Camas-Washougal Post-Record

August 28, 2012

Keeping senior citizens safe

Readers of the Camas-Washougal Post-Record know that we often have articles about accomplishments of local men and women, high school sports coverage, local city and port news, and a little bit of everything in-between. Like any small community in America, our cities have their issues but overall most of us likely feel these communities are safe places to live. But once in a while, we are unfortunately reminded that there are some truly bad people out who take advantage of others.

August 28, 2012

Public works outsourcing: Proceed with caution

I read with interest the article in this newspaper about the city of Washougal's plans to explore the feasibility of outsourcing the work now performed by employees in its public works department. Affected public works employees would most likely be laid off and the work would be done by employees or contractors working for the outsource company. Having written about outsourcing in the legal industry and having led a delegation of lawyers to India to meet with companies doing outsourced work, I was quite surprised and concerned. I sent emails to the mayor and members of the City Council and started a Facebook page (Don't Outsource Washougal). The Mayor and one council member responded to my emails and Mayor Guard even weighed in on the Facebook page.

August 21, 2012

Letters to the Editor for August 21, 2012

Privatizing public works is a serious matter In Dawn Feldhaus' report of the meeting of the City of Washougal City Council, the innocuous wording would not make the average reader aware of the seriousness of one of the subjects being discussed -- the City is considering giving control of the city's water and sewer systems to a private operator.

August 21, 2012

Letters to the Editor for August 21, 2012

Privatizing public works is a serious matter In Dawn Feldhaus' report of the meeting of the City of Washougal City Council, the innocuous wording would not make the average reader aware of the seriousness of one of the subjects being discussed - the City is considering giving control of the city's water and sewer systems to a private operator. This frightens me.

August 21, 2012

Gearing up for fall

Please, oh please, say it's not so. Just last week the weather seemed to indicate that summer was finally here. With temperatures reaching into the upper 90s, the Washougal River was packed with people looking to cool off. The Camas Municipal Pool hit capacity. Youngsters gathered at Hamllik Park to feel the refreshing spray of water sprayed from the local fire department's fire hose.

August 21, 2012

Farmers markets offer more than food

Farmers Markets are popping up in small towns across rural America. Increasingly, farmers and ranchers realize there is interest in fresh, locally-grown food. And while it may not be their only source of income, it puts local dollars in local pockets and impacts the health of local folks.

August 14, 2012

A new Washougal library: What do citizens think?

In recent months, a dedicated group of Washougal residents, primarily members of the Friends of the Washougal Community Library, have been working to drum up support for finding an existing space or constructing a new building that would be offer a bigger, better location for the Washougal Community Library. The current facility, operated by the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, is housed in a 2,400 square foot space adjacent to the Washougal Community Center in the City Hall complex. Approximately 1,800 square feet is dedicated to public use, while the remainder is reserved for staff space and storage.

August 14, 2012

Primary election politics can have significant impacts

Primary elections are funny creatures. They can take on many different meanings. For candidates who win the primary, they point to the results and declare themselves on a roll and deserving of support. Politicos study the results much like they do polling data. This helps them determine who should be considered for general election support both financially and otherwise.

August 7, 2012

Take care of our community, and don’t forget the animals

We often hear about the importance of taking care of our community and helping our neighbors, but we sometimes forget pets should be included in that concept as well. There appears to be a cat population problem in Southwest Washington. And it's a problem we should all be involved in solving.

August 7, 2012

Letters to the Editor for August 7, 2012

Land being decimated by clear-cutting I had never been to the Northwest until I moved here 12 years ago. I knew it rained but I also knew it to be a very beautiful place and assumed we would buy a house on a decent-sized lot, with decent-sized trees, and that our windows would be a decent distance from our neighbor's windows. What a naive assumption.

Opinion