The Skamania Dispatch

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Latest — 14 Oct 2026

🌡 How Warm is an Underwater Cable? What the Science Says - EFSEC Sept '26

EFSEC's first look at 772 comments on the Columbia River power line: a Scenic Area fight, a missed Skamania notice, and a hearing decision set for October. Plus what the science actually says about cable heat and fish.

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🧮 Budget Season Meets Data-Center Season - Klickitat BOCC 9/16 - 10/6

Klickitat commissioners backed interim zoning that would keep data centers a mile from residential zoning and five miles from cities, while the permanent draft cut its home buffer to a bracketed 500 feet. Plus ADUs, a bridge closure and budget season.

⚽️ $2.8M Parks Wish List, Splash Pad Dreams - Goldendale Sept '26 Round-up

Goldendale heard its first parks plan in 26 years, then tabled it until the mayor is back. The mayor asked the county for data center impact fees, the Kiwanis Club is folding, and the police chief wants the county prosecutor to take city cases.

🧾 The Emergency Is Over. The Invoices Aren't. North Bonneville, Sept '26

North Bonneville's council formally ended its water emergency in September, then paid a second contractor bill it said it couldn't reconcile. It voted down an independent review, adopted a master fee schedule, and started handing its planning office to the county.

🌊 Riparian Buffers Rebuffed - Bingen Sept '26 Round-up

A consultant told Bingen the science calls for wider creek buffers, and Council said no again. A councilor resigned, two neighbors applied, the city asked a newspaper to correct its mural story, and a 1963 sewer line turned out to belong to someone else.

💧 Rezone Denied, Water Running Short - Stevenson September '26 Round-up

Stevenson's council turned down the Attwell Road rezone its Planning Commission had recommended. Nobody spoke for it and the owners never came. Plus a plan to share planners with the county and North Bonneville, and a water system with about 40 hookups left.

🛑 A Failed Moratorium and a Successful Appeal - White Salmon Sept '26

White Salmon's dollar store moratorium got one vote. The budget amendment quietly cut the comprehensive plan update from $50,000 to $10,000, a hearing examiner sided with a Wyers Street builder, and neighbors on two streets asked the city for answers it has not yet given.

🛢️ Uncovering an Oil Well Mystery - Special Investigation

In 1949 a company drilled for oil just west of Beacon Rock, and it may be still uncapped and leaking. We're using public records and old aerial photos to find it (and other orphaned wells in the Gorge) and we'd love your help.

🌲 On National Public Lands Day, Stand Up for Public Lands Counties - Letter From the Editor

Today, September 26th, is National Public Lands Day. Four days from now the law behind Secure Rural Schools, a lifeline for our Public Lands Counties, was written to run out. Here's why that deadline matters to anyone who loves public land, and the call I hope you'll make.

⚖️ A Verdict, a Tighter Timber Check, and a Rate Choice - Skamania BOCC & PUD September '26

A community member who sat through the trial says a jury convicted Levi Delena in Candice Malave's killing. DNR trims its timber forecast. The PUD seats Dev Bell and argues over a 2% rate increase. Plus five closed sessions, the roadless rule and a leaky new tank.