Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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The Daily Olympian's June 18 editorial headline read, "State caught in test of political power." It has almost been six months since the beginning of the session, and legislators have been unable to compromise on a budget that should take effect next Monday. One might blame the situation on party politics. The Democratic party controls the House of Representatives and did have a majority in the Senate until two Democrats aligned themselves with the Republicans to create a split legislature. This Republican controlled Senate has shown itself to...
Proponents of Wahkiakum County sponsored housing development project have begun presenting their plans in meetings across the county. Officials from Wahkiakum County's Department of Health and Human Services described the project to the Cathlamet Town Council on Monday. Project leader Chris Holmes said more meetings will be scheduled in the Westend and in the Cathlamet area to present the project to the community. The project got going in 2002 with passage of the state Affordable Housing Bill, which created a way for entities to collect fees...
Shoaling of side channels and harbor entrances along the lower Columbia River continues to concern local officials. Boaters and officials from Wahkiakum County and Port Districts 1 and 2 are concerned that their waters are getting more and more shallow, that they can't afford dredging, and that they can't get help from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the deep water shipping channel in the river. In a Tuesday forum for community leaders sponsored by the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Council of Governments (COG), Jackie Lea, manager of Port...
In a special meeting last Friday, the Cathlamet Town Council voted to replace the roof on the old town hall building and to authorize Mayor George Wehrfritz to negotiate a possible lease of the Broadway Dock to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Public Works Superintendent Duncan Cruickshank brought the roof issue to the council. Contractor Pacific Tech Construction is remodeling the building, and some of the work will require patching of the roof. This will leave mis-matched, old and new roofing, and leave the roof looking...
Wahkiakum County's Health and Human Services Department is proceeding with a planned purchase of land in Cathlamet's Rosedale area for a housing program. Human Services Manager Chris Holmes reported Tuesday that the department and land owner had signed a contract for the sale. The county has a 60-day period to evaluate the property and decide if it wants to proceed with the purchase. In other business at Tuesday's meeting of the board of county commissioners, --The board authorized Clerk of the Board Marsha LaFarge and Assessor Bill Coons to...
Wahkiakum County Undersheriff Steve Marshall thought he had an understanding with commissioners of Port District No. 2 about the use of an old office building and equipment garage at Skamokawa Vista Park. Port officials had used the office building for their office for years but this winter moved into a park model cabin in Vista Park, leaving the office vacant. The office sits on land owned by the non-functioning Skamokawa Park and Recreation District. County commissioners recently declared the district defunct and disbanded it. The county...
Wahkiakum County commissioners have outlined their next steps in development of a junk and nuisance ordinance. Coming off two public meetings in which audiences show overwhelming support for development of an ordinance to address collections of junked vehicles and similar items, commissioners will work with the prosecuting attorney's office to create their own draft. They'll also consult with the county planning commission and the property rights advisory board, sheriff's office, public works department and health department. "Let's look at...
Wahkiakum County commissioners appointed Patty Dursteler as manager of the Wahkiakum County Fair. The Wahkiakum Fair Board recommended she be hired. The fair board held a special meeting Monday night to review applications for the position. Commissioner Mike Backman, the commission's representative on the fair baord, said Dursteler was the only applicant. Dursteler is a long-time fair volunteer. She is also a member of the fund-raising Wahkiakum Fair Foundation, and she agreed to take a sabbatical from that board while she serves as fair...
Wahkiakum County's Department of Health and Human Services continues to advance on two possible building projects. Department staff have been working on a housing project, and they have also been evaluating their facilities to see if they could be used to consolidate their offices, which are split between the courthouse annex and their complex on the Elochoman Valley Road. Department Administrator Sue Cameron said staff have been studying their space needs, and they have suggested remodeling a garage building at the Elochoman Campus to house...
The Wahkiakum County Auditor will hold a special filing period Wednesday through Friday for positions for which no candidates filed this past week. These positions include: Wahkiakum School District, Director positions 1, a 2-year unexpired term representing a Cathlamet district, and position 3, a 4-year term representing the Skamokawa area. Port District No. 2, Commissioner position 2, 6-year term. The position represents the Skamokawa and Westend areas. Skamokawa Water and Sewer Commission Position 3, a 6-year term. Cemetery District 1,...
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved an easement allowing the US Army Corps of Engineers to cut through the Steamboat Slough Dike Road when they met Tuesday. Commissioners also heard developing plans for a public housing project in the Cathlamet area and acted on other business. The easement to cut through the county road is part of the setback levee project planned for the Julia Butler Hansen White-tailed Deer Refuge. Erosion is threatening the Steamboat Slough Dike, and without funds to stop the erosion, federal officials are building a ne...
The Wahkiakum County fair gained a handyman Tuesday but lost a manager. Appointed barely a month ago, Becky Ledtke told county commissioners she wouldn't accept the position after the commission voted to hire a handyman not of her choosing. County commissioners recently asked the fair advisory board to recommend a manager and handyman for employment, and the fair board had recommended Ledtke, manager for past two years, be hired as manager. However, snafus delayed interviewing of handyman applicants until last week. The fair board met, and...
The Cathlamet Town Council filled a vacant council position and acted on other business when it met Monday evening. Council Member Steven McNicholas had written a letter of resignation after the council's April meeting which had a report of a $900 penalty for a late insurance payment. McNicholas said he was unhappy with the way in which that situation was handled. He later tried to rescind his resignation, but city officials ruled he had tried to withdraw the resignation too late according to state law. The council had two candidates to fill...
Junked cars. Bulldozers. Old boats and trailer houses. Road encroachment. Pollution threats from leaking fluids. You name it, and Wahkiakum County residents can tell you where to find it in their neighborhoods. The county board of commissioners held two meetings this past week to gauge public support for an ordinance to regulate unused vehicles and other junk people keep on their private property. Sixty to eighty people attended each of the meetings in Rosburg and Cathlamet, and at the end of each meeting, solid majorities raised their hands...
Filing for elected offices that will appear on this year's primary and general election ballots wrapped up Friday with three contested positions and many positions unclaimed. Lamar Blix and Shawn Merz have filed for Wahkiakum School District (WSD) Director position 4, a 4-year term. Michelle Budd, incumbent, filed for re-election to Director position 5 on the WSD board of directors, a 4-year term. Art Hyland, the incumbent, and Joshua Holt have filed for Director position 2 in the Naselle/Grays River Valley School District (N/GRVSD) board of...
Filing for elected offices that will appear on this year's primary and general election ballots wrapped up Friday with three contested positions and many positions unclaimed. Lamar Blix and Shawn Merz have filed for Wahkiakum School District (WSD) Director position 4, a 4-year term. Michelle Budd, incumbent, filed for re-election to Director position 5 on the WSD board of directors, a 4-year term. Art Hyland, the incumbent, and Joshua Holt have filed for Director position 2 in the Naselle/Grays River Valley School District (N/GRVSD) board of...
Representatives of the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Fish and Wildlife Service met with Wahkiakum County commissioners Tuesday to go over plans for a new levee on the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer. The Columbia River is undercutting the existing Steamboat Slough dike, and the agencies have reached agreement with the county and Diking District No. 4 to use federal salmon enhancement funds to build a new dike set back from the shoreline, breach the old dike, and create tidal wetland between...
The Wahkiakum County Fair may or may not have a manager. Last Thursday, the county board of commissioners offered the job to former Manager Becky Ledtke, who had been recommended by the Wahkiakum Fair Board, an advisory board appointed by county commissioners to set policy for the fair. Ledtke had been ready to accept the offer. However, a controversy over the authority to hire and fire employees led Ledtke to tell the board of commissioners on Tuesday, that she was withdrawing her acceptance. She supplied a letter outlining her concerns, and...
Wahkiakum County commissioners voted Tuesday to dissolve the defunct Skamokawa Park and Recreation District. The district was formed in the 1970s and operated the former Skamokawa Library. Interest in it waned, and Port District No. 2 used its building as an office for Skamokawa Vista Park until this winter when the port bought a park model cabin and installed it in the park for an office. No one from the district spoke at a public meeting on the proposed dissolution Tuesday. The Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Department has proposed that the...
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved hiring of a manager for the county fair and acted on other business on Tuesday. The board approved the recommendation of the fair board to rehire former manager Becky Ledtke. The commission had closed down Ledtke's former position in February and subsequently worked with the fair board to restructure the position and its financing. The fair board also recommended a candidate to fill the vacant handyman position, but commissioners decided to wait till next Tuesday to act on that because the application...
Filing for elected offices that will appear on this year's primary and general election ballots starts Monday in the Wahkiakum County Auditor's office. Positions that will appear on the ballot include: County sheriff--one year unexpired term; Mark Howie, incumbent. Filing fee is $700.27. The position is a partisan position; all other positions are non-partisan. Fire District 1, commissioner position 1, 6-year term--Lee Tischer incumbent. Filing fee is $12. Fire District 2, commissioner position 3, 6-year term--Kent Martin incumbent. Filing fee...
Filing for elected offices that will appear on this year's primary and general election ballots will take place May 13-17 in the Wahkiakum County Auditor's office. Positions that will appear on the ballot include: County sheriff--one year unexpired term; Mark Howie, incumbent. Filing fee is $700.27. The position is a partisan position; all other positions are non-partisan. Fire District 1, commissioner position 1, 6-year term--Lee Tischer incumbent. Filing fee is $12. Fire District 2, commissioner position 3, 6-year term--Kent Martin...
The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors approved a calendar for the 2013-14 school year and acted on other business when it met April 23. School will start September 3 and end June 13. Superintendent Bob Garrett said the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association has scheduled school sports to start a week later next year, basically one week before Labor Day weekend. Spring break will be April 7-11, 2014. The board accepted the resignation of Kevin Patching as middle school football coach. Patching is working outside the...
Faith Action Network and the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility gathered over 40 regional interfaith leaders for a news conference at Seattle’s Town Hall Monday for the official launch of a campaign on universal background checks. There were many prominent faith leaders of our region present—Jewish, Sikh, Christian, Baha’i, Unitarian, Buddhist, Quaker, and more. Their message was one: It is time to resolutely face the moral challenge of doing everything in our power to stop the violence. These interfaith leaders gathered last Dec...
Wahkiakum School District may reduce its teaching force by two positions, Superintendent Bob Garret told the board of directors Tuesday. Enrollment is declining, and two teachers may receive reduction in force (RIF) notices that their contracts won't be renewed; the notices must be issued before a May 18 contractual deadline, Garrett said. State funding for basic education is based on enrollment. The district started the school year with an average of 403.4 full time equivalent (FTE) students. It reached a high of 415.2 in November and has been...
