Headlines & History since 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2026
Vol. 147 No. 1
NEW YEAR TRADITION: A few hardy souls took to the 41-degree Columbia River waters on New Year’s Day for the 2026 Polar Plunge.
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Contributed
County appoints new PA Rodger Nichols For The Sentinel
Washington now has highest state minimum wage Rodger Nichols For The Sentinel With the new year comes new laws for both Oregon and Washington. Washington Only 24 Washington House and Senate bills took effect on January 1 of the more than 3,000 that were introduced and the 422 that passed. Minimum wage for Washington went up to $17.13 an hour. That puts it ahead of New York’s $17 and makes it the highest state in the nation. Only Washington, D.C.’s $17.95 is higher. Highest local rates in the nation are $21.30 for Seattle, $21.63 for large employers in Burien, and $21.65 an hour in Tukwilla. That’s not quite three times the $7.25 in Idaho. Senate Bill 5486 requires all movie theaters open to the public to offer closed captioning, which is delivered through an accessible device or glasses that show the captions. And for movies that offer open captioning, which is always in view on the screen and can’t be turned off, companies that operate five or more theaters must offer a certain number of screenings during the first two weeks of a movies release and during peak business hours that have open captioning. And they must advertise those times the same way as for other screenings. Of local interest, House Bill 2003 requires a Columbia River salmon or steelhead endorsement for any person 15 or older fishing recreationally for steelhead or salmon in the Columbia and its tributaries. Many of the bills passed in the
session raised taxes. Senate Bill 5814 adds all nicotine products—vapes, pouches, and e-cigarettes—to the 95 percent excise tax currently used for cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco, effectively doubling the price. Buying a luxury vehicle? Be prepared for a luxury sales tax, thanks to Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5801. For cars, it adds an 8 percent surcharge on any amount over $100,000. That threshold will go up annually every July 1 by 2 percent. There are exemptions for commercial vehicles, farm vehicles, off-road and non-highway vehicles. By comparison, it’s a modest 0.5 percent on recreational watercraft 16 feet or over. And for the very wealthy among us, it will be 10 percent on the amount over $500,000 for non-commercial aircraft. Senate Bill 5794 removes the sales tax exemption on silver, gold, and other precious metals. If you’re buying that ounce of gold in Klickitat County at spot price, which was $4,386.60 on January 1, you’d be paying $4,726.46, an extra $339.75. Closer to home for most of us, an ounce of silver, $73.83 at spot on January 1, would go to $79.37, another $5.54. And the minimum fee for plastic bags film carryout bags takes a 50 percent hike from 8 cents to 12 cents per bag. Paper bags stay at 8 cents, and the thicker 4-mil plastic bags double to 16 cents. This is a legacy increase from Senate Bill 5399 that passed in 2020. Oregon Oregon lawmakers introduced 3,466 bills, resolutions and memorials during the 2025 legislative
See Laws page A6
Klickitat County Commissioners made a couple of internal adjustments in the budget, appointed Rebecca Cranston as the County’s new Prosecuting Attorney, and responded to a question about accomplishments in 2025 at their December 30 meeting. Chair Ron Ihrig was the first to respond, citing the budget process: “I felt very positive that the board looked at a three-year solution, not a one-year solution,” he said. “Today on the consent agenda is our selective county-wide hiring freeze, and that’s going to be painful over the next three years and how we navigate that. And the reorganization with administrator, starting on the comp plan.” For 2026, he said he’d like to see follow-through on short term rentals, fireworks, solar, and BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) ordinances, the critical area ordinance, and the shoreline master plan. New commissioner Todd Andrews said it took him a while to adjust to the slower pace of government: “I’ve probably had more frustrations my first year here, just with the speed of government, being in private industry my whole life.” he said. “But we set things up, I think, for success for the coming years. And I appreciate this board’s work on that. I think we’ve made some really good decisions in putting Robb as county administrator and taking a slow, thoughtful approach, rather than just a knee-jerk reaction. I think that was wise, and in doing that, we’ll be better set up and prepared for the future.” And Lori Zoller commented on a change in mood: “I think for me, it’s just the working of the board has been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve brought it back to civility. Mr. Ihrig said he was going to bring it back to boredom. I don’t know if we’re there yet, but I think that pretty much the soap opera is gone that we were living under, and all the things that came forward, like the comp plan, and the ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit), and everything else that needed to be done. We’ve set those up so they’re going to be accomplished, finally.” The board did move a few minor amounts of money within line items, which did not make any change in the total budget amount. They appointed Cranston, who had been the only applicant, as the new county Prosecuting Attorney. But the Tuesday session was not the final one for the year. A
See County page A6
‘That is so last year’ Lou Marzeles Editor By the time the calendar flips, some things age instantly. Others don’t even make it to January 2. There is a peculiar magic to the New Year. At midnight on December 31, fireworks explode, glasses clink, and entire categories of human behavior are suddenly, irrevocably obsolete. It’s not that anything actually changes. The sun rises the same way. Coffee tastes the same. The dog still needs to be fed. But socially—culturally—emotionally—we act as if a giant invisible line has been crossed. On one side: the past. On the other: now. And once you’ve crossed that line, there’s no going back. Which is why, mere days into January, it’s already perfectly acceptable—encouraged, even— to dismiss things with a breezy wave of the hand and a knowing smile. “That? Oh, that’s so last year.” There was a time when “last year” meant something substantial. It implied distance. Perspective. Perhaps even wisdom. Now it mostly means the day before yesterday, metaphorically speaking. The modern New Year doesn’t arrive gently. It kicks in the door, rearranges the furniture, and immediately declares half of what you were doing a week ago outdated. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just funny—especially when you start paying attention to how quickly we abandon things that were, until recently, our entire personality. Technology Nothing becomes “last year” faster than technology—except maybe the charger you can’t find for it. Consider the smartphone purchased in November. At the time, it felt like a serious commitment. You researched it. Compared models. Learned its features. You may have even
bragged about it a little. Now? Somewhere out there, a newer version exists with a slightly better camera, a marginally faster processor, and one extra feature you didn’t know you needed until you didn’t have it. Your phone still works perfectly. But emotionally, it’s begun the slow journey toward irrelevance. Passwords, too, have not aged well. If you can still remember one without resetting it, experts agree it probably belongs to last year—and possibly the year before that. Modern security culture favors mystery, confusion, and mild panic. Then there are QR codes. Once heralded as the future, they now occupy an odd social space where everyone pretends to know how to use them smoothly, while secretly opening the wrong app, missing the scan window, and hoping no one notices. Hovering awkwardly over a table, angling your phone like a divining rod? That’s so last year. Even language has shifted. Saying “I’ll Google it” now sounds faintly nostalgic, like a phone book. The phrase hasn’t disappeared—it’s just been quietly pushed aside by more conversational ways of finding answers such as ChatGPT. Technology doesn’t move on slowly. It vanishes, leaving behind a trail of devices, cables, and unopened updates you meant to install before the year ended. Fashion and lifestyle January is ruthless when it comes to aesthetics. The holiday sweater that felt charming on December 23 suddenly looks suspicious on January 2. The ornaments that brought warmth and cheer are now negotiating their exit from the living room, often via a chair designated specifically for “things we’ll deal with later.” Later, of course, was last year.
See Last Year page B1