Letters to the editor: July 16, 2025

Published 1:44 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Thanks for the shortened July cacophony

We want to thank whoever is responsible for keeping the living nightmare caused by the Fourth of July’s celebration on the local beaches to just one night, for a change.

Fireworks are a non-stop barrage of every kind of explosion — some of them shaking our house — that turns Surfside into a smoke-filled war zone.

We were braced for another night of the same thing — which has been typical since we moved here — and were so relieved when there was hardly any noise on July 5 and we could breathe fresh air when we went to sleep.

It also gave the terrified fawns a chance to find their moms right away, instead of wandering around for a week looking for them, and the birds were able to come back to the feeders and birdbaths that afternoon.

Again, many thanks to whoever is responsible for keeping our nightmare to just the Fourth.
CHERI and RUSS LEWIS
Surfside

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Ocean Beach School Board uses scare tactics

Our school board wants to build a $95.1 million school with a Washington “Seismic Safety Grant.” Although they claim that state money does not require voter approval, our taxes will jump. House Bill 2049, passed to fund public education, increases property taxes by lifting the annual growth cap from 1% up to 3%.

The school board insists that we have a 37% chance of a megathrust earthquake in the next 50 years. Other experts predict a 10-17% chance of an earthquake occurring in that time. Locals insist that both the slope and the reefs of the continental shelf will buffer any tsunami. Both Ilwaco and Ocean Park students can walk to safety before the estimated wave arrival time. Long Beach students can walk to safety in 45 minutes, although the estimated wave arrival time is 25 minutes.

If our schools continue kindergarten through second grade in Long Beach, and the third through fifth grade in Ocean Park, parents will be distanced from any rescue efforts. Tsunami towers are not the answer. These will house 400 students, when school is in session. Nothing will stop other people from storming these towers, which will cost 9-15 million for a 50-75 year life-span. If these towers are not maintained, they will become dangerous.

For decades people gathered at Hilltop School while seismologists publicized false alarms. Now I look at wasted architecture, poor-quality construction, and limited maintenance while Hilltop School soldiers on. We need a competent administration and a trustworthy Ocean Beach School Board.

KATHRYN FLEISHMAN
Ocean Park

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Neighbor passes judgment on courthouse grounds

The courthouse grounds have been my backyard for 20 years. I’m intimately acquainted with the pond, plants and animals that live here.

And I’m alarmed at their current destruction.

Here’s what I see:

• No pond aeration. The water is putrid and sickening the fish. At least one fish clearly has the parasite called “Ick.”

• The fish are no longer being fed and are starving, as their frenzies clearly show.

• Dried piles of slash, left over two months ago, surround the pond. Some are submerged in the pond, further fouling the water. These “piles” used to be beautiful, healthy old trees and shrubs.

• Some once lovely habitat areas are now just scraped dirt.

• Meanwhile, the line of ancient rhododendrons on the west side of the grounds have been nearly swallowed by a tsunami of blackberries. Expect them to be cut down at any time now so the “groundskeeper” won’t have to deal with that mess.

We’ve just lost our only other iconic building here in South Bend, our Carnegie Library. It’s awful to watch the same thing happening to the once-treasured courthouse grounds because people no longer care.

Please come look at what I’m talking about. And feed the fish to see how they behave. Am I overstating the situation? Do you care?

KATE O’NEAL
South Bend

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County has abandoned the beach approaches

Hello citizens of Pacific County. I have tried my best to get our county government’s attention centered on a very serious risk we are all facing: The lack of access to the weather beach (also known as the Pacific Ocean side of the Peninsula).

I have tried to communicate the real danger to the county commissioners, Department of Public Works, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. I have been met with contempt, disregard and ignored. I now turn to you, the voting citizens of our county.

What’s at stake: Access to the beach is more than access for tourists and people driving on the beach. It is also how Surf Rescue, Pacific County Fire District 1, and the sheriff’s office access the beach for life safety and property damage.

If any of these agencies can not respond, then we the citizens of the county are liable to pay for it. Whether it is someone in need of rescue from the surf, where quite literally seconds count, timely response to a fire in the dune grass, or criminal activity, we NEED access to the beach. At the time of me writing this, we do not have it.

Fire risk: I just came from the going down and back up Cranberry beach approach and even with a 4×4 pickup, and having let air out of my tires, I almost got stuck. Now imagine having 250 gallons of water on the back of one of the “brush” engines from PCFD#1. That is an additional 2,085 pounds of weight. I do not think my 2013 Ram 2500 would have made it with that much weight in it, and I bet their brush rigs weigh more than my pickup.

Every afternoon we get a “sea-breeze” that blows from the northwest in the summertime. While I am sure property owners would allow the fire department to drive through their yard to get to a fire, you still need to approach the fire from the black or burnt side. You NEVER stand in front of a fire front and fight it unless you have no choice, and really if you have enough resources, you fight the fire from the black and protect exposures with additional equipment. Now add spruce and pine trees, along with other “brush.” Who knows how fast a fire could burn across the peninsula. I don’t really want to find out.

Life safety: Now imagine pulling a trailer with personal watercraft for surf rescue. You might weigh a bit less than a brush rig for firefighting, but the trailer creates a lot more drag, and seconds count when someone is drowning! Just recently a coach died after being rescued, and I have to wonder if 30 seconds sooner would have made the difference.

What if someone was to be at risk of suicide? Response time is critical, and you need to have that access to the beach! More than one person has ended their life via the ocean, or worse.
It should not take me prodding our county government to fix this issue, yet nothing is being done that I can see.

I think we all need to start pestering our government more. Doesn’t matter if it is an email, phone call, or directly speaking to someone. We all need to push this issue to the front of the line.

The absolute last thing I want to do is have to tell anyone that Pacific County was warned extensively after a tragedy. Let’s get out in front of this issue ASAP!

ROB WALTEMATE
Sandridge Road