Anita Lorraine Basich, 95, a longtime resident of Aberdeen, died peacefully on March30,2025inVancouver, Washington. Anita was born on Feb. 23, 1930, in AberdeentoDominicDePaoliand Esther(Rovella)DePaoliwho both immigrated from Italy. She was very proud of her Italian heritage and regularly enjoyed family meals with her five sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins where there was never any shortage of pasta!
Anita graduated from Weatherwax High School in 1948 and on Sept. 19, 1950, she married her high school sweetheart,JohnDruzianich. He was killed in action in the Korean War in March, 1951. Two months later, Anita gave birth to their son, John. On Aug. 18, 1956, she married Robert Basich and together they raised three children, John,Kris,andKathy.Shewas adevotedmotherandalways stressed the importance of family and strong values. Anita’s mother “Nonni” lived inthebasementapartmentin their home for over 20 years and was an integral part of their family, helping with the cooking, laundry, and childcare.
Bob and Anita were married for 44 years and madeagreatteam.Theywere fiercely committed to their hometown. Anita supported Bob during his coaching career and during his time as a state legislator. She also partnered with him to teach ballroom dancing and their gracefulnesswasondisplayat many gatherings at the Aberdeen Elks and Eagles.
Family was everything to them. Grandma and Pa’s generosity was huge. They cherished their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and loved to surprise themwithfunactivities,their favoritetreatsandbeautifully wrapped presents. Holidays were always made special
OBITUARIES
Anita Lorraine Basich
with gorgeous table settings and delicious meals. Family vacations to Sun River, Lake Chelan and Hawaii were filled with treasured memories and plenty of laughter. Anita’s witty sense of humor was on display even in her final days.
Asaworkingmother,Anita was a trend setter for her time. Early in her career, she workedasabanktellerbefore finding her true calling as a real estate broker/Realtor. In 1983shebecameco-ownerof a Coldwell Banker franchise andeventuallysoldhershare in1993andreturnedtohome sales. Her final stop was at Windermere Realty where she used her tireless work ethicandorganizationalskills to serve people, working into her 80s before she retired. Anita served as the President of the Grays Harbor Board of Realtors and was named the Realtor of the Year in 1983. She was also recognized by the Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce for her many years of community service.
Anita was active in many groups — the local chapter of the American Heart Association, Sons of Italy, Gold Star Wives of America, the AHS Class of ‘48 reunion committee and the Bella DonnaInvestmentgroupshe started with business associates and friends. Anita had a deep Catholic faith and was very committed to both St. Mary’sChurchandSt.Mary’s School. Religious artwork fromhervisitstoVaticanCity,
Florence, and Notre Dame, along with statues of the Blessed Mother, missalettes, crucifixes, and rosaries were displayed throughout her house.
She had many hobbies. Anita prided herself in decorating her home and making it a place filled with lovely treasures as well as lots of love. She loved birds and flowers, especially her blooming azaleas, and took great pleasure in having a manicured yard. Anita also enjoyed cooking and entertaining. She had impeccable tasteandstyleandwasalways shoppingfortheperfectoutfit and accessories. She was a hugefanoftheSeahawksand AlexTrebekandPatSajak.No day came to an end without watching her favorite game shows.
Anita is survived by her son, John Basich, of Vancouver, Washington, daughter, Kathy (Bill) Hunsaker of White Salmon, Washington; son-in-law, Leonard Barnes of Montesano; as well as eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husbands, John Druzianich and Robert Basich; parents, Dominic and Esther (Rovella) DePaoli; daughter, Kris Barnes; brother, Louis DePaoli; sisters, Dena Mowell, Irene Greenlee, Norma Hall, and Josephine Wirta; and daughter-in-law, Cindy Basich.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 16 at St. Mary’s Church with a reception to follow at the Parish Hall. A private graveside service will be held at 2:30 at Fern Hill Cemetery. A viewing will be from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15 at Harrison Family Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, thefamilyasksthatcontributionsinhermemorybemade to St. Mary’s School at 518 N. H St. Aberdeen, WA 98520.
All-you-can-eat oyster feed returning to Oakville’s Sharon Grange
The Daily World
The annual Oakville SharonGrangeAll-You-CanEat Oyster Feed is Saturday, April 12, from noon to 5 p.m. —oruntiltheoystersrunout. Attendeesareaskedtopay
Robert L. Oliver
with either cash or checks. Ticketswillbesoldatthedoor for$30forthose13andolder, $25forseniors65orolderand $15 for children ages 5 to 12. Children under 5 can eat for free. Proceeds from the oyster
DEATH NOTICE
feed fund the Sharon Grange’s scholarship fund and its community activities fundandhelppayforgrange building repairs. Sharon Grange is located at 912 S. Bank Road north of Oakville nearthetownofPorter.
Montesano resident Robert Lee Oliver died Monday, April 7, 2025, at The Hampton in Tumwater. He was 84. Arrangements are by Funeral Alternatives of Washington in Tumwater.
MaryEvelynWardofAberdeen, Washington, passed away at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle on March 19, 2025. She was 84 years old.
Mary was born on Jan. 3, 1941 in Aberdeen to parents MauriceRiceandElna(Stanley)Rice.ShemarriedGerald DeanWardonApril5,1957in Aberdeen and together they had four children: Philip, Steven, Rowena, and Cheryl. Mary worked as an Avon representative for over seven years.Shealsoenjoyedmany hobbies including hunting
Robert “Bob” Bagaason passed away peacefully in Rancho Mirage, California on March 29, 2025, after a brief illness. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather and will be missed by those who knew him.
(she shot many of her own deer and grouse!), fishing, gardening,quilting,bowling, and cake decorating.
KirstiAnnBrogan,beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully on Jan. 29, 2025, in Montesano, Washington, at the age of 72. Kirsti was born on Oct. 27, 1952, in Aberdeen, Washington, to Kirsti “Sally” Porkka Musgrove and John Oliver Musgrove. She graduated from Aberdeen High School in 1971 and pursued her passion for nursing, completingtheGraysHarbor College LPN program in 1972. Her dedication to healthcare led her to further her education, earning her associate degree in nursing in 1990. For 42 years, Kirsti served the community with compassion and commitment at Mark E. Reed Hospital, which later became Summit Pacific Medical Center. On July 25, 1975, Kirsti married the love of her life, Louie H. Brogan. Together, they built a life centered around family, hard work, and love. They made their home in Montesano, Washington, but recently fulfilled their dream of building a second home in Yaak, Montana, where they cherished time together in the beauty of the outdoors. Kirsti was a talented and passionate quilter, always looking forward to Shop Hop adventures with her best friend. She found joy in her friendships with the Yaak Women’s Club and the close-knit Mark Reed Hospital group. Her deep love for animals was evident in the specialbondshesharedwith her chihuahuas and birds. Above all, Kirsti was a devoted mother and
grandmother.Sheissurvived by her husband, Louie; her four children, Luke (Dodie) Brogan, Jake (Patsy) Brogan, Lacey (Jason) McMeekin, and Todd (Nicole) Brogan; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and brother, Lance Saila. She wasprecededindeathbyher parents and her beloved son, Ricky Dean Brogan.
Kirsti’s kindness, strength, and love will live on in the hearts of all who knew her. Her legacy of caring for others, her passion for quilting, and the warmth she shared with family and friends will never be forgotten.
A celebration of Kirsti’s life will be held on June 14, 2025, atthefamilyhome,74Winkleman Road. N, Montesano, WA 98563 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Yaak Community Hall Rehab & Restoration Project C/O Larry Miller 30 Wild Sheep Drive, Troy MT 59935 in her honor
Bob was born June 13, 2048, in Aberdeen, WashingtontothelateLowellandJean Bagaason. Bob graduated from Aberdeen’s Weatherwax High School in 1966 and Central Washington Universityin1970.HemarriedLinda Schnabel on June 13, 1970 in Ellensburg, Washington. Bob served in the U.S. National Guard upon graduation from CWU, and began his teaching career in the Grays Harbor, Washington area. Bob and Linda welcomedtheirfirstdaughter Tisain1973,andtheiryoungestdaughterBridgetfollowed soon after in 1974. The family
Thomas Henry Wells Jr., age 62, a longtime resident of Hoquiam, died on March 26, 2025, at his home in Hoquiam after a long battle with liver cancer. He was born on Dec. 29, 1962, in Aberdeen to Thomas H. Wells Sr. and Sandra Jean (Adams) Wells. He attended Hoquiam Schools until the 10th grade and graduated from Quinault High School in 1982.
For many years, he owned and operated his own log truck and also was an owner of Chenois Creek Horse Rentals with his parents, Thomas Sr. and Sandra Wells. Tom was an avid hunter with hounds where he
moved to Cowlitz County, Washington in 1978 where Bob taught History, Health, PE and Traffic Safety. After retirement, Bob was elected twice as Commissioner for thePortofLongview.Hethoroughly enjoyed this position and was happy to give back to his community in this role. Linda and Bob enjoyed traveling to new and tropical locales, their favorite being theHawaiianislandofKauai.
was featured in numerous hound magazines.
Surviving relatives include his mother, Sandra Jean Wells of Hoquiam; a sister Kimberly Wells of Hoquiam;
Most recently they enjoyed spending winters at their home in the Palm Springs area. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Lowell and Mary Jean Bagaason. He is survived by his wife Linda Bagaason; daughter Tisa McDaniel, daughter Bridget Goodwin (Mark); sisterJanetAcker(JohnAcker d.), brother Doug Bagaason (Sally);grandchildrenTanner McDaniel (Riley), Koby McDaniel, Clayton Carter (Kyla) and Brynn Carter; and great-granddaughter Sloane Carter. Bob is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Inlieuofflowersthefamily requests donations be made in Bob’s memory to the Sons of Norway, Longview Lions Club,orthePortlandShriner’s Hospital. Services will be private.
special cousins, Joan Kinney, Daryl Graham, Bill and Carla Lane plus numerous other cousins, many, many friends and his dog Buddy.
A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12, 2025, at the Humptulips Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Humptulips Grange. Please bring a favorite dish to share at the Grange. Remembrances are suggested to a charity of your choice.
Arrangements are by Coleman Mortuary. Please record your thoughts for the family by signing the online register at www.colemanmortuary.net
Mary is survived by her loving husband, Gerald Ward; son, Philip Ward; daughter, Rowena WardLeeson, all of Aberdeen; as wellassixgrandchildrenand four great- grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, Maurice and Elna Rice; son, Steven Ward; daughter,CherylAnneWard; and brother, Lloyd Rice. Services were held at Harrison Family Mortuary, on March 28 at 11 a.m. She was interred the same day at Fern Hill Cemetery next to her daughter Cheryl.
Kirsti Ann (Musgrove) Brogan
Oct. 27, 1952 — Jan. 29, 2025
Mary Evelyn Ward
Robert ‘Bob’ Bagaason
Thomas Henry Wells Jr.
a budget manager is more operational.
“The CFO has a broader, strategic role with a focus on the overall financial health anddirectionofthecompany, whilethebudgetmanagerhas a more focused, operational rolecenteredonbudgetplanning and management,” Kim said.
Kimsaidthecountywason thevergeofbankruptcywhen hetookonthecountyadministrator role in August of 2024. He used his experience and worked with Harland to halt spending and cut the budget in an effort to balance it and endrelianceontemperamental grants. He said his efforts were met with resistance at first.
“People were very upset, they called us all sorts of names, they called us stupid, irresponsible,unprecedented, incompetent, unlawful, illegal,”Kimsaid.“Irealizeditwas allsmokeandmirrors.Wehad themoney,whatwehadwasa spendingproblemcombined withaninabilitytopredictthe state of our finances.”
Kim said much discussion led to identifying a need to bring in someone to take control of the county’s finances and future financial outlook.
“(We)determinedweneed somebody really focused on everything and anything that has to do with finance,” Kim said. “Finance isn’t just about dollars and cents, it’s about standardizing our processes andconsolidatingthem.What the CFO would be doing is taking it to the next level and paying attention to all the thingsweneedtodotoconsolidate,tocentralize,andtooptimize when it comes to things that are affecting finance. Everything affects finance, everything costs money. We cannotrelyonsteadyfunding from the federal government or the state government. My mandate is that we do not budget based on hope and luck, we are intentional, we buildafundbalance,weoptimize all the processes we have, we need to be the same across the board.”
Kim said his role involves much more than managing the county’s finances.
“Can I do it? I absolutely can do it, if I am the CFO. I cannot do it as the county
administrator because there are other aspects of running the county, including personnel management, relationships with other elected officials, the business of running the county and providing services to the public.Therearejustsomany moving parts,” Kim said. “What I’m looking for in my cabinet,andtheCFOwillbea memberofmycabinet,isthat focused attention to optimize their particular areas.”
Hole believes the hiring of a CFO is premature and that the board should wait until they’ve completed all three phases of the strategic planning exercise. He also said uncertainty swirling around the recent sweeping changes made by the federal government should factor into the county’s decision.
“I have indicated that I believe this decision needs to come after more discussion at our strategic planning meetings and when we’ve had the time to evaluate the expected benefits from our Phase I adoption, which reduced our county administrator’s direct reports from 12 to six,” Hole said. “We have just added two positions that will help build capacity in our
county to support our vision. We should not rush into this decision when we have only one quarter of budget results. With the disarray around us fromtheDOGE(Department of Government Efficiency) cuts and the ramifications of tariffs, how will the tariffs impact the revenues we receive from exporting soy meal to Asia? How will the DOGE cuts and crash in the stock market impact tourism thissummerthatprovidesthe tourist dollars and sales tax revenue we rely on?”
Hole questioned adding anothersix-figuresalarytothe county’spayrollandcalledthe CFOposition“redundant.”He also indicated that the previous board of commissioners took 18 months to decide to hire a county administrator and commissioned a study to investigate the matter.
“We have been asked in two and a half months after we land as commissioners to make a decision to add another position that is just as weighty and duplicates many of the responsibilities of our current county administrator,” Hole said. “I believe each manager and director position must be thoroughly vetted. I’ve argued that the
Board
eligibility requirements and applicationprocedures.Residents may also complete an “application of interest.”
“There’s no consistent resource, yet, but the website will eventually have at minimum a description page for each committee,” Chatham said. “When it comes to membership requirements, that is not very consistent, we’re getting closer to that.”
Chatham said that the boards and committees serve a crucial role in the community and give people an opportunity to participate in their local government, especially if there is an area of concern they are passionate about.
“This is their opportunity to be a commissioner, basically, give advice to the board of commissioners. The commissioners can’t possibly know every detail.
It’s expected these advisory councils will review material that will go to the board of commissioners like staff, in theabsenceofstaff,”Chatham said. “So they can participate in the public process without having to be an elected official or be a paid employee. It gives them an opportunity to understandhowtoeffectively make change. Oftentimes with government people feel helpless, they think they have to either work for them to make a change or be an elected official and that’s not the case.”
Chatham added that several boards and committees have direct input on county policy.
Most board and committee members serve a fouryear term. The Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners consisting of Georgia Miller, Rick Hole and Vickie Raines are responsible for appointing members to the following boards and commissions.
Board of Adjustment
Boundary Review Board
Board of Equalization
Building Codes Advisory Council
Civil Service Commission
Economic Development (.09) Committee
Fair Board
Housing Authority
Lodging Tax Advisory
Marine Resource Committee*
Olympic Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council (O3A)*
Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council Parks Committee* Planning Commission*
maincomponentsoftheCFO jobarealreadyassignedtothe county administrator. I argue withoutastrategicplanagreed to by the three commissioners and without clear budget insights,itisunwisetoapprove theCFOpositionatthistime.”
Miller countered Hole’s argument and said the CFO position will save the county money and improve the efficiencyofcountygovernment.
“I want to be very clear, hiring a chief financial officer is not about growing government, it’s about tightening it up. The position is a cost-saving measure that will bring greater oversight, better tracking of how every dollar is spent, and more efficient operations across county departments,” Miller said.
“This move will help us avoid waste, stay within budget and strengthenfinancialaccountabilityallwithoutraisingtaxes.
I trust the process.”
Raines agreed with Miller (andKim)andarguedthatthe county administrator’s role is mutually exclusive from that of chief financial officer.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean the individual, in this case Mr. Kim, is going to take on the duties individually, as much as he is (the) oversight
of all of those duties,” Raines said. “I believe a chief financial officer will bring depth to thetableweneedinthefinancialarenatocontinuethepath we started eight months ago. I look at the chief financial officer as one that will look to reduce cost, reduce positions, reduce redundancy and duplication of duties. I believe, this is my 11th year since bringing the strategic planningideatothiscommission, to the county, that we’ve waited long enough, I’ve waitedlongenough.I’mgoing to, as Commissioner Miller eloquently said, trust in the process. I’m ready to move forward. I too have faith we aredoingtherightthingandI think we’re going to be better and stronger for it.”
Hole reiterated his belief that the commission is rushing into the decision, and tried to amend the motion and table the vote until June. Miller, who made the motion, rejected the amendment request, and Raines, who seconded the motion, concurred with Miller. In the end, Miller and RainesoutvotedHole2-1and approved the motion and requesttohireaGraysHarbor County CFO.
*current vacancy
Visit the Grays Harbor County website for more information on boards and committees and learn how to apply for a position: https://www.graysharbor. us/government/board_of_ county_commissioners/ boards_and_committees.
to work together and ultimately serve the citizens of Grays Harbor County more effectively.
In business, job candidates are interviewed, vetted and selected by hiring managers, direct reports, and potential colleagues based on any number of criteria that lead that company to believe the new hire is going to be a good fit for that organization. As for elected public officials, the voters make the selections thrusting people together who didn’t necessarily choose each other, which can lead to challenges when it comes to working together and accomplishing goals.
In her four years with Grays Harbor County, Chatham said this is the first time she’s seen county commissioners participate in something like this.
“The county today is not the county I got hired into. (County Administrator) Sam (Kim) has experienced it before. I glean a lot of my confidence in his experience because I trust him. We’ve been through a lot in his eight months, just in terms of positive change and positive influence. I do trust him, and I lean on his experience because he had more experience with other counties,” Chatham said. “This is the first county I have ever worked for, I worked for a state government before. Those kinds of things were very frequent in the state government I worked for previously. They were often called just ‘retreat’ or ‘leaders retreat.’ They go and have meetings in secret off the record, and talk about planning and big 10,000-foot-level stuff. Personally, I was shocked that this kind of thing wasn’t a regular occurrence.”
Chatham said she was impressed with the progress that was made during the first session.
“I was blown away by the growth from the board that I saw, not just as people but as a decision-making entity and how they blossomed,” Chatham said. “They’ve been very aligned from the beginning, that’s unusual. The last board was interesting, there wasn’t as much alignment as I’ve seen already out of this board. To see that go up another level and see them be prepared for that tough decision of deciding what the mission of the county is and what the pretense for the goals should be, I think we’re well
prepared for that.”
Kim said that based on his research, things in the county administration office hadn’t changed much in the last 10 years, and he decided to take an idea proposed a decade ago and bring it to bear. Kim said his familiarity with O’Connor made him an easy choice to lead the retreat.
“I decided to propose to the commissioners, ‘Hey, we really need to do this, imagine if we had done this 10 years ago how different we would be,’” Kim said. “I have a long history with
O’Connor, and I know he can deliver, and boy, did he deliver.”
Raines explained the history behind the idea.
“The work related to strategic planning is more than a decade in the making. When I ran for commissioner in 2014, I became very much aware of the lack of [overall] planning at the county. We had no strategic plan, and what planning had been done was egregiously outdated,” Raines said. “After taking office, I reached out to Shelli Hopsecger, who continues to assist the Port of Grays
Harbor with their planning processes. The goal was to have Shelli work with the commissioners in an effort to begin the process for creating a County Strategic Plan. Unfortunately, and due to a variety of reasons, the plan never came to fruition.
“In 2015, the county was very reactionary, watching our budget drive our actions. With appropriate planning and goal setting, combined with regular review, the county will become more proactive, allowing for our policies and practices to guide our budget with the desired outcomes we want to see.”
According to Raines, she has been aligned with Kim’s desire to get this initiative off the ground and that she had found a kindred spirit in Kim.
“Jump ahead 10 years and the county’s hiring of Sam Kim — Grays Harbor’s first-ever County Administrator,” Raines said. “I approached Sam with the info Shelli provided in 2015, asking what he thought of the idea to move forward with creating a strategic plan — establishing a mission, vision and values, along with both short-term and long-term goals. Sam agreed that we must do this planning, and it didn’t hurt that both Sam and I have backgrounds in planning.”
Kim said that the purpose of Phase I was to introduce the county commissioners to the strategic planning process and build an effective team, not just among
“The plan itself is the easy part, the hard part is communicating and talking to each other so that we can actually come up with the goals, the vision, mission, values. We did some training trying to build a cohesive team so that we can have a cohesive strategic plan,” Kim said. “And I intend to repeat that with other elected officials, other department heads, and ultimately, and this would be more of a year two exercise, with the community itself.”
Grays Harbor County Executive Assistant Rose O’Keefe said the retreat was an opportunity for the commissioners to knock down some barriers and talk candidly.
“My impression was that part of the role of the outside consultant was to get them comfortable with being part of a team,” O’Keefe said. “This was an opportunity for them to learn a little more about each other, their work styles, their personalities, they’ve only been together as a board for a few months. In a public meeting, they can’t really talk to each other. This was a session in which they could kind of work out their styles.”
According to Kim, starting at the beginning will be the key to forging productive relationships between three very different people.
“Structurally, the county is fragmented. They can’t talk to each other, they didn’t choose each other.
When they have to talk to each other in an executive session or a public meeting, it’s very difficult for them to have a conversation of any sort. Things can blow up in a public meeting, and that has happened in this county (more) often than I like to admit,” Kim said. “It’s even more important that the cultural fit happens with disparate (individuals), they didn’t choose each other. That’s why start at the beginning, start with how do we talk to each other when we have controversial things to talk to each other about. What I have found working in corporate America is that technical competency is the easiest thing, learning how to behave, learning how to talk, learning how to share information — that’s hard, especially when the stakes are high. There’s lots of emotions and there’s disagreement. Three people who didn’t choose each other coming together, that’s a powder keg.”
Kim added that he feels fortunate to be working with these three particular county commissioners and that their willingness to commit has been a pleasant surprise. He said that these strategic planning sessions will lead to quantifiable results for the citizens of Grays Harbor County.
“(This) is unusual, I got very lucky, this is my fourth county, even in corporate America, even
See RETREAT, Page A6
Grays Harbor County District 1 Commissioner Georgia Miller participates in a strategic planning session in the city council chambers at Hoquiam’s city hall.
County Commissioners Vickie Raines and Rick Hole participate in a strategic planning session for the Grays Harbor County Board of Commisioners in the city council chambers at Hoquiam’s city hall.
Grays Harbor County Administrator Sam Kim participates in a strategic planning session in the city council chambers at Hoquiam’s city hall.
Budget cuts may make wildfire season riskier
The Columbian
With budget chaos at both the federal and state levels, Washington’s wildfire season may present more risks than normal. Local officials say they will be adequately prepared, but there are reasons for concern.
In February, as part of broad cuts across all federal agencies, more than 2,000 U.S. Forest Service employees were fired — approximately 10% of the agency’s workforce. Unions representing the employees put the number closer to 3,400.
Many of those employees recently returned to work after being reinstated by a civil service review board.
At the state level, legislators are piecing together a 2025-27 budget that also may include personnel reductions. Gov. Bob Ferguson has proposed mandatory cuts across all departments that could include firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources.
And locally, the roster of firefighters has been trimmed following the state’s closure of the Larch Corrections Center in October 2023.
For more than six decades,
people incarcerated at the facility were trained to fight wildfires, providing quick response to blazes in Southwest Washington.
All of this threatens to reverse progress that has been made in responding to wildfires throughout the state. Under Hilary Franz, who led the Department of Natural Resources from 2017 until early this year, Washington increased funding and improved policies for suppressing fires before they could turn into conflagrations.
Now, there is concern about funding and coordination between responding
agencies when time is of the essence.
Dave Upthegrove, who was elected in November to succeed Franz as commissioner of public lands, is confident that coordination between state and federal officials will continue. “I’m very hopeful that the Forest Service is going to continue to be a really critical wildfire partner in all of this,” he told The (Everett) Herald. “There just are some changes that could mean we’re going to have to do some things differently or step up a little bit.”
But changes — and the delays they create — can be
damaging. With firefighters and equipment deployed throughout the state and with an emphasis on quick responses, 93 percent of wildfires in Washington over the past three years have been contained to less than 10 acres.
That, however, is not a reason for complacency.
Climate change has made forests more vulnerable to wildfires and has intensified the damage they cause.
Last fall, more than 1 million acres and 1,700 structures were destroyed in a series of blazes in California. That devastation should draw lingering attention from
federal and state officials.
As Upthegrove said:
“These massive cuts to wildfire prevention and response increase the threat to public safety — putting lives and homes at greater risk. The cuts make Washington more likely to experience the kind of horrific scene we saw recently in Southern California.”
Like public health or food safety or any number of governmental initiatives, budget cuts can be costly in the long run when it comes to wildfires. We hope that Washington is prepared for this fire season, but we won’t be certain until it arrives.
Doing away with FEMA would be a disaster
Afew months back, President Donald Trump said something that got attention from too few people.
“I say you don’t need FEMA. You need a good state government,” Trump said after he saw Hurricane Helene’s devastating flooding in North Carolina and the damage from the wildfires in Los Angeles.
But the words certainly resonated among some voters, who expressed concerns during recent elections. It’s a terrible idea.
Natural disasters can devastate multiple states, with costs far beyond any state’s ability to pay. Planning for them, as FEMA does when it pre-positions supplies, is a legitimate multi-state function. So is its technical expertise in recovery, which the states could never pay for or efficiently duplicate.
From 1980-2024, there were 27 weather-related disasters each of which cost more than $1 billion, totaling nearly $3 trillion, adjusted for inflation, according to the National
Center for Environmental Information.
Climate change will make future numbers worse, despite the fact that the administration has banned the words “climate change” from its own vocabulary and from grant applications.
After Hurricane Ian hit Florida and the Carolinas in 2022, FEMA said it allocated more than $2 billion to Florida alone.
Targeted by Noem, DHS
Trump has also talked about mending FEMA — not ending it. Then he appointed Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA. She said she intends to eliminate it.
FEMA would be rescued from Noem if two Florida congressmen, Democrat Jared Moskowitz and Republican Byron Donalds, can somehow pass their newly filed bipartisan bill to make it an independent, Cabinetlevel agency rather than remain one of 30 components of Homeland Security. But it’s unlikely. “A bigger problem isn’t
where FEMA’s at. I’m more concerned that the president doesn’t know what FEMA does,” said Craig Fugate, a Floridian who ran FEMA for former President Obama and served as Florida’s emergency management chief for former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Mend it, don’t end it
Fugate and Peter Gaynor, who ran FEMA in Trump’s first term, published an
op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times citing ways FEMA could be improved and warning against simply abolishing it.
“Spreading the risk and cost of disaster around the country is good, efficient policy that makes the whole country strong,” they wrote.
Failure to “fix the system,” they said, would fate stricken communities to “the kind of downward economic spiral that leads
to poverty and displacement, forcing families to relocate, businesses to close and entire neighborhoods to deteriorate,” and to “long-term social instability that weakens the fabric of our nation.”
They conceded that FEMA’s customer service and cost control have to be improved and that states, cities and counties have not taken resilience seriously enough to control recovery
costs.
A perverse incentive
A major issue is that few state and local governments properly insure their facilities, then rely on FEMA to repair or replace them. The agency covers only uninsured losses, a perverse incentive to purchase no insurance at all.
The political price of saving FEMA will inevitably shift more costs to the states. States should get serious about forbidding, rather than replacing, structures in seriously flood-prone locales like some barrier islands in Florida or the banks of North Carolina’s French Broad River.
People who can’t afford to buy flood insurance should not be allowed to build there — then wait for FEMA to bail them out.
That doesn’t mean FEMA isn’t needed. In fact, more coordinated disaster response could make communities across the nation stronger and better prepared for the worst, when it strikes.
State must act to protect salmon from sea lion predation
Last month, it was mealtime on the Lower Columbia.
We could hear the excited barking of sea lions across the city of Longview, where I live, as they hauled themselves onto the rocks near the mouth of the Cowlitz and waited for dinner to arrive. Now the smelt have passed and Herschel and his friends are quiet. We expect them back as the adult Chinook salmon begin to return to their spawning grounds. I do hope some of the fish manage to escape. At a time when salmon survival has become such a concern that we are talking about tearing down dams to improve their chances, fast-rising predation from sea lions has become an environmental emergency. Protected by federal law and with no real predators
to worry about, the sea lion population off our coast has quadrupled over the last 50 years. Today, they swarm the Lower Columbia and its tributaries from January to March, when the smelt are making their way downriver.
Last year, the sea lions were so aggressive that they swam 70 miles up the Cowlitz River to meet them, farther than ever before.
The National Marine Fisheries Service conducted a study to estimate survival rates of returning spring Chinook on the Columbia River downriver of Bonneville Dam. One year it estimated losses due to sea lion predation at 20 percent; another it was a whopping 45 percent. Nearly half? There’s nothing natural about losses at
this level. If we want our fish runs to survive, we are going to have to step up our efforts to control sea lions — and we can’t be squeamish about it.
For the last five years, the states of Washington and Oregon have been operating under a federal permit allowing us to capture and euthanize sea lions on portions of the Lower Columbia and its tributaries. Working closely with treaty tribes at Bonneville Dam, Washington and Oregon wildlife agencies have removed 98 Steller sea lions and 84 California sea lions. The state of Oregon also has been active at Willamette Falls, removing three Steller and 14 California sea lions. This intervention has helped improve salmon survival rates, and indirectly has aided the struggling southern resident orca population on Puget Sound, by boosting the
Chinook runs on which they feed for part of the year.
Yet this is only about a quarter of the full program envisioned under the federal permit. For the last two years, I have worked to get the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife the resources to carry this effort to the Lewis and Cowlitz rivers and other Lower Columbia tributaries. This year, I sought a $300,000 appropriation in the capital budget for the special barges, traps and cages required on these shallower waterways. Unfortunately, I could not convince my fellow lawmakers of the urgency, and this will be another year of missed opportunity and unnatural losses.
I don’t think it’s the money. Things may be tight this year, but in government terms, $300,000 is a pittance. Bonneville Power Administration customers
alone are spending 10 times that amount annually on salmon recovery. All told, the public has spent billions on hatcheries, habitat restoration, fish passage, culvert removal, scientific studies and more. This is an investment worth protecting.
The problem likely is a distaste for lethal intervention. We have learned through difficult experience over the last 35 years that this is the only way. We need to get over the idea that sea lions are cute, cuddly things and see them for the eating machines they are. Each one consumes about 40 pounds of fish daily, and they are so good at their job that even a handful of them can have a major impact on fish survival rates.
I keep thinking about the tragedy we saw at the Ballard Locks 30 years ago. This was our first real encounter with our gluttonous friends as their
numbers began to rebound under federal protection. First came a sea lion the tourists nicknamed Herschel, gulping Lake Washington steelhead whole. Then his friends joined him and turned the locks into an all-youcan-eat buffet. Non-lethal deterrents proved futile. Relocation efforts couldn’t keep them away. By the time federal and state officials got their act together and reached consensus that lethal measures were justified, the steelhead were extinct. As we consider our next moves on the Columbia, we must remember this is the consequence of inaction, and tell ourselves never again. The time for debate is over and the time to protect our salmon resource is here.
Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, represents the 19th Legislative District.
Michael Wagar Editor Doug Ames General Sales Manager
when they have a choice we find there’s not necessarily cohesive leadership. We tend to hire for technical competency, less about the cultural fit in reality,” Kim said. “I have learned over time it is that cultural fit, it is that emotional intelligence, it is the ability to communicate and relay. This will translate into better decisions for the community members, it will translate into us becoming better strategists in making sure we’re heading in the right direction, that we’re working on the right goals. For far too long we’ve been reactive, and we’ve been
at odds with each other, we’ve been very siloed and fragmented. Yes, there are structural things that prevent us from working together naturally, that’s why we have to make the effort to go beyond these restrictions and be able to work as a cohesive leadership team.”
District 1 Commissioner Georgia Miller said Phase I involved learning communication skills and working on a vision for the future of the county.
“We did some mindmapping to help us really think steps out, that’s what the strategic planning is, it’s the here and now, and then next steps, and then further steps. Mind-mapping is a great tool,” Miller said. “We also did some games to get
us comfortable with each other, we did some activities around communication. I think those were really important because sometimes progress can get stalled out when we don’t effectively communicate. There’s what’s being said, and the reason why it’s being said, sometimes things get lost in translation. All of those things are tools to help us communicate more effectively because a cohesive board of commissioners is truly going to be the catalyst that launches the community forward.”
Miller added that the retreat will go a long way in forging the commissioners’ working relationship in the best interests of the community.
“I think that is exactly what the people expect, regardless of political affiliations or personal beliefs, is to work together to do what’s best for the community, and we’re doing exactly that,” Miller said. “That doesn’t mean we will always agree, but I think all of us are focused on the same thing, and that is driving the community forward and doing what’s in the best interest of the people we serve. If we can work together and have that amount of trust and communication between us, what wonderful things we’ll do.”
District 2 Commissioner Rick Hole said the retreat was essential to the working dynamic and opening a more productive dialogue between the three commissioners.
“We’re very compatible, we like each other, but we really need the time just to talk among ourselves and set up and agree on what are the major components of the vision that we’re all trying to achieve together. That’s what a strategic planning session does,” Hole said. “We’re trying to get to a more open dialogue with our non-action action meetings, but Georgia (Miller) and I are starting our fourth month but it’s only been one month since that we’ve actually had the non-action meetings, and at those meetings we’re able to talk and I think we’re going to have great, interesting discussions. It’s so essential the three commissioners get
together and understand and develop a strategic plan, something we can all agree on.”
Hole said that he’s still running to catch up with everything that goes on in Grays Harbor County and working through how county government works.
“It’s important citizens understand what’s going on in our county, and there is so much going on. I had no idea when I was running. What we’re trying to do is grow organically a county that has to grow. We have to grow to be able to provide our services, but it has to grow so it serves our current residents, we have to hear those voices,” Hole said. “(The procedures) caught me by surprise coming from the private sector. I can’t just talk to another commissioner?
C’mon.”
Hole added that he was familiar with some of the concepts heading into the retreat, but he learned quite a bit and feels that county employees could also benefit from similar activities.
“There was so much coming at us, I’ve seen a lot of that stuff before. It reinforces the necessity for the county to invest in that kind of training for their people, it just shouldn’t be happening at the commissioners.
We should all learn better how to communicate with one another,” Hole said.
“I think the three of us are pretty comfortable with our opinions and concerns. I think what we’re learning is to maybe slow down and listen better and to
express ourselves in a nonconfrontational way. I think that’s going to serve us all. We’re all interested in collaboration.”
Raines added that she is excited about the strategic planning initiative and that she is grateful for the work the team is putting in.
“I’m extremely pleased that our County Administrator has been so supportive of strategic planning, as have our two new county commissioners. Commissioners Hole and Miller have enthusiastically embraced the planning process, for which I am very thankful. A single commissioner cannot accomplish much on their own, but there is endless potential with the support and involvement of all three commissioners together,” Raines said. “We just finished our first day of planning, with a few more to go. I’m looking forward to continuing the work we’ve started, with our commissioners working collaboratively and collectively on a plan for our county. Georgia. Rick, and I have a common desire for our county to be unified in effort and results as one Grays Harbor. Stay tuned, we have much more to come.” After working through all of the exercises and spending the day together, by the end of this first session, the commissioners had crafted a rough draft of a mission statement for the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners. Phase II is scheduled for April 23.
What the Hawks’ best-player-available approach means for the draft
Michael-Shawn Dugar The Athletic
The Seattle Seahawks say they’ll enter the 2025 NFL Draft in search of the best player available independent of position rather than push certain prospects up the board in the name of need. This
strategy is, in part, born out of trial and error.
“If you get caught chasing positions (thinking), ‘Hey, we’ve only got a couple players here,’ or on the same token, ‘We’re good at this position, let’s not take this guy,’ I’ve been burned a few times in my career and I’ve learned my lesson,”
Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said at the annual league meeting. “We don’t want to operate like that.” What does that mean for Seattle in this draft, specifically its offensive line needs? Which positions are more likely than others if Seattle sticks to this philosophy? Is
trading back likely? We’ll unpack those questions and others as Seattle’s pre-draft strategy is becoming clearer.
Roster reset
Seattle’s most recent acquisitions have been low-cost fliers on
No rust on Monte’s bats in blasting Black Hills
Ocosta falls to Northwest Christian in non-league baseball matchup
Ryan Sparks
The Daily World
With heavy rains expected throughout the week, teams are scrambling to schedule games as we review Monday’s prep action on the Twin Harbors.
PREP SOFTBALL
Montesano 14, Black Hills 3
Montesano’s offense came alive in a 14-3 mercy-rule victory over Black Hills in a non-league contest on Monday at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.
The Bulldogs (3-3 overall) showed no signs of rust, playing in their first game in 10 days, hammering nine extra-base hits –16 hits total – en route to the 10-run rule win.
Catcher Ali Parkin was once again one of the driving forces behind a prodigious offense with three extra-base hits and four runs driven in for the Bulldogs.
The standout senior slugger put the Dogs on the board with an RBI double in the first inning to score left fielder Liv Robinson – on board with a leadoff triple – then capped off a four-run second with a two-run home run to left field –her fourth of the season – to stake Monte to a 5-0 lead.
Montesano’s hit parade continued in the top of the third with six runs on five hits. The Bulldogs scored runs on Robinson’s second triple of the game, a Parkin double, a single from third baseman Alexa Stanfield, a double off the bat of first baseman Kylee Wisdom and a two-run single from starting pitcher Grace Gooding to take a commanding 11-1 lead.
Infielder Jaelyn Butterfield drove in Ember Jones with a fielder’s choice RBI groundout in the top of the fourth and run-scoring doubles by Preslee Barrett and Campbell in the fifth put the finishing touches on the Bulldogs victory.
Gooding got the win, allowing one unearned run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in three innings pitched.
Freshman pitcher Violet Prince allowed two earned runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in two innings of relief.
Parkin and Stanfield led the way for Monte with three hits apiece as the Bulldogs had five different
wide
has essentially said any more notable additions either via trade or free
UW b-ball lands Atlantic Sun player of the year
It’s a good bet Jacob Ognacevic, who grew up in Sheboygan, Wis. and finished a stellar prep basketball career ranked among the state’s alltime top 10 in scoring, dreamed about playing for the Wisconsin Badgers. Turns out, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward is going to finish his collegiate career at a different UW, and will reportedly transfer to Washington after three seasons at Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn., according to On3.
Seemingly, the newest Husky fills a big void in a UW lineup that lost 11 scholarship players following a dismal 202425 season, which produced a 13-18 record and last-place Big Ten finish at 4-16.
Ognacevic averaged 20.1 points, which ranked 18th nationally, and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 57.5% from the field, 40.2% on three-pointers (49 of 122) and 80% on free throws.
He started all 35 games and led Lipscomb (25-10) to a regular-season and conference championship.The14th-seeded Bisons, who snapped a sevenyearNCAAtournamentdrought and made their second Big Dance appearance, lost 82-55 to No. 3 seed Iowa State in the first round.
Ognacevic, the Atlantic Sun player of the year, entered the portaltwoweeksagoandranked No. 102 among the nation’s top transfers, according to On3. If past performances are an indicator,theHuskiesaregetting a proven scorer in Ognacevic, who has been efficient in the post and on the perimeter.
During his four-year stint at Lipscomb—hesatoutthe202324 season due to a bone bruise in his right knee — Ognacevic shot 58.1% on field goals and 38.1% on three-pointers while tallying 1,641 points, ranking third all-time in the program’s Division I era.
As a freshman, he shot 51.7% on three-pointers and averaged 6.3 points during the 2020-21
See UW, Page B4
Mariners place Robles on IL; Kirby making ‘great’ progress
Hot-hitting Jorge Polanco returns as DH
Adam Jude Seattle Times staff reporter
Mariners right fielder Victor Robles was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday afternoon, a day after he was carted off the field with a dislocated left shoulder suffered when he crashed into the netting to make a superhuman catch in San Francisco.
Medical personnel popped
Robles’ shoulder back in place at Oracle Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Further details of Robles’ shoulder injury are not yet known, and a timeline for his potential return is unclear, Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said.
Robles is scheduled to have an MRI later in the day Monday. He flew home with the team from San Francisco on Sunday evening. He was in the home
clubhouse Monday afternoon before the series opener against the Houston Astros but he was not available for an interview.
“I don’t want to speculate on anything. He will have imaging today and we will go from there,” Hollander said, adding: “He made one of the best, allout, had-no-regard-for-hisbody catches I’ve ever seen. And I hope that it’s not the worst-case scenario, and I hope it’s on the shorter end than the longer end, but I honestly have no idea right
now, and nobody does until we get a look at the images.”
Outfielder Dominic Canzone was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take Robles’ roster spot.
Kirby ‘feels great’ in Arizona
George Kirby, on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, threw a normal bullpen session over the weekend at the Mariners’ complex in Peoria, Ariz.,
and is “doing great,” Hollander said. Kirby has two more bullpens scheduled for later this week and will continue to progress on a normal spring-traininglike schedule to build up arm strength.
In March, Kirby had expressed hope that he could return to the Mariners’ rotation by late April. It sounds like May might be more realistic.
See INJURED, Page B6
receivers River Cracraft and Steven Sims, cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles, safety D’Anthony Bell and tight end Eric Saubert. General manager John Schneider
Percy Allen The Seattle Times
See HAWKS, Page B2
PHOTO BY HAILEY BLANCAS
Montesano starting pitcher Grace Gooding earned the win in a 14-3 victory over Black Hills on Monday in Lacey. See ROUNDUP, Page B4
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SUBMIT PORT APPLICATION byApril15,2025.
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REQUESTFOR QUALIFICATIONS ForProfessionalServices. McCleary School District is requesting Qualification proposals from interested parties capable of providing Construction Project Management Services (CM) and Building Commissioning Services (CX) for ongoing and upcoming district-wide capital construction projects. Individual projects may require multiple services for successful completion. Interested parties must be able to operate within Washington State Capital construction project requirements from project conception to construction
Please leave detailed message and phone number. Call Corey: (541)838-0364
Date of Notice: 04/08/2025
Date of Hearing: 04/16/2025
Proposal: Install up to six (6) fiber-optic communication conduits and cables extending off shore(subsea) from an upland landing site via horizontal directional drilling. The project is part of asubsea fiber network linking Alaska to Washington, landing at Westport and connecting inland. The conduits will be installed underground beneath the beach and seafloor, with onshore connectionto existing infrastructure Hearing Schedule: The Hearings Examiner will conduct an open-record Public Hearing on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. in the Westport City Hall Conference Room, located at 801 N. Montesano Street, Westport, WA. This will be a hybrid/virtual meeting. Meeting Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetupjoin/19%3ameeting_M2M4NzNmMTAtMzQy Zi00YWYwLTk1NzQtNTU0ZWQ0MGQ5ZjUy%40thread.v2/0?co ntext=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22f1546a9c-c831-498f-a097392b840c49c3%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2294923608-ab60-40e4-a1c8e1d4ac698853%22%7d
Purpose of Hearing: The Hearings Examiner will consider the abovementioned Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and Shoreline Conditional Use Permit application, including staff recommendations and any public comments, and will make a decision on the proposal. The public hearing is your opportunity to provide testimony or evidence regarding the project’s compliance with shoreline regulations and its environmental and community impacts.
Environmental Review: There is in place a SEPA Lead Agency Agreement between the City of Westport and Grays Harbor County, assigning Grays Harbor County as nominal lead agency pursuant to WAC 197-11-932 and -944. As nominal lead, the County’s SEPA Procedures, Chapter 18.04 of the Grays Harbor County Code, shall apply to the SEPA process. Grays Harbor County, as SEPA Lead Agency, issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) for this project on February 13, 2025, after evaluating the environmental checklist. This indicates the proposal is not expected to have significant adverse environmental impacts. (SEPA File No. 25-0169). The SEPA DNS is finaland effective.
How to participate: Any interested person may appear at the hearing in person (or via the remote option if available) to provide oral testimony. Document Availability: The application materials, including the staff report, site plans, and the SEPA DNS, are available for public review at Westport City Hall (Building Department) during normal business hours. The relevant documents will also be posted on the City’s website (https://www.ci.westport.wa.us/departments/building.php#outer-456). For assistance orquestions, contact the Building Official at (360) 268-0131.
Note: The Shoreline Conditional Use Permit, if approved by the Hearings Examiner, will beforwarded to the Washington State Department of Ecology for final review. The Examiner’s decision on these shoreline permits will be the final City decision (Ecology must also approve the conditional use). Appeal procedures will be outlined in the Examiner’s decision document and are governed by state law (generally appeals are made to the State Shorelines Hearings Board within21 days of the Ecology decision). 4/9/25x1 AD#1011780
WESTPORT GOLF LINKS PROPOSAL FOR WESTPORT LIGHT STATE PARK
Project File Number: 25-COW-EIS-01
Parcel Numbers: Portions of 616120132002, 616120143001, 616121221000 and 106500200000 that comprise Westport Light State Park, and City of Westport Parcel 616121212060.
Location: Westport Light State Park is located at the northern end of the Point Chehalis peninsula, on the south side of Grays Harbor. The park is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Half Moon Bay, and on the east by the City of Westport in Grays Harbor County, Washington.
Description of proposal: Westport Golf Links, LLC (WGL), under a Memorandum of Agreement with the Washington State Parks and Recreation (WSPRC), proposes to enter into a long-term concession agreemen twith WSPRC to develop, operate and maintain a public Scottish links golf course and associated facilities within Westport Light State Park. A clubhouse, guest lodging, and appurtenant facilities are proposed on a parcel adjacent to the east boundary of the park.
Draft Environmental Impact Statement available for review and comment: The City of Westport as Lead Agency under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), will issue a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on April 7, 2025 evaluating the potential effects of the proposed action and alternatives on elements of the natural and built environment. A printed copy of the DEIS will be available for review at Westport City Hall and at the Westport Timberland Library. The DEIS and technical appendices will be posted on the City’s webpage at: https://www.ezview.wa.gov/site/alias__2007/37863/library.aspx
Comments invited: Affected Tribes, agencies, organizations, and interested individuals are invited to comment on the accuracy and completeness of the environmental analysis, methodologies used, and whether you feel there is a need for additional information and/or mitigation measures, so that this information may be added to the Final EIS (FEIS). The 45-day comment period will extend from April 7 through May 23, 2025. Comments are due to the City of Westport by 5:00 PM on May 23, 2025. Written comments can be submitted in one of the following ways to the City of Westport SEPA Responsible Official:
• By email to: wgl.wlsp.deis.comments@gmail.com
• In letter form to: City of Westport
Attention Tom Cappa, SEPA Responsible Official P.O. Box 505Westport, WA 98595
In your comments, please reference the proposal name and project file number (indicated above in this notice). Also please legibly include your name and address (email and/or mailing address) in order to receive future notifications. Should you have questions, Mr. Cappa’s telephone number is 360.268.0131. 4/9/25x1
Hawks
From Page B1
agency will come after the draft. Seattle is operating as if it doesn’t have any glaring holes outside of fullback, which is a position Macdonald is “fired up” about rostering, Schneider said Thursday on his KIRO-AM radio show.
“That’s a position we’re working on right now in free agency as well as the draft,” Schneider said. “That’s something we have to address.”
The Seahawks have an urgent need along the interior offensive line, and Schneider has spent most of the offseason acknowledging that issue — and explaining his reasoning for the lack of big-time moves. Aside from an attempt to sign guard Will Fries, Schneider doesn’t believe in paying big money for marginal production in free agency. He also believes offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s wide-zone scheme and his assistant coaches will get more out of the young returning players than the previous staff.
Seattle feels strongly about centers Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell. It will be difficult to draft immediate upgrades, Schneider said, because this class isn’t very strong. Faith in Oluwatimi and Sundell contributed to the Seahawks choosing not to pursue former Minnesota Vikings center Garrett Bradbury, who was released as a cap-saving measure and signed by the New England Patriots on a twoyear, $9.6 million deal.
Schneider has taken at least one offensive lineman in all 15 drafts with the Seahawks and in over half those years he has selected one within the first three rounds, so it is unlikely he completely ignores the position later this month. But Seattle doesn’t feel it needs to force an early interior offensive line selection the way it reached for a defensive end shortly after trading away Frank Clark.
The same logic applies to wide receiver despite trading DK Metcalf and releasing Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks feel they have a great possession receiver and intermediate weapon in Cooper Kupp and a deep threat in Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Will Seattle draft a receiver? Probably. But the team doesn’t think it is shopping hungry in that regard.
Future plans
Seattle also believes in a “best player available” strategy because of its contract situations. The team has spent most of the last decade waiting until after the draft to extend players, with only a few notable exceptions such as Russell Wilson’s four-year, $140 million extension in April 2019 (Wilson’s agent set an April 15 deadline to create urgency to get a pre-draft deal done), Lockett’s four-year, $69.2
million extension in April 2021 and the talks that fell apart with Geno Smith’s representation last month.
All the players from Seattle’s 2022 draft class are entering the final year of their rookie deals except for left tackle Charles Cross, who has a $17.5 million fifth-year option for 2026 that can and likely will be exercised before the May 1 deadline. Exercising the 24-yearold left tackle’s option can extend the window for the two sides to broach contract negotiations (Cross represented himself ahead of the draft but has since become a client of Klutch Sports Group). But until 2022 draftees Boye Mafe, Ken Walker III, Abe Lucas, Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen sign new deals, Seattle is in play for high draft picks at those spots.
Putting Cross on the books for at least one more season would still leave Seattle with only a handful of core players with a high likelihood of being rostered beyond this season. Seattle structures its multiyear contracts to have outs after Year 1, and even if that player is practically guaranteed to be on the roster beyond the first year, it’s not a sure thing. Ernest Jones IV, DeMarcus Lawrence and Kupp, for example, all signed three-year deals in March that Seattle can theoretically get out of early in the 2026 offseason without significantly punitive consequences relative to the market value for above-average play at those positions (Sam Darnold signed a three-year deal, as well, but that’s more like a two-year pact).
Given their age and price tags, Darnold and Jones should be considered likely Seahawks in 2026, putting them in the same bucket as other starters such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon, Oluwatimi, Byron Murphy II, Tyrice Knight, AJ Barner, Leonard Williams and Julian Love (arguments can be made in both directions for Kupp, Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu, a good player albeit one with injury questions).
So, even though Seattle in the short term may seem set at edge rusher, cornerback, free safety, defensive line, wide receiver and tight end, all those positions are on the table with any of the team’s early-round selections because of the long-term outlook.
Draft movement
A common sentiment expressed in conversations with decision-makers at the annual league meeting was a lack of blue-chip talent at the top of the draft. Seattle is typically stingy with first-round grades, and this may be another year in which the team’s board has maybe a dozen or so prospects with Round 1 grades. Trading out of the 18th pick is a possibility. Schneider said “it’s a bummer” that the return for moving back in the first round isn’t as rich as it was a few years ago. Last time Seattle had the 18th pick, Schneider packaged
it with a seventh-round selection in a trade with Green Bay that included the 27th overall pick (Rashaad Penny) and selections in the third and sixth rounds. Last year, Jacksonville gave up the 17th pick and moved back six spots in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round pick and third- and fourth-round picks in 2025.
“It seems like it’s harder to move back now than it was even just three or four years ago,” Schneider said. But that doesn’t mean Seattle won’t try, especially if all the prospects with first-round grades are off the board when it’s on the clock.
“(Director of research and analytics) Patrick Ward is constantly evaluating all these trades and weighing them and then seeing what those numbers look like for us from an analytics standpoint, what makes sense,” Schneider said. “But at the end of the day, you have to go with your gut and see what’s right because if next year’s draft in the sixth round looks better than this year’s is going to be, you might as well go for it and make a move.”
Stockpiling picks in a Round 1 trade may lead to a trade-up scenario on Day 2. When asked about his five top-100 picks, Schneider didn’t rule out being aggressive and moving up. In a year when teams may view prospects 11 through 40 on their boards in similar light, Seattle can take advantage of its surplus capital to trade up early in the second round and acquire an impact player.
“Initially you’re like, yeah, we’re going to take five really good players,” Schneider said, “but then you can get a situation where it’s like, ‘Well, that guy is a starter, we should probably move and go get him if you can.’”
Will this work?
This is the ultimate question as Seattle tries to build a championship contender. A best-player-available mindset is sound process but will mean very little on Sundays without results. Schneider’s approach to the offensive line is a perfect example. He believes interior offensive linemen are overdrafted and overpaid, and there’s something to that argument. But being right about the process doesn’t matter when the result isn’t competent interior offensive line play.
Over time, that process should produce quality results, but this will be Schneider’s 16th draft with the Seahawks, who every year express their desire to be Super Bowl contenders. Seattle hasn’t played in the NFC title game since 2014, won a playoff game since 2019 or hosted a postseason game since 2020. It is a positive sign that Schneider and Macdonald are seemingly aligned on their vision for talent acquisition, but now the pressure is on to translate that into a deep playoff run.
MARK J. REBILAS / IMAGN IMAGES
Mike Macdonald
MARK J. REBILAS / IMAGN IMAGES
Seattle took Charles Cross with the ninth pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Girlfriend tires of boorish man’s wandering eye
Dear Abby: I have been with my boyfriend for 3 1/2 years. Before me, he was known for sleeping around. He has never cheated on me that I am aware of, but when we go to social gatherings (or just out), he flirts with other women. If there is another woman in the room, he keeps his eyes on her like I can’t see it happening.
When I told him several times that it really bothered me, he said I was overreacting. When he drinks, it’s 10 times worse. I’m trying to let it go, but it hurts my feelings deeply. In his mind, it’s OK that we hang out with women he has been to bed with. He says it’s no big deal. How do I learn to deal with all of this and be happy? I just want the respect I deserve.
—Girlfriend of Mr.
Popular
Dear Girlfriend: If you want the respect you deserve, find a man who has some respect for women. Clearly your boyfriend does not. If he
cared about your feelings, he wouldn’t ogle other women while the two of you are out together. Doing so after you told him how it affected you is rude and inconsiderate. I know you have invested a lot of time in this person, but he isn’t going to change. Unless you want to perhaps be married to a womanizer with a drinking problem, end the romance now.
(And once that’s done, ask your doctor to test you for STDs.)
Dear Abby: My husband’s daughter lives in another state. When COVID hit, her youngest
was still in school. When they closed down, the girl didn’t own a laptop or tablet (and the school didn’t provide one), so she couldn’t do her schoolwork. We offered to provide her with a tablet and run it through our phone plan so she had access if their Wi-Fi got bogged down or didn’t work.
Fast-forward to today: That child is out of high school and no longer lives at home. Her mom has possession of the tablet and uses it regularly. She has a good job and could take over the plan. I’m still paying for her internet access and have paid for that tablet many times over with just the monthly access fee. On top of that, Mom doesn’t make much effort to keep in contact with her dad or me. Months go by with no phone calls or texts, and the last time I dialed her number, I got a message that made it sound like she had blocked my number.
Phone calls from her dad go unanswered. I want to shut down the line the tablet is connected to, but I know when she figures it out, she’ll call raging that it was a gift. However, it was a gift to her daughter, not to her. Must I keep paying to keep peace, or shut it down?
—Miffed Stepmom
Dear Stepmom: I can see why you might be miffed. Your husband’s daughter is distant and not interested in fostering a relationship with her father or you. Discuss this with your husband. Because his daughter has a job and can afford to pay the monthly access fee, there is no logical reason why you should be footing the bill.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
How to Play: Each Row, Column and set of 3-by-3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 through 9 without repetition
LAST WORD IN ASTROLOGY
By Eugenia Last
Happy Birthday: Exaggerating, taking on too much or overestimating your expectations will hold you back. Use your energy to get things going and to have an impact or influence on how others react or contribute to your plans. Be cognizant of what’s available, and take advantage of any opportunity or service to help you reach your goal. Communication is the key; tell it like it is, and you’ll find your way forward. Your numbers are 6 13 21 26, 30, 37, 48
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Play by the rules, look for incentives and put your heart and soul into getting ahead. Keep up with technology or industry changes that can add to your qualifications and ensure you aren’t left behind. Nurture relationships that can help you get ahead, and work as a team player to ensure success. 3 stars
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Venture out, but leave your credit cards at home and only carry a limited amount of cash. A fasttalking salesperson will tempt you with unnecessary bargains. Keeping a low profile or going for a hike instead of going to the mall will encourage peace of mind and a practical and positive attitude. 5 stars
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Broaden your vision by participating in social or networking events that offer insight into something you may want to incorporate into your routine. Say no to temptation, overspending or being guilted into donating to something you cannot afford. Curb habits and avoid making spurof-the-moment decisions. Time is on your side. 2 stars
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Use your clout and connections. Discuss your plans, get your finances and investments in order, and make positive adjustments to ensure you use your skills in the latest and most extraordinary way. You stand to profit if you set your sights on your end game and shoot for the stars. 4 stars
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Reinvent how you want to move forward. Whatever stage of life you are at, it’s time to be true to yourself and to venture down a path that offers self-satisfaction and joy. Live life your way and head in a direction that encourages you to develop what puts a smile on your face. 3 stars
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do what feels right, and don’t look back. Overreacting will get you nowhere fast, but taking a stance, preparing, planning and following your heart will soothe your soul and encourage you to get involved in matters that concern you. Who you are and what you do matters to your emotional wellness. 3 stars
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You must feel comfortable with what you choose to do, so do things your way. Let your innovative ideas flow and your energy carry you to where you want to be. A positive change at home will offer comfort and make it easier for you to achieve your goals. 3 stars
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Stop sitting on the sidelines and take a stance. It’s on you to turn up the volume and let your voice and actions lead the way. Communicate, travel, spread the word and be part of a movement that empowers you. Reunite with someone you miss and love. 4 stars
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take a moment, rethink your next move and watch to see who does what before you reveal your position. Someone will take advantage of you emotionally, financially or physically if you put yourself in a vulnerable position. Earmark your objective, but wait for the right time to make your move. 2 stars
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Welcome change instead of hiding. Once you investigate, you’ll see the benefits of keeping up with the times. Invest in yourself and what you want to do next, and doors will open that encourage higher earning potential and a better use of your skills, experience and knowledge. Romance and communication are favored. 5 stars
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Handle partnerships with care. Listen, think before you respond and offer alternatives that provide incentives for everyone. Adapt your home to encourage peace of mind, safety and a place to enjoy with the ones you love. Less drama and more affection are in your best interests. 3 stars
