Vikings bring home hardware!

By GEORGE KUNKE, geoakunke@gmail.com

Willapa Valley earned a trophy from the Class 1B Boys State Basketball Tournament by finishing in fifth place Saturday at the Spokane Arena. DeSales Catholic defeated the Vikings 64-52 to capture third place.

The fast-paced #3 seeded Irish from Walla Walla opened up a 24-16 lead after one quarter and extended it to 42-29 at halftime. The never-say-die #4 Vikings cut the margin to 51-40 entering the fourth quarter but were outscored 13-12 in the final eight minutes.

“Well, I never questioned if these kids would bring it on game day…The only question that I had is how much did they have left in their tanks after that huge and emotional game the night before,” WVHS Head boys Basketball Coach Jay Pearson told the Herald “You just never know how these constellation games go after playing in such a high stakes game the night before. The semifinal game had high emotions and it was a game where we spent so much energy to compete. However, bring it they did the next morning... somewhere, somehow they

North Pacific County Job Fair Friday

By GEORGE KUNKE, geoakunke@gmail.com

MENLO – Willapa Valley School District will be running a replacement of their Educational Programs & Operations (E. P. & O) levy on the April 25 ballot.

The current 2-year levy, which was approved in 2021 is set to expire in November of 2023. The district will ask voters to approve a 4-year replacement levy for $675,000 for four years, which works out to an estimated $1.52 per $1,000 of assessed value, the same as the current levy.

“The School Board is very mindful of the tax burden on property owners, and they were intent on keeping the levy cost as low as possible,” said WVSD Superintendent Nancy Morris.

The E. P. & O. levy pays for programs and expenses the state does not fund in the Willapa Valley School District. Educational Programs funded by the levy that directly impact students include tuition-free preschool, field trips, extra-curricular activities, athletics, and it helps fund adequate para-educator, nursing and counseling time for students. Operations and maintenance of the district supported by the levy include insurance, utilities, safety measures, and expenses like web page hosting and mass messaging systems to communicate with parents and the community.

Superintendent Morris encourages anyone with questions to call her in the WVSD Office at 942-5855 or to look at the extensive levy information on the district webpage at www.willapavalley.org. Additionally, citizens are encouraged to bring their questions to the regular school board meeting on March 27 at 6:00 p.m. at WVHS.

The North Pacific County Job Fair takes place Friday from 1-3 pm, at 404 Commercial St. in Raymond.

The event, which is sponsored by ABC (Alliance for a Better Community), is an opportunity to learn how to explore local help resources, There will be several employment business representatives from forest and wood products, trades and education, Healthcare, IT/Telecom, GovernmentAdministrative-Finance, hospitality and tourism, food production, retail and many others. found the extra energy to compete.

If you are seeking work, dress to be interview-ready. Bring copies of your resume.

Link to register: bit. ly/2023PacCoJobFair. However, registration is not necessary to attend the event.

In addition to ABC, Job Fair is supported by Coastal Community Action Program, EDC of Pacific County, Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce and WorkSource.

“Again, this game came down to the first quarter and those first few possessions,” Pearson said. “DeSales was on fire converting on almost every trip and we were quite not as efficient. I really do think it took us the first quarter to get our legs stretched out and have the ability to play at their level. We gave up 24 points in the first quarter and that is something that we do not usually do with our defense. After midway through the second quarter, I thought we played with them; however, we were just a little too far behind.

“Kolten Fluke had one heck of a state tournament and carried us along with Wil Clements to keep us in the game,” Pearson said. “Kolten is playing his best basketball right now and led us in scoring with 15 points. Wil Clements, who has been solid and consistent for us all year long, put together another great game, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards.

“Derek Fluke had a monster floor game for us today grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds, dishing out eight assists and scoring

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Still time to send in your Fair Theme ideas

By GEORGE KUNKE, geoakunke@gmail.com

MENLO – Dig down into your creative thought process and send in your suggestions for what the 2023 Pacific County Fair Theme should be. The winner not only gets $50, but will have a cupcake party in their honor. The Theme Contest is open to everyone; there is no age limit. There is still time to submit your ideas, but time is running out with the deadline for theme submission this Friday at 4:00 p.m.

There are two ways to submit you Fair theme ideas:

* Mail to: Pacific County Fair at PO Box 142, Menlo, WA, 98561;

* E-mail to: dgraves@co.pacific.wa.us.

All duplicate themes will be considered on a first-comefirst served basis, with the fair manager having the final decision. The winning theme will be chosen by the fair manager.

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