Community News - December 13, 2012

Bosckis baby born

Jase Seabaerg Bosckis was born December 1, 12 a.m., at the University of Washington Medical Center. According to his family's announcment, "Brave enough to be born in Dawg territory, this little Cougar weighed 8 lbs., 7 oz., and was 20 inches long." He is the son of Amy and Blake Bosckis of Birch Bay. His grandparents are Linda and Dean Seaberg of Puget Island and Connie and Rick Bosckis of Vancouver. Great grandparents are Wilma and Darrel Hall of Longview, Ray and Oraloraine Bauer of Puget Island, the late Midge and Bob Seaberg of Puget Island, Phyllis and Don Scott of Vancouver, and Leona and Charlie Arn of Vancouver.

Learn how to raise mason bees

Master Gardener Billie Bevers will teach the skills needed for raising mason bees at a Washington State University Extension-sponsored course on February 2 at the Cowlitz County Training Center, located at 1942 First Avenue in Longview. For more information or to register, contact Gary Fredricks at 577-3014 Extension 3 or garyf@wsu.edu.

Counties receive salmon recovery grants

The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced Tuesday the award of $19.2 million in grants to organizations around the state to restore and protect rivers and other waterways in an effort to bring salmon back from the brink of extinction.

“These grants are very important in Washington,” said Don “Bud” Hover, chair of the state funding board. “They give local groups the money they need to fix the rivers, estuaries and bays in their communities and they put local people to work.”

Grant recipients will use the money to reconnect rivers and streams, remove barriers that prevent salmon from migrating and replant riverbanks to shade and cool the water, creating places for salmon to reproduce, feed, rest and hide from predators.

Recent Oregon studies showed that every $1 million spent on watershed restoration results in 15-33 new or sustained jobs, $2.2 million to $2.5 million in total economic activity, and that 80 percent of grant money is spent in the county where the project was located.

Using the Oregon study formula, these new grants are estimated to provide more than 280 jobs during the next four years and more than $48 million in economic activity as grant recipients hire contractors, crews, and consultants to design and build projects, including field crews to restore riparian and shoreline areas.

Local projects that were funded include:

--Columbia Land Trust Grant Awarded: $438,008, Restoring the Upper Elochoman River Reach: The land trust will use this grant to restore habitat functionality along 2.6 miles of the Elochoman and on more than 130 acres of habitat. The land trust will place large wood and rock structures and tree root wads in the river to slow it down and allow accumulation of spawning gravel and create more places for salmon to rest, feed, and hide from predators. Old road fill will be removed, and tributary streams and wetlands will be restored. The land trust also will remove invasive knotweed, replant about four acres, and thin and plant another 130 acres along the stream. Finally, the land trust will remove an old railroad bridge and bank abutments. The land trust will contribute $246,609 in cash, a federal grant, and donations of labor and materials.

--Wahkiakum Conservation District Grant Awarded: $205,250. The Wahkiakum Conservation District will use this grant to implement a comprehensive knotweed management program in the Skamokawa Creek watershed. The work will improve water quality and habitat for coho, Chinook, and chum salmon, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as for winter steelhead trout. The conservation district will identify the extent and magnitude of knotweed invasion, treat the shoreline, plant the shoreline with native plants, and educate landowners about continued monitoring and treatment. The extent of the Japanese knotweed infestation is a recurring concern to the community, the Lower Columbia Cooperative Weed Management Area, and Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board. Knotweed can choke out native plants and shrubs that are more beneficial to salmon habitat. In most areas where knotweed is established, the magnitude of the infestation is simply beyond the individual landowner’s comfort level and ability to manage. Landowners have expressed their desire to participate in a watershed approach for managing knotweed. The conservation district will contribute $37,000 from a state Salmon Recovery grant, staff labor and donations of equipment and labor.

--Wahkiakum Conservation District Grant $143,055: The Wahkiakum Conservation District will use this grant to place large logs in Wilson Creek, a side channel, and a small tributary stream. The district also will replant the shoreline with native plants. Wilson Creek is a tributary of Skamokawa Creek. The placement of large logs will help reduce erosion and provide places for salmon to rest and grow. Plants along shorelines shade and cool the water, drop leaves and other sources of food for insects eaten by salmon, hold soil so that it doesn’t cover salmon eggs, and drop branches that slow the river and create places for salmon to rest and hide from predators. The creek is used by chinook, coho and chum salmon, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as winter steelhead. The conservation district will contribute $25,245 from state and federal grants, equipment, and donated labor.

--Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group Grant Awarded $112,500: The Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group and its partner Rayonier Timber Company will use this grant to remove fill left on steep slopes after logging roads were built. The project will stabilize 47 erosive sites along the main stem and south fork of the Grays River. The road cuts and fill on unstable slopes often fail, pushing debris and sediment into the river. The sediment can smother spawning gravels and eggs. The work will benefit fall chinook, coho, and chum salmon, all of which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as winter steelhead. The landowner, Rayonier Timber Company, will contribute $112,500.

--Pacific Conservation District Grant $137,848: The Pacific Conservation District will use this grant to remove four barriers to fish migration on a tributary to the Naselle River in Pacific County. The conservation district will replace one barrier with a bridge, one barrier with a large culvert, and remove the remaining two barriers, leaving open river channels. The landowner is working to restore the riverbanks along the Naselle as well as along the tributary. The conservation district will plant the river banks after the barriers are removed. The tributary is used by coho and chum salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout. The conservation district will contribute $82,960 from a state grant.

Unemployment taxes declining

Unemployment tax rates in 2013 will be unchanged or lower for three-fourths of Washington employers, according to the state’s Employment Security Department.

Overall, the average total tax per employee will rise by $37, to $499 for the year. However, each employer’s actual tax bill will depend on the amount of wages paid to employees and the employer’s rate class.

Some employers will pay more in 2013 because their layoffs increased in the past four years, while others may see a slight increase due to the amount of wages that are taxed.

In 2013, 14 percent of employers will move into lower rate classes, 61 percent won’t change, and 25 percent will move into higher rate classes. More than one-third of all employers will be in the lowest rate class because they had no layoffs in the past four years.

Spirits sales up for first four months of privatization

Despite some serious stockpiling in May, spirits sales by volume were 2.9 percent higher during the first four months of privatization than they were a year earlier, the Washington State Department of Revenue reports. Nearly 13.6 million liters were sold from June through September 2012 compared to 13.2 million a year earlier when state liquor stores were in operation.The average retail price of a liter of spirits, including taxes, was $24.09 in September, compared to $21.58 at state liquor stores a year earlier, an 11.6 percent increase. That equals a nearly $2 increase for a standard 750 ml bottle, to $18.07 from $16.19 last year.

The overall numbers mask a divergence between consumer purchases at retail stores and purchases by bars and restaurants. Consumers purchased 7.9 percent more spirits during this period while on-premise businesses bought 12.6 percent less.

ESD goes after tax refunds

When is an income-tax refund not a refund? When it’s intercepted by the Employment Security Department to repay wrongly claimed unemployment benefits.

This week, Employment Security is notifying more than 25,000 people that their 2012 income-tax refunds may be intercepted to repay benefits they shouldn’t have received.

The department was recently approved to participate in the federal Treasury Offset Program (TOP), which allows Employment Security to cross-match its computer files with the Internal Revenue Service and flag individuals who are delinquent in paying back benefit overpayments. Generally, Employment Security will have first claim on any refunds they have coming.

Many people being targeted for TOP review claimed unemployment benefits fraudulently. Federal law also allows states to use TOP to recover benefits from people who didn’t disclose earnings they received while claiming benefits.

Employment Security will intercept refunds only for individuals who are past due in repaying what they owe. Together, the 25,000 people receiving notices this week owe $61.7 million in delinquent debt to the department.

A year from now, employers with delinquent taxes will be added to Washington’s TOP review, in time for filing 2013 tax returns.