Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 2257 - 2281 of 2595
The end of 2011 brought a lot of transitions to the ranks of Wahkiakum County's public employees and volunteers. Three county employees retired after decades of public service--Kathy Durrah, a clerk in the auditor's office, Danny Eaton, a skipper of the ferry Wahkiakum, and Eddie Blaine, a member of the road crew on the Westend. It's time for a break--I hope they enjoy it. Some of the people leaving their jobs leave big shoes to fill, and I hope we'll continue to see them involved in public service. David Goodroe has left the Cathlamet Town...
The US House of Representatives gave us a Christmas present of sorts last week. The House and Senate have been working on legislation that would extend payroll tax breaks for low and middle income workers and that would maintain unemployment benefits. Both were set to expire at the end of 2011, and President Obama and Senate and House Democrats have been pushing for an extension. Republicans hadn't supported the extension, saying they wanted long term reductions in spending and federal permit approval of a new petroleum pipeline in Alaska. The...
To The Eagle: On October 15, 2010, my father unexpectedly passed away. With his passing came great upheaval and change in every aspect of my life including having to leave our home of 22 years. In the midst of shock and despair, I discovered the isolation and loneliness brought on by grief of such a significant loss in my life. I put all of my belongings into a storage unit and set off on a journey of healing. Throughout my travels through the UK, Europe, Canada, LA and New York, I met many healers and many others who were kind enough to open...
To The Eagle: At a time when we are trying to conserve our resources it bothers me that the beautiful greetings cards I receive go in the trash. I went online and found there are places that recycle and repurpose these cards so I'm asking for your help. If you would like to donate your cards to the St. Judes Ranch for children, remove the fronts of the cards, (no Hallmark, American Greetings or Disney cards, please.) Also there should be no writing on the back of the card. Take them to the Tsuga Gallery in Cathlamet, Thursday through Saturday,...
To The Eagle: In the summer of 2001, the then GM. of the PUD, Harry Paul, submitted two requests for water system grants for both Puget Island and WWW water systems. In the fall of 2002, both grants were awarded to the two water systems. The largest grant was to the WWW system, which required a 20 percent match for those residents who wished to connect to the existing water system. After years of effort by both the utility employees, commissioners and the hard work of the local Salmon Creek residents, 50 residents committed to pay $4,000 per re...
To The Eagle: The world's largest central banks have agreed to work together to "solve the global financial crisis." In truth, the central banks of the world have deliberately caused the global financial crisis. By offering to solve a worldwide problem they have created they have revealed their real goal which is financial, economic and political control of the nations. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank recently appointed the new Prime Minister of Greece. The world needs sound money now. Thanks to mon...
To The Eagle: I've been using the Wahkiakum Ferry since the mid-1960s, both to work and going to work. During that time until now I've had the privilege to ride and work with these two great skippers, Gary Bergseng and Dan Eaton, both in retirement now. Their service will be missed by all. Olaf Thomason, Sr. Cathlamet...
Following is an article from the National Newspaper Association. As we watch the change in newsmedia, it's good to know that at least some sectors are surviving. It's hard to imagine our nation without good newspapers. Readers in areas served by community newspapers continue to prefer the community newspaper as their sources of local news and advertising. The recently released results of an annual survey conducted by the National Newspaper Association and the research arm of the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of...
To The Eagle: St. James Family Center (SJFC) is the fifth largest employer in Wahkiakum County. As this, we contribute over $450,000 per year in payroll to Wahkiakum County. Over $400,000 of our income is received from state and federal funding sources. Many of our programs offer services to our community's most vulnerable populations, at risk children, low income families, and battered women and their children. As the Governor and legislature struggle with the challenge of balancing a budget with a $2 billion deficit, those programs are in jeo...
To The Eagle: Did you see those Boy Scouts and Lions Club members when they came to your door to collect for the food drive for the Wahkiakum Food Bank? The boy scouts looked so handsome in their scout attire. They collected over 3,300 lb. of food; such a great food drive. If by chance they did not find yours, please call and someone will pick it up. We had almost 100 baskets last year; this year it was 102. I think the wind and rain kept some from coming to get their baskets. I came home three times to get a dry coat. I think they enjoyed the...
Washington voters may have a chance next spring to do what the nation's political leaders can't do--vote on a tax increase to prevent further cuts to social services. Governor Chris Gregoire has said that in order to meet the new expected revenue shortfall, she and the legislature will have to chop away education, health, and public safety programs. She has proposed that the legislature ask voters to approve a temporary half cent increase in the sales tax to help cover the shortfall. Republican politicians in this state and across the country...
To The Eagle: Working on the new logging book recently published by the Appelo Archives Center gave me a deeper appreciation for our local timber industry and what it's meant to the area for over a century. Since I was not raised here, I had to learn and like others who may not know about our local history, it's been a joy to learn. Many look to the Gold Rush in the Yukon for great history, but I challenge folks to look at the Timber Rush in Deep River and imagine the worth of those huge trees if valued with today's money. We determined that...
To The Eagle: Here's an update on the Skamokawa Post office situation. So far we have just received standard responses to our letters involving our Skamokawa Post Office and whether or not we are going to be able to keep it here, where it's been since 1873! I was a bit annoyed to see that being able to buy stamps from our carrier as a main focus in the response letter from the Discontinuance Office, which was the least of our concerns, not to mention that we already knew we could do that, so that was hardly an issue, but it seemed to be the onl...
To The Eagle: "The Eagle has landed." Words of Neil Armstrong landing the lunar module in 1969 or the title of a novel in 1975. Today, however, it has a less elegant connotation: it indicates that our newspaper, The Eagle, has landed clumsily, feathers flying, on one side of a local government problem that has degenerated into a political squabble. The Eagle received an e-mail from write-in candidate Dale Jacobson criticizing the mayor and incumbent councilor Steve McNicholas (Dale's target of opportunity) for their handling of the financial...
Last week we printed a photo of an owl perched on a fire hydrant on Puget Island. Reader sent that photo to us; we appreciate it. On Tuesday, we learned an update about that owl. Rob Stockhouse said the photo was taken near his farm on West Birnie Slough Road. He later found the owl with his chickens. It had killed two and was having a feast. When he approached, it tried to fly away, but it had been injured, Stockhouse observed, and it was trapped in the chicken yard. Stockhouse called a raptor rescue service, and a person from that firm caught...
To The Eagle: I kinda liked old Richard Nixon. He normalized relations with China and did much to tidy up the messy situation in Southeast Asia before his henchmen committed some minor felonious acts at the Watergate and he chose to stonewall and cover up. I had the solution to his problems: release the mysterious tapes, admit the foul-up and press on. But he didn't (son-of-a-gun didn't even call me) and the rest is history. We're at a similar tipping point right here in River City. Our world class Cathlamet Fire Department is required by law...
To The Eagle: I am writing to get ahead of a story that will son be coming out about Columbia View Care Center. Every year, each nursing home in the state has a review conducted by state surveyors. Columbia View just finished this review. Sadly we did not fare well in the eyes of the reviewers. It seemed like every time something could go wrong for us, it did. I could go on at length about the process and what was found during the investigation, but The Eagle (happily for the reader in this case,) has a policy about the maximum length of a lett...
To The Eagle: Citizens of Cathlamet should count themselves lucky: Two good men are seeking votes to fill seats on our Town Council. I am writing to endorse both of these individuals, based on their long records of laudable public service. Steve McNicholas, running as an incumbent in Position No. 1, works in the community’s interest in ways almost too numerous to list. He drives the trolley on market days and organizes volunteers to sweep streets, clean parks and help our elderly neighbors with simple home improvement. He supports our l...
To The Eagle: I was surprised but also pleased to find out that Dick Swart was prepared to re-enter town governance. The news cam in separate letters to both my wife and myself. I was, at the time, perplexed by the recommendation for a write-in candidate to oppose Steve McNicholas; the letter providing no information or justification. I don't know anything about Dale Jacobson except that he may have been associated with some controversy over propane purchases. Mr. Jacobson might be a fine candidate for all I know. What surprised me though was...
To The Eagle: Recently, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to represent cancer patients and survivors in the Third Congressional District and delivered their messages of hope for a future without cancer. I joined more than 600 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across the nation to call on lawmakers to protect funding for cancer research and prevention programs. Thanks to continued breakthroughs in cancer research, millions of people with cancer have reached milestones that they may not have thought possible...
To The Eagle: I tried for two days to contact Pat Reese to tell her how much I enjoyed her response letter to The Eagle and how surprised I was that a nonresident of the town of Cathlamet felt that the town government was more important than the emergency medical services and fire department. Unless, of course, I misread her letter and/or she misread mine. Ms. Reese did raise an interesting point about the "county seat." Did she know that Cathlamet was the territorial (1870s) and state (1889) "county seat" of Wahkiakum County before it...
To The Eagle: Calculating the unsuitability of solar panels and wind generators for use in public utility grid power involved Boolean algebra and Aristotelian logic and runs something like this: solar panels don't work when the sun don't shine and wind generators don't gen when the wind don't blow and selling power from such a shaky setup is real risky--kinda like handing your teenager the car keys and a six pack. Billionaire T. Boone Pickens invested a few million in wind before he figured this out, but he managed to sell out. The Obama...
To The Eagle: I wish to thank Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler for co-sponsoring the endangered salmon predation prevention act (H.R. 946). On October 5, the House Resources Committee voted 29-13 to send this bill to the full house for passage. One can only hope the full House of Representatives and the US Senate will finally act on this long overdue problem of seal and sea lion predation of salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and smelt runs which are in fact being decimated by these predators. These predators have become way over-populated since being list...
To The Eagle: Where is the public safety war with the mayor going? The only certain outcome of the mayor's attempted power grab is a drastic weakening of the Cathlamet fire and ambulance service. For no real reason other than a power grab by the mayor putting public safety at risk. So far it has benefited Fire District 4, which has received many new applications from volunteers, which is good for the areas served by District 4, but bad for residents of Cathlamet who are served by the Cathlamet volunteer fire department. This raises the...
To The Eagle: The letter to The Eagle by attorney George Hanigan has raised some serious questions about the direction of the conflict between the fire department and the Town of Cathlamet. The first concern is the actual disagreement between the requirements of the state auditors and the fire districts, in which the auditors apparently were not able to get access to all the required records of the fire districts. Conflict between the state auditors and any government or private entity is not a good scenario. Transparency and open accounting...
