HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025
Vol. 146 No. 39
$1.00
County considers added budget items RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
TO PAY TRIBUTE: Charlie Kirk’s life and legacy were honored Sunday night in an event at the Goldendale American Legion.
CONTRIBUTED
Kirk tribute held in Goldendale MELISSA UHLES FOR THE SENTINEL
On September 10 at Utah Valley University, 31-year-old conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while on stage at one of his outdoor events. After being turned in by his family, the shooting suspect is now in custody. Kirk’s murder had not only a national impact but locally as well. This prompted the Klickitat County Republicans to host a tribute event at the American Legion in Goldendale on Sunday evening. Local resident Angie Moore attended and said it was “a large gathering of neighbors, community members, and friends, old
and new, who came together to share an evening of fellowship, encouragement, love, peace, and patriotism.” Moore added the event was “a celebration to honor a man who touched so many lives and changed hearts. The Civil Air Patrol presented the United States flag, and the opening prayer included a request for the walls of division within our nation to crumble. A solo performance of ‘Heaven Needed a Hero’ by Ella Hartford set the tone of gratitude. The theme was centered around vision, values, action, service, and the Turning Point we all pray to see within our nation.” Turning Point is the name of the organization Kirk founded.
Klickitat County Republican chair Erin Hartford and Pastor Rod Hill were speakers at the event. Moore said that later in the evening, “The floor was opened for attendees to share testimony, words of wisdom, and prayer requests. As the event finished, many remained, prayed together, offered guidance, and shared love all around the room, each of us feeling inspired and ignited with cause.” Kirk was known for his “prove me wrong” debates on college campuses. Despite his specific worldview, he debated with youth of all political stripes. His nonprofit Turning Point USA’s mission, according to its website,
is to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.” For youth unable to attend live events, they learned about his work by watching his recorded events on YouTube. In addition to politics, he discussed what he viewed as the importance of family formation. He was married with two young children. Archie Mackintosh debated with Kirk about marriage and society four months ago at the University of Cambridge. When hearing the news, Mackintosh told the BBC, “Despite the fact that I disagree with a lot of his
See Tribute page B4
CONTRIBUTED
PRAYING AT THE POLE: Yesterday over 20 students from different churches in our community gathered together at the GHS flagpole in order to pray for staff, teachers, administrators, students, sports, clubs, parents, families, and the government. This annual, student planned and led event is called See You At The Pole.
County sees sharp increase in fentanyl use LOU MARZELES EDITOR After several years of relentless increases, Washington’s overdose crisis showed signs of easing in 2024—only to tick back up at the end of the year and into early 2025. Health officials and researchers say fentanyl remains the driver, now intertwined with methamphetamine and, to a lesser extent, cocaine in a polysubstance crisis that is reshaping the drug landscape across the state. Rural counties in particular— including Klickitat County—are seeing marked increases in drug
use. Washington’s Department of Health (DOH) and the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug, & Alcohol Institute (ADAI) report that synthetic opioids— chiefly fentanyl—now account for the vast majority of opioid-involved deaths in the state. In 2023 and 2024, more than 90% of opioid deaths involved synthetic opioids, reflecting fentanyl’s takeover from heroin and prescription painkillers. Nationally, overdose deaths declined sharply in 2024, reaching their lowest level since 2019, according to provisional CDC data.
But Washington did not uniformly share in that relief. Statewide deaths appeared to fall through much of 2024 before rebounding in the fourth quarter and continu-
ing higher into the first quarter of 2025, preliminary Washington data show—underscoring how
See Drugs page A2
Klickitat County Commissioners heard a few positive reports at their September 16 meeting. Planning Director Scott Edelman said a lot of people are working on rebuilding after the recent Burdoin fire. “It’s going well,” he said. “We have great communications with the Gorge Commission staff. They seem very committed to try to help people rebuild. So far, we’ve only actually received one application. I believe it was for an accessory structure. We do expect to see more of it. I just want you to know that relationship is going very well and the communication has been excellent.” And Scott said there was another possible ray of sunshine for the future. He wants to make accessory dwelling units (ADUs) an outright permitted use instead of requiring a conditional use permit which costs applicants extra time and money. “I think we are far enough along, it would save people money and time,” he said. “It would also free up the staff and help us get more efficient.” The afternoon session saw commissioners pass a supplemental budget for the year. The original request was for $2.5 million, but $1.5 million of that was to increase the line of credit for the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport project. And some of the other items were to add in grants that had been received. The actual amount of new income that would have to be raised as a result of the initial supplemental budget would have been $538,300. When it came time to make a motion, though, commissioners removed four items, three of them from a $239,182 Sheriff’s Department request. They were $101,843 for an administrative position in the department, $34,177 for the position’s benefit package, and $63,389 to replace money paid out for unused sick leave to officers who retired during the year. Commissioner Ron Ihrig said the sick leave funds would definitely be replaced but wanted to wait until the end of the year. In a department as large as the Sheriff’s, there can be some leftover unexpended funds, and he wanted to see how much there might be towards covering those payouts. The fourth item was $12,570 removed from a $41,101 Emergency Management Department request. The department said that had been a placeholder in case they felt there was a need to hire a planner to help with recovery following the Burdoin Fire. Instead, the department found that a number of agencies, including Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, were working on fire recovery, including a resiliency group that had been meeting since Covid. Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved: • A second extension request for short plat, SPL 2022-27, Clark/Pimley • Final acceptance and release of contract bond for the Sundale/Old Hwy 8 Project CRP 359. • Supplemental agreement #5 with Applied Archaeological Research, Inc., vendor on-call archaeological services. • Purchase of a MowerMax Mower with attachments from Atmax Equipment Company for $470,364.54, including tax, delivery and warranty. • Execute the contract bond for the Pioneer Center HVAC replacement project 2025, C14025.
See County page B4