Headlines & History since 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2026
Vol. 147 No. 30
$1.00
Lou Marzeles
RED DOT IN THE SKY: The small red dot in the center of this picture is the sun as it appeared through heavy fire smoke drifing up from Oregon Sunday evening. One person commented, “It looked like a laser pointer dot in the clouds.”
Missoula Children’s Theater
ALL GOLDENDALE’S A STAGE: Next week’s Goldendale Summer Stage festival will feature—among many other things—rehearsals for and production of a children’s theater production for Goldendale youth by the Missoula Children’s Theater, seen above in an earlier production. The festival all week.
Goldendale Summer Stage signals home for area creatives Lou Marzeles Editor For six days next week, downtown Goldendale will become a stage. Children will rehearse a musical with professional directors. Songwriters will gather to write new music. Hundreds of voices are expected to join together in a community sing-along. A teen comedian, a professional juggler, folk dancers, artists and families will fill Main Street with performances and hands-on activities. Known as Goldendale Summer Stage: A Constellation of Performing Arts, the festival will run August 3 through 8 and represents the first major public undertaking of the Goldendale Creative District. Sponsored by the Creative District and Hippo Hall, the week is designed not simply as entertainment, but as an opportunity for people of all ages to participate in the arts. The festivities begin with the nationally recognized Missoula Children’s Theatre, whose artists will lead a free week-long drama camp for children ages 6 to 18. Participants will rehearse Wiz of the West before presenting two public performances on Saturday, August 8, at the Goldendale American Legion. The company will also offer acting workshops
during the week. Friday’s lineup includes a songwriting workshop with Seattle musician Lilly Miller followed by a community sing-along led by Portland’s Low Bar Chorale. Saturday features local teen comedian Henry Duyck, professional juggler Jugglemania, modern folk dancing with Folk Fusion, family art activities by the BeeWinged Bellora Art Bus, and snow cones provided by the city’s pool lifeguards. But while Summer Stage may be the immediate attraction, the festival itself is only part of the story. Behind it is Amy Spring, a local entrepreneur whose vision reaches well beyond one week of performances. For the past five years, Spring has quietly been working toward a much bigger goal: helping Goldendale become a community where creativity—in all its forms—has a permanent home. “I’ve been looking for five years to find something that would work just to have a home for creatives,” she said. Five years ago, shortly after moving to Goldendale, Spring undertook what many newcomers might consider impossible. She produced a full-scale community production of Heidi. The musical proved there was enthusiasm for live theater, but it also exposed a
significant challenge. There was no permanent rehearsal space, no place to store scenery and costumes, and no dedicated venue where local performers could regularly create productions. The success of the show planted a seed that has continued to grow ever since. That vision eventually led Spring to the Goldendale Creative District, a nonprofit organization that grew out of the Chamber of Commerce’s Art of the Heart Committee. Although the organization is still awaiting formal recognition from the state, its members decided there was no reason to postpone their work. “We decided to go and start acting like a creative district,” Spring said. The district’s mission is intentionally broad. While many people associate the arts with paintings, galleries or theater, Spring sees creativity as something much larger. Actors, musicians and artists certainly belong, she says. But so do restaurant owners, crafters, makers, web designers, computer programmers and entrepreneurs—anyone who uses imagination to create something new. “Our goal is to support the creative community in Goldendale,” she said. “That includes every-
See Arts page B1
County considers data center siting Rodger Nichols For The Sentinel Much of the morning workshop at the July 21 Klickitat County Commissioners meeting focused on land use. One big item was the possibility of having to deal with an application for a data center. Planning Director Scott Edelman told commissioners that where developers planned to locate them makes a significant difference. “There are two different processes for data center review,” he said. “If it’s in an industrial park zone, it’s considered an outright use. It still has a SEPA (State Environmental Protection Act) review, where there is an opportunity for public comment. After the SEPA review, it goes to the Planning Commission for site plan review.” He noted that the planning commission action is a public meeting, rather than a public hearing, which means no
public testimony would be taken. But any decision following the public meeting could ultimately be appealed to the Board of County Commissioners. There are five industrial park zones in Klickitat County. The two largest are in Dallesport and the former Goldendale aluminum plant site. “If it’s in any other zone,” Edelman said, “it goes through a conditional use process.” That would be followed by a SEPA review and a public hearing by the Board of Adjustment. Any appeal from there would go to the state Superior Court. Commissioners would only be in the decision loop if the proposal was to be situated in an industrial park zone, and then only if there was an appeal. Keaton Curtice of the Economic Development Department demonstrated a new software program that tracks housing in the county.
“We received access to Rentalscape, which is our short-term rental platform two weeks ago,” he said, “and it’s been slowly populating. It’s already identified 16 ADUs that are being used as short term rentals, all in unincorporated county.” ADUs are not supposed to be used for short term rentals because that reduces the options for long-term rental or purchase. And there was an unanticipated announcement from Edelman, who said the Planning Commission would like to reduce the energy overlay zone for solar in the eastern part of the county. “The rationale for reducing it in this part of the county has to do with soil types,” he said. “It has to do with productivity of the land as far as agricultural uses and has to do especially with density of population and the potential neighbors impacted. Because I think,
See County page B1
AIMING HIGH: Logan Siebert says he’s about the same age his opponent was when he first ran for PUD commissioner.
Siebert says transparency is key for PUD Lou Marzeles Editor First-time candidate Logan Siebert says he is running for a seat on the Klickitat Public Utility District Commission because he believes residents deserve more transparency about electric rates and a stronger voice as the county considers major energy and technology projects. Siebert, 31, is challenging longtime Commissioner Dan Gunkel for the Position 1 seat. (Gunkel did not respond to a request from The Sentinel for an interview.) Although Siebert acknowledges he has no previous elected experience, he argues that dedication, business experience, and a willingness to ask difficult questions are more important than tenure. “The only way to gain experience as a PUD commissioner is to be elected,” he stated. A second-generation Klickitat County resident, Siebert said his family moved to the county from Clark County in 1999. He described growing up in an entrepreneurial family, training horses after high school before completing an apprenticeship with Portland General Electric at the Tucannon Wind Farm, where he learned the fundamentals of wind energy maintenance. He later earned a commercial driver’s license and hauled livestock before launching his own business. In 2017, Siebert began a mobile slaughter operation after identifying what he believed was a shortage of meat-processing services in the area. Recognizing that transporting livestock long distances for processing was impractical, he and his family built their own facility, opening Siebert Custom Slaughter Meats in March 2020—the same week COVID-19 shutdowns began nationwide. Siebert said he had no formal butchering experience when he opened the business and largely taught himself through books and online instructional videos. Today, he said, the business is working toward obtaining USDA certification to expand its services. Questions about electric rates Among Siebert’s primary
campaign themes is improving communication between the PUD and its customers. He said residents frequently ask why their bills contain certain line items, including references to demand charges, even though residential customers are not billed under demand-based rate schedules. “As a community member, you don’t really get many answers when you ask the PUD,” he said, adding that he intends to seek clarification if elected. Siebert said he believes commissioners should do more to explain how electric rates are calculated and why costs continue to rise. During the interview, however, he also acknowledged he is still learning the complexities of utility regulation and has been attending commission meetings to better understand state laws and regulations governing public utility districts. Data centers and big tech A significant portion of the interview focused on the possibility of large data centers locating in Klickitat County. Siebert said he is not opposed to data centers but believes the county should negotiate aggressively with companies seeking to build them. “I believe that if we’re going to allow data centers, they’re going to pay their fair share for the grid portion of it,” he said. “We need to look out for county residents first.” He also expressed concern about the long-term impacts of large industrial users on electrical demand, water consumption and local infrastructure. Siebert said he would oppose allowing data centers to draw water from municipal systems or underground aquifers, arguing instead that any significant water use should come from regulated withdrawals from the Columbia River. “We don’t know how much water’s down there. And when we’re out, we’re out,” he said of groundwater resources. He added that, in his view, data centers should be located away from highly visible public areas and should not receive arrangements that shift costs onto existing ratepayers. Private versus public energy
See Logan page B1