Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1176 - 1200 of 2280
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved one of District Court Judge William Faubion's staffing requests and acted on other business Tuesday. By a 3-0 vote, the board approved a request to authorize the District Court to increase hours of a part-time clerk from 69.5 hours per month to 89.5 hours at a potential extra annual expense of $4,000. Judge Faubion said the extra hours would be used only if necessary. Office staff time was reduced in budget cutting several years ago, he said, and never restored, and the office is struggling to keep up wit...
The Cathlamet Town Council handled a variety of business at their monthly meeting on Tuesday. Council members approved a plan offered by Councilmember Dick Swart to hire a forester and begin preparing town timber for harvest. The town has contracted with William R. (Bill)Olsen to be town forester. Olsen has previously served in that capacity. The town hasn't had a forester for the past few years. The council will soon call for bids to repair and improve the access road leading to the towns timberland on Bradley Mountain. The 280 acres were logg...
Wahkiakum County's outlook for revenue from the harvest of timber from state managed trust forest lands isn't looking as good this year or next as last year turned out to be. Timber prices seem to be stable, Steve Ogden, St. Helens district manager for the Department of Natural Resources, told the Wahkiakum County board of commissioners on Tuesday. Revenue from sale of trust timber is a major source of income for county services. Prices spiked in 2013, he said, and there may be a slight correction this year. Last year, the county benefitted as...
Wahkiakum County commissioners expressed dissatisfaction with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) activities and discussed options for upgrading the county's Health and Human Service headquarters on Tuesday. Commercial fisherman Kent Martin presented a draft letter to a state Senate committee conducting ratification hearings and recommended the county go on record as opposing the appointment of Naselle resident Miranda Wecker to the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission. Commissioners agreed to write a letter to the...
Wahkiakum School District voters passed two measures on a special election ballot. Voters gave 69.6 percent approval to a four-year special levy. Vote tallies were 609 yes, 266 no. In the other measure on the ballot, voters 67.14 percent approval to a change in organization of director districts. Vote tallies were 568 yes, 278 no. The measure allows the district to switch from five director districts based on geographical areas to three geographical districts and two at-large positions. The special levy replaces a four-year special levy that...
The first application for a state licensed marijuana producer in Wahkiakum County generated lively discussion at the Tuesday meeting of the board of county commissioners. Commissioners are used to seeing applications for liquor licenses for taverns, lounges and community events, but on Tuesday they saw their first notice of a marijuana license application. The state Liquor Control Board processes the applications for liquor and marijuana licenses; the application process allows local officials such as the county commissioners to recommend appro...
Commissioners of Diking District No. 5 got some support Tuesday for a grant application that would improve the old dike protecting Skamokawa. Diking Commissioners Tim Schmitz, Mike Linn and Tom Bosch are submitting an application for a Department of Ecology grant to strengthen and raise portions of the dike. Local sources must provide 20 percent of the project funds, and the grant would cover the other 80 percent. The commissioners said they are committing $10,000 to the project, and they asked Wahkiakum County commissioners to contribute...
Biologists looking into the cause of hoof rot disease in elk need to consider new options, Wahkiakum County Commissioner Dan Cothren said this week. Cothren, an avid hunter, was instrumental in getting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to begin looking into the phenomenon, which is affecting elk between Mt. St. Helens and Willapa Bay. The disease causes abnormal growth in the hooves of elk, and they go lame. Biologists haven't yet identified the cause of the disease. Cothren serves on an advisory committee the department formed to...
By a 2-1 vote, Wahkiakum County commissioners approved Assessor Bill Coon's request to increase his part-time appraiser/deputy to a full-time appraiser. Coons has brought the request to the board of commissioners several times, and Tuesday, he presented his case again: Following state law, the county is moving from a cycle of property revaluations from every four years to every year. The change will require more appraisal work than staff can handle, he said. The promotion would cost an extra $3,213.88, Coons said. He added that total salary...
School levies seem to be a part of life. Despite appropriations from the state for the costs of basic education, school districts still need to ask voters to tax themselves to cover expenses that state funds don't cover. And this Tuesday is election day for the Wahkiakum School District's request for a special levy. School personnel have taken to calling it a replacement levy, for the levy would replace a similar levy which voters approved four years ago at a similar tax rate. As The Eagle reported in November, the levy pays for technology...
Wahkiakum County commissioners handled issues ranging from raising a judge's salary to appointments to advisory boards when they met Tuesday. District Court Judge Bill Faubion presented a three-part request for changes in his budget for personnel. Commissioners discussed the requests and said they wanted to delay action to obtain more information and handle other personnel issues. He reminded Commissioners Dan Cothren, Blair Brady and Mike Backman that he had made the requests last fall in preparation of 2014 budgets and they had told him to...
Ah, healthcare! We all want to enjoy it, don't we? I have been enjoying mine. I'm back in the office this week after having hip replacement surgery on December 26. All has gone well, the arthritis and its discomfort are gone. I'm getting used to the new hip and working to get it in shape. I consider myself fortunate to have health care, but I pay. With my age and pre-existing conditions, it's our biggest expense. I hope that someday my health issues will be under control and I can go to the health insurance exchanges created under the federal...
Wahkiakum County commissioners agreed to fund restroom improvements at County Line Park when they met Tuesday. The county has leased the park to Port District 2 after Cowlitz County, which operated the park since its opening, wanted to shed operation of the park last fall. Port 2 began upgrading RV and overnight camping facilities, and when the port opened bids for restroom facilities, bids were well over the port's budget. On January 6, port officials wrote commissioners to request county support of the project. "Port 2 estimates the total...
January Mike Backman joins the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners. With erosion threatening the Steamboat Slough dike that protects the Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife, Army Corps of Engineers, Diking District 4 continue negotiating conditions for a setback dike and breaching of the existing dike. The Christmas Bird Count identifies a record 122 species in the county. King County police officer Steve Marshall becomes Wahkiakum County Undersheriff. Wahkiakum PUD abandons monthly meetings in western Wahkiakum County and...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 will hold a special meeting today (Thursday) at 5 p.m. at the Skamokawa Vista Park office to discuss refurbishing restrooms at County Line Park. Port Attorney Tim Hanigan said bids came in over budget. Commissioners may decide to reject the bids and issue a new call; they may change the scope of the project, or they may seek further funding to pay for the work. A contractor has already done some road work, created space for three new tent sites and removed an old storage building, Vista Park Manager Janet...
The Cathlamet town council supported a plan to moor fish rearing net pens at the town dock and acted on other business at their monthly meeting on Monday. It was the last meeting for Council Members Ruth Doumit and Bob Rendler and Mayor George Wehrfritz, all of whom didn't seek re-election. Their successors, Mayor-elect Dale Jacobson and Council Members-elect Andy Lea and David Goodroe attended the meeting and participated in a closed door executive session about potential litigation. The council also put finishing touches on ordinances...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday voiced opposition to a plan to move white-tail deer from Puget Island to US Fish and Wildlife Service Refuges. The Service announced last Thursday its intention to trap and move 35 deer in early 2014 and and another 10-20 at the end of 2014 to, first, the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge outside Cathlamet and, second, to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The agency is trying to bolster low populations on the two refuges by taking deer from the Island herd, which, the agency says, is...
Wahkiakum County commissioners formally passed their 2014 budgets on Tuesday after approving road construction plans, a 14-year plan for ferry service, and hearing a request from Assessor Bill Coons. Adopting the annual and six-year road construction programs is required before the board can adopt budgets, and the board delayed action from last week to hold public hearings on the programs. Public Works Director Pete Ringen said the annual program includes 12 projects with a total cost of $7 million. Most of that would be state and federal funds...
Central League football coaches have announced the results of their all-league voting, and several members of the Wahkiakum Mule team were honored. Named to the first team offense was senior lineman Dylan Hansen. Named to the second team offense were sophomore quarterback Gunnar Blix, junior wide receiver Brandon Budd and senior lineman Shane Souvenir. Named to the second team defense were defensive linemen Blix and Hansen, junior linebacker Trystan Mendez and senior defensive back Austin Good. Receiving honorable mention on offense were...
Despite the troubles that have plagued the federal online health insurance registry, Wahkiakum County is doing well, officials report. Wahkiakum has had the highest percentage in the state in reaching its enrollment goal, Health and Human Services Director Sue Cameron reported this week. Fifty-nine people from the county have enrolled in health care plans, the state Health Care Authority has reported. This is 11 percent over the county's goal for January 1. San Juan was the only other county to surpass its goal, at 108 percent. Overall, 56,862...
Wahkiakum County commissioners this week heard more comments on their proposed 2014 budgets and postponed action until Tuesday. Commissioners opened the budget adoption process with a Monday morning public hearing. They adjourned to Tuesday and planned to adopt the budgets during their regular meeting, but they realized they hadn't held public hearings on their annual and six-year road construction programs. Those hearings and action are on the commission's December 10 agenda. "These are supposed to be adopted before we complete the budget,"...
Commissioners of Port District No. 2 discussed Grays River buoys and County Line Park and acted on budget and finances when they met November 19. Working with Westend citizens and Wahkiakum County, the port several years ago installed a series of buoys across Grays Bay for boaters coming out of Deep River. The port has found it difficult to maintain the buoys, however, and at least two have broken free of their mooring anchor and drifted away. None of the buoys were ever equipped with lights. Office Manager Janet Bryan told Commissioners...
In a close football game, winning and losing can come down to a few big plays, and that was the case last Friday as the Raymond Seagulls defeated the Wahkiakum Mules 20-14 in the opening round of the state Class 2B playoffs. The Gulls scored on two of their first four plays in the game. From there, the game belonged to the Mules until the very end when another big play gave the Gulls the momentum they needed to score the winning touchdown with 11 seconds left on the clock. Raymond advances to...
Local officials are planning to bring in allies in an effort to expedite the location of chinook salmon rearing net pens off Cathlamet. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) had reached agreement with the town last fall to locate the pens off the city dock at the foot of Broadway Street and have them in place November into next May to rear chinook salmon. However, Mayor George Wehrfritz reported Monday, the project is hung up on permits. Wehrfritz said WDFW is waiting for the US Army Corps of Engineers and other federal...
It didn't take long for the Wahkiakum Mules to take control of their first meeting with the Naselle Comets in several years. Two Comet fumbles, short fields for the Mules, and quick touchdowns and the Mules were on their way to a 60-14 win that gave them a post season playoff berth and possession of the KM Trophy, which since 1960, has gone to the winner of the football game between the neighboring teams. It may have been the last trophy game between the two teams, for the Comets are considering dropping to Class 1B because of declining enrollm...
