Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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To The Eagle: The 12th annual Puget Island Garage and Yard Sale (P.I.G.Y.S.) is approaching rapidly. It’s the last weekend in June, which this year falls on the the 28th and 29th with Sunday the 30th optional. It’s been a great run for the past decade with enthusiastic neighbors and Island businesses and organizations (churches, Norse Hall, Farm Market, VFW.) We usually have around 50 vendors and draw about 500 carloads of customers. The cars all leave loaded with Island treasures and the participants end the weekend tired, happy and pre...
To The Eagle: Audiences were delighted by a film festival chronicling the film work of young film maker Elia Hoover in the High School library last Friday. During the thirty minute showing, Elia's talents spanned battle field scenes, intergalactic travel and old west gun fights. Elia Hoover's talents are unmistakable. As a former film maker myself, what impressed me most about Mr. Hoover's achievement was the perseverance. Making a film is a mammoth undertaking, somehow he fought through the self doubt and limited resources and made several...
To The Eagle: A couple of weeks ago there was a door-to-door collection of food for the food banks. I was told that the food would be distributed equally between the two food banks that operate in this county. As a user of these foods banks I am very concerned. I visited the Wahkiakum Food Bank and their shelves were stuffed with food to the point that there was food on the bottom shelves for holiday giving. There are such wonderful caring people in this county to help out the less fortunate. The following week I visited the Helping Hand Food...
To The Eagle: I would like to put my two cents in on the new brewery that they want to put in Cathlamet. I truly feel it should be in a building that is already built in town and I think the brick building at 83 Main Street would make a spectacular place for a brewery. We would use the building that is and has been empty for a few years which makes me sad every time I walk by it. It is a historic building, it would bring people downtown. We have a nice boardwalk to downtown from the marina. Something to consider. Debbie Kuller...
To the Editor: At the last of the 2013 Citizens' Police Academy sessions, our prosecuting attorney, Mr. Dan Bigelow, presented a superb seminar in which he reminded attendees of the citizenry's right and responsibility to monitor the activities of elected officials. As the current chairman of the board of commissioners, Mr. Blair Brady, has repeatedly barred inquiries from this voter, and has retracted statements he made on the purpose of approved expenditures exceeding $400,000, I wonder whether he is cognizant of this role of the electorate....
To The Eagle: Politicians are classes of individuals we can’t have arrive soon enough, but then we are perhaps more than happy when they leave; the feeling is like the day of buying and day of selling a boat. But it is with great disappointment that the Cathlamet mayor George Wehrfritz will not run for reelection in November. While a few of you might feel relief that he is leaving, it is too hot in the kitchen, I think there is an overwhelming feeling for many of us to compliment his vision and accomplishments to help Cathlamet grow and i...
To The Eagle: Even if Obama and his minions got every gun control and background check law they wanted, the next school shooting will go off as planned or conceived or whatever serves as creative fermentation in the minds of the deranged souls who do these things. Lifting the punch line from an old joke: They are crazy, not stupid. No matter what the law reads, they will equip themselves with whatever armament, artillery or explosive device suits their feverish fantasies. Here’s a thought experiment: The population of the United States is aroun...
To The Eagle: I hope most of you are able to see the front page article in The Longview Daily news on Friday regarding Wahkiakum County wanting public input on a proposal for a junk ordinance. There are 2 meetings coming up, May 15, 6:30 at Johnson Park in Rosburg, and May 21, 6:30 at the courthouse. I urge everyone to attend these meetings and let the commissioners know you care. I have always been pro real property rights and it is something I have advocated for, for many years. I hope people will not see this as an infringement on those...
To The Eagle: On April 25 while camping at Elochoman Slough Marina RV Park, I accidentally injured my face and required medical attention. The young man managing the office at the RV park kindly took me to the Wahkiakum Family Clinic where I was immediately attended to by the staff. I regret that I did not get their individual names, because the care and attention both of the staff at the clinic and at the RV park were outstanding and greatly appreciated. I am sending this email because I wish to publicly acknowledge the kindness and...
To The Eagle: Where was I? “Money is an agreed upon medium of exchange. It is also an idea backed by confidence.” Recent reading indicates it may well have been goldsmiths who issued receipts to people who brought them gold who actually started the current system of money. Makes sense when you think back to the now defunct gold standard, silver certificates, and the fact that pre-federal reserve, the money in the USA was backed by something of value. Unfortunately today it is nothing more than key strokes on a computer that create money. In...
To The Eagle: Wahkiakum 4-H has conducted several awareness activities in the last few weeks to help reduce underage drinking in their community. For one activity we plan to attend an athletic and community event to hand 100 flyers to youth and community members with information about the effects of underage drinking. We will be writing a script for a Public Service Announcement to hopefully be aired on a local radio station. So stay tuned to your local stations and listen for a PSA by your local 4-H youth to help prevent underage drinking. We...
To The Eagle: I have decided not to seek a second term as Cathlamet’s mayor. Though I love the work and believe my time in office has been productive, family obligations require that I spend considerable time outside Wahkiakum County over the next few years. Our town needs a fully-devoted chief executive, and I am confident that our election process will produce one willing to meet the challenges. Contested elections are the lifeblood of our system. They introduce fresh ideas, bring new people into political life and give citizens a voice in go...
To The Eagle: After reading reports on “rescuing” the Columbian white-tailed deer the other day, my neighbors and I were appalled and discussed it to great length. We felt it prudent to voice our thoughts on this, as it is our hard-earned tax dollars providing a safe haven for the cute little deer. As we live locally, we have watched the countless millions spent in an attempt (we think) to try and save the species, which is threatened. Seems to us there were more when it was farmed with cows and hayed. A large portion of the deer refuge has...
To The Eagle: I want to celebrate the new investment and growth happening in and around Wahkiakum County. From the reopening of the Appelo Archives Coffee Shop and Bookstore to the new Diner on Main and Tall Tree Coffeehouse, it is amazing to see all the investment and reinvestment in our community. Our family and neighbors have all been enjoying the wonderful transformation of Skamokawa including the Landing, the Skamokawa Resort and Store, the Oasis and the Duck Inn. The Hotel Cathlamet, Scribbles Nail Spa, and Kullerful Bokuets in downtown...
To The Eagle: The following is the exact text of an anonymous letter I received April 13: "We have watched your dog being abused for days! It is cruel to not provide him with shelter out of the wind & rain. HAVE YOU NO COMPASION (sp?) Please at least cover the kennell (sp?) so we don’t have to lose any more sleep due to your gross neglect. Also, your kennel is too small (by legal standards) for that size dog. "If you need help finding him a proper home - give him to the Humane Society where he'll be cared for properly." (no signature) In F...
To The Eagle, On Tuesday of last week, I had an opportunity to discuss economic development and the Department of Commerce’s Associate Development Organization (ADO) grant awarded to Wahkiakum County with Commissioner Mike Backman. Commissioner Backman consulted with me to discuss the outcome requirements of the ADO grant and explore if changes to the grant might assist the county in achieving its expected outcomes. I was pleased Wahkiakum Community Network was able to assist the county in this consulting service. Working with contractual a...
To The Eagle: Since we received our school board election ballot on Saturday the 6th, it’s time to fill it out with a positive approval and get it back to the auditor’s office in Cathlamet or South Bend. I want all of you eligible voters to remember that it was our parents and neighbors within our school districts nationwide that provided the schools we were educated in and now, ladies and gentlemen, it is our turn to return the favor. I want all of you to read what you are paying with the $8.1 million; your yes vote will provide and it will be...
To The Eagle: As in the Wizard of Oz, voters need to pull the curtain back and have a look for themselves. Naselle School District is pushing back when voters say no, understand that, we’ve watered and fed that behavior, and it grew. No means no, no matter who says it. A few weeks ago I received a letter signed “Voters for Accountability”. This letter talked about various issues going on in our school. Although I agree with their concerns, I felt there were a number of issues not addressed. At the end of the day it comes back to the same issue...
To The Eagle: St. James Family Center is proud to be a recipient of United Way of Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties funding allocations for 2013. SFJC received $48,000 from United Way this year. SJFC would like to extend a special thank you to the United Way Liaison to our Board, Brad Whittaker, The United Way Board of Directors and the United Way President/CEO, Kalei LaFave. These people put in countless hours campaigning for funds, visiting programs, attending board meetings and have the tough job of allocating the funding. United Way does much...
To The Eagle: A few weeks ago, two Steubenville high school students accused of raping a 16-year old girl in a semi-conscious state, were found guilty by an Ohio Judge. But this isn’t the end of the story. In fact, now that a verdict has been reached, it’s more important than ever to speak out against sexual violence. You might ask yourself, “but what can I do”? I would like to suggest that we can all do something and that we can no longer remain bystanders in these heartbreaking events. Consider the following scenario: You’re out, and you t...
To The Eagle: Since April is the poetry(est) month, as recently ordained by the federal government, I will respond to this decree as best I can. But then again I am trapped by a tickled silence. What is it to respond to a cultural decree by the government? In the contemporary lexicon, a ‘response’ is something someone does via e-mail; jabbed letter by letter while squinting into a glowing object the size of a pack of cigarettes. Does musing on the nature of poetry in society break the Wahkiakum Eagle’s solemn editorial rule number 7? More...
To The Eagle: To say that I have been overwhelmed by the positive response I have received about naming the new ferry the “Oscar B.” would be an understatement. Those who knew my father know that his name and the ferry were synonymous. For those that did not know him, I hope that they will realize what a big part he played in keeping the ferry service in Wahkiakum County. I can’t thank the county commissioners enough for this honor of keeping his name connected with that of the Puget Island ferry. I hope that the feedback that the commi...
To The Eagle: We in Wahkiakum County have an excellent lesson on how to save large sums of public money. That is the Wahkiakum Sheriff’s office. Our Sheriff, Mark Howie, has expanded the practice of hiring deputies with experience needed in our county. Examples as follow. Our new undersheriff, Steve Marshall, who is a certified rescue diver, certified swift water rescue diver, certified collision investigator and vehicle assault, command search and rescue investigations. He has 32 years experience in various phases of law enforcement in King a...
To The Eagle, With respect to Craig Brown’s letter in support of the Food Bank in Erickson Park, I don’t understand the need for an ad hominem attack when his case can be made objectively. I haven’t found that personal comments add to any civil discourse. Bur for the record, I am not from Houston unless having lived there periodically when rotated back to the United States qualifies. Mr. Brown could have easily called me a Frog, a Limey, a Libyan or a Tunisian (or, I suppose, a Red, a subversive or a Planning Commissioner). I don’t conside...
To The Eagle: While I realize that coming from Houston might incline James Reed to shoot from the hip (“Town needs care in entering contracts” / March 7, 2013), now that he has settled in Cathlamet it might behoove him to get his facts straight before ‘firing off’ a letter To The Eagle. After scourging the Town Council for a contract that they haven’t even entered into, Mr. Reed goes on to lecture us on how a contract should be constructed to be in the best public interest. Unfortunately, town attorney Heidi Heywood is still drafting a land le...
