Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Town council recall conclusions To The Eagle: Recently the Concerned Citizens of Cathlamet (CCC) petitioned to have Dale Jacobson, Ryan Smith, Jean Burnham and Sue Cameron recalled from their Town of Cathlamet positions. CCC is comprised of a dozen or so local residents that are mostly prominent community members. We had seen enough of these four people’s actions (and lack of) that we felt changes were needed. This recall has been a widely talked about issue and I won’t bother rehashing the circumstances behind the almost two year effort. The S...
To the Eagle: The letters of two correspondents, published on September 5 and comments from an earlier writer have made me cringe. Two writers predict a recession were Mr. Trump to lose in 2020. Recession is traditionally defined as a slow-down in economic growth precipitated by rising unemployment and a decline in the stock market and in retail sales. Granted, the unemployment rate is low, however, how many full- and part-time employees now work for a minimum wage? While there has not been a constant, precipitous decline in the stock-market,...
To The Eagle: A recent letter to The Eagle promoting Trump is an example of the current divide between Republicans and Democrats. For decades the Republicans were the party with the highest educational attainment, but that trend has reversed and the writer of that letter demonstrates the typical functionally illiterate Trump supporter. In 3rd Grade most of us learn that a sentence includes a single thought. There is usually a subject and a noun. The writer, without articulating any real policies, rants continuously and only randomly inserts a...
To The Eagle: “Working poor” describes the 40.6 million Americans who are 12.7 percent of our total workforce trying to live on minimum wage jobs. It is impossible. The mandated federal minimum wage is worth less today, adjusted for inflation, than it was 50 years ago. Unemployment statistics rosily report more people working more jobs than ever, but those numbers reflect a more ominous phenomenon. More people are working two or more jobs just to stay above water. Wage rates have stagnated over the last 30 years as the prices of everything fro...
To The Eagle: The next Democratic Presidential Candidate Debates will be held today (Thursday) at 5 p.m. (8 p.m. EDST). The threshold that candidates must meet to be on the debate stage has now doubled. So although there are 20 Democratic presidential candidates still in the race (six of the original 26 have now dropped out), only 10 of the remaining 20 qualified for the next debates. More debates. Humpf. There’s probably a lot of things you could think to do instead of watching and listening to 10 people on a debate stage for two h...
To The Eagle: I just returned from a great family reunion in Denmark--27 cousins and families. I had hoped to get a break from Trump’s absurd words and actions. So much for wishful thinking. Trump’s proposal to buy part of Denmark caused a lot of astonished laughs, with every conversation somehow leading to: “How could you elect someone so strange.” To which I defended myself by saying, “I didn’t, our system did,” and then having to explain how the popular vote doesn’t count. That said, it was really nice to see how clean and tidy it is ther...
To The Eagle: I have observed that money owed and not repaid and obligations and/or agreements not honored all tend to destroy or lessen relationships and harm the one not fulfilling what they agreed to. How does this happen? When a person places the value of money or goods over their given word, they are then less willing to communicate to the person who is the victim of their short-coming. The truth often gets distorted and in general relationships deteriorate and often end completely. Why am I bothering to write this? Because of a recent...
To The Eagle: Guns are a normal part of American life. Constant referral to the 2nd Amendment, and more recently NRA activities separate us from the rest of the world. While we are an advanced nation, mass killings with assault weapons and related weapons with multiple cartridge magazines, further separate us from having an advanced and safe society. Mass killing can now be considered near normal; part of American life. As you read this letter, we can all ask and wait, where and when next? While some claim that it is those with mental illness...
To The Eagle: With every social ill we have seemingly expanding by the day, let us remind ourselves that the democrat socialist blob controls every major city government, every major university, every TV and motion picture company, every major internet giant, and every major newspaper in our nation. The foolishness and lack of thought of our age is apparent. And then we have the arrogant and heedless among us who will hector and vilify us for not voting for the "progressives," the soft [and hard] left. We reject the foolish and failed policies...
To The Eagle: It has come to my attention through Downriver Dispatches that there are plans to slow the speed limit through Rosburg. This is wonderful news, however, there has been no mention of the need to slow traffic through Grays River. The accident on Thursday the 29th just west of the Methodist church is another indication of the need of a safer speed. The driver was apparently unharmed, but the car needed to be towed. This is one of many that go unnoticed and needs to be addressed before someone other than deer get killed. Neighbors...
To The Eagle: In last week’s Eagle, Dennis Gordon offers us the dubious choice of catastrophes: re-election of Trump or economic recession. Dubious, because the former is likely to happen, and conjuring up the latter is a last-ditch effort by the Dems and drive-by media to prevent it. Dethroning The Donald has been a full time obsession for this crowd since 2016, and has pretty much blown up in their faces. The first defenestration effort blossomed into the Russia collusion hoax which has now been exposed as clumsy espionage attempting to s...
To The Eagle: In considering long-term consequences for America, its citizens, and the entire world, which of the following two possibilities would, in your opinion, be the most significantly catastrophic: 1) a corrective financial recession during 2020-21 or 2) reelection of Donald Trump in 2020? If you choose to answer my query, I would be interested in hearing your reasons for making the choice. Dennis T. Gordon Puget Island...
To The Eagle: Our US Representative Jamie Herrera Beutler deserves praise for voting against H.R. 3877—the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019. This budget is projected to add $1.7 trillion to the national debt, which is already over $22.5 trillion and rising fast. Federal debt is now the largest it has ever been in the history of our country during peacetime and it should be noted that government debt is rising even while the economy is expanding. On this track, publicly held debt will hit 144% of GDP by 2049—what looks to be an all-time high. As...
To The Eagle: This nation, our culture and our communities are polluted by the stench of gun oil and cordite and the ominous crack of gunfire such as I’ve heard echoing from a ranch several acres away from us. That awful, staccato pop-pop-pop-popping of small arms fire, followed by the mechanical chattering rip of a much heavier weapon, announces dangerous and probably illegal doings beyond the distant misted hayfields. Such is my idyllic rural neighborhood which I share with strangers in rusty trucks parked in the middle of the road as they s...
To The Eagle: I am sure Mr Skemp believes what he says is true, and has the best intentions, but awareness of facts and knowledge of weapons soon show these things to be totally untrue. His statement “These semi-automatic weapons are not used for hunting, they are not appropriate for target shooting, they are designed to kill and maim humans. These guns are weapons of war, not sport.” Each part of this statement is vastly untrue. Semi-automatic rifles have been around since the early 1900s. Most were designed for hunting and or sport. The fol...
To The Eagle: I would like to give a special thanks to Beau Renfro for doing such a great job on maps and to Darlene Jenson for help delivering numbers for the PIGYS sales. Thank you to all who participated in PIGYS this year whether as sellers or buyers. You are the reason our sale is a success and I do appreciate you all. We could not have done it without you. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write this. If you’ve not returned your number sign please do so soon. We need them for next year. You can drop them off at 47 School House Road....
To The Eagle: Last week’s Eagle had a nifty photo of my wife Judy presenting a $500 gift of animal rescue equipment and monetary canine program support to Sheriff Howie on behalf of the Irish Wolfhound Club of Puget Island, with me, Under Sheriff Howell, drug dog Dakota and wolfhound Valley Girl framing the photo. All well and good, except there is no Irish Wolfhound Club of Puget Island, so the photo may have left the impression that Judy and I had more to do with the donation than we actually did. The gift was actually from the Irish W...
To The Eagle: Last Tuesday, August 6, the Puget Island Fire Department hosted its 3rd annual "National Night Out" event at the fire hall. We had a large number of friends and neighbors stop in to say hello and enjoy hot dogs and root beer floats, making it a tremendously successful event. It was a fun evening for all involved and a pleasure meeting and visiting with people from our community. We would like to thank two of our local businesses, River Mile 38 for the root beer donation and the Cathlamet Market for donating the ice cream, along...
To The Eagle: In April we got a substantial job that required adding 6000 s.f. to our existing facility. We got the building permit in less than 48 hours. Construction was finished and we moved in in 60 days. This morning I went in to the county health department to ask some questions about a septic system we had installed maybe 20 years ago. I walked away with my answer and a look at the original permit in about two minutes. This is the greatest county to live in the entire State of Washington. Thank you, Wahkiakum County employees! Robert L....
To The Eagle: We want to recognize and publicly acknowledge the good folks at Norse Hall and everyone involved for the fantastic support that made our May wedding an event to remember. The board and volunteers at the Sons of Norway pulled out all the stops to make our event a successful one. We are so grateful and we heartily recommend Norse Hall for any and all events in the county, with or without the Viking ship! Words can never express how thankful we are to the good folks at the Sons of Norway and all concerned. David and Dayle Olson...
To The Eagle: As many of you know I have written a few other pieces to our newspaper about the situation of guns in America. I have proposed a tax on ammunition to help fund research on just exactly what can be done to stop this carnage and to help the very innocent victims of these people of hate. This will not be enough and we must start this process by outlawing the weapons that are most often used. These semi-automatic weapons are not used for hunting, they are not appropriate for target shooting; they are designed to kill and maim humans....
To The Eagle: Wow! It’s fair time already. Time to dust off your crafts, fluff up your quilts, frame up your photos, tidy up your begonias, gather up your best canning, and pick your produce. Pick up a fair book at The Eagle, the community center or the extension office for entry instructions. Bring your non-perishable items on Mon., August 11 and the perishables on Tues., the 12th. See you at the fair! Mariane Brightbill Puget Island...
To The Eagle: We had a good turn out for the show. The footing was less than ideal. After the flood and the bull riding event, a lot of big rocks came to the surface. Because the ground did not have sufficient time to dry before the bull riding event, we were left with some holes. Our arena man is Mike Doan. He is from Long Beach and volunteers his time to come and work on our arena. He has done a fantastic job in improving the footing. The arena groomer has been a great asset in improving and maintaining the footing in the arena. We have also...
To The Eagle: It hasn’t gotten front page attention, but a national dispute over cable TV pricing has implications right here in SW WA. Nexstar, the largest television broadcasting company in America, is currently in a dispute over pricing for content they provide to stations around the country. It’s a dispute because Nexstar continues to try to raise prices. Many carriers have balked and Nexstar is threatening to “blackout” it’s content of local stations around the country. It is a shame to think that if Nexstar doesn’t get its way, we wil...
To The Eagle: Some years ago, I planted aspen trees in my yard in honor of my history with Colorado. They have grown to be high and beautiful with soft wood and pretty leaves. I sit on my deck in the morning with my coffee and I watch the life in one tree full of young birds. This year two young woodpeckers have been regularly pecking away at one of those trees, looking for food and talking to me. Yes, they talk away. I actually think the pair of them are talking to each other, but I insist to myself they, along with the other small birds, are...
