Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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The state playoff picture is falling into place, and Wahkiakum boys basketball has danced through the district gauntlet to earn a first-round matchup in the Washington 2025 1B Boys State Basketball tournament. Wahkiakum basketball After losing to Willapa Valley in the District 4 1B Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals on Monday, Feb. 17, the Mules battled their way through the backdoor bracket to advance to state as the third-place team in the district. Despite the loss to Willapa Valley, the...
The Clatskanie girls basketball team split a pair of games last week, resulting in a #2 seeding entering its state tournament play, which begins Friday, Feb 28. Finishing the regular season with an 18-5 record, including a 12-2 record in 2A Northwest League play, the Tigers began their postseason with a close 36-33 home win over Nestucca on Thursday, Feb. 20. The Bobcats stayed close throughout, trailing Clatskanie by three entering the second and third quarter and outscoring the Tigers 9-7 in...
Formed in 2010, the Columbia Economic Team's (CET) mission is to "promote the creation, growth, and attraction of business and industry throughout Columbia County." In partnership with groups like Columbia County Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Keep it Local Columbia County, GRO Greater St. Helens, and Columbia County's Destination Management Organization, CET specializes in business recruitment, retention, and expansion, as well as serving as advocate, collaborator, convener, facilitator, and small business program and enterprise...
This past first semester, Clatskanie Middle High School (CMHS) has been preparing to say goodbye to one of its beloved teachers, Mr. Deney Flatz. Mr. Flatz has been teaching at CMHS for seven years. Before teaching at the school, he worked as a logger and contract timber faller. He will be replaced by Jeffery Opsahl, who has some big shoes to fill in the coming months. During a final interview with Mr. Flatz, I sat down and asked him several questions. First off, I started with the standard, “What are some of the greatest achievements your f...
President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the federal workforce have gutted the ranks of wildland firefighters and support personnel, fire professionals warn, leaving communities to face deadly consequences when big blazes arrive this summer. “There’s going to be firefighters that die because of this, there will be communities that burn,” said Steve Gutierrez, a union official who served 15 years as a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service. Gutierrez now serves as a labor relations representative with the National Federation of Federal Employe...
Visiting a state park next year will cost more if a proposal in the state Legislature wins approvalProposed by Sen. Derek Stanford (R-Bothell), SB5390 increases the cost of a Discover Pass from $30 to $45 and the day pass fee from $10 to $15. As an avid user of state parks, Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia) and primary sponsor of the House version of the bill said this increase was “long overdue.” Revenue from the pass helps fund Washington State Parks (WSP), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Washington Department of Fish and Wil...
Wahkiakum School District is moving forward in its search for a new superintendent, with a full day of interviews and public engagement scheduled for Friday, Feb. 28. The process will involve multiple stakeholders, ensuring the community has a voice in this critical leadership decision. Candidates have been selected by the Board of Education to go through the interview process for the superintendent position. Potential district leaders will go through a series of interviews with the school board, staff members, student leaders, and department...
A most amazing journey started with a simple question at a regular meeting of the Pioneer Community Associations Board of Directors. Why are those names on that plaque? What's the story? The beautiful wood plaque that hangs on the northwest wall of the lower-level Cochran-Takko Pioneer Room reads, "In appreciation for the early restoration efforts of Eric Feasey, Rex West, Mitch Doumit, Jane Goodfellow." This plaque was presented by Carolyn Feasey Kirkpatrick. During the ensuing discussion,...
A most amazing journey started with a simple question at a regular meeting of the Pioneer Community Associations Board of Directors. Why are those names on that plaque? What’s the story? The beautiful wood plaque that hangs on the northwest wall of the lower-level Cochran-Takko Pioneer Room reads, “In appreciation for the early restoration efforts of Eric Feasey, Rex West, Mitch Doumit, Jane Goodfellow.” This plaque was presented by Carolyn Feasey Kirkpatrick. During the ensuing discussion, Board Member extraordinaire Gwen Gorley said I know...
For nearly five years, a local group has been serving the community, from assisting residents as they move into new homes to installing ramps and making homeowner's decks accessible. Fishers of Men began in 2020 and includes Pastors Dennis Conner (River of Life Assembly), Dave Martin (Heritage Bible), Kenny Evans (The Bridge Church), and Joe Blalock (Lower Columbia Baptist, Skamokawa). These volunteers have been diligently working to fulfill the mission of building compassion not only for the...
The postseason is underway, and Naselle and Wahkiakum are still battling to earn spots in the 2025 1B Washington State Basketball Tournament. Naselle and Wahkiakum met in the first round of the boys and girls district tourneys last week, and the Mules came away victorious in both matchups. Let's look at how those games played out and what the Comets and Mules must do to advance to the big stage. Girls Basketball Wahkiakum came away with the win when they took on Naselle at Wahkiakum High School...
Before becoming CEO of the local communications company Wahkiakum West (WWest), Ken Johnson spent five years in the Las Vegas area working in professional video production "among other things." About three years ago, Johnson brought one of his Vegas "collaborators" to the Pacific Northwest and began finding a way to tell localized stories. Before long, the two "dabbled a little bit more," seeking the interest of a large national cable network. "[We] wanted to see if the network agreed with us...
Since its opening, The Dollhouse (73 Main Street) has almost exclusively sold collectible and antique dolls on consignment; owner Sue Scott opened The Dollhouse in March of 2023 after moving to the area. Scott made a friend with someone while she was staying at the hotel Cathlamet whose mother had a vast collection of dolls. This collection inspired Scott and was the starting point for the shop, but if you were to visit the store now, you might be surprised at what else you would find. Scott’s daughter passed away very suddenly in October, l...
Recently I interviewed Paula Marx Rush of Cathlamet for our second installment of Reader's Fave. Reader's Fave is simply a short interview each week with someone in our community sharing their favorite book. Even though the discussion was quite personal and serious, the interview was wonderful, positive, and very uplifting. Paula was quite clear and to the point. Her favorite book is "A Human Being Died That Night" by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. This is a non-fiction book about a South African...
The Wahkiakum County PUD Commissioners met on Tuesday, Feb. 18, for their regularly scheduled meeting. The Commissioners passed a motion to change the job position title from auditor to director of finance. This new title describes the job’s duties in a more encompassing way and will better assist in acquiring a replacement for the position. The commissioners then held a workshop on the Town of Cathlamet Utilities Consolidation. Commissioner Eugene Healy drafted an opening statement that broke down the conversation surrounding the water s...
Spotlight on Sierra Williams I am excited to introduce you to Sierra Williams, a talented resident of Grays River and a freshman at Naselle School. At only 14 years old, Sierra demonstrates remarkable maturity and dedication. She has excelled in school as a straight-A student, is an active member of the robotics team and Knowledge Bowl and is taking on a leading role in the spring drama production. She has a passion for English and enjoys writing short stories and creative narrative essays. The...
Recently, a young lady asked me a very good question, one I don’t think about often, due mainly to our rural location here in eastern Wahkiakum County. She wrote, “Where can a person still drive in the county and walk or hike for free?” As a hunter, I walk all over this county and into Pacific and Cowlitz counties as well. A wanderer, if you will. The ground I wander? Some of it’s private - whether in the traditional, Mr. Jones landowner sense - or the much larger timber-company-holding type of...
February is a great month in France. Not only do school holidays start - just six weeks after Christmas - but the holiday season continues. You would be missing the mark if you were thinking of Valentine's Day. Smack dab in between All Saint's Day (the day after Halloween) and Easter (when bells, not bunnies, bring chocolate), Candlemas is a nationwide tradition that marks the turning point between Winter and Spring with ... crêpes! You know, those thin, sweet pancakes served with jam or flaming...
FROM SNOWSCAPE TO SOGFEST. Well, we had a nasty bit of snow last week and it sure did disrupt a whole lot of events and our daily routines. Slipping and sliding seemed to be all too common and it was advised for those who didn’t have to be out and about to stay home; it was treacherous out there. Snow was falling rapidly out here in West Valley for a while, and I was afraid we would repeat the 1990 snowstorm when we went from six inches of the white stuff to about two feet overnight. Thankfully, we didn’t have a repeat of that, and people got...
Following its 41-27 loss on the road to Knappa on Feb. 11, the Clatskanie High School girls basketball team leveled Aloha’s Faith Bible Christian 53-21 last Saturday, Feb. 15. Clatskanie took a sizeable 24-12 lead going into halftime and put the game out of reach in the third quarter, outscoring Faith Bible Christian 21-7. The Tigers were led by sophomore Lacey Willis, who scored 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field. Willis also led the Tigers in deflections and steals with seven each. While scoring 15 points, junior Joey Sizemore l...
The Clatskanie High School boys basketball team ended its season by beating Portland’s Columbia Christian 48-39 at home Monday night. Taking a narrow, three-point lead into halftime, the Tigers outscored the Knights 20-14 over the third and fourth quarters to seal the team’s seventh overall victory of the season. Clatskanie was led in scoring by senior Brendan Shroll, who had 12 points on 5 of 17 shooting in his final game as a Tiger. Shroll completed an unusual double double - at least category wise - by managing 10 steals. Fellow senior Ryder...
Each year, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States selects an emergency medical technician, law enforcement officer, firefighter, and 911 dispatcher/telecommunicator to receive Public Servant Awards. Local VFW Posts submit a winner from each category to their State VFW Department Headquarters. The department then selects a single winner for each of the four awards and submits those to the VFW National Headquarters. The VFW National Emergency Medical Technician Public Servant Award...
Recently, I took my wife and granddaughter to the movie theater. The movie itself isn’t important. What was important, at least to me, was the price of admission. True, thanks to Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, ad nauseam, I haven’t been to the theater for many a moon; however, what I found there shocked me. First, there was no ticket counter; no human being with whom to interact. The tickets were purchased and our seats chosen at a kiosk opposite the concession stand. Three seats? Forty-seven dol...
The Wahkiakum County Commissioners met on Tuesday, Feb. 11, for their regularly scheduled meeting and appointed Robert Johnson to the Johnson Park Board. Jamie Davidson and Forrest Mora were appointed to the Wahkiakum County Planning Commission, District No. 2. The time had come to reauthorize Wahkiakum County’s Associate Development Organization (ADO), which supports and coordinates community and economic development services. The Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce was appointed once again as the county’s ADO. The Commissioners approved a let...
Career Connected Learning was at the heart of the 4-H Robo Rascals' field trip to St. John's Medical Center. This young group of students were eager to play the role of the nurse or the patient, as they learned how to operate many pieces of equipment from the surgical floor. Medical staff came in on their day off to teach these students how they prep someone for surgery. Actions like taking blood pressure, using the vein finder, and hearing heartbeats with a stethoscope were some highlights. Eve...
