COMMUNITY DAYS ROUND-UP
Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2022
Vol. 143 No. 28
$1.00
City approves WSU license RODGER NICHOLS
FOR THE SENTINEL
PHOTOS BY LOU MARZELES EXCEPT BOTTOM LEFT BY RICHARD LEFEVER.
LARGEST TURN-OUT IN YEARS: Community Days 2022 was a roaring success, with people saying they haven’t seen such a turn-out in many years. The parade route was thick with watchers the whole length, enjoying the spectacle of floats, horses and riders, and political candidates galore. The Rock Creek Band of the Yakama Nation graciously shared exhibits on the courthouse lawn, and they regaled the community with a multitude of Native dancing, with some very young participants. Friday night was the time capsule ceremony (bottom left).
LOU MARZELES
THINKING AHEAD: U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse and wife Joan paused before the Community Days parade Saturday to talk about redistricting and other key issues.
Newhouse says redistricting had to happen LOU MARZELES EDITOR KLICKITAT COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE
CANDIDATE MENU: This is the complete slate of candidates available to choose from in the primary election next month. You might get more clarity on who you’d like to vote for at the candidates’ meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the Goldendale Grange Hall, moderated by John Miller. Come prepared with your questions. You can write them on cards that will be provided and direct them toward a specific candidate. The questions will then be given by the moderator to the candidate for answers.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, who will represent Klickitat County beginning next year, spoke briefly with The Sentinel Saturday morning. Were you surprised by the redistricting? No, not really. I knew that things were going to have to
change. Some things had to be adjusted and I was totally fine with that. Klickitat County used to be my legislative district. I know the issues down here and a lot of the people, so I was totally happy with that. If you win in November, should voters expect any major shift between Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and you?
See Newhouse page A8
The Goldendale City Council met Tuesday, July 5, following the July 4 holiday on Monday. The council approved a temporary license for Washington State University to establish a weather station and soil and hydrology measuring station at the city’s wastewater treatment site, along with a request from M&M construction to transfer its contract with the city for work at the airport to another company. M&M said it was unable to fulfill the contract, and by doing a transfer the city will save the time and expense involved with rebidding the contract and reordering the scarce materials. Councilors also approved a proposal for a feasibility study on creating a tax-increment financing district in the city and a request by Hot Rods Bar and Restaurant to set up a beer garden on part of the sidewalk during Community Days. Some of the interesting items came from the reports of officers and councilors Juliana Ontoveros represented the city fire department, which patrolled the city during the 6 p.m. to midnight window allowed for fireworks by city ordinance. She reported city firefighters responded to three small fires. The last one, she said, had initially been reported as a fire in a storage unit. “When we arrived on scene,” she said, “it was actually in their garage, and the residents were out lighting fireworks and weren’t aware of the fire. From out dispatch time to onscene was under a minute, and we were able to extinguish it. It did not involve the structure at all. But if it had not been for the citizen who saw it and called it in, it could have been a pretty cataclysmic fire because it was right up against the walls. Luckily we got it out.” Police chief Jay Hunziker said they had 11 reports of people who set off fireworks outside the restricted hours, and in the cases where they could determine who did so, they received a warning, and the chief said there were no repeat offenders. The biggest surprise of past week, he said, was a young bear that wandered into town. “Everything went very well,” he said. “We were able to get the bear to travel north out of town. There was no harm done to the bear. No animals or domestic animals or people were harmed in this, so it worked out great. One thing I want to encourage in open council—we strongly encour-
See City page A8