It’s hard to believe the 2022 midterm elections were less than three months ago. Back then, Republican Congressional candidates across the country were primarily talking about three things: high gas prices, runaway inflation and the border.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with voters wanting to have more control over local government decisions impacting a wide range of constituents. We would guess this reasoning had a lot to do with the decision of more than 3,100 Camas voters to sign on to a recent referendum effort by a group known as the Camas Taxpayers Alliance, which would have given voters a chance to decide the fate of the Camas City Council’s November 2022 decision to impose a temporary 2% tax on the city’s water, sewer, stormwater and garbage utilities.
Fifty years of Post-Record history will be on full display at the Camas Public Library’s Second Story Gallery beginning Friday, Jan. 5, and running through the end of February.
Happy New Year to all our loyal Post-Record readers. Here are a few “cheers” to help kick off the New Year’s celebrations this weekend:
As we enter our third winter with COVID-19 hanging over our heads, it’s easy to forget the feeling so many of us experienced during the height of the pandemic when community members hopped up on a steady stream of far-right COVID disinformation directed their fear and rage toward public officials trying to protect the entire community from a highly contagious virus capable of destroying our lungs, harming our hearts, wrecking our immune system, damaging our brains and attacking the lining of our blood vessels.
Our society has given up on nearly every ounce of COVID preventions we once had. Few people mask indoors anymore. Even fewer think to avoid large gatherings or test for COVID infections before meeting up with vulnerable friends and family.
In this Thanksgiving week of counting blessings and gathering with loved ones, we can’t help thinking about how grateful we are to live and work in such a naturally beautiful part of the world where people — for the most part — still value ideals that bring the community together and work toward a better future for our youth.
The Nation called it.
As anyone who had the misfortune of wading through the disgusting pool of homophobic misinformation being promoted by right-wing politicians and media regarding the in-home attack on Paul Pelosi, the elderly husband of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, knows by now, we cannot afford to keep up the “both sides” narrative when it comes to misinformation.
Cheers to the return of cooler, wetter weather. The sudden shift in weather last week provided some much-needed relief for firefighters battling the Nakia Creek Fire north of Camas-Washougal. The fire, which led to “go now” evacuation notices for thousands of Camas-Washougal households, but did not, thankfully, destroy any homes or take any lives, was 30% contained when the rains returned on Oct. 21, and fire officials said the forecasted rain would ease fire conditions and “offer relief to firefighters and residents alike.”
