HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 47
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Jail transfer could occur by December 4 RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL A final resolution transferring responsibility for the Klickitat County Jail from the Sheriff’s Department to the newly created Klickitat County Department of Corrections will be on the Klickitat County Commssioners’ December 3 meeting agenda. If passed, the actual transfer would take place at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, December 4. That was the word from HR Director Robb Van Cleave at the Klickitat County Commissioners meeting
on November12. The person who will run the facility as jail administrator is Bill Frantz, who has 25 years of experience with the Washington State Department of Corrections. In a jail-related development, Van Cleave told commissioners he had received that morning a letter from supply company Aramark, which has been providing food for the prisoners. The letter said the company had been losing $100,000 a year on the contract and was not going to renew when it expires at the end of the year. He also announced that inter-
views with five applicants for the new county coroner position have been scheduled for Friday, November 22. And he had one more HR issue. In years past, he said, commissioners had gotten into the habit of allowing departments under their supervision to leave in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. “When you do that,” he told them, “the Sheriff’s Department, corrections officers, dispatchers and public works do not get to go home early. While appreciated and understandable from the em-
ployees who get to go, it’s a source of angst for those who can’t.” It’s to the point, he added, that the union has already vowed to pursue that issue in upcoming contract negotiations because it’s perceived as unfair. The Commission also held three hearings that day. The first was for a supplemental budget amendment, adding $2,070,221 to cover increased expenses. The three largest components of the overrun were $613,000 for the sheriff’s office, $470,288 for commissioners, and $467,512 for emergency management.
The second involved a moratorium and interim zoning controls for bulk storage of lithium batteries that were extended for another six months. The third, on the six-year road plan, was held in two parts: an afternoon session and evening session. Testimony taken at those two sessions will be considered for the final document, which will be voted on in the next commissioner meeting. There was no commissioner meeting on November 19 as commissioners were attending Wash-
See County page A8
About Santa Letters A special book for special moms with special kids
For 115 consecutive years, The Sentinel has published Kids Letters to Santa. Regrettably, staffing issues preclude us from doing the full section as we normally would. It’s a major process that involves contacting all the participating county schools, wrangling all the content back here, scanning artwork, transcribing letters, and laying out the section. Instead, this year we are inviting all grade-school age kids, teachers, and parents who would like to have their kids’ letters printed to send them directly to The Sentinel. They need to be typed rather than hand-written. That will enable us to streamline production and time and accommodate as many letters as we receive. To get your Santa letter in, email your letter (which can include a drawing) to: Santa@GoldendaleSentinel.com. And thank you for your understanding!
LOU MARZELES
RETURN OF THE MITTEN TREE: The annual Mitten Tree is back in The Sentinel office ready to be filled with warming clothing for those in need.
City council holds three hearings RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
The Goldendale City Council moved with brisk efficiency at its meeting Monday night. They managed to hold three public hearings, vote on three resolutions, hear reports from city departments and council members, and wrap the whole thing up in precisely 30 minutes. A key component in the fast-moving meeting was the fact that in all three hearings, not a single member of the public stepped up to offer testimony, either in person or by Zoom. Two of the hearings involved the 2025 budget. One was approval of the funding sources, the other a first reading of that budget. The third hearing and resolution involved state-mandated updates to the city’s flood damage prevention ordinance. Financial consultant Jen Forsberg of TDJ CPA said the budget
was balanced and fairly straightforward. “The final 2025 budget has been included in the packet tonight,” she said, “and all interested parties have had the opportunity to be heard. It is about $12 million, includes the projects that we talked about already tonight, and it also includes the one percent increase in property taxes which we just approved, so thank you for that.” The second reading and adoption of the budget ordinance will take place at the next meeting. In the meantime, Mayor Dave Jones said staff would organize a meeting of the Public Works Committee with the city police chief and a representative of the Washington State Department of Transportation to work on details of a proposed study the department would conduct. The study could determine the fate of five large trees on West Broadway.
CONTRIBUTED
A RESOURCE FOR MOMS IN NEED: Erica Kingsbury, an author from Bickleton, has written a book specially for mothers of special-needs kids.
JORDAN MAYBERRY FOR THE SENTINEL On October 21, Bickleton resident Erica Kingsbury published her book Not Alone: God’s Presence on the Path of a Special Needs Mom. “It’s about my journey as a special needs mom, how I navigated all that, and how my faith played a role in all that,” she explains It has been a vision long-fermenting, one Kingsbury often thought would never materialize. She said of the writing process: “When I began to get the ideas for my book, I didn’t think it was time to write it. As I shared in my previous blog post, I had been dreaming of writing a book for years, and every time I took that dream off the shelf, I always ended up reshelving it.” However, the seeds were sown, and sprouts began to break soil. It was in the fall of last year that the process took its first steps. “[That’s when] I started writing it,” she says. “It was a dream of mine since I was a kid. I didn’t start taking it seriously that I wanted to write a book until last year. I didn’t think
I would have the time until I was older.” After two months of work, Kingsbury decided to pause the process for the holidays. After returning from hiatus, however, she encountered a block. It was then she took a course in writing. “I decided to join an author’s school, called Havilah Author’s School. It’s a Christian author’s school.” Over the 16 weeks spent in this program, Kingsbury emerged with a fresh slate, and the book she had been writing the fall before was redone from scratch. In the four months that followed, Kingsbury composed the full manuscript. The focused, continuous effort saw the vision come to bloom as the seasons shifted: “In the spring, as I neared completion of my manuscript, I found the most inspiration while out on these walks. I’d let the open sky, passing birds, and our loyal dog, my companion, anytime I stepped outside hear my ideas and wandering thoughts.” The manuscript was edited over the course of the summer months. Then, as of this fall, the book was made available for purchase. “All
in all, it took me a year,” Kingsbury notes. “When I got my child’s diagnosis, I felt kind of alone in my grief. I wanted to give [readers] the opportunity to have more interaction with the book. I wanted them to feel that I was not having them just read about my story, but something that could also point them in the direction of healing for their own journey and the struggles they were going through.” A key feature of Not Alone’s structure is periods of reflection
See Alone page A8