HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 18
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FILE PHOTO
POPULAR EATERY TO CLOSE FOR GOOD: Cafe Genevieve’s as it appeared when it opened in March 2022. In a short time, the restaurant earned an intensely loyal following.
Owner: Cafe Genevieve’s to shut doors permanently The Goldendale Home & Garden Show is this weekend, three days this year (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Admission is $8 for all days or only $5 if you bring a non-perishable food item. See The Sentinel’s Home & Garden section in this week’s paper.
LOU MARZELES
DOG FUND: Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office Posse member Brian Paul presents a check for $60,000 to Sheriff Bob Songer. Paul offered the funds for the Sheriff’s Office to acquire a new police dog so current canine Officer Profi has backup.
Check pays for new county police dog LOU MARZELES EDITOR Friday, Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office Posse member Brian Paul presented a check to the Sheriff’s Office for $60,000, which will pay all expenses for the office to acquire a new police dog. “I had the funds,” Paul said, “and I knew this was a priority for the Sheriff’s Office. I’m pleased to be able to help.” The money will cover all costs associated with obtaining a new
canine officer team, human and canine, including the dog itself— which usually involves travel to Europe—and all training for the dog and its police officer handler. This allows the Sheriff’s Office to avoid incurring additional county budget demands or public fundraising for the dog. A new dog will allow current Canine Officer Profi to have backup as needed and provide for the future when Profi’s effective police time comes to an end.
Songer disputes commissioner, announces town hall LOU MARZELES EDITOR
Last week Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer spoke about the proposed closing of the county jail, sharply disputing Klickitat County Commission Chair Lori Zoller’s statement on March 29 that the jail would be closed by April 12. “I talked with Sheriff Matt English who’s on the board of NORCOR,” Songer said, referencing the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles. “I wanted to know how Lori thought NORCOR would be ready to take prisoners from the county by that date.” Songer said it turns out it couldn’t. “This is critical,” he stated. “Lori gave a deadline of April 12. She said the county was
already in discussion with the union about separation [packages] for the jail employees—and there were discussions. We have longtime jail employees worried about their jobs and what would happen to them. “But it was all false,” Songer emphasized. “It was clear from my talks with Matt that the county was nowhere near a contract, so either Lori was lying or she was a bungling incompetent, as I’ve said before. That deadline came and went, and nothing happened.” Songer added there were numerous issues with any plan to bring prisoners to NORCOR. “Like the fact that prisoners would still have to be booked here,” he said. “We’d still need holding cells.
See Sheriff page A8
CODY A. COURSON FOR THE SENTINEL Cafe Genevieve’s owner Kristeen McGreal made the tough call last week to shut the doors of her cafe for good after the fire on the evening of April 1 damaged the majority of the inside of the establishment. She stated in a post on Facebook, “I’ve done a lot of personal and business thinking in the past three weeks. I’ve made the tough decision to not reopen Cafe Genevieve’s after this fire. Working 60-plus hours per week and restarting from scratch is extremely hard work! This decision hurts my heart immensely, but I know it’s best for myself and my family. “I want to thank you from the
bottom of my heart for the last two years of support. I’ve made friends who have become family and laughed so hard I’ve cried. I have felt love that I have never felt before. I’ve created many special memories that I will cherish forever. “I know I’m not the only one taking this extremely hard. Please, give my team some extra love after a time to grieve. I love you, Goldendale!” McGreal stated in an interview that the fire was started by towels that were laundered that day and brought from the laundromat. “It was just the perfect storm, the towels, oil that we had on them. It’s actually very common in the restaurant industry,” she said. Kristeen worked on starting the
Cafe for over two years before it was open. She worked on the business plan, found a location, and began setting up. The cafe was opened March 1, 2022. “It was the hardest time for the restaurant industry, right after COVID. But that was actually my whole vision, to have a place for people to gather.” The cafe was open for two years. The money donated through the GoFundMe and bank accounts have gone to help the team recover and survive in the midst of this transition. If you see Kristeen or one of the Cafe Genevieve’s team around town, give them a hug, a word of encouragement, and let them know we are here for them.
Mission program coming On Thursday, May 16, Dr. Jim Ogden and team members Theresa Babler, Larci Miller, Betty Zesizer, and Dove and Shayla Owen will give a program at the Goldendale Community Library about an optometric mission trip to Oaxaco, Mexico. Dates of the trip were from February 12 to 21. Five days of clinic were done at three different locations during that time, and close to 250 patients were seen. There will be a musical prelude beginning at 6 p.m., and the main event will start at 6:30. There is no admission charge, and refreshments will be served. Free transportation to and from the event will be provided for those who need it. Call (509) 250-6147 to arrange a ride.
CONTRIBUTED
ON THE MISSION: Left to right, Dr. James Ogden, Betty Zesizer, Theresa Babler, and Larci Miller went to Mexico on a optometirc mission trip.
Commissioners address tax breaks, reduced revenue RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
Only two commissioners were present at the regular meeting of the Klickitat County Commissioners on April 23. Due to the absence of Commissioner Dan Christopher, Commissioner Jacob Anderson had to make all the motions, and Chair Lori Zoller had to momentarily step down as chair in order to second the motions. Not surprisingly in such situations, all motions were unanimous. Unlike previous recent sessions, there were far fewer people taking advantage of the public comment period. One person did assert the reason the county was in a financial crisis was that they had given tax breaks to wind and solar projects, while raising taxes on citizens. Anderson pointed out the county had no authority to grant tax breaks, which were voted in by the state legislature. The cause of the budget shortfall was the loss of several contracts by Republic Services, which operates the landfill, a major source of income for
the county. “The landfill floated this county for many years,” he said. “It was an awesome, awesome endeavor. But the landscape has changed. They are facing competition for contracts, which in turn hits our fees here at the county... As those contracts switch or change or dwindle, our monies are impacted, and this last year they were impacted in a big way, so that causes a budget crunch where everybody has to adjust.” The loss of those contracts will leave the county with a budget shortfall of more than a million and a half dollars, he added. And with interest rates high, fewer people are building homes, which generates less revenue. To add to the county’s concern over its potential fiscal future is the $20 million lawsuit filed by the Howtopat family whose son Ivan committed suicide in the county jail and the potential for other suits. Responding to a comment that the citizens were paying for mistakes made by the commissioners, Anderson said, “The pending and
potential litigation did not come from departments underneath the Board of County Commissioners. They came underneath another elected official. Have a conversation with that elected official, sir. Because we, being the executives, just have to find the way to pay for it.” Next on the meeting agenda was Planning Director Scott Edelmen who noted that, as he was new to the job, he had been planning to meet with the various community councils and proposed that rather than trying to schedule a number of meetings, he would organize a summit of all the councils. The idea was favorably received by the commissioners, and he will work on putting that together. Edelman also said he and Zoller will make in-person visits to the controversial Under Canvas site, an aggregate site, and other areas. ”It’s valuable to me to get out in the community and to see some of these projects firsthand.” Public Works Director Jeff Hunter and County Engineer Seth Scarola said the county would
See County page A8