Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1476 - 1500 of 2280
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday came to agreement on temporary quarters for the Cathlamet municipal library. Commissioners also agreed to approve a franchise for Cascade Networks to use its road rights-of-way for installing of fiber optic communication lines, but they expressed disagreement on whether or not to lower their portion of the fee for connecting to a town sewer line going up Boege Road. Finally, Building and Planning Department Director Chuck Beyer announced that GIS Specialist Dave Dixon had compiled an atlas of the...
Should the Town of Cathlamet lease a site in Erickson Park for construction and operation of a community food bank? The Cathlamet Town Council will address that question when it meets next Monday. The council held a workshop meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue and gather citizen input. Three food banks operate in the Cathlamet area. The Wahkiakum Food Bank operates out of a space at the county's Human Services campus up the Elochoman Valley Road. Several local churches sponsor it. The Helping Hands Food Bank operates out of the River Rat Taver...
Wahkiakum County commissioners acted on several personnel issues when they met Tuesday. The board supported a recommendation from interim Health and Human Services Director Sherri McDonald to begin recruiting for a new full-time director. The department has been without a director since January 1. McDonald presented a preliminary draft of an analysis of the department last week and recommended the county have a full-time director for the department. It could take several months to fill the position, she said, adding that the county's pay for...
I hope the Cathlamet Town Council won't rush into a decision to locate a food bank building in Erickson Park. There is no doubt food banks are needed. With the decline on governmental spending on social services, volunteer organizations have a steadily growing demand for food. They need good, secure facilities to store and distribute food, and the Helping Hands Food Bank doesn't have that. While I like the idea that municipal government, or county or school district, might have land for food a bank, I'm not sure the park is the best idea. I've...
Wahkiakum County commissioners and administrators of the Health and Human Services Department reviewed a draft analysis of the department on Tuesday. Commissioners have charged Interim Director Sherri McDonald with making the analysis and recommendations for program or staffing changes. McDonald presented the draft plan to the board to see if it is what they've hoped to have and if there were areas she should analyze before presenting the final plan at the end of June, when her contract expires. The report, she added, should be helpful to her...
Wahkiakum County and the Columbia Land Trust agreed Tuesday to work cooperatively to find a solution to drainage problems plaguing landowners at the end of Nelson Creek. The small creek comes out of the hills by Longtain Road and enters the Elochoman River near the SR 4 bridge. Land along the creek was once used for beef and dairy farming. Now, siltation and beaver dams have plugged the creek and backed up waters onto the farm lands, killing trees and making the land unusable for livestock. The drainage system in the area has several problems,...
Wahkiakum County may file a counter claim in a suit the Seattle Audubon Society and the Olympic Forest Coalition have filed against the state Department of Natural Resources. Seattle Audubon and Olympic, collectively identified as "Audubon" in the suit, are seeing review of a May 1 action by the state Board of Natural Resources (BNR) in which the BNR approved an amendment to the state's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) without going through the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) review process. DNR personnel gave the amendment a...
Teachers in the Wahkiakum School District would like to get together to collaborate in teaching activities for students. The collaboration would allow teachers to reinforce each other's activities and enrich the students' education, teachers told the district board of directors last Thursday. "Out of nine characteristics of high performing schools, collaboration and communication is number four," said educator Tina Merz. Staff have discussed the concept and feel it would lead to a higher level of learning. Under the concept, teachers at...
The Wahkiakum School District board of directors last Thursday accepted bids for two work projects and acted on a variety of other business. Directors approved the bid of Luce Excavation for $33,985.46 for refurbishing the sewer line for Wendt Elementary and Thomas Middle schools. It was the only bid for the job. In April, district Maintenance Supervisor Bob McClintock reported a camera survey of the line revealed many breaks and areas where the line can plug. Superintendent Bob Garrett commented the district has to call a plumber almost monthl...
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the regional assembly of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The bishop, Robert Hofstad, pulled off something extraordinary: Gov. Chris Gregoire accepted his invitation to be the keynote speaker. Instead of delivering a straight speech, she and the bishop sat in easy chairs on the stage and discussed the theme of the assembly, "Sunday's Faith in Monday's Action." It became a very frank and insightful discussion of how one maintains and...
Wahkiakum County will have a busy election season this year. Candidates filed last week for positions on the 2012 election ballots, and three races will appear on the primary election ballot in August, with the top two advancing to the general election regardless of party. These positions include: Wahkiakum County commissioner, District 1: Stephanie Prestegard (Independent); Greg Prestegard (Democrat), Mike Backman (I), and Bill Wilkins, (D). Wahkiakum County commissioner, District 2: Dan L. Cothren (I); Joan Harvey-Chester (I). Cothren is the...
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council handled a variety of business when they met Monday night. The council approved a new Public Utilities ordinance that will implement increases in rates for sewer system customers in order to finance improvements to the town's waste water treatment system. While the new ordinance increases sewer bills, it will also lower connection fees in an effort to attract more customers to the system. Inside the town's corporate limits rates will increase in $5 increments from $45 per month to $55 for June-December,...
Wahkiakum County commissioners approved the hiring of a new public health nurse and a contract for a film company's use of the ferry Wahkiakum when they met Tuesday. In a busy session, commissioners also discussed preferred solutions to repairing the eroding Steamboat Slough dike, and they approved a contract to support the Cathlamet municipal swimming pool and the purchase of a new patrol car for the sheriff's office. The county ferry will be out of service for six hours on June 6 for the filming of a television commercial for an insurance...
Representatives of the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) may get a variety of opinions from Wahkiakum County residents when they hold a public meeting tonight (Thursday) on a proposed transfer of county trust timberland (see adjacent story). The issue came up for discussion at Tuesday's meeting of the county board of commissioners with Commissioners Dan Cothren and Blair Brady welcoming the move and a couple citzens expressing opposition. Under the proposal, the DNR would transfer 67 acres of county trust timberland to the...
Filing for positions on the 2012 election ballots opened Monday, and many candidates showed interest in local offices. Here are the filings as of Tuesday afternoon. Filing continues through the week; if a position has no candidate, a special filing period will be held next week. Wahkiakum PUD commissioner, Position 1: Gene Healy and Lisa Marsyla. The position is non partisan. Healy, a retired phone industry executive, was appointed to fill a vacancy last year. Marsyla is retiring after a term as county commissioner; she was once auditor of...
Just in time for the opening of steelhead angling season on Wednesday, the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners adjusted on Tuesday the closure boundaries of Steamboat Slough Road. Commissioners ordered the road closed earlier this spring to keep the public away from a spot where the Columbia is eroding the dike and threatening to create a landslide that would wash away the shoreline and flood the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the Columbia White-tailed Deer. The eastern closure is near the erosion site, but the western...
Local officials last week enlisted the help of District 19 members of the Washington State Legislature in finding support for repairs of the eroding Steamboat Slough Dike. The Columbia River has been eating into the bank below the dike, which protects the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer, and Wahkiakum County officials have closed the road because of a potential for a landslide that would take out the dike and road. The dike is no longer in the US Army Corps of Engineers dike maintenance plan,...
Cathlamet resident Dixie Kolditz has announced she will be a Republican candidate for state representative. She has said she will file for the position now held by Democrat Dean Takko. According to her website, Kolditz was born and raised in a segregated black township in Johannesburg, South Africa during apartheid. As a young woman, she participated in the political process, taught voter education classes, and also voted in South Africa’s first free election. In 1995, while working as a reporter for a large weekly newspaper, Kolditz r...
Entry deadlines are approaching for the 2012 Derby Dollars for Scholars barbecue and sturgeon derby to be held June 2. Now in its 12th year, the event raises funds for scholarship programs for students in the Wahkiakum and Naselle Grays River Valley School District. The event also coincides with 7th Annual Rods and Reels car show. This event brings hundreds of classic and unique vehicles to Skamokawa; both events are held at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds and Fairgrounds Park. The car show is open to "all unique vehicles" and has a $25 entry...
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for input on its plan to manage habitat for endangered marbled murrelets, a seabird that flies inland to nest in old, large conifers. Officials from the DNR and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) came to Cathlamet Tuesday to present their work to the public and begin gathering comments that will shape their actions. In 1997, the DNR entered into a habitat conservation plan (HCP) with USFWS over management of the forest lands it manages in order to protect environment and also...
Wahkiakum County commissioners Dan Cothren, Lisa Marsyla and Blair Brady handled a variety of business when they met Tuesday, including: --The board approved an updated Strategic Plan for Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services for 2012-2015. Interim department director Sherri McDonald said the plan will be helpful to staff in deciding "where we should put our effort." The plan's four goals are: 1. To improve accountability, efficiency and effectiveness through critical infrastructure enhancement; 2. To ensure internal readiness to...
Local officials are continuing their search to find funds to save the eroding shoreline and dike on Steamboat Slough Road. The Columbia River is eating into the bank of the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the White-tailed Deer, and the threat of a major slippage has led Wahkiakum County to close Steamboat Slough Road. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has said it doesn't have money in its budget to protect the shoreline. The dike is property of Diking District 4, of which the Fish and Wildlife Service is the largest landowner....
A proposal for the Town of Cathlamet to cut its sewer connection fee to $100 makes sense to me. The reasoning, say town officials, is lower fees will draw more connections and customers to the system, and that by having more customers of the sewer system, the financial load of operating the system and constructing a new wastewater treatment plant would be lower. The council is considering another proposal that would raise rates from $45 per month for town residents to $80 per month in June, 2014. Rates for out-of-town customers would increase f...
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is putting together a plan that will yield Wahkiakum County government just over $1 million per year for the next three years in revenue from state managed trust timber land. DNR officials reviewed the plans Tuesday with Wahkiakum commissioners Dan Cothren and Blair Brady (Commissioner Lisa Marsyla was absent because of family illness). The timber trust revenue is an important part of the revenue for the county's Current Expense Fund, which finances most county offices. St. Helens District...
Officials from the Town of Cathlamet and Wahkiakum County agreed Tuesday to continue discussions of the town's request for support of a temporary relocation of the Bradley Library to the Cathlamet Food Mart Building in Rosedale. Commissioners Dan Cothren and Lisa Marsyla indicated they would consider contributing to rent payments, but they showed little support for the town's request to waive sewer connection fees for the mini-mall. "Those are two separate issues," Cothren commented. The town is looking for temporary quarters for the library,...
