⛏ A Quarry on the Ropes, a Budget Reset, and Power Lines in the Gorge - Skamania BOCC 7/7 - 7/21

A quiet-looking July that teed up bigger fights: commeters urge the Storedahl gravel quarry to "die on the vine" before its July 30 comment deadline, the state's energy-siting council reached into the Scenic Area, and commissioners seated new board members and reset the budget.

☢️ The Nuclear Plant Wants Power, & Skamania Wants Answers - EFSEC July '26

EFSEC seated a new director, approved two ownership transfers with zero public comment, and told Skamania County its permits do not apply to the Columbia River power line. Plus: the Richland reactor wants more output, and there is no August meeting.

🪨 The 1872 Rule Hiding Under Skamania's Mining Fights

Skamania has two mining fights at once. But under the copper one sits an 1872 law that quietly decides who gets paid for the metal: nobody. Here's how a Grant-era giveaway still shapes what our county can ask for, what other places have won anyway, and what to ask before July 30.

🖥 Data Centers Come Knocking - Klickitat BOCC 6/30 - 7/21

Four weeks of the Board: a data-center permitting roadmap, a Planning Commission move to shrink where solar can go, the first hard short-term-rental numbers (143 properties), a Seattle-sized trash bid, and sharp questions on the "hiring freeze."

🎂 Turning 40 on a Tight Budget: Gorge Commission 6/18 - 7/14

The Gorge Commission adopted its first full rewrite of its open-government rules in decades. Plus: the one-year Burdoin rebuild scorecard, a commissioner's dissent on silence about two energy projects, and a new spider with a Sahaptin name.

🍽️ Splitting the Dinner Check - a Property Tax Explainer

Your reassessment notice feels like a bill. But it's really your share of a fixed check that WA law lets grow just 1% a year. What does that mean? Here is how property taxes actually work, with real numbers, just in time for election season.

🗳️ Your Klickitat 2026 Primary Ballot Preview - 7/9 & 7/14 Candidate Forums

Bob Songer is stepping down after three terms, and three career lawmen want his badge. Where Bruce, Warren, and Matulovich stand, who is funding them (the sheriff himself among them), the wide-open commissioner race, and why the sheriff's contest is the only one that drew its own forum.

🚦 A Green Light for the Quiet Zone - Bingen June '26 Round-up

Bingen's council saw the new Hood River-White Salmon Bridge at 60% design, hired an engineer to push the rail Quiet Zone forward, stood up a free e-bike library at Daubenspeck Park, and learned which of Olympia's new housing rules it does (and doesn't) have to follow. Here's your June.

🗳 Your 2026 Primary Ballot, Decoded: Inside Skamania's Candidate Forum - 7/14

The Chamber and both county parties put the 2026 candidates on one stage days before ballots drop. Here is who showed, what they said about timber, taxes, and mail-in voting, who is funding them, and the dates you need for the August 4 primary.

🔥 Smoke, Weeds and Fireworks: Goldendale's June '26 Round-up

Goldendale named a temporary Planning Commission to rescue its stalled ADU rule, locked in a $221,000 grant for the library elevator, and spent fire season arguing over dry weeds, a smoky downtown burnout event, and Fourth of July fireworks. Here's June, meeting by meeting.