Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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To the Eagle, I found our latest rendition of Bald Eagle Days to be a resounding success. However, there was one exception: our very own State Senator Jeff Wilson. A week after a political assassination attempt, with wars raging in Gaza and Ukraine, and in the middle of a contentious political climate to say the least, Senator Wilson thought it would be a great idea to drive a mock war machine tank and take “shots” at the crowd. This, the same individual who couldn’t keep track of his own firearm and took it on an international flight. I sure...
To The Eagle, Cathlamet has arrived! We are highlighted in the 2024-25 edition of the Washington State Visitors Guide! On page 73 under Local Culture, I read "CATHLAMET. A scenic stop on Highway 4, which skirts the Columbia River between Longview and the coast, this tiny town is home to Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, where you might spy Columbian white-tailed deer. Stop by one of the appealing eateries in town, such as The Spar for chicken-fried steak or biscuits with homemade gravy, or River Mile 38 Brewing, where you can sip a...
Think you couldn't possibly volunteer for one of the county's five fire districts? Think again, says Randy Hoven, fire chief for Wahkiakum County Fire District 4. When Fire District 4's M.D. Johnson asked if I would be interested in volunteering, I said "I'm too old and decrepit." He said, "Do you think you could drive that tender over there?" I said, "Well, yeah. I could do that." His response was "If you could do that and watch over the crew while they're fighting a fire, then we could use...
I wish to submit a correction and comment to your summary of the impacts of PUD/Town utility consolidation study in the “PUD Report” published in the July 11, 2024 edition of the Eagle. Your report states “Consolidation of these utilities could mean lower prices for consumers and greater efficiencies for utility operators.” This may be true for customers outside the Town of Cathlamet but is definitely NOT accurate for utility customers within the Town of Cathlamet. The PUD study states “the water bill for a residential customer inside the Town...
Lots of laughter and applause filled the historic Cathlamet Pioneer Center on Friday night, July 12. After participating in Cathlamet's first week-long "Summer Musical Theater Camp", ten young local thespians entertained family and friends with an original production, "Shel Silverstein: Poems & A Song". It was by any measure, a smashing success! Under the enthusiastic direction of Joe Baker, Delee Baker and Lorene VanderWalker, the talented Cast Members shared witty poems and delighted the...
Was Maureen the inspiration for the Eveready Bunnie? Attending the life celebration of Maureen Zacher Bockius at the Norse Hall a week ago, I had previously read the very replete discussion of her vast public service in The Eagle and was amazed at how much I didn’t know about her That got me thinking: didn’t Maureen’s career peak at about the same time that Eveready batteries came out with that iconic character the Eveready Bunny, the one that just goes and goes thanks to an amazing energy source? I’m wondering if some bright adverti...
To The Eagle, The public is invited to a Memorial Day Ceremony next Monday, May 27, 2024, at 9 a.m. at Greenwood Cemetery. The event, hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Wahkiakum Post #5297, will pay tribute to those men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice for this great country. For those that have difficulty standing, please bring a chair. The ceremony should last about 30 minutes. There will be no refreshments. Bill Tawater Commander Wahkiakum Post 5297...
To The Eagle, The Cathlamet Public Library Wishes to thank the following library staff and volunteers for helping to make the recent Blanche Bradley Memorial Library Foundation book sale a collaborative community success: The members of The Blanche Bradley Memorial Foundation, and their spouses who committed much time and labor to the event. Wahkiakum High School Principal Stephanie Leitz for providing the following students to help with setup before and dissemination after the sale-Aimon Lee, Jacob Johnson, Mary Sealy, Harley Popp, Danny...
To The Eagle, April 21st – 27th National Volunteer Week GFWC-Cathlamet Woman’s Club recognizes and celebrates the service of the many volunteers in Wahkiakum County that give their time, talent, resources, energy, and dedication to serving our community. We thank the Bloom volunteers that keep our town beautiful with seasonal flowers/displays in the big blue planters. We thank the many volunteers that maintain the PioneerCenter and the Wahkiakum Museum. We thank the volunteers that help out at the Library and at our schools. We thank the car...
To The Eagle, I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the sponsors and organizers of the All Day Disc Golf Presents: Lucky Sky Challenge held April 13 and 14, 2024 in Skamokawa and Cathlamet. The event featured Lucky Mud Resort and Skyline Golf Course and brought together 128 disc golfers, both professional and amateur, from across the Pacific Northwest. The turnout was a true testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Special thanks go to Debi Trull of Realty West for her generous sponsorship, which played a key...
To The Eagle, I was born and raised in Cathlamet, moved to Portland after graduation and worked in Portland and and Vancouver. I moved to Long Beach Washington in 1995 and worked there for 25 years. In 2020 I retired and moved back to my hometown of Cathlamet. I like to remember how things were 60 years ago. They were good times. But things do change, and we have to respect those changes. We also must respect those who have lived in this town all their lives. There are certain things that are not going to change and one of them is the...
To The Eagle, I just watched the video of the last council meeting held on April 15th. I was appalled by the total lack of respect from one specific council member. Robert Stowe was both disreputable and childish. He interrupted the sheriff and the mayor. It started by talking about the no parking space and what was needed to make it legal. In a past meeting, information was given that was incorrect. The information given was in reference to Big Bend College parking. It was how they enforced parking on this college campus. The sheriff was tryin...
Our learning process at The Eagle continues. Last week, we published a letter to the editor signed by “Eric Arthur Blair.” Many astute readers pointed out that the name was the real name of author George Orwell. We slipped up in publishing this letter: our policy is to print the author’s name and town of residence, and not to print anonymous letters. We will do our best to validate letter writers in the future, and will not publish them if we can’t reach the author and have concerns. Unfortunately, letters submitted over the website frequen...
To The Eagle, I’ve been very outspoken for a long time about the need for the town to change its governance to allow the hiring of a professional town manager. A town manager would work closely with our competent Clerk Treasurer to oversee the daily town functions that the mayor currently does. He would report to the council and could be replaced if found not adequately performing as required. Moreover, among many other aspects, the professional town manager hired would need to have an understanding (that’s currently lacking) of: basic financia...
To The Eagle, Mayor Olson’s list of accomplishments is growing. He is experienced, organized, and deft at two related issues key to the TOC’s success: networking, and fundraising. That he finds himself under attack from members of the city council is sad, but not surprising. I served one term as mayor (2010-13). After my election, I was invited to join the “real meeting,” a periodic gathering of elected leaders held then on Puget Island, at which local officials from various agencies would discuss and coordinate activities. I declined due to...
To The Eagle, I would like to know why the county can’t afford to pay a full-time paramedic. We need one. We have a few older people that live in town, Skamokawa, and the island that would benefit from having one. My nephew might have lived if there had been a paramedic who could administer medicine right away. We have a wonderful team of EMS workers, but they can only do so much. I would like the county to look into it. We need a paramedic. Susan Brown Puget Island...
To The Eagle, As Sheriff of this County, I stay away from publicly commenting on Town of Cathlamet politics as much as possible, but on certain occasions and in the name of truth and correcting misconceptions, I must speak. I believe the attack on the current mayor with censorship on his "behaviour" (a Canadian spelling of the word), is misleading at best, and bullying at worst. I have witnessed or have been present on several occasions where the rude, disrespectful, aggressive, and hostile behavior from a councilman was almost too much to...
To The Eagle, I am writing to express my deep concern and frustration regarding the behavior exhibited by certain members of our town council during meetings. As a concerned citizen who attends council meetings, I was appalled by the lack of professionalism and decorum displayed by some individuals entrusted with the responsibility of governing our community. One council member, in particular, conducted themselves in a manner unbefitting of their position. Throughout the proceedings, this individual appeared more preoccupied with their...
To The Eagle, I have periodically been involved with our current mayor working on town-related issues for several years. After reading the censure letter and his rebuttal comments, a couple of things stood out to me. Firstly, I am embarrassed on his behalf for his conclusion on the status of his relationship with the Town Council in his State of the Town pamphlet. Our Council is very competent and committed. Rather than blaming the Council for his poor relationship with them, perhaps he should be accountable and look in a mirror. Rather than “g...
Last week, I attended the Story Discovery at the Scale conference held at Stanford University.The conference brought together a mix of reporters, publishers, technologists, and academics to discuss tools and resources to help news organizations of all sizes better cover local news. Attendees ranged in size from small community news blogs to The New York Times. The Eagle was invited to help represent the needs of small, rural communities like ours. I spoke on a panel about the challenges of deploying new technology and practices in news...
Public meeting coverage in the paper has been sparse for a while now. This is a short-term problem due to staffing. We support public meeting coverage as a vital component of local news and we are working to get this content back in the paper as soon as we can. Stacey and Ian are doing a great job getting the newspaper out each week. I work full-time at Microsoft and contribute to The Eagle as I can. Brandon works in theater and has done the same. None of us are formally trained for newspaper publishing. Each week, we learn new things, fix...
The Wahkiakum County Eagle News is an independently owned newspaper dedicated to reporting events, stories and interests in our region. Our focus on local happenings is our top priority. If you have something of interest to submit, please send it to the paper. Here is what needs to be included: What is happening? Is this a meeting, event or story? Give us some details on the event to build a story around, build an ad or add to the calendar. Who is involved? Include names of participants, original authors and photographers. What is the name of...
To The Eagle, Following last week’s head-scratching opinion piece on retraining farmers, I couldn't help but feel the urge to rally a few of us Eagle readers – you know, us common folk – to brainstorm a 'new resident survival guide' for those mulling over a move to Wahkiakum County. I’m just spitballing here, but why not kick things off with a chapter on conducting your own due diligence before making that big home-buying or renting decision? We'll offer some serious advice, urging potential buyers to dig into the area's history, local economy...
To The Eagle, In regards to the letter from E.S. Simpson. We welcome newcomers to our community but why do you want to change our way of life? I was born and raised here. My dad, Mel Coates, was the local butcher, cattle hauler and owned a frozen foods locker plant before people had home freezers. There were many dairies, most locals were farmers, fishermen or loggers. People fed their families by hunting deer and elk in season. We are a rural area and many people move here because of this. You are welcome but please respect our way of living....
To The Eagle, There is an old expression that you could benefit from: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. The fine citizens of Wahkiakum County do not need anyone to come in from the outside to tell us how to live our lives or what direction on the moral compass to follow. We do not go to Portland or Seattle and force our lifestyle there. We would appreciate the same in return, but it has been my experience that that is never the case. Furthermore, veganism is a relatively new concept to humanity. For thousands of years mankind has eaten meat....
