McDevitt will work for fair progressive tax policies, a single-payer universal health care plan, a living wage, affordable housing, safe sch...
To The Eagle: What a coup! Our former mayor submits a myopic view of letters to the editor and secures an instant inadvisable change to editorial policy, all in one fell swoop in last week’s Eagle. First, background: The vitriolic candidate trolling refers to letters criticizing our tax assessor, Bill Coons, and the first one was from Lori Hamp on March 22, before the beginning of our local political season. Next edition featured a response from Bill, and a candidacy announcement from Brian McClain, wisely accepting the opportunity presented. N...
To The Eagle: I am writing you regarding a letter to the editor by Lory Olson. Lory's comments are blatant lies. Carolyn Long's campaign has pledged not to accept money from corporations, and we have not and will not. Carolyn has also been teaching students in the district for 23 years, she's worked with the Vancouver Economic Development council; she's advised the local Rotary on policy, and she has been awarded the Iris H-RoC award, among many others, for her work in the local community. Lory is intentionally misrepresenting Carolyn's...
To The Eagle: Concerning last week’s “Advice to Newcomers,” I’d like to share my own experiences as a recent newcomer to this area. The hardest thing for me is the lack of compassion for animals. Dogs run loose, almost getting hit by cars, dead cows lay in fields for days (to no one’s great concern), wild animals getting killed for target practice. And, most of all, there is no animal control to report abuse or neglect. So, you have to drive by it and witness it and not be able to do anything about it. Another major problem is the gun shoot...
To The Eagle: George Wehrfritz advances an idea that “The Eagle” has been too free in giving space to “an internet-style troll “ who is attacking candidates running for office. He prescribes limiting the privilege of expressing one’s opinions in the newspaper to just one letter per person per campaign cycle. (He himself has written two so far.) He seems to be disturbed by the expression of points of view in conflict with his own. He lumps them all together as the work of one person he calls a troll. That may be his individual perceptio...
To The Eagle: Free Summer Lunch Program. Four simple words. It can happen here. Four simple words. In coordination with the Wahkiakum School District’s Summer School schedule, we hope to offer free lunches at JA Wendt Elementary School, Mon – Thursday at noon, beginning July 16 and ending August 16. Community members have been meeting for a month working out details on how to bring a Summer Lunch program to kids in Cathlamet. A critical piece to this happening is volunteers stepping forward to help prepare and serve the meals. If you have tim...
To The Eagle: Anyone going through Cathlamet this spring has to be impressed by how much nicer it looks, and those responsible deserve a large "thank-you." The new sign at the courthouse looks so much better than the rotted one. The Wahkiakum Bloomers did a beautiful job of placing vibrant blue pots of red and white flowers along Main Street, and quite a few businesses followed suite, brightening up the downtown area and highlighting the painting of several stores in that area. Julius Dalzell whacked the brush and weeds along the waterfront tra...
To The Eagle: A top-two primary election is on August 7, 2018. Three Democrats are candidates in the primary for the 3rd Congressional District, David McDevitt, Caroline Long and Dorothy Gasgue. While Gasgue, Long and McDevitt are all Democrats there are differences. David McDevitt is the Progressive candidate. Long self-identifies as a moderate. Gasgue has said she is a “Libertarian Progressive.” McDevitt will work for fair progressive tax policies, a single-payer universal health care plan, a living wage, affordable housing, safe sch...
To The Eagle: Last night at the town council meeting, they had an executive session to discuss the purchase of the small parking lot between Butler Street and the Bank of the Pacific. When they came out of session, a motion was made to purchase the lot for $68,000. After a second another council member raised discussion regarding the assessed value being $34,000 and the appraised value being $38,000 when she was interrupted by Council Member Sue Cameron claiming a point of order. She claimed that because these numbers were discussed in...
