Headlines & History since 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2026
Vol. 147 No. 25
$1.00
Contributed: Troy Carpenter/Goldendale Observatory
CONJUNCTION: Goldendale Observatory Administrator Troy Carpenter shared this image taken on June 16 from Observatory Hill of the much-observed conjunction of, in order from left to right, Venus, Jupiter, Moon, and Mercury. Planet Mercury is the most elusive, hiding in bright June twilight near the horizon.
Courthouse repainting first in 28 years Rodger Nichols For The Sentinel
Sheriff candidates to meet The League of Women Voters of Klickitat and Skamania Counties will hold a candidates’ forum for the Klickitat County Sheriff candidates. The Goldendale Sentinel and the Columbia Gorge News are co-sponsors of the event. The forum will take place on Tuesday, July 14, 7 p.m. at the Mt View Grange, 1085 N. Main Ave, White Salmon, and on Zoom at https://bit.ly/4eaxCaT.
Sponsors are inviting forum questions from League members and the public. Submit your questions via the League email at lwv. klickitat.skamania@gmail.com. The forum format will include time for the candidates to introduce themselves and answer questions provided, followed by a closing statement. The public is invited and also may submit written questions at the event.
The forum will be recorded and posted on YouTube (search “lwv ks”) after the event. To receive more information about these forums, sign up with the League at: https://www. lwvwa.org/join_us or visit the LWV KS UAL Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lwvklickska/events. Email lwv.klickitat. skamania@gmail.com for more information.
Big battery farms in state encounter stronger resistance Tom Banse Washington State Standard
Community opposition to big battery farms is spreading across Washington just as the technology takes on growing importance for the state’s clean energy transition and to stabilize the electric grid. A multiplying number of cities and counties have enacted moratoriums on permitting for new utility-scale battery storage systems over the past year. Over a similar timeframe, project developers withdrew around a dozen early-stage battery storage proposals from the interconnection queue of Puget Sound Energy, Washington’s largest utility. Now, green energy groups, electrical trade unions and project developers are redoubling efforts to persuade the public that the big battery arrays are needed to keep the lights on as rising amounts of renewable electricity come onto
the grid. A battery farm basically operates like a giant rechargeable battery. The owner charges the batteries at off-peak times or on sunny, windy days when renewable energy is abundant. Then, when the sun sets, the wind calms, or electricity demand spikes, the operator can send the juice back onto the grid. “If what the community is really communicating is: We want to pump the brakes a little bit. We want to understand these technologies. We want to understand their safety, their placement in our community… That’s a condition that I think we need to adapt to,” said Scott Bolton, BrightNight Power senior vice president of external affairs. “If these moratoriums are communicating, we just don’t want these solutions, that’s very troubling at the end of the day because, you know, if not this, then what?” Bolton added.
Opponents of battery farms perceive a threat to their neighborhood safety, their children’s schools and local farmland. A chief concern is that the rechargeable banks of lithium-ion batteries could catch fire and send plumes of toxic smoke drifting overhead and fish-killing runoff into streams. The energy industry has a hard sell ahead, judging from the unrest that spread from King County to Skagit, Pierce, Kitsap, Klickitat and Thurston counties — all places where independent developers have proposed commercial battery energy storage systems, or BESS in industry shorthand. “There’s a dawning awareness of the awful effects of BESS installations such as thermal runaway fires and toxic smoke, and the horrible noise from cooling fans,” wrote Anacortes resident Elke Siller Macartney in a public comment to the Skagit County
See Battery page B1
Klickitat County Commissioners heard several bits of good news at their June 16 meeting. One of them came from Public Works Director Jeff Hunter, who said there was a change order on the courthouse painting project that would add $84,573 to the cost of the project but without requiring any additional funds from the county: “We’re adding extra stuff because we got good enough prices; we had some savings, and this is grant money,” he said. “Instead of turning it back and using our money to paint all the light poles and all that, we talked to the granting agency. They said, ‘That’s close enough. You can paint.’” That way, Hunter said, when they finish painting the exterior, everything will be painted. He noted that it had been 28 years since the courthouse had been painted and suggested they not wait that long in the future. Courtney Cooke, the county’s chief probation officer, thanked commissioners for a long-awaited addition to their staff: “We filled a case manager vacancy that we have had for four years,” she said. “Darrin Wakefield worked four years in the jail, and it has allowed him to adapt to his responsibilities with our office extremely fast. In fact,
in his second week on the job, he had to do an independent court docket day.” She said the judge had complemented him on the occasion. Commissioners decided to make one major shift in response to the growing volume of public records requests, which some groups reportedly have weaponized to harass government offices. Responsibility for coordinating and responding to those requests will be taken away from the HR department, where it was an unfunded burden on otherwise busy staff. A new full-time funded position for that work will be created in the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. In order to remain budget neutral, commissioners chose not to fill a position budgeted for their own office, Chair Ron Ihrig said. Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved two grants using “.09 funds.” Washington provides a .09% local sales and uses tax rebate to qualifying rural or economically distressed counties, which can only be used to fund public facilities and economic development. Those two include: • A $100,000 grant to Columbia Gorge Regional Airport for a project called the CGRA Waterline Loop, on the condition that it be matched with an equal amount by airport co-owner the City of The Dalles.
See County page B1
Contributed: Kitt Tallman
GOOD TIMES: Last weekend’s Pioneer Picnic near Bickleton drew an appreciate crowd.