Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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To The Eagle: I read an article “The True Evil of the World Economic Forum” in the American Thinker the other day. According to the article Klaus Schwab, a billionaire elitist, has plans for world domination. His motto is “You’ll own nothing and be happy.” Placing my focus only on the United States I would like to know how he and his elitist friends plan to take the personal property of all Americans. As far as I can tell our Second Amendment currently stands in their way. What an inconvenience! So, what’s their backup plan? It seems their...
To The Eagle: As the chairs of both county parties, we want to thank Sheriff Howie for attending our party meetings this past week, and explaining the communications sales and use tax that will be on our ballot in November. Yes, we are already heavily taxed, however, this is a specific tax to Wahkiakum County that will benefit the safety of our citizens and our first responders! It is not a property tax. Our communication systems are outdated. They don't have the coverage we need to be safe. The last update was in 2005, and it was only a...
To The Eagle: Our challenge as citizens is to not go down the rabbit hole leading to chaos and civil war. Let us not forget the rallying cry of Germany in 1939 was Germany First while on our shores there were more than just a few proclaiming America First. The American hue and cry died down after our country entered WWII. The same forces then are back with the same mantra and goals except the current crop seems to either have forgotten or rather chooses to ignore where the rabbit hole ended up. For the non interested let me remind them that...
Last week turned out to be an exciting week for Eagle staff. You should know that we plan ahead to make sure we cover local events, such as the Finnish American Folk Festival that occurred July 29-31 in Naselle. Reporter Diana Zimmerman already had a series of interviews planned for the weekend, but western Wahkiakum/Naselle correspondent Karen Bertroch said she would be happy to cover the event for The Eagle. I have a compromised immune system and avoid crowds. And when Friday rolled around, I became concerned about my health. My lower left...
To The Eagle: “If folks want to announce how they feel,” said the man, “let them do so in a paid ad, not a letter to the editor. They can print and mail their own broadsheet to county residents.” What condescending claptrap. This is a small local newspaper, not the Scientific American magazine. Most contributors write from the heart, not from a peer reviewed database. Such ‘educated elites’ might opine that we rural bumpkins are better seen than heard. Our loggers, farmers, ranchers and fishermen, homemakers, local professionals, minimum wag...
To The Eagle: Crazy times we are living in, no? Prices for everything are soaring; the national debt has been raised again while we send billions to Ukraine in the newest forever war. Our strategic debacle in Afghanistan has our own military turning on its own with politicized brass more worried about the politics of soldiers than the threat of foreign armies. Our public schools across the country continue to repay poor academic performance with less STEM and civics and more gender bending curriculum. The summer riots of 2020, in which 30...
To The Eagle: It’s painfully clear that the Covid pandemic has caused deaths, to not only people, but sadly also some small businesses that fell through the cracks, getting the help from Biden’s Rescue Plan. Our dependence on parts from all over the world, which had the same problems, is slowly getting back on track. Jobs are at an all time high, with rising wages, though not keeping up with inflation. Gas is finally going back down. I’d like to know why, as there were massive profits for oil companies. Democrats and Biden have a bill in progr...
To The Eagle: Wahkiakum County has placed on the November ballot an initiative for a minimal increase in sales and use tax of 2/10 of 1% (.2%) to set up a fund for future upgrades, repairs, and maintenance for the Wahkiakum County Emergency Radio System. The WCERS serves all residents and visitors and is utilized by all first responders in the county including Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, Public Works, Public Utilities, the Wahkiakum School District, Town of Cathlamet, Washington State Patrol, and all other emergency...
To The Eagle: Mr. Puddicombe suggests in last week's Eagle that those of us holding views that conflict with the wisdom and sagacity of the editor should use paid ads rather than letters to the editor. When I complained about election fraud in Nov of 2020, our editor accused me (in print) of writing "fiction," and announced he would print no further letters on the subject. I responded by offering to put the info in a paid ad rather than a letter. His response to me via email: "If we don't think your letter deserves publication because of...
To The Eagle: Several weeks ago Rick Nelson enumerated several changes to LTE policy. I welcome them but propose another to enhance civic discourse and further minimize ugly and divisive rhetoric: “LTE’s must address a singular issue or idea, and make a sincere effort to persuade readers with facts and reason. Overly-broad, generalized lists of grievances and catalogs of personal beliefs will not be printed.” Limiting letters to a single issue is necessary because many these days simply enumerate dislike of the “other” without any apparent defi...
To The Eagle: Some weeks ago there was an article about turning democracy into autocracy. My letter along with my friend’s letter were both in the following week. What I found interesting is the diametrically opposed interpretation of the same information available to all who seek truth. Seems that truth is more subjective than I had imagined. When asking friends what they are making of the January 6th hearings, some say that they don’t listen/watch because it’s obviously fake news. How would they know that without attending to them? Becau...
To The Eagle: For the incredible things Donald Trump has done to make our country great when he served us as President, it is troubling to read a whole page by the AP in The Eagle reporting about evidences that the January 6th Committee came up with to get Donald Trump impeached. Just how truthful are these evidences? How sad it is to read and listen to such hate. With the collapse, disgrace and chaos going on in our country right now caused by Biden and his party, his son Hunter included, you would think the AP would report about that. Today’s...
To The Eagle: Wahkiakum County proposes a two-tenths of a percent increase in sales tax charged within the county. The county’s current sales tax rate is 7.6 percent. The proposed increase would increase that rate to 7.8 percent. While my general reaction is one of opposition to every tax increase, this proposal has my support. Its goal is to generate funding specifically earmarked to maintain a workable, county-wide emergency radio system. This system is a critical factor in providing residents and visitors to the county with timely e...
To The Eagle: If you get a chance to support our local volunteer fire departments – please do so. Here’s one reason why they deserve it. On July 10, I took a CPR Cerification class at the Cathlamet Fire Department. Volunteer EMT Justin Roberts was the instructor. EMT Steve Lewis was there to help with questions and demonstrations. Justin was obviously very comfortable with the subject matter. He was friendly, informative, encouraging, open to questions and included just enough “war stories” to keep us entertained. The fire department has inv...
To The Eagle: We arrived here 31 years ago, greeted by the slogan "a unique experience awaits you." I was newly retired from 33 years of aviation and Judy from 25 years of law enforcement (though she ended up working 10 more years) so we doubted we'd find much that was truly unique -- but we did. Besides being laid back and friendly, town and county leadership proved to be competent and professional. Response times to both general disasters and personal emergencies were amazingly quick, and if you had a medical emergency, you'd find yourself...
I've decided to implement some changes in The Eagle policy for letters to the editor. First and foremost, letters need to be shortened. In the past, the limit has been 350 words; starting with the July 23 edition, the limit is now 250 words. We seem to have lots of people who want to comment; space is tight. Second, letters laden with disinformation won't be published. The Eagle won't be party to poisoning reader's minds with cons and conspiracy theories. Of course, there's room for debate on issues, but remember to keep it civil and avoid...
Here's a short commentary coming from Tuesday's House Jan. 6 Committee. It's testimony from witness Stephen Ayers: "People dive into the politics, and for me, I felt like I had horse blinders on. I was locked in the whole time. The biggest thing for me is take the blinders Here's a short commentary coming from Tuesday's House Jan. 6 Committee. It's testimony from witness Stephen Ayers: "People dive into the politics, and for me, I felt like I had horse blinders on. I was locked in the whole time. The biggest thing for me is take the blinders...
To The Eagle: Last week’s AP (Jan. 6th Hearing) article had three paragraphs on “sworn testimony” of 2nd hand hear-say. A witness who saw nothing and wasn’t present during the event repeated what others had said, and they were just repeating what they had heard. Hear-Say = Rumors. Sworn testimony needs to be directly from people actually inside the vehicle. Media hyped the rumor testimony as being the “whole picture” of what happened. That created desired public prejudice and a rumor based reality. One writer forgot that the 2nd Amendment w...
To The Eagle: Our neighborhood troll’s “truly amazing” rejoinder to the previous week’s editorial reads like a MAGA rally speech, declaiming election fraud (disproved in every swing state), deriding the “false narrative” of climate change (on the way to making the Southwest uninhabitable) and declaring the 1.02 million fatalities caused by Covid to be part of some ”false narrative,” as well. Calling the Capitol riot of January 6th an insurrection, is not, a “false narrative.” That ongoing Congressional investigation is revealing it to hav...
To The Eagle: A writer in this column recently sought to remind us that the constitution has been amended 17 times, drawing the conclusion the Bill of Rights is not inalienable and insinuating these rights can be “amended.” The fact is if we look at those 17 amendments we will find nearly all of them are written to limit or control the government, not the people. Only one of those 17 amendments limited the freedom of the People. That was the 18th amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. This amendment proved to be such a bad...
To The Eagle: Dan Bigelow is a proven asset to Wahkiakum County. Dan has provided guidance through difficult union issues and shared his knowledge of proper reserve source usage. Dan is always available to advise our elected officials on legal issues pertaining to maintenance of our county government. Let’s show our gratitude to a job well done by re-electing Dan Bigelow as Wahkiakum County Prosecutor. Thank you, Dan Cothren Wahkiakum County Commissioner...
To The Eagle: All this talk about Roe vs Wade, how about preventing abortions? We all know it takes a man and a woman to make a baby. If you need sex and don’t want babies, it is the responsibility of both men and women to use condoms, diaphragms, or any form of birth control or just plain abstain to prevent making a baby. There was a time we saved intimacy and shared that with a mate we love. I hope it still exists. I understand tragedy can happen such as rape or a woman’s health is at a life and death situation. That’s different. Babie...
To The Eagle: I'd known Dan Bigelow for several years and always knew he was the coroner and prosecutor but had no idea that he was an emergency medical technician here in Wahkiakum county. A few years ago I showed up at our health clinic so ill with pneumonia that an ambulance was called to transport me into PeaceHealth in Longview. I imagine that, partially due to my very compromised condition, was the reason I initially freaked out when I saw the coroner come in. He quickly assured me that I wasn't actually dead and he in fact was the ambula...
To The Eagle: Wow; Rasmussen (July 11th) says President Biden’s job approval rating is 37% and his disapproval is 61%. Rasmussen (July 11th) says direction of USA on the right track is only 19%, while 76% say we are on the wrong track. The nation is hurting as the value of each US dollar is still dropping, which artificially triggers more inflation. Fuel costs are still rising, as our president has now started exporting our national oil reserves. The Biden and Patty Murray supported plan to begin taxing unrealized capital gains, is coming to l...
To The Eagle: I am writing regarding the issue of the PUD joining Northwest River Partners (Eagle, 6/23/22). The latest study, Draft Report by Ross Strategic/Kramer Consulting firms, Lower Snake River dams: Benefit Replacement Draft Report, 6/9, 2022, is quite clear there are few to no options left to save S.R. stocks, particularly steelhead, from extinction, without dam breaching. The lower four Snake River dams were situated right on top of salmon spawning and rearing habitat, and removed nearly 140 miles of the best habitat in the Snake....