Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1001 - 1025 of 2699
The year-old ferry Oscar B. is back in service again, but the saga of its mechanical troubles is far from over. During a high river, debris plugged the intake for the water cooling system for the engine generators, and the ferry was tied up to find a mechanical solution. Consulting engineers came up with two solutions, and the ferry ended up in a Vancouver shipyard where workers installed a self-contained cooling system along the keel. The ferry went out of service December 10 and was supposed...
Without a clear mandate, Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday tabled a vote on forming a flood control zone district for the Flandersville/Cape Horn neighborhood. Some residents urged the commission to adopt the resolution forming the district, which would be the residents' formal organization to work with the US Army Corps of Engineers to deposit dredged sand along their eroding shoreline. However, one resident of the western end of the shoreline, Jim Hobart, said he and his neighbors didn't need sand in front of their properties. They...
News from Naselle: Sports calendar for the coming week: Friday, middle school boys basketball with North Beach in Naselle at 5:45 p.m.; Wednesday, middle school boys basketball at Raymond at 5:45 p.m. Go Comets! No school on Monday, the 15th, in honor of President’s Day. Enjoy your three day weekend. The Naselle-Grays River Valley School Board will hold their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, the 16th, at 6:30 p.m. The Annual Valentine’s Smorgasbord, sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary will be held this weekend on Sunday, at the Nasell...
Wahkiakum County department heads discussed upgrades to courthouse security with the board of commissioners on Tuesday. Commissioners also heard reports from health department officials and addressed other business. Officials agreed they would like to upgrade security in the courthouse. Sheriff Mark Howie opened discussion by noting that some doors aren't secured during trials, which can draw angry people. He suggested card locks be installed that would allow vetted employees to enter but which would steer others to the security entrance....
Wahkiakum County officials hope to have replacement shaft seals to repair the ferry Oscar B. by the end of this week. The ferry had been out of service most of December and January to install a new generator cooling system. The ferry left a Vancouver shipyard Tuesday, January 26, apparently ready to resume service the next morning. However, the crew noticed a strange noise coming from the engine room, and upon investigation, they found that shaft seals had failed and were leaking. Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer learned that...
OLYMPIA—Lawmakers are looking to modify the Public Records Act in an effort to help local agencies that claim they’re burdened by overly broad and massive public-records requests. House Bill 2576 would give local agencies the power to limit the time they spend each month responding to public-records requests, and would allow local agencies to charge a fee for providing public records that are requested for commercial purposes. Rep. Joan McBride, D-Kirkland, the bill’s sponsor, said the bill isn’t meant to undermine transparency in local g...
The Oscar B. was expected to resume service between Puget Island and Westport early Wednesday morning, but service was halted when the crew discovered leaking shaft seals. Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer explained why in this early morning email: "Due to leaking shafts the Ferry Oscar B will be down until new shaft seals can be installed. At this point I do not have a time frame. The shaft seal supply company is located in Renton, WA. If they have the required seals we will...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to help Diking District 5 complete repairs to a dike along Skamokawa Creek. Diking Commissioner Tim Schmitz said district is applying to the state Department of Ecology for funding for work that would bring the whole dike up to US Army Corps of Engineers standards and also add trails for hikers and kayakers. The district completed Phase 1 of the improvements in 2014, repairing 2,635 feet of dike and improving an inlet structure. The county participated in the local match for the grant funds to...
Wahkiakum County commissioners set the stage for creation a flood control zone for Cape Horn and handled a variety of other business when they met Tuesday. The board set a February 9 public hearing on a resolution to create the district, which will enable Cape Horn residents to sponsor beach nourishment work and levy a tax to support the work. Residents of Cape Horn and East Sunny Sands have been seeking beach nourishment with dredge spoils to counter erosion to their shorelines. Commissioner Dan Cothren reported the county and US Army Corps...
I’m writing this column with a heavy heart as we lost a precious furry member of our family on Monday evening. Grym would have been 16 years old on the 27th, and our neighbors, Al and Nancy George lost Grym’s brother, Butch earlier this month. It’s amazing how much joy these pets bring to our lives and when they pass it’s as if it were a human member of your family. He gave us many years of pleasure and fun times, as well as two more generations of furry family. He will be missed. Well, the good news is:The frogs are singing every night a...
Wahkiakum County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a proposed ordinance to regulate junk and solid waste on private property. Around 50-60 people attended a public hearing before the vote, and speakers at the hearing voiced opposition and support of the ordinance. The ordinance has been three years in the making. Responding to public input, the board of commissioners held community meetings on the issue in the spring of 2013, and citizens at those meetings overwhelmingly...
The Oscar B. was expected to resume service between Puget Island and Westport early Wednesday morning, but service was halted when the crew discovered leaking shaft seals. Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer explained why in this early morning email: "Due to leaking shafts the Ferry Oscar B will be down until new shaft seals can be installed. At this point I do not have a time frame. The shaft seal supply company is located in Renton, WA. If they have the required seals we will send a person today to pick them up and get them...
The Town of Cathlamet, Wahkiakum PUD and the state Department of Health (DOH) are working on a plan that will keep the local agencies from restricting new connections to their joint water systems. In 2015, they notified the town that a limit on new connections to both town and Puget Island water systems was possible because the town's water plant couldn't pump enough water from the Elochoman River in summer to meet the plant's capacity. In the fall, the town Public Works Department used compressed air to clean the perforated line that runs...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 covered a lot of ground at their meeting Tuesday but set up action for their February 16 meeting. Carrie Backman of the Wahkiakum Marine Resources Committee discussed bringing ice machines and mobile fish cleaning units to the county to assist commercial fishers in adding value to their catches. She said the two ice machines, which would be capable of generating 8-10,000 lbs. of ice in a 24-hour period, should be located on a concrete slab with access to water and electricity. She and port officials discusse...
News from Naselle: Sports calendar for the coming week includes: Thursday, high school boys basketball at Twin Valley and high school girls basketball at Wishkah at 5:45 p.m.; Friday, high school boys and girls basketball with North River in Naselle at 5:45 p.m.; Monday, middle school boys basketball with South Bend in Naselle at 5:45 p.m.; Wednesday, high school girls basketball with South Bend in Naselle at 5:45 p.m., middle school boys basketball at North Beach at 5:45 p.m. Go Comets! Naselle Booster Club’s annual birthday and anniversary c...
OLYMPIA--When wildfires ignited around Twisp last summer, Meg Donohue said her coffee-roaster business shifted from being a popular gathering spot for the community to a place for up-to-the-minute news. “We found ourselves kind of being a hub for information, and a way for people to connect with each other, and find out what’s going on,” said Donohue, a Twisp resident and co-owner of Blue Star Coffee Roasters. The coffee retailer is one of many locally-owned businesses in Twisp that felt the impact of last year’s wildfire season—Washington’s wo...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday signed a letter to Governor Jay Inslee requesting Inslee's assistance in upgrading the county's trust timberlands. In the past, the county has derived substantial revenue from state managed timberland. However, since 1999, approximately 3,000 of the county's 12,600 acres have been set aside as habitat for endangered species and are therefore off limits to harvest which results in a reduced base of revenue for county government. County officials have long sought compensation for the encumbered lands and...
Difficulty in obtaining parts has resulted in a delay in the anticipated repair of the ferry Oscar B, Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced last Thursday. On Jan. 5, Public Works officials said a shipyard had said that repairs could be completed in "6-9" days, which would have been the end of this week. However, that shipyard ran into difficulty in obtaining parts, and Beyer had to change course and contract with a second yard. The change in plans now means that the repairs could be completed around January 22. The...
News from Naselle: Sports calendar for the coming week includes: Friday, boys and girls basketball with Oakville in Naselle at 4:15 p.m.; Tuesday, middle school boys basketball at Willapa Valley at 5:45 p.m., high school girls basketball at Lake Quinault at 7:00 p.m.; Wednesday, middle school boys basketball at Ocosta at 5:45 p.m. Go Comets! Do you remember the Chinese New Year Celebration last year, in conjunction with the new Chinese immersion program at the Naselle School? Well, mark your calendar for February 20, 4-8 p.m., to help...
Wahkiakum County officials are working with residents of the Cape Horn/Flandersville area to form a political entity to address erosion issues. The parties met Tuesday at the end of the weekly meeting of the board of county commissioners to set boundaries for a flood control zone district. The district identifies an area with erosion problems, an organization sponsor work to address them, and property that could be assessed to help cover costs. After going over maps prepared by the Public Works Department, citizens and officials agreed to...
A difficulty in obtaining parts has resulted in a delay in the anticipated repair of the ferry Oscar B, Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced Thursday. On Jan. Public Works officials said a shipyard had said it could complete the repairs in "6-9" days, which would have been completed around Jan. 15. However, that shipyard ran into difficulty in obtaining parts, and Beyer had to change course and contract with a second yard. The change in plans means that the repairs should be completed around Jan. 22. Here is the text of...
It's a new year, and Wahkiakum County officials feel they're ready to see progress in efforts to have dredged sand placed on eroding shorelines. Last year, county officials began working with Puget Island residents to get the US Army Corps of Engineers to plan sand disposal along East Sunny Sands. Residents there have been experiencing erosion and would like sand replenished there to save their homes and property. County officials met with Corps personnel and outlined a process that would potentially replenish the beach in 2016 and set up a...
The ferry Oscar B. should be back in service sometime late next week, Wahkiakum County officials said Tuesday. The US Coast Guard ordered the ferry docked three weeks ago after debris plugged the fresh water cooling intake for the primary and auxiliary generators. Inspectors and engineers have settled on a design for modifications to the intake, and the county commissioners on Tuesday authorized Public Works Director Chuck Beyer to select one of two shipyards to begin the work as soon as possible. Beyer said the work should be done in 7-9...
The ferry Oscar B. should be back in service sometime late next week. Inspectors and engineers have settled on a design for modifications to the cooling water intake, and the county commissioners on Tuesday authorized Public Works Director Chuck Beyer to select one of two shipyards to begin the work as soon as possible. Beyer said January 7 that the work should be done in 7-10 days....
Plans for repair of the ferry Oscar B. are in process, but it will be some time before the ferry is back in service. The ferry sucked up sticks and floating debris during high water December 11 and has been tied up since. Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer said Tuesday that Elliott Bay Design Group, who designed the vessel, was wrapping up repair plans and would pass them this week to the US Coast Guard for their inspection. Basically, the proposed plan involves improving the...
