Willapa Harbor Herald and Pacific County Press July 14, 2021

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Vaccinate for your loved ones!

The Pacific County Emergency Operations Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please give them a call with any COVID-19 related questions. Call (360) 875-9407 or email to info1@pacificcountyhealth.com.

Find a vaccination clinic online at www.tinyurl.com/PacCoClinics

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Vol. 43, Issue 28

COVID-19 Stats

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July 14, 2021

Your Independent Community News Since 1890

Happy Birthday America!

Update July 7, 2021

Cases New cases over the last 14 days: 11 Case rate per 100k over last 14 days: 50.8 Active cases: 6 Total cases since start of pandemic: 1,081 Hospitalizations New hospitalizations over the last 7 days: 0 Total hospitalizations since start of pandemic: 44 Deaths Total deaths since start of pandemic: 13

COVID-19 Delta variant quickly becoming dominant By Karen S. Carter During the July 1 COVID forum hosted by the Pacific County Health and Human Services Department, Health Officer Dr. Steven Krager discussed COVID-19 variants. He explained that variants are copies of viruses that have made an error in their reproductive cycle and result in a mutated version of the original vairus. It can cause the behaviour of the virus to change and crowd out the old strain. Variants can cause major problems when they become more infectious. The example Krager gave was if the original strain can infect two people, the variant can develop to infect three people. “If they [the viruses] can make copies of themselves inside your body quicker that is concerning because it leads to severe disease where you can become sicker quicker,” Krager said. “Your immune system wouldn’t necessarily respond quickly as the virus replicates too fast.” The other concern with variants is that the coronavirus vaccines may not be as effective with the new strains. So far the vaccines are keeping up with the new variants, fully vaccinated people can catch the new strains but so far they are not being hospitalized. “We are worried about places with low vaccine coverage,” said Krager. “Those are the places that this variant could really take hold and cause significant outbreaks. The Alpha variant is still the most dominant, but Delta is going to surpass it soon.”

One car rollover on Elk Prairie Road By GEORGE KUNKE A one-car rollover happened at approximately 2:37 Sunday afternoon on Route 6 at Elk Prairie Road on milepost 18 in Pacific County. The cause of the accident was wheels off the roadway. According to the Washington State Patrol, the vehicle was westbound on a curve just east of Elk Prairie Road when it went off the westbound shoulder into a ditch, then continued westbound in the ditch and rolled over. The vehicle rotated on its top and rested upside

down in the westbound lane roadway. The driver, Gerald E. Ott, 71, Tacoma, and the passenger, Ann Ott, 58, Tacoma, were not injured but as a precautionary measure, the two were transported to Willapa Harbor Hospital. Gerald Ott was charged with wheels off the roadway. Drugs or alcohol were not involved, according to WSP. Seat belts were worn by both people. The vehicle involved was a red 2017 Chrysler 200 four-door and it was totaled.

Inslee declares wildfire state of emergency, limited burn ban Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide state of emergency last Tuesday (July 9) relating to the growing risk of wildfires, including a statewide prohibition on most outdoor and agricultural burning through September 30. "Washington is facing a historic drought and we have already experienced record-breaking heat,” Inslee said. “We must be vigilant in our efforts to prevent wildfires, and the loss of life and destruction of land and property that comes with them. We

Photos by George Kunke

A rapid-fire 23-minute fireworks show was displayed from the Columbia River near the Columbia River Maritime Museum in downtown Astoria on the Fourth of July.

Arrests for fireworks a dud over holiday By GEORGE KUNKE, geoakunke@gmail.com SOUTH BEND – With fireworks completely

banned in the City Limits law of the land. “Compared to years past, of South Bend this year by Emergency Order, citizens we had very few firework pretty much followed the related complaints,” South

By Karen S. Carter For anyone who missed the fun, the Tokeland 4th of July parade was held on Saturday, July 3rd. The parade was organized by the TokelandNorth Cove Chamber of Commerce and welcomed around 1,200 onlookers. Bob Merrill was declared Grand Marshal and has chaired the parade efforts for over a decade. There were only 40 officially registered participants, but about 150 people took part in the parade. Many long-time Tokeland residents said this year’s parade was the biggest one Photo by Van Adam Davis, www.vadavidsphoto.com Raymond American Legion steps out this year during the 4th of July parade in Tokeland. yet. See parade Page B2

Participants can start getting entries to fair By GEORGE KUNKE, geoakunke@gmail.com MENLO – The 125th edition of the Pacific County Fair runs from August 26 through August 28 with gates open from 10 am to 9 pm at the fairgrounds in Menlo. This year's fair is the 100th in the town of Menlo. General admission prices are Adult (Daily 18 and over) $7; Senior Citizen (60 and over) $5; Students

(1st-12th grades) $5; Preschoolers, Free; Nursing Home Residents, Free; Free Senior Citizen and Veterans Day at Fair is Friday August 25th; Free Kids Day at the fair (12 and under is Saturday, August 28th. Below are important dates for fair enthusiasts. August 2: All animal paper entries due Open/4H and FFA. Exhibitors must

See fair Page A2

Photo by Sally Kunke Rabbits are always a favorite for kids at the Pacific County Fair which opens next month in Menlo.

Possibly this Week

Dollar General to open doors soon

store Monday morning, including painters.

Harbor Realty Buying or Selling, Start your journey here! Property Management Rentals Available

Heidi Keller Designated Broker cell: 360-942-7486

See fireworks Page A4

Tokeland celebrates the 4th with a parade

don’t want a repeat of recent years with dangerous wildfires across the state that have destroyed towns, killed livestock and resulted in weeks of unhealthy air quality. I urge everyone to do their part to help protect our beautiful state and all our communities.” “We have seen a recordbreaking number of fires for this early in the summer,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Photo by George Kunke Franz. “Extreme drought The Dollar General in South Bend could open today or as late as next week, according to store ofconditions leave commu- ficials. A truck was in the process of being unloaded Monday morning. Another truck is being prepared nities across our state at to arrive to fill the shelves before the store can open its doors. A dozen workers were working in the See wildfire Page A4

Bend Police Chief Lucas Stigall told the Herald Friday. “Fortunately we did

harborrealtyinc@harborrealtyinc.com 360-875-5100 Hwy 101 & Quincy, South Bend

www.harborrealtyinc.com

By GEORGE KUNKE SOUTH BEND – The new dollar general store in South Bend could be open this week if the two remaining shipments arrive and everything goes as planned – that's according to Westport Dollar General Acting Manager John Markgraff, who spoke to the Herald Monday morning. “According to our District Manager Julia King, we're looking at Wednesday (today), or as late as Saturday,” Markgraff said. “If things don't fall into See General Page A3


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