Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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At least we are seeing some real spring like weather the past few days. The temperatures are still colder than normal, I think. The poor cherry trees and apple trees aren’t sure whether they should start to bloom or not. I guess we just have to chalk it up to “global warming.” News from Naselle Naselle-Grays River Valley School sports calendar for the coming week: Thursday-baseball at Naselle vs. Northwest Christian at 3:30 p.m., track at Wahkiakum at 3:30 p.m.; Friday-JV baseball at Wahkiakum at 3:30 p.m.; Monday-fastpitch and baseball in Nase...
How much warning of potential flooding do residents of Wahkiakum County's low lying areas need? County officials are going to analyze the potential benefit of installing a system that would remotely monitor water levels and report fluctuations by radio to a computer which would post the information on a website and notify emergency management officials of potential flooding. Ron Kimmel, a retired naval officer and amateur radio enthusiast who has been working with the sheriff's office on emergency management issues, brought the idea to the...
Two recent emergencies have highlighted the decline in Wahkiakum County's emergency management system. In a "hotwash" review of responses to the March tsunami and last week's closure of SR 4 because of a landslide, officials talked about the challenges of finding information about the incidents and the challenges of communicating that information with each other and with the public. They identified several problems: Only certain officials can update the county's website and Facebook page, and they can do it only form certain computers....
Welcome sunshine! At least intermittently, for the past few days. Looks like more wet stuff on the way, but at least we know there is a sun. I found my first trillium on the hill above the house. Kinda late but beautiful. They always remind me of my mom. News from Naselle: The Naselle-Grays River Valley sports schedule for the coming week: Thursday-track at South Bend, fast pitch and baseball with Ocosta in Naselle at 3:30 p.m.; Monday-fast pitch and baseball at North Beach at 3:30 p.m.; Wednesday-middle school track at North Beach. Go Comets!...
There was good news and bad news when the Wahkiakum County commissioners met as the county board of health on Tuesday. Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines reported that in a recent survey of health, the county ranked 38th lowest out of the state's 39 counties. However, she said the actual picture isn't that bad. Because of the way the survey is conducted, and because of the county's small size, the statistics are easily skewed, she said. The survey is done by phone and reaches a limited audience, probably of older persons, she said, and that can...
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved an overhaul of the assessor's office and addressed other issues in their meeting Tuesday. The board supported newly elected Assessor Bill Coons's proposal to restructure his department, and commissioners authorized him to hire a temporary part-time clerk, if the move meets with approval from county union officials. Coons, who is a certified appraiser, plans to lay off the department's appraiser and replace him with a full-time clerical deputy. That will allow the department to meet its deadlines, he...
Two men were arrested March 19 in connection with separate domestic violence incidents on Puget Island. They will be arraigned Monday in Wahkiakum County Superior Court on a variety of charges. Shawn N. Gilbert, 27, faces four charges following an incident on that Saturday morning. He is charged with residential burglary/domestic violence, assault in the third degree, escape in the third degree, and violation of a no contact order. According to the charges, Deputy Sheriff Helen Coubra was sent to a Little Island residence at 8 a.m. at the...
Two dozen persons gathered Monday in Cathlamet to learn about youth suicide and what can be done to address it. Mary Jadwisiak, Youth Suicide Prevention Program (YSPP) field coordinator for Clark and Cowlitz counties, led the group through a 45-minute training on signs of suicide among youth and how to respond. Representatives of local mental health agencies, schools, the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Department and other organizations talked about how their groups address youth suicide and its contributing risk factors. At Jadwisiak's prompting,...
The Cathlamet Town Council voted 5-0 Monday to authorize the Cathlamet Fire Department to proceed with purchase of equipment with a $45,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration. The vote went against the recommendation of Mayor George Wehrfritz. He suggested the council delay action until its April meeting so it could hear comments from state auditors who have been examining the town's books since last November. Wehrfritz suggested there could be several problems with the grant, including these concerns: --There is no...
Resolving a couple weeks of sometimes bitter debate, Wahkiakum County Assessor Bill Coons and Commissioners Lisa Marsyla, Dan Cothren and Blair Brady came up with a plan Tuesday to help Coons deal with a backlong that threatens to bring his office to a standstill. Coons, who took office this year, has been dealing with appeals of last year's assessments, errors on tax statements and the implementation of a new computer program for office records and functions. In February, he discovered that assessment errors identified but not corrected...
Residents of Puget Island and Skamokawa asked Wahkiakum County commissioners Tuesday to see what could have been done to improve communication about the potential threats from tsunamis following the devastating March 11 Japanese earthquake. Several citizens said they felt like they couldn't get satisfactory information from the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Department, and that they felt the department couldn't have notified citizens in time if there had been a serious tsunami threat. Commission Chair Lisa Marsyla agreed that she felt uninformed...
Community groups are getting together next Monday, 6 p.m., at Wendt Elementary School, Cathlamet, for a program on the prevention of youth suicide. Local elected officials are supporting the program. Below is the proclamation approved by both the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners and the Town of Cathlamet Council. It has a lot to say. I hope the community will support this program. Youth Suicide Prevention Day March 28, 2011 Promote Education and Awareness for Youth Suicide Prevention WHEREAS, suicide is one of the most disruptive and...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 decided Tuesday to cease sponsorhip and maintenance of navigation buoys in Grays Bay. At the urging of citizens several years ago, the port purchased and installed buoys to mark a channel from the mouth of Deep River across the bay's shallows to the main channel of the Columbia. They are not part of a regular shipping channel, so they aren't maintained by a federal agency such as the US Coast Guard or US Army Corps of Engineers. The port purchased buoys; boaters familiar with the bay marked the channel, and...
For the second week in a row, a majority of Wahkiakum County commissioners have refused to support Assessor Bill Coons's hiring of a temporary employee to help his office address pressing demands. Coons and the board of commissioners will meet next week to go over the situation and find a way to resolve it. Coons, who took office January 1, has said his office is far behind. Previous Assessor Sulema Zerr struggled to implement a new computer program for the office. Coons learned just as tax statements were sent out in February that many...
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope every reader hooked up with a leprechaun and found his pot of gold! Oh well. It was a nice thought anyway. I didn’t find one either. News from Naselle: Sports on this week’s calendar include: Today (Thursday)-home track meet in Naselle at 3 p.m., baseball and fast pitch at North Beach at 3:30 p.m.; Saturday-baseball at Ilwaco at 3 p.m. and fast pitch at Seaside at 3 p.m. Go Comets! Wednesday is an in-service day with early dismissal at 12:30 p.m. The two performances of “King Arthur’s Quest” last weekend wer...
A friend called me at 12:38 a.m. last Friday. "Rick," he said, "do you know about the tsunami? There's been an 8.9 earthquake in Japan." I thanked him for the call and turned on the TV to startling videos from people who experienced the quake in Japan and from people who photographed the effects of the tsunami that hit the coast of Japan. The early video of those surges showed a black mass sweeping away anything in its way. Naturally, I wondered what that meant for me and other Puget Island residents and residents of other low lying areas...
Wahkiakum County commissioners addressed a variety of issues at their meeting Tuesday ranging from bridge work to legislative lobbying. A bridge maintenance crew from the Washington Department of Transportation will start work next week to repair the East Valley Road bridge over Wilson Creek. The bridge has been limited to one-lane traffic since inspectors discovered early this winter that the road deck is disintegrating. Public Works Director Pete Ringen sought assistance from WSDOT because, he said, their repair crews have expertise and equip...
Members of the Town of Cathlamet town council and town planning commission held a joint meeting March 2 to work out differences in the proposed updates to the town zoning ordinance. The council has at least twice sent proposed updates back to the planners for more work. After the latest rejection, planners worked on the ordinance and invited the council to meet and go over the latest draft so that objections could be identified and resolved before the draft went to a regular council meeting for action. At the meeting, planners explained their...
Not so fast, Wahkiakum County commissioners said Tuesday about Assessor Bill Coon's hiring of extra clerical help to deal with demands on his department. Last week, Coons had informed the commissioners that he was going to bring in a clerical assistant on a contractual basis to help the office clear up errors on tax statements that were just mailed to taxpayers. Commissioners Lisa Marsyla and Dan Cothren were unhappy with the plan. They felt the person would be an employee, not a contracted worker, and only the board of commissioners can...
The Wahkiakum County board of commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to draft a county ordinance prohibiting the application of certain biosolids in the county. In response to citizen concerns raised last year, the board has been studying how to control the application of biosolids, or treated human sewage. A Long Beach company has obtained a permit from the state Department of Ecology to spread septage, the lowest treated grade of biosolid on a Grays River farm. Applications may begin when the rainy season begins to dry. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bige...
The Wahkiakum County board of commissioners on Tuesday followed up on issues affecting the county assessor's office and heard a report on the health of the Cathlamet Family Health Center. The board signed a letter to the Board of Equalization supporting that board's intention to work on equalizing property assessments on Puget Island. "This concurrence is based on the volume of appeals filed with the BOE by Puget Island land owners and differences found by the BOE between sale prices and the 2010 valuations certified by the office of the assess...
The Wahkiakum School District is developing a policy that would guide staff in reporting students who may be under the influence of drugs and alcohol and have them tested for the presence of the controlled substances. The goal, district officials say, is to make sure students get the help they need for substance abuse. Of course, subjecting students to urine tests for drugs is controversial, to say the least. The district tried to implement a random drug testing program for athletes in the 1990s but lost a suit to parents and the American Civil...
News from Naselle: The following Naselle Middle School students were selected as students of the quarter by their teachers. Each quarter, one student from each grade in grades 6-12 is selected for academic excellence, outstanding citizenship, and personal achievement. In the 8th grade, Brittany Waltemate was selected for academic excellence, Emily Gjovik for outstanding citizenship, and Jared Davis for personal achievement. In the 7th grade, Jake Clark was chosen for academic excellence, Taylor Eaton for outstanding citizenship, and Allyn...
Looks like snow and colder weather is on the way. Time to stock up on a few necessary supplies just in case. Remember to check on your animals, make sure their water is thawed and available, and that they have a warm, dry place to bed down. It’s also a good idea to check on your neighbors just in case they need something that you might be able to help them with. We’re all in this weather pattern together, so it can’t do any harm to help each other out. News from Naselle: The first grade class at Naselle School was alive with excitement that...
Wahkiakum High School junior Blayne Edwards won the state Class B wrestling championship in his 103 lb. weight class last Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. Edwards started the tournament with a 12-2 decision over freshman Jesus Dominguez of Warden. Next, he defeated sophomore Taylor Woodruff of Liberty Bell with a 15-0 technical fall. That win put him in the championship match against freshman Tony Raupp of Winlock, and Edwards pinned Raupp in 1:29. The title is the first state championship in the history of the Mule wrestling program. "It has been...
