Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 2652 - 2676 of 9926
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, meetings and events usually listed here have been canceled or changed to online participation until further notice. The Eagle was advised of the following events: Online Recovery Meeting, Lower Columbia River Refuge Recovery. Mondays 6:30 p.m. Zoom ID 960 8413 9102. Community Center, Mon. 9-12 & 1-5. Tues-Thurs. 9-1. Friday by appointment. Cathlamet Library T-F 2-5 p.m. Covid restrictions enforced. Wahkiakum PUD, Tues., 3/23, 8:30 a.m....
By Patric Haerle Washington State Journal Debra Lekanoff always makes sure to appreciate her surroundings, whether she's spending time in nature or on the House floor at the Capitol in Olympia, where she has served for the last three years as the Democratic representative of the 40th District in the northwest corner of the state. "I sit right in the middle of the People's House. I have my Republican colleagues to my left and my Democratic to the right, and watching our two parties work together...
Without any other business on the agenda, the Wahkiakum County Port 1 commissioners discussed the manager’s report last Thursday. Maintenance Manager Todd Souvenir confirmed that the viewing deck had been completed, as had the project to replace the lights in the storage units with LEDs. He said that the port was preparing for the uptick in business that was expected to come in the next three weeks thanks to the fishing season, which opened on March 1 and ends on April 4. The Farmers Market i...
The MV Mumbai headed up the Columbia on Monday with a big load of boxes. Photo by Rick Nelson....
Because of an editing error, incorrect copy appeared last week in an article about Wahkiakum High School senior Beau Carlson. The paragraph beginning with "Twins . . . " should have said: "Beau and classmate Bryson Havens were busy working on a truck on Sunday when I caught up with them, putting on new brakes and adding a CB. They’ve spent their lives learning how to do useful things from the men around them."...
Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners on Tuesday turned their attention to the state legislature in Olympia. Commissioners agreed by consensus to a request from District Court Judge Heidi Heywood to lobby for changes in proposed legislation that could be very costly if approved in present form. The bill, Heywood said, would require the county to provide a public defender attorney for respondents in hearings for protection orders when the petitioner is represented by an attorney. "We handle a large number of these orders," Heywood said. "We...
Hungry gulls form a smelt cleanup crew at the mouth of Birnie Slough. Photo courtesy of Frans Eykel....
Though unemployment and consumer uncertainty remain high, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council officials told legislators March 3 they felt optimistic a brighter economic future is on its way to Washington. Steve Lerch, the council’s executive director, said he expects tax revenues will exceed November 2020 estimates by $593 million. Lerch said U.S. retail and food service tax revenue went up by 5.3%, and Washington’s earnings trend closely with the national average. Most consumers still have reservations about going out...
SR 401 between Naselle and Megler was closed in late February after a particular section around milepost 4.5 become too unstable to safely support the vehicles passing that way each day, frustrating travelers in the region. The Washington State Department of Transportation has been tracking the slope at that location for about 20 years, WSDOT Project EngineerJoanna Lowrey said on Monday, along with about 3,400 other sites around the state. "It is considered a slow moving landslide, so typically...
As of Tuesday, the cumulative number of covid-19 cases in Wahkiakum County had risen to 104, with 18 considered potentially active. According to the Washington Department of Health, 1,529 tests had been conducted, and five people had been hospitalized. In Pacific County, they were reporting a total of 798 positive tests for covid-19, with 35 considered active. They were attributing 10 deaths to the virus. In Cowlitz County, 4,333 people have tested positive for covid-19, and 97 of those cases...
A red tail hawk keeps watch from a tree along the Columbia. Photo courtesy of Sarah Lawrence....
A tax on capital gains, the sale of assets like stocks and bonds, passed the Senate by a single vote March 6. The bill was first amended to remove the emergency clause, meaning the issue is likely to appear on the ballot later this year. The bill in its current form imposes a 7% tax on the sale of assets, like stocks and bonds, when exceeding $250,000 in capital gains for a year. Exempt from the tax is all real estate, assets held in a retirement account, livestock, timber and the sale of a family-owned small business that grosses less than...
The College Bound Scholarship for Washington students is being reworked to reach more students across the state. Currently, students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches during the 7th or 8th grade sign a form with their guardian pledging to graduate with at least a C average and without a felony conviction. If students remain in Washington for their post-secondary education and their families fall below 65 percent of median state income, the student could be awarded up to $12,000 per year after other state and federal aid is taken...
Essential frontline workers, such as grocery store employees, will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines later this month, Gov. Jay Inslee announced March 4. Others set to be vaccinated starting March 22 include workers in agriculture, food processing, public transit, firefighters, law enforcement and corrections. Previously, only essential workers age 50 or older who were defined as high-risk were going to be eligible. Also in the next tier are people 16 and older who have a high-risk disability and pregnant women. They join K-12 educators and...
By Patric Haerle Washington State Journal The return to in-person education in public schools is underway. Gov. Jay Inslee signed two bills March 2, assuring students affected by the pandemic can graduate on time. The first bill waived graduation requirements for students who were previously on track to graduate before the emergency. The other bill allowed a waiver for previously required make-up days for private school students. Shortly after signing the bills, in response to direction from President Joe Biden, Inslee announced the addition of...
As the end of an emergency eviction moratorium looms over thousands of Washington renters, a bill requiring landlords to have just cause for evicting a tenant passed the House of Representatives in a 54-44 vote March 7. “Stopping evictions means preventing homelessness,” Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, told the House as the bill’s primary sponsor. HB 1236 puts an end to “no-cause evictions,” which some described as yet another way for landlords to practice discrimination against tenants. The bill defines reasons landlords can use to justify t...
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, meetings and events usually listed here have been canceled or changed to online participation until further notice. The Eagle was advised of the following events: Online Recovery Meeting, Lower Columbia River Refuge Recovery. Mondays 6:30 p.m. Zoom ID 960 8413 9102. Community Center, Mon. 9-12 & 1-5. Tues-Thurs. 9-1. Friday by appointment. Cathlamet Library T-F 2-5 p.m. Covid restrictions enforced. Great Rivers BHO Governing Board, Fri., March 12, 1 p.m. online meeting log in: www.gr...
A sea lion took a rest on Puget Island dock last week. Photos courtesy of Scott Echols....
Wahkiakum County residents on Tuesday called on the county board of commissioners to use their political influence to address problems in the region. Grays River resident Karen Bertroch asked the board to press the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to construct a one-lane bypass around a slide that has closed SR 401 between Naselle and the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Altoona/Pillar Rock Road resident Steve Gacke sought commission advocacy in getting the US Army Corps of Engineers to add the area waterfront to sites receiving dred...
Last month, one of the Wahkiakum County PUD’s water systems was showing a substantial loss in distribution, General Manager Dave Tramblie told the board of commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday. The water crew looked for a leak but wasn't able to track it down. When they revisited the data this month, the losses were much smaller. Tramblie said he had considered installing bypass meters as a possible solution, making it easier to find and address large leaks when they happen, but u...
On Monday, the Cathlamet Town Council swiftly passed several ordinances during a short council meeting. The meeting was delayed once again by technical issues related to Zoom and the idea of safely having in-person council meetings was proposed but not decided upon. Town Attorney Fred Johnson reminded council members that the ordinances up for vote were those reviewed by Code Publishing as a part of an external legal review of the town’s municipal code (CMC). Code Publishing has made recommendations for updates in order to be in compliance w...
On Tuesday, the count of covid-19 cases in Wahkiakum County had reached 100. Of those, 19 were considered potentially active. According to the Washington Department of Health, 1,483 tests of county residents have been conducted, and five people in the county have been hospitalized. There have been 4,248 cases of covid-19 in Cowlitz County, with 94 considered active. They are attributing 54 deaths to the virus. Pacific County reported 21 new cases on Monday, for a total of 762 cases. Of those,...
On February 16, the Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors got updates on the budget, the four day school week, and Superintendent Brent Freeman’s ongoing challenge to fund renovations at the high school. Budget Manager Shelby Garrett started the meeting with an apportionment comparison of the September-December period to the January-August period, which showed a loss of $167,751.61 because of decreased enrollment. Freeman was hopeful that enrollment would go up next year if the s...
A ban on the use of chokeholds, military equipment, and most types of car chases by law enforcement passed the House of Representatives after lawmakers voted along party lines in a 54-43 vote Feb. 27. HB 1054 was the subject of much debate. Some Republican leaders said the bill went too far to strip police of self-defense options, and Democrats said the bill addressed a growing problem with violence and racism in law enforcement. “While Washington State still has work to do to demand equity in our law enforcement, today’s vote is a step for...
A low carbon fuel bill passed the state House of Representatives Feb. 27 in a 52-46 vote with every Republican voting no. Its next stop is the Senate. The bill directs the Department of Ecology to institute rules that require refineries to produce fuels, like gasoline and diesel, to have reduced greenhouse gas output over time. Current goals within the bill require emissions per unit of fuel to be 10% below 2017 levels by 2028, and 20% below 2017 levels by 2035. The bill also requires an annual report from the Department of Ecology and...
