Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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To The Eagle: Like us, many of the property owners in Wahkiakum County have invested their entire lives into their property. It is their savings, retirement, future and more. If this makes us a "special interest group" then yes, we are a special interest group that is not interested in risking our investment to more government oversight. The equivalent for the stock investors would be being told what to buy, for how much and when to sell to whom and for how much. The stock investor would then become a special interest group like the property...
Memorial Day is Monday, and here is some information from Flagandbanner.com about related observances, Armed Forces Day and Peace Officers Memorial Day: In the United States, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May. It falls near the end of Armed Forces Week, which begins on the second Saturday of May and ends on the third Sunday of May. The day was created in 1949 to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches – the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the mil...
To The Eagle: Re: proposed Columbia Pacific National Heritage Area discusssion at the meeting of the Wahkiakum County Commissioners. We feel compelled to correct statements made by John Berdes of ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia in his guest column in both the Chinook Observer and The Wahkiakum County Eagle last week. It is illusion to say, "the federal government does not run NHAs." The facts are that when any NHA is created by congressional legislation, the Secretary of the Interior and a management entity create a land management plan. That...
To The Eagle: In the orgy of breast-beating and finger-pointing that followed 9/11, many officials and agencies were accused of the sin of "not connecting the dots" to outline a trail of conspiracy that seemed fairly obvious viewed from atop the rubble. The lengthy plea in last week's Eagle from Mr. Berdes, CEO of the euphoniously named ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia prompts an advance exercise in dot connection. In 1973, several social activists and bankers raised funds and bought a failing bank in Chicago known as South Shore Bank, and...
To The Eagle: You may not be aware but the Elochoman Grange is on the verge of disappearing. For some, the Grange may be a place that brings back memories of social functions, bake sales, dinners and more. For others, there may be sense of mystery; not really knowing what it's all about. For me, the Grange is a big unknown. I have no history with the Grange -- I didn't know much at all until I attended an informational meeting and was given some material to read. But I knew it had something to do with farming, and families, and community. It's...
I don't know about you, but I'm ready to make up my mind on the proposal to form the Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area and include Wahkiakum County in it. Business organizations throughout the region requested the formation of the NHA as a means of creating an internationally recognized brand for the area that could be used in marketing. The idea came out of the coalition formed in the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. Over the years, The Eagle has had occasional stories about the movement, but they've been few and far between because...
Editor's note: John Berdes, president of ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, submitted this response to recent articles and letters to the editor regarding the proposal to form a national heritage area including Wahkiakum and parts of Pacific and Clatsop counties. Although it is much longer than we normally like for letters, we are running all of it because of the amount of public interest in the issue. To The Eagle: ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia thanks and honors all citizens and elected officials who either attended public meetings on the feasibil...
To The Eagle: This week was the answer to our dreams and the culmination of years of incredible hard work and dedication. It proved that grassroots organizing can impact change. Thank you to all the individuals, families, and organizations that were a part of this monumental effort. To every person who showed up at a meeting, testified, rallied, wrote a letter, submitted comment, talked to your neighbors, friends, or family, or who were with us in body or spirit, the Columbia River thanks you. LNG, stay out of the Columbia River! Five years...
Kudos to Steven Sultemeier and Steve Gacke for taking the Naselle/Grays River Valley School Board of Directors to task over alleged violations of the state Open Public Meetings Act. In a complaint filed May 6 in Pacific County Superior Court, the men claim the school board violated the act by holding a special meeting March 9 without posting the required 24 hours notice in advance for the public, despite Sultemeier's warning that the notice was required. The men also claim that the board's agendas for the March 9 meeting and a February 11...
To The Eagle: Our community was stellar last night at the DOE hearing. Though most people would rather have a tooth pulled without pain killer than speak publicly, everyone had valid, well thought out statements and questions. I’d like to thank all those who came from Pacific County to lend their support. This, more than anything else is a reflection of how very much people care about our ecosystem and recognize how fragile it is. Many spoke to the issue of our five threatened species in the Grays River and the inevitable migration of waste i...
To The Eagle: Our once peaceful and "remote" over the hill valley seems to have become overrun by outside interests. We now have NGOs voting (40 votes) on local flood control issues, when they are in the business of taking out dikes. To top that, it is with your tax and ratepayer money, that is fueling this NGO ownership of local land. LCFRB wanted to install a plan for the valley without consulting the affected landowners. This is 10 years after a WDFW letter announced it wanted the whole valley to be flooded. WDFW was not allowed to buy up...
To The Eagle: I read the Naselle school board article in The Eagle last week and noted my comments were not reported correctly, practically regarding Board Policy 1440-Minutes. I have talked to several people who attended the meeting, and they said they were not able to hear everything I said. If possible, I would appreciate a correction in your next addition to reflect what I said. Superintendent Rick Pass, without board action or approval, unilaterally stopped taping the meetings at the March 16 meeting and that is supported by my verbatim co...
To The Eagle: What is a National Heritage Area? Is it a historical area? Is it a specific zoning area? What does it hope to accomplish and by what means? Who will administer it? What is the time frame to opt out and how? Most of the areas that fall into any of the above are usually administered by someone outside the affected area, that is, a board, (non-elected) who is based in another area with more population. The usual targets for historical and heritage sites are to restrict any development through the permit process. They will try and...
To The Eagle: I stopped my work day to attend the county commissioners meeting regarding ShoreBank Cascadia's proposed National Heritage Project. My first question was "Who owns ShoreBank?" Not one single person could answer. None of the people present knew with whom they were proposing to endow such a thing. The commissioners told their audience that just the day before, they had learned that those of us that did not want to participate could opt out! Are they just now being informed of what they can or cannot do? What about having all those...
Death by 1,000 cuts was the way one opponent of NorthernStar's proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant described his group's strategy. It seems to have worked, for NorthernStar announced Tuesday afternoon it is suspending the project because of delays in permitting and "the difficult investment environment." Groups such as Wahkiakum Friends of the River and Columbia Riverkeeper opposed the plant every step of the way, saying the environmental and community safety concerns outweighed any economic benefit of the plant. While...
To The Eagle: In re: Hearing on spreading septage on farmland: I just got off the phone with the head of Solid Waste at the Department of Ecology. My questions were: Why we were not getting the information meeting we had requested? Why a hearing first at which they will have testimony first and a meeting, if there is time ,afterward? The man did not understand my question of why they were holding the hearing first and the meeting after. I tried to explain that it is like taking a test without knowing the material that will be asked in the...
To The Eagle: There's quite a few letters written to The Eagle about the Port District which brings to my attention regarding property tax. I thought property tax was to pay for schools, police, fire departments and roads; so why are we paying tax to the Port District? They seem to be self sustaining enough to take care of its own, especially the marina. Toni Below Cathlamet...
To The Eagle: Re: Ron Ackermann’s letter published 15 April 2010. It is obvious that Mr. Ackermann is unfamiliar with our local Representative, lame duck Democrat Brian Baird. I suggest he Google “brownshirt Pelosi Reid Baird” before drafting another letter to the Eagle. Regarding Tea Party members calling themselves ‘teabaggers’, I further suggest that Tea Party members do not ridicule and denigrate themselves with such vile sexual slang. If they would, they would probably consider themselves ‘teabaggees’ being ‘teabagged’ by Democrat polit...
To The Eagle: Heritage area??? Be very cautious in anything called special planning area, heritage area, etc. What it does is eventually form another layer of bureaucracy in the use of your property. Example: Apply for building permit with county. County determines it could be in heritage area, then it goes to that board who then takes years for that board to decide if it is in the heritage area or will have impact on same. In other areas with like heritage or whatever they may be called districts, it is not unusual to take five to eight years...
To The Eagle: Re: Chuck Wolfe's letter published April 8, 2010. It is obvious that Mr. Wolfe is unhappy with the current situation in Washington DC, as well as here in Washington state. This doesn't come as a surprise, there are many people upset with the recent legislation passed by our elected representatives. True, you may not have voted for them, but they are still your elected representatives, just as G. W. Bush was my president for a time. What I do find surprising is that he would openly label himself as a "brownshirt." The Meriam-Webste...
To The Eagle: Was it necessary to edit out the fact that Grays River Habitat Enhancement District candidate Delvin Fredrickson worked at the Livermore Radiation Lab? That job gave him important knowledge and experience with technology that he is now using in his position on the GRHED. How about an update? 1. Background/resumé --Education: Graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1959; two years military service in the Army as a paratrooper; and continued with four years of college. --Business/professional: Worked as a journeyman plasterer...
To The Eagle: The census system doesn't make sense, or is at the least flawed! After we did not receive a census form in the mail, upon inquiry to our County Auditor Diane Tischer, I was kindly informed that a census form could be obtained from the office of the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce located at the Scarborough Building on Main Street. Later Bob Hendrickson volunteered that he and Margie had also been ignored by the census and he had seen an out-of-town news article that said people with post office boxes instead of home mail delivery...
Eagle readers don't miss much, and I like that. It will be easy to notice that we have an article by reporter Stevan Morgain. His stories and photos have been missing since January. It seems that last fall, his doctors told him he had a tumor on a kidney, and he needed surgery to remove the tumor. The good news was that the tumor wasn't malignant; the bad news was it would be a long, rough road to recovery. We're pleased that he's getting there. For the past two weeks, we've been publicizing a photo contest, "A Day in the Life of Wahkiakum and...
I remember coming upon a beautiful lake in California during my travels in the early 70's and found a boat launch and a camping and picnic area. I donned my swimsuit and ran to the beach area when I was confronted by a sign that said, "No bodily contact with water." One could boat, water ski (with wet suit), canoe but not immerse oneself in the waters of that pristine lake. The powers that be considered our little bodies to be a contaminate and a major one at that. The lake was not impure--we were. When I returned to Portland, we were to go wat...
To The Eagle: Adding to the editorial last week on the health care bill, what hasn’t died down is the utter disdain that the majority of American voters has for the bill, along with the way it was written/drafted and passed into law. That disdain will show up over the next five to eight months, and then in another two years. The only bipartisan part of the bill was in opposition to it, where a few Democrats, worried about this year’s elections, voted against it. All other Democrats drank the Obama Kool Aid! The first year of the Obama adm...
