Cheers: To a well-deserved honor. A plaque honoring 22 Camas paper mill workers who were killed during World War II has been refurbished, returning some much-needed luster to their legacy. The plaque, which is on mill property and was dedicated in 1947, was showing its age while serving as a metaphor for faded memories. Linda Chauvin, whose father is listed, brought the plaque’s dingy condition to the attention of city officials, and facilities supervisor Ryan Hickey spent days cleaning and polishing the memorial.
Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is that 22 workers from a single paper mill in Clark County were among more than 400,000 American military personnel killed during World War II. Those numbers point out the scope of the conflict and the extraordinary sacrifice that impacted every city and hamlet across the country. Memories of that sacrifice should remain clear and polished so they can be fully understood by future generations.
Jeers: To would-be ATM thieves. Somebody used a stolen front-end loader last week to ram into a cash machine along east Mill Plain Boulevard. The machine was taken from a nearby construction site, and the perpetrator apparently also tried to knock over another nearby ATM.
Police say the half-baked plan failed to work and no cash was taken from the ATMs. But damage to the kiosks holding the cash machines was extensive and created a bit of a mess. Police have not identified any suspects. We hope the perpetrators are brought to justice; we only wish idiocy could be added to the list of crimes.
Cheers: To Niko the dog. In a remarkable tale of survival, Vancouver’s David Alt has been reunited with his shiba inu after 31 days apart. As Alt camped in Gifford Pinchot National Forest on July 26, Niko wandered onto a nearby road, was hit by a car and ran into the woods. For weeks, Alt worked, um, like a dog to find Niko, but to no avail.
Last weekend, two motorcyclists in the area spotted the pooch. Signage posted by Alt provided contact information, and human and dog were soon reunited. Niko had lost plenty of weight, but appears to be in good health. Surviving a month in the wilderness? That’s quite an, um, underdog story.
Jeers: To shutting down discourse. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has canceled 14 scheduled public meetings on wolf-management policy, citing concerns about unruliness or perhaps violence. “It boils down to public safety. We have a responsibility to make sure not only the public but the staff are safe,” an agency spokeswoman told The Seattle Times.
It is a sad commentary on our times that even discussions about wolves can become excessively contentious. State officials now plan to conduct online meetings, but we lament the demise of in-person dialogue.
Cheers: To bountiful coho. Anglers are gearing up for the arrival of coho salmon in the Columbia River, and the prospects are good. Nearly 1 million adult coho are expected to enter the river this fall, the best return in many years. Over the past decade, the average coho run has been fewer than 400,000 fish.
Among other things, the fish lend color to the vernacular of the region. “I use a pink squid, the smallest hootchie, and I put it in front of an anchovy. That little pink squid makes a big difference,” one guide told The Columbian. We’re not quite sure what that means, but we trust that it translates into some good eating.
