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Jeff Clemens / Chinook Observer A lively discussion at a South Bend City Council meeting was an inspirational example of how to calmly talk about a hot-button issue.

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‘Pledge’ debate: A lesson in good manners; politeness wins

The country could learn a lesson in civil discourse from what transpired at the South Bend City Council…

Jerry Knaak / The Daily World The proprietor of Kiki’s Kauldron shows off her dental work at the Freaks at the Beach market at the Ocean Shores Convention Center.

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Double bill kicks off festival season

The Ocean Shores Convention Center hosted Boutiques at the Beach Market and Urban Unglued Freaks at the Beach…

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DNR holding public listening session on Wildfire Hazard Mapping in Aberdeen

The public listening session is scheduled for Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Rotary Log Pavilion

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Aberdeen repeals EMS utility rate increase for now

Public hearing expected in March, city council to consider previous rate increase recommendation

The city of Aberdeen recently abandoned plans to use this property at 118 W. Wishkah as a museum. (Jerry Knaak / The Day World)

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Aberdeen seeks volunteer museum collections manager

The city of Aberdeen is seeking a qualified volunteer or pro bono professional or organization to serve as…

Chase Gunnell / State Department of Fish and Wildlife An angler casts for winter steelhead while fishing an undisclosed river on the Olympic Peninsula.

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Olympic Peninsula steelhead shake off potential federal ESA listing

The steelhead population includes all steelhead runs from the Lyre River near Joyce to the Moclips River

Rep. Jim Walsh R-Aberdeen

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Energy subsidy bill ‘warps meaning of affordability’

Legislation that would provide large subsidies for power hookup to Washington industries focusing on alternative energy options cleared…

Luke Whittaker photos / Chinook Observer South Bend Products crew Graesen Flemming, near, and Carlos Hernandez offload Dungeness at the Port of Peninsula.

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Willapa Bay blues

Dungeness landings lag for Willapa crabbers

The Daily World photos McKenzie Cotey performs a flute solo during the Grays Harbor College Jazz Festival on Thursday.

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Smooth vibes only at Grays Harbor College Jazz Festival

The Bishop Center for Performing Arts hosted the 8th Annual Grays Harbor College Jazz Festival Thursday.

The newly minted 2026 Aberdeen City Council (Jerry Knaak / The Daily World)

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Grays Harbor city councils get off to a running start in 2026

Aberdeen

Andrea Watts / The Daily World In summer of 2023, the middle fork Wildcat Creek had three fish passage barrier corrections on Summit Road, Elma Hicklin Road, and County Line Road. Instead of flowing through culverts, the creek now flows under pre-cast concrete bridges. On County Line Road, flooding over the roadway occurred often enough that the county flagged it as needing fixing because of ongoing maintenance issues. A visual sign that a restoration project is achieving its goals is how the water is flowing. Basically, you make sure the water is going through at a slow enough rate for the juveniles and the water is not narrowed up and shooting right through, said Lonnie Crumley, chair of the nonprofit Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force. When the steam flowed through the culverts, the higher stream velocity negatively affected the substrate transport. The narrowed channel passage also caused the water to flood upstream. As a result of the barrier correction, “everything’s getting back into a natural system,” said co-owner of Streamworks Consulting Brett Demond. The section of creek that flows under Summit Road showed signs that the creek overtopped its banks and flooded into the grassy field, but not nearly the extent as it had in previous years. “This whole field here would go underwater ,” Crumley said, and cDemond added, “so it’s really reduced the flooding, but it’s still connected to the floodplain.” Another visual sign that the restoration is successful is that you aren’t seeing any fish moving through, which does seem counter intuitive. “Everybody always complains when they come, they don’t see any fish, but that’s the whole point,” said Crumley. “We don’t want them building up here. We want them going on through.” Crumley points out a section of gravel that appears brighter colored than the surrounding gravel. “That’s probably a redd right in there,” he said. A redd is where a female salmon has laid her eggs, and digging in the gravel cleans it. On County Line Road, the bridge also replaced three pipes, and the stream is “now acting like a normal stream” Demond said. Looking over the edge of the bridge, Crumley observed, “Not too many shiny spots here.” Downstream of the bridge is an active beaver pond.

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Checking in on the Chehalis Basin restoration projects

Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force restoration projects in East Grays Harbor County improved fish passage and kept water…

Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau Olympic National Park.

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Olympic National Park had more than 3.6M visitors in ’25

Shortly after Sula Jacobs began working for the National Park Service, she told a friend she wanted to…

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Talk on pellet plant problems set for Monday

On Monday, Jan. 19 Paul Koberstein, co-author of Canopy of Titans, is giving a talk on the wood…