HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 27
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County officially forms separate corrections department RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL Klickitat County Commissioners voted formally to establish a new County Department of Corrections at their meeting June 25. The vote was unanimous, after Commissioner Dan Christopher asked that the establishing resolution omit the phrase “and concludes doing so is in the public’s best interest.” Human Resources Director Robb Van Cleave said he’d missed that phrase when copying a template from Benton County and that it was not intended as a slight on the Sheriff. During the afternoon session, Van Cleave gave an update on the jail status, reporting that the consultant, Island County jail chief administrator Jose Briones, had been on-site at the jail for two days the previous week, that he expected the examination to continue through July, and that Mr. Briones then would be making a report. Briones told Van Cleave if he found anything critical concerning safety or wellness he would not wait for the report but notify the commission immediately.
The finance department, he said, was preparing to transfer funds to the new department when control of the jail was transferred and would soon start building the budget for next year to include the new arrangement. And he’d started the process of advertising for an interim jail director to manage the transition. Christopher said it might be better to search directly for a permanent position, since he wondered if anyone would rent a home in Goldendale for a short-term job. Van Cleave agreed that if a qualified person made an inquiry but was only interested in a permanent position, he would bring it to the board’s attention. Klickitat County will not be banning fireworks this year—or the next. In response to a question from the public, commissioners said that state law requires giving people who sell fireworks, whether for profit or as a nonprofit fundraiser, a year’s advance notice of any such ban. That precludes a ban this year, because it would have had to have been enacted last year. This year, due to required advance legal notice, it’s too late to get in a vote in time for a ban next year.
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NEW DEPARTMENT: Klickitat County established a department of corrections reporting directly to the board of commissioners.
Christopher offered a suggestion that a clock be placed in the meeting room so that it is visible to the Zoom cameras covering the meeting. That would make it easier for people later viewing video footage to find specific events. An afternoon workshop dealt with concerns about battery storage, noting the sometimes incendiary problems with lithium-ion batteries. In addition to the commissioners, those in attendance included representatives from public works, emergency management, planning department, building codes, environmental health, and the sheriff’s department. Under the adopted energy overlay zone (EOZ), the only outright approved uses of such batteries are wind turbines and solar energy farms. In addition, there are accessory and temporary uses. Those would be accessory buildings and structures needed for the operation of the permitted uses. The discussion brought up the important point that a structure could only be an accessory for operations on the same tract of land. That would preclude setting up a large battery storage serving ad-
See County page A8
NAN NOTEBOOK, CGN
SONGER SECOND TOWN HALL: Klickitat County Republican Party Chair Lisa Evans gives the welcome speech at Sheriff Bob Songer’s Dallesport town hall June 29.
Songer town hall crowd decries ‘hyper-fascists’ NAN NOTEBOOM FOR COLUMBIA GORGE NEWS
Just days after a minor stroke, Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer hosted his second “unmoderated” town hall in Dallesport on Saturday, June 29, also his birthday. The event quickly took on the tone of a political rally with a welcome speech by Klickitat County Republican Party Chair Lisa Evans. Songer once again opened up with an hour-long video on the philosophy of the constitutional sheriff, summarized by him as, “Some say you’ve got to follow the law, whatever the law is. That’s nonsense. Pure nonsense.” Songer prioritizes his interpretation of the Constitution above the law, and above the courts’ interpretation, he said. Songer spoke about his plan to rehabilitate drug addicts, which is one year of mandatory faithbased in-patient treatment. He called for the death penalty for
drug dealers. He accused the Klickitat Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) of moving too quickly and without forethought on their intent to close the jail, but also said, “They need to make up their mind. They’ve been dragging their feet.” He further accused the BOCC of “being political. They don’t like me.” But the event had an aggressively political tone, with the crowd referring to liberals as “hyper-fascists” and Commissioner Dan Christopher blaming the “liberal White Salmon contingent” for the board’s conflict. Songer repeated a frequently debunked story (by both conservative and liberal outlets) that the government is hiring and arming 87,000 IRS agents. Referring to a suicide in the jail, Christopher also claimed that jail staff “can’t stop a suicide,” although the comment contradicted Songer’s earlier claim that his staff had prevented two suicides.
See Town Hall page A8
Police Chief calls for new laws on homeless RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
Goldendale Fire Chief Noah Halm had a brief but heartfelt message at Monday night’s city council meeting. “Please be safe,” he said. “It’s dry out there.” Several years ago, Goldendale passed an ordinance regulating when fireworks can be sold in the city, and when they can be used. Chapter 9.18.10(B) of the city code reads “Consumer fireworks can only be used or discharged
on July 4th from six p.m. through midnight and December 31st from six p.m. through one a.m. on January 1st.” On average, 19,000 fires are started each year in the U.S. by fireworks, and in 2022 more than 10,00 people suffered injuries. In other agenda items, councilors passed a comprehensive contract for Mike Smith who had been working without one since he took over as Goldendale Police Chief in June 2023.
See City page A8
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HUNDREDS ATTEND: The Feast of St. John the Forerunner drew some 600 people for a two-day observance at the St. John the Forerunner Monastery in Goldendale last weekend. Above, the interior of the church during a quiet period last year.
Feast day observance brings hundreds to Goldendale JORDAN MAYBERRY FOR THE SENTINEL Parishioners and pilgrims, some traveling from as far as Alaska, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, California, and all across Mountain West, gathered for the annual feast of St. John the Forerunner, the patron saint of St. John’s Greek Orthodox Monastery just north of Goldendale. This event, the largest of the monastery’s organized feasts, requires significant preparation: “Three weeks to a month,” estimated one of the sisters at the monastery. The festivities commenced the night before with a standing vigil service that began in the evening and continued until nightfall. The following morning, the full crowd of the faithful packed the church and overflowed into the courtyard for the Divine Liturgy service, held with 12 priests and three deacons in attendance from all around the Pacific Northwest. The service concluded with a procession down the long drive and toward the meal hall: looking back, the line of people from all walks, the young, the old, the families big and small filled the whole roadway, all the way up to the temple. Meals had been prepared for the almost 600 attendees, packing the meal hall and the courtyard as well. Stock quickly ran thin at the bookstore and bakery, crowded to overflowing with participants as well as regular cus-
tomers stopping by on their way on Highway 97. The demand was so great the sisters found themselves racing to keep up; thankfully, volunteers and attendees offered their services to accommodate the traffic. A volunteer parking attendant and local parishioner, Jonathan Todd, estimated the attendance compared to last year’s feast day. He estimated, “Definitely as much as last year.” Participants remarked on their experiences: “It was shoulder to shoulder,” one said. Another detailed a view of the service from the outside. “You saw people spilling out of the church.” The crowds and the summer temperatures had a marked effect on the nave of the Church where the Divine Liturgy was held: “It was hot in there,” Deacon Anthony May said. “I think the windows were shut.” Deacon Joseph Frangipani remarked, “I was about to pass out.” Although it is standard practice for a bishop of the diocese to attend major feast days for established monasteries, a schedule conflict prevented their attendance: “I had never been to a feast day without a bishop.” Fr. Daniel Reese, one among the twelve attending priests, said. “There is a large clergy symposium for the Greek Archdiocese down in California, so no bishop was able to attend.” For those who have participated in years past, this too was their first feast day without their presence.
“Last year there were four to six bishops, and the service is actually longer [with the bishops],” another attendee said. The absence, while atypical, relieved preparation time and labors for both the sisters and the attending clergy. This feast day has not just been celebrated since the establishment of the monastery but is a Church tradition dating to the apostles. Fr. John Phelps, pastor of the local Saints Joachim and Ana Orthodox Mission, describes the tradition: “A feast day in the Orthodox Church is a day where we celebrate an important day in the history of the Church; what we’re effectively commemorating is an event, in this case a birthday, St. John’s birthday. St. John was the forerunner of Christ. It’s not only an important day because it is his birthday but because it’s the fulfillment of the miracle of his birth, as his parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, were of old age.” St. John the Forerunner holds a central place in the history of the Church: “The Church called him the greatest of the prophets, as all the other prophets only prophesied about Christ, but he was actually there to inaugurate Christ’s ministry in addition to prophesying,” Fr. Phelps states. “The celebration is more than just the food and the people. The heart of the feast is the service. We always celebrate a feast in the Orthodox Church with the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Lit-
See Feast page A8