HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2025
Vol. 146 No. 41
HEATED DISCUSSION: Klickitat County commissioners and County Sheriff Bob Songer (right) exchanged charged words at budget meeting October 2.
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LEFT: FACEBOOK. RIGHT: FILE PHOTO.
Sparks fly over Sheriff budget during meeting RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
The long-running budget dispute between Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer and the Klickitat County Board of Commissioners flared up at the October 2 budget workshop. Though reported on some social media as “shouting,” the actual recording revealed an exchange in which
voices were definitely raised but not to the shouting level. Here’s a transcript of a portion of the most heated conversation: Sheriff Bob Songer: I wouldn’t want to sit in your seat, be honest with you. I wouldn’t want to be a county commissioner. But in the Constitution itself, your first responsibility under oath is protection of the citizens. That’s the first responsibility. You get off
on sidetracks and all that kind of stuff. As far as social programs and all of this stuff, it’s nice, but that shouldn’t come number one. Commission Chair Ron Ihrig: If I may? Songer: You may. Ihrig: You’ve been given money for deputies. Why haven’t you hired? Tell me why. Songer: That’s because you don’t—
Ihrig: You keep coming at us. We gave you money for deputies. Why haven’t you hired deputies? Songer: You have not got a clue, Ron. You know the process of hiring a deputy? You don’t know. Ihrig: You’re four months past funding. You could have had a beginning started. Songer: We are. Ihrig: I don’t know if you are. You talked about how you may
make an offer to one. We doubled your funding four months ago, Bob. Songer: Yeah, four months into the budget delayed us from hiring them in the first place. Ihrig: If you would have hired them, do you think we would not have backed you? Songer: Well, I’m not sure that—
See Budget page A8
GHS sports ejections prompt new Sportsmanship plan MELISSA UHLES FOR THE SENTINEL
STRIPPED FOR PARTS
BAD NEWS FOR NEWS: Participants at a viewing last year of Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink listen to panelists discussing the film. It is now airing on PBS.
The deliberate decimation of American newspapers LORRIE FOX FOR THE SENTINEL This just in! Newspapers are dying! Wait. That’s not news. Everybody knows that—more correctly, everybody thinks they know that. But there are lesser-known realities behind that so-called common knowledge. One is that many newspapers are still doing just fine. Another one is that the demise of vast numbers of newspapers has nothing to do with the rise of ubiquitous information online or the rising costs of print media. The fact is, newspapers are being murdered. In the first degree, with deadly purpose and skill. And the killer is a little-known hedge fund. A movie has been made about this newspaper killing spree. It’s called Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink. Un-
til recently the only way you could see the film was at special screenings in cities across the U.S. But as of October 1, the film is available to see for free on PBS and streaming online on PBS.com. Sentinel contributor Lorrie Fox watched the movie and interviewed the filmmaker by email. Following is her report. —Lou Marzeles In this timely and informative documentary, award-winning filmmaker Rick Goldsmith exposes how one distressed-investing firm is destroying local newspapers across the country—and the rebellious journalists who are pushing back. Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink has been released nationwide and is streaming for free through December 31 at PBS.org or the PBS app. Here is the direct link to the film: www.pbs.org/ show/stripped-for-parts-american-journalism-on-the-brink/.
In Stripped for Parts, Goldsmith reveals the perfect storm threatening journalism across the United States: Alden Global Capital, a secretive hedge fund that has quietly taken control of newspapers nationwide—only to strip them for profit and close them. Founded in 2007 by Randall Smith and managed by Heath Freeman, Alden practices “vulture investing”—technically called distressed asset investing—buying distressed businesses and preying in particular on America’s newspapers, given the distressed state of so many of them. By mid-2020, Alden’s newspaper company, Digital First Media, held stakes in roughly 200 American papers and became the second-largest newspaper publisher in the nation after purchasing Tribune Publishing in 2021. “Alden’s ultimate goal was and
See Alden page A8
City business license rate increases RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL The Goldendale City Council modified the income threshold requirement to obtain a business license at their October 6 meeting, raising it from $2,000 to $4,000 to bring it in line with changes in state law. City Administrator Sandy Wells added, “If you have a storefront, it doesn’t matter how much
you make, you still have to have a business license,” she said. “But if you’re basically just selling goods, and you make under $4,000 a year then you’re exempt from having a business license.” She also announced a special meeting to hold a full council budget workshop at 6:15 on Tuesday, October 18, and reported that the Darland Street project had been delayed due to supply chain issues.
Goldendale Police Chief Mike Smith reported on department activities in September: We had 348 calls for service last month,” he said. “We had 17 arrests. We had one traffic-related arrest, one weapons offense of a juvenile arrest. We had one stolen vehicle that we recovered and had an arrest on it thanks to the Flock Safety license plate reader cameras. We had six domestic vi-
See City page A8
Last year the Goldendale High School (GHS) athletics department had six students ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. This required the school to submit a Sportsmanship plan to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for the 2025-2026 school year. According to their website, WIAA is a private, nonprofit 501©(3) service organization and rule-making body that was formed in 1905 to create equitable playing conditions between high school sports teams in Washington. I reached out to new GHS Activities Director Nicki Swanson to ask what were the cause of the ejections. I also wanted to know what was in the plan that was submitted to WIAA. “Goldendale was indeed required to submit a sportsmanship plan,” Swanson said. “It was due in September. We have not received any feedback yet
from the board at WIAA. I’m sorry to say I do not know the details around the six ejections we received last school year; this is my first year in Goldendale. The plan is at all our sporting events.” Asked how things have gone since the start of this year, Swanson said, “This year is off to a great start. We have new coaches at the high school for soccer, cross-country, football, cheer, and volleyball. They have all been truly amazing with our student athletes as they build their programs. As we near winter sports, I believe the positive momentum will continue. We have a new girls’ varsity basketball coach and returning coaches otherwise. We are blessed to have coaches who work well together, supporting the needs of all our programs. Our cross-country team just took 1st place Saturday, October 4, at the Apple Ridge Invite in Yakima. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we have several amaz-
See Plan page A8
County applies for fairgrounds grants RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL Klickitat County Commissioners met September 30, but technical difficulties on this reporter’s end meant we couldn’t listen to the morning workshop. So in the afternoon public comments and questions session, we asked each of the commissioners what was the most important information from the morning workshop for area residents. Here’s what they said: Commissioner Lori Zoller: “They brought in bridge oversight, which bridges were crucial for implementing money that would be spent on those bridges, so that was interesting. We had their regular agenda
about what was going on at the fairgrounds, including a wedding that was very successful. They are going to be advertising winter riding very quickly so people can sign up to pay to use the arena at the fairgrounds.” Chair Ron Ihrig: “The first thing that came to my mind, of course, is the fairgrounds, where the county applied for three grants to the Department of Agriculture. $250,000 is to replace the roof on the Cameron barn. The second is to replace or remodel the rest rooms under the grandstands, and the third was for the poultry building to replace the siding that’s deteriorating.” Ihrig was referring to the
See County page A8