Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 2051 - 2075 of 2699
Last week was National EMS Recognition Week, and the Cathlamet Town Council and Mayor George Wehrfritz adopted this resolution recognizing the work of emergency responders. We heartily endorse the proclamation. The local volunteers make significant sacrifices and do wonderful work. Proclamation Whereas, May 15-21, 2011, has been designated as National EMS Recognition Week, and Whereas, It is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to our Cathlamet Fire Department and EMS services for their service and sacrifices to the Town of Cathlam...
Cathlamet town council members approved a request for an easement to serve a planned subdivision when they met for their monthly meeting Tuesday. Council members also reported on construction projects, grant applications and the state audit of the town's finances. The council voted 4-0 to authorize an easement across town property east of town on SR 4 for Les Burns. Burns and his partners are planning a 25-house subdivision on land near the Burns Construction rock pit. They would connect to the end of the town's water system at Fern Hill, run...
Wahkiakum County commissioners agreed Tuesday to implement a series of assessments on persons sentenced to jail in order to raise funds for court security. District court Judge Bill Faubion presented the proposal, which carried support from Superior Court Judge Michael Sullivan. The judges have implemented a program using two retired law enforcement officers to search persons entering the courtroom when court is in session. Commissioners have funded the program reluctantly and urged the judges to find a source of funds for the expense. Faubion...
News from Naselle: Though I wasn’t able to see a “Beauty and the Beast” performance this past week, I have heard nothing but rave revues. Some folks liked it so much that they actually went to see it twice. It’s comments like those that should make this community very proud of our wonderful Barb Swanson and her expertise in putting together these productions every year, while giving our kids the opportunity to gain self confidence and perform in front of appreciative audiences. This community is so fortunate to have good teachers and a wonderfu...
Filing for positions on the 2011 election ballots will run June 6-10 in the office of the Wahkiakum County Auditor. Positions on the ballot will include: Fire District 1, Commissioner Position 2, six-year term; Jim Jespersen incumbent. Fire District 2, Commissioner Position 2, six-year term; John Lindsey incumbent. Fire District 3, Commissioner Position 2, six-year term; Dennis Nagasawa incumbent. Fire District 4, Commissioner Position 2, six-year term; Wayne Cochran incumbent. Cemetery District 1, Commissioner Position 1, six year term,...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday rejected a proposal to replace aging locks in the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Office. Commissioners objected to the $2,700 price tag for three touchpad locks. Two would have been at entrances to the office; the third would have been a new lock for the door between the dispatching center and officers' offices. One existing lock, in particular, is troublesome to operate, said Chief Civil Deputy Joannie Bjorge. Sheriff's office supervisors had asked Building and Planning Director Chuck Beyer, who also...
The Washington Department of Ecology has threatened to sue the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners over the county's new biosolids ordinance. "Bring it on," the commissioners said in effect on Tuesday. In a May 5 letter, the director of the state Department of Ecology threatened to file suit over the ordinance adopted April 26 to prohibit the application of all but the highest class of biosolid in the county. In the letter, DOE Director Ted Sturdevant says the department will file suit unless the county rescinds the ordinance. The letter...
Finally, it appears like Spring might really be here. We are even seeing a little bit of sun now and then, and the daytime temperatures are above 40 degrees. Welcome, Spring! News from Naselle: Sports coming up this week for the Comets: Thursday, the 12th-middle school track at North Beach; Friday, the 13th- high school track at South Bend. Go Comets. There will be a Naselle-Grays River Valley school board meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday, you can enjoy the elementary music program at Naselle School, featuring students in first thro...
The populist political movement that swept the nation last year is alive and well in Wahkiakum County. A group of conservative citizens upset about perceived threats to private property rights last year convinced the county board of commissioners to form the Wahkiakum County Property Rights Review Board to advise the board on issues that might affect private property. The board gave its first report this year, advising the commissioners to oppose a state Department of Ecology permit to allow a Long Beach company to dispose of septage biosolids...
Officials from Port District 2 and Wahkiakum County met Tuesday to continue their efforts to find a way to maintain navigation buoys on Grays Bay. Responding to citizen requests, the port purchased and installed the buoys in 2005. However, this year, port commissioners announced they wanted to end their sponsorship of the buoys because of a lack of funds to cover the expenses. County commissioners asked that the boards meet and try to find a means of maintaining the buoys. They pointed out that the county had contributed several thousand...
In a May 5 letter, the director of the state Department of Ecology threatened to file suit against the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners over the ordinance adopted April 26 to prohibit the application of all but the highest class of biosolid in the county. In the letter, DOE Director Ted Sturdevant says the department will file suit unless the county rescinds the ordinance. The letter states that the department has legislative authority to adopt rules for a biosolids program and that the department has done so, with staff in each region...
Naselle Comet sports schedule for this week includes today's high school track at Raymond, a freshman track meet at Centralia on Saturday, and a middle school track meet at home on Monday. Go Comets! Naselle-Grays River Valley Booster Club will hold its monthly meeting on May 10 at 6:30 p.m. Lyle Patterson joined Mr. Dalton’s junior US History class on April 29 to continue their interview project with local veterans. The program is a partnership with the Appelo Archive Center and American Legion Post 111 in an effort to preserve the v...
The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors adopted Wednesday evening a policy offering students thought to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol the opportunity to provide a urine specimen for drug testing. The board also updated the policy's practices for handling students suspected of being under the influence to include language offering the opportunity to provide a urine sample for testing. Superintendent Bob Garrett said he had discussed the policy with Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow and that the policy had changed a little...
Local officials and the Columbia Land Trust are nearing final agreement on a dike project on Mill Road near Rosburg. The land trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring salmon habitat along the Columbia River, proposes breaching an existing dike to create a 45-acre tidal wetland and replacing the dike by constructing a new dike along a stretch of Mill Road. Relocating the dike as the new road bed requires approval of the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners, and last year when the land trust proposed the project, commissioners...
Wahkiakum County commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the application of certain grades of biosolids in the county. The ordinance, which will take effect after it is published, allows application of only the highest grade of treated human waste, Class A biosolids, and bans application of lower grades, Class B and septage biosolids. Commissioners held a public hearing on a biosolids ordinance last year. This year, they asked Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow to provide an ordinance with tighter controls. Bigelow furni...
Thank you, Wahkiakum County Commissioners Blair Brady and Dan Cothren for stepping up to the plate and passing an ordinance, two votes to one, restricting the use of septic sludge and any biosolids not determined to be Class A in Wahkiakum County. Also a thank you to Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow for putting it all together to be voted on. Another thank you to the folks who have supported passing an ordinance, through their letters and phone calls and for attending meetings with regard to this issue. You all know who you are. News from Nasel...
Improvement to the timber market should bring more revenue to Wahkiakum County, a state Department of Natural Resources forester said Tuesday. SW Washington Manager Steve Ogden reported Tuesday to the board of county commissioners, saying Wahkiakum County should receive around $1.14 million in revenue from state managed trust timber lands in 2011. The funds are a major revenue source for the county's Current Expense Fund and courthouse offices. The four-year average for revenue from county trust lands is $1.12 million, he said. Strong overseas...
The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors adopted Wednesday evening a policy offering students thought to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol the opportunity to provide a urine specimen for drug testing. The board also updated the policy's practices for handling students suspected of being under the influence to include language offering the opportunity to provide a urine sample for testing. Superintendent Bob Garrett said he had discussed the policy with Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow and that the policy had changed a little...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 of Wahkiakum County repeated their desire to end responsibility for maintaining Grays Bay channel buoys when they met Tuesday. Port 2 officials have said they have neither the expertise nor the equipment to maintain the buoys, which the district installed about five years ago after citizens requested the port mark the channel out of Deep River. Last week, board members told the county board of commissioners they would work with the county, which contributed funds for the buoy project, to find a solution to t...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday authorized Assessor Bill Coons to extend clerical hours of his clerks to tackle a backlog of appeals and related issues. Commissioners have authorized Coons to employ a temporary clerk and extend the hours of regular clerk Marsha Souvenir in an effort to handle the backlog. Two weeks ago, he said, the office had been able to clear up 68 of 285 appeals, he said. Since then, they've been able to take care of another 20 appeals, he said. Coons said progress was slowed by a new wave of appeals from Puget...
The Cathlamet Town Council on Monday reviewed a lot of business that is involving a lot of waiting. The design for the town's new sewer plant will be completed soon, said engineer Ken Alexander of Gray and Osborne, Inc., engineering. Now, the town has to wait to see what funding will be available from state and federal sources. The firm is now negotiating with the state Department of Transportation over right-of-way issues, Alexander said. And because the new access road will go over a wetland, the town will have to find a spot for mitigation h...
Wahkiakum County commissioners appointed two persons Tuesday to fill vacancies on the county Real Property Rights Advisory Board. The board was formed late last year in response to citizen interest in land use issues that surfaced in 2010. Since forming, the board has been meeting once a month; a meeting is scheduled tonight (Thursday), 7 p.m., in the commissioners' meeting room of the courthouse in Cathlamet. The board's powers and duties are: --To review and provide comments on plans and policies developed by the county authority with effect...
Wahkiakum County officials reviewed their responses in recent emergencies and come away with ideas for improvement. Officials met Tuesday afternoon of a "hotwash" review of what worked well and what didn't in responses to last month's tsunami warning and last week's closure of SR 4. Discussion centered on response time and means of sharing information among themselves and with the public. The county has no emergency services department; it was eliminated in budget cutting two or three years ago, so the sheriff's office coordinates emergency...
Members of the boards of commissioners of Wahkiakum County and Port District No. 2 on Tuesday agreed to consider how they might continue to maintain channel marker buoys on Grays Bay. The channel is not part of a system maintained by the US Coast Guard. A private towboat company once maintained channel buoys but pulled them when they ceased operating from Deep River. In response to citizen input about eight years ago, Port 2 agreed to install the buoys, and the county agreed to contribute $7,000 for the project. Local boaters marked the...
Fishermen and public officials from the lower Columbia River area continue to watch salmon run numbers and fishery management agencies to see what further harvest opportunities may be scheduled. County commissioners from Clatsop and Wahkiakum counties met Monday as part of a four-county group that meets to lobby on fishery issues ranging from salmon catch to off shore fishing closures. The commissioners heard of the demise of a proposed bill in the Oregon legislature to ban commercial fishing on the mainstem of the Columbia, and they agreed to...
