Other Headlines
District 5 seeks to share Elma fire hall
Grays Harbor Fire District 5 would like to move back into the Elma fire station, but the city’s volunteer firefighters don’t want the company. District 5 commissioners voted March 2 not to renew the lease with the owner of the Marion Road facility currently housing the district’s headquarters. The lease will be up in July, Commissioner Jerry Bailey noted. Besides the $1,700 per month lease, if the district were to remain in the building, a costly sprinkler system would have to be installed.

Monte Parks levy failing by wide margin
Voters overwhelmingly shot down the Montesano Parks & Recreation levy. The initial count Tuesday evening, March 10, was 634 against (66 percent) to 326 in favor (34 percent). The Auditor’s Office has just 50 ballots in hand left to count, though more could trickle in over the next few days. Voter turnout was nearly 42 percent.

Montesano finances hurting
Two months into the 2009 budget, Montesano’s general fund ended February $37,483 in the hole; the water fund ended nearly $48,000 in debt.

“I thought we were doing a little bit better than we were doing,” Mayor Ron Schillinger said Wednesday morning. Clerk-Controller Kristy Powell presented dismal finance numbers to the City Council Tuesday evening. The city had to pay $159,000 for the its insurance at the beginning of January, most of which was borne by the general fund.

Satsop has school fears
The Satsop School District is facing two threats to its continued existence: the need to replace an expiring school levy and pending legislation advocating consolidation of small districts as a way to save state money. Nearly 30 educators, parents and concerned community members gathered at the little red schoolhouse in Satsop Monday evening to discuss the district’s future.

Whooping cough detected after Mat Classic wrestling tournament
The Washington State Department of Health announced that 15 people with whooping cough attended the 2009 Mat Classic — the state high school wrestling championships that took place Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at the Tacoma Dome. Cases were reported among wrestlers, coaching staff and spectators at the event. State officials report that the whooping cough cases associated with the tournament are from Kittitas and Pacific Counties and that an estimated 30,000 people attended.


More Sports
Eagles head to state as district’s No. 2 seed
LACEY — It was a game of runs throughout the first three-and-a-half quarters, with Elma and Black Hills alternating scoring spurts all the way down to the final two minutes. Then in the final 120 seconds of the game it was back-and-forth as teams were separated by a single point and every basket carried with it the lead. Unfortunately for the Eagles, their final attempt to win the game never materialized and they dropped the District IV 2A girls basketball championship match-up 46-45 on Friday, March 6, at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.

Thomas, Colard share MVP honors
Elma’s junior class duo of Brandi Thomas and Katie Colard were recently named the 2A Evergreen Conference co-Most Valuable Players, while teammate Carly Meister was given a nod to the Honorable Mention, as coaches from around the league voted for the post-season awards. Tumwater’s Nick Greenwell was tabbed by his colleagues as the league’s Coach of the Year.

Bulldog boys, girls win at White Salmon meet
WHITE SALMON — Montesano brought home both the boys and girls team titles from the White Salmon Invitational powerlifting meet on Saturday, March 7, at White Salmon. Winning five individual titles the Monte boys amassed 56 points, which topped second-place Northwest Christian’s 20. The Bulldog girls won four individual titles, helping to give them 55 points, 21 more than runner-up White River at 34.