Articles written by Rick Nelson
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Council wrestles with public comment issues
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council wrestled with public comment policies, the vacancy on the council, stipends, the town water system and a variety of other issues when they met Monday. The council's policy has been to hear public comment at the...
County to develop fair park camping rules
Wahkiakum County officials outlined plans to deal with campers at Fairgrounds Park when they met Tuesday. The park, which lies adjacent to the county fairgrounds in Skamokawa, has hosted a group of long term campers who have been paying rent to the...
WCSO assisting Cowlitz in dealing with death
The Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office has been among those assisting the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office in dealing with the slaying of Cowlitz Deputy Justin DeRosier. In times when an officer is slain, law enforcement agencies come together,...
Port 2 busy with varied park projects
Jeff Smith, new manager of Wahkiakum Port District 2, outlined a wide variety of plans and projects when the district board of commissioners met Tuesday. Smith reported that an upgrade of electric service at County Line Park has finished. The...
Council plans meetings for park development
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council on Monday hashed out how they want to start design of a park on a controversial parcel at the corner of Butler and Main streets. The town acquired the lot, the si...
County board hears concerns about park
Tuesday's meeting of the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners covered a wide range of topics ranging from camping at Fairgrounds Park to a presentation of an updated county emergency management plan. Skamokawa resident April Murdoch urged county...
DNR: County timber revenue holding steady
Wahkiakum County government can expect to receive $1.3 million this year from the harvest of state managed trust timber. That amount is almost right on the 10-year average of trust timber revenue, $1.37 million, according to a report Tuesday to the...
County to look at energy upgrades
Wahkiakum County officials are moving toward a comprehensive energy upgrade for most county facilities. Personnel from Willdan Performance Engineering, Inc., have begun an initial audit of energy upgrade needs and will present initial findings to...
Volunteers raise funds for kids cancer programs
Community service groups and Wahkiakum High School students have raised nearly $10,000 for children's cancer programs at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. The Kiwanis Club of Cathlamet...
County asked to help with Grays Bay situation
Wahkiakum County commissioners expressed confidence Tuesday that Columbia River channel dredging this summer will be able to bolster eroding beaches at Cape Horn and on Puget Island. And with that, commissioners would be able to focus on other issues...
Party leaders outline next steps from listening tour
Organizers of a mid-March listening tour have released findings of the day-long effort to collect people's concerns and desires for the county and its communities. The tour was part of a program started by the state Democrat Party's Ag and Rural...
Council to convert parking lot into park
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council are ready to move forward with development of the controversial parking lot at the intersection of Main and Butler Streets. At their monthly meeting on Monday,...
Commissioners dialogue with regional director
Wahkiakum County commissioners and local residents had a chance Tuesday to discuss fish and wildlife issues with Kessina Lee, the new regional director for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Lee visited the board of commissioners...
Listening tour gathers bipartisan input
Wahkiakum County citizens got together last Friday in a bipartisan effort to express their concerns and desires for their community. Members of the county's Democrat and Republican central committees sponsored a day-long program that brought three...
County board voices opposition to bill to end non-tribal gillnetting
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to contact the state senate to oppose legislation that would outlaw non-tribal gillnet commercial fisheries in Washington Jan. 1, 2023, and establish a buyout program for retiring licenses by Dec. 31,...
Listening and understanding needed
Commentary from me? No need for me to write something about national affairs; the letter writers have that covered. State issues: Our county's Republican and Democrat political parties are sponsoring a listening event this Friday, 6:30 p.m. at the Sk...
Culverts and budgets: County commission covers budget concerns, watershed issues
Wahkiakum County commissioners hosted two workshops Tuesday, with one aimed at clearing up confusion over hiring by Health and Human Services (H&HS) and the other a round table addressing watershed issues. Commissioners and staff of the H&HS and the...
County commission OK's increase in hours for fair
Following discussion at their Feb. 26 meeting, Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to boost funding for the manager of the Wahkiakum County Fair. In other business, commissioners...
County commission addresses budget, other county fair issues
Wahkiakum County fair board members visited the county board of commissioners Tuesday to press for adjustments to their 2019 budget. The 2019 budget allocation reduced the number of hours the fair manager may work, and this hampers fair operations,...
2020 US Census comes to Wahkiakum
Wahkiakum County should begin preparing for the 2020 US Census, county officials were told Tuesday. US Bureau Partnership Specialist Lorraine Ralston introduced the county board of commissioners to the process and suggested the county form a local gr...
Council approves strategic plan process
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council addressed a variety of issues when they met Tuesday. --The council voted 4-0 to contract with John Morgan and his Morgan CPS consulting firm to develop a long-term strategic plan. Councilor Jean Burnham...
County commission addresses flooding, dredging issues
Wahkiakum County commissioners heard a plea for drainage work near Deep River, decided how to address the latest challenge to their dredging permit process and addressed other issues when they met Tuesday. Wirkkala Road resident Nick Nikkila...
County dredging plan meets new hurdle
The latest hurdle to finishing Wahkiakum County's permit applications to deposit dredge spoils on eroding beaches isn't very big, but it could delay any beach nourishment to next fall. A biological assessment of one of the county's four flood...
Petitioner appeals recall decision
The effort to recall Cathlamet's mayor and three council members has gone to the Washing State Supreme Court. The attorney for petitioner Bill Wainwright filed a notice to appeal on February 7. The state justices will review the filing and decide if...
Measles outbreak misses Wahkiakum; vaccinations needed
The measles outbreak affecting the Portland-Vancouver area hasn't hit Wahkiakum County, yet. As of Sunday, 51 cases of the highly contagious disease had been diagnosed in Portland, Vancouver and Seattle. So far, there have been none locally, Chris...
