125 years ago

Nov. 13, 1891

Sometime during Sunday night, the splash dam on the Hoquiam, gave way and carried with it the county bridge over the Hoquiam river, which was just below the dam. It is supposed that the gate to the upper dam, which is so rigged that it will raise itself when the water reaches a certain height, had raised and the extra amount of water was more than the lower dam could stand. It will prove quite a loss to the owners as they need the dam to run the balance of their logs.

100 years ago

Nov. 10, 1911

Montesano loses to Hoquiam

In the poorest game of the season on the local ground last Saturday, Montesano high school lost to Hoquiam High by a score of 39 to 0.

The local team which has displayed enough class this season to entitle them to consideration with any school eleven in the state, put up as ragged an exhibition of football as any ardent fan could witness in a nightmare. Hoquiam, on the other hand, played their best game of the season and had more pep and team work than any other time out this year.

Montesano kicked off in a driving rain and the game throughout was played on a sodden, slippery field, with a ball that was as hard to handle as an eel. There was very little fumbling however. Hoquiam took the locals off their feet with a rush and scored three touchdowns and kicked two goals in the first quarter, adding another touchdown and goal kick in the second quarter for luck, making the score at the half, 27-0. The local boys braced up a little in the second half and held the visitors to one earned touchdown in the last quarter and one gift touchdown in the third. The gift of a touchdown came when Monte backs mussed up the signals and the ball was tossed straight back ten yards with no one to take it. Hoquiam scooped the ball and with a clear field ahead, raced over the line for an unearned score.

Monte’s line was like a card house in a high wind and seldom were the Hoquiam back stopped short of the secondary defense. The local boys found the Hoquiam line a stone wall and made first downs but a few times.

The smashing, plunging tactics that have marked Montesano in every game played this year were entirely absent in the Hoquiam game.

75 years ago

Nov. 13, 1941

Deputies Busy Saturday Night

It was a busy Saturday night for Deputy Sheriffs Hendrickson and Ford.

Blaine Adams, McCleary, was arrested by them on drunken driving charges of which he was convicted on Monday by Justice Arthur M. Furnia, who fined him $100 on that charge and $10 for failure to have an operator’s license.

Later that night, the officers encountered a coupe having difficulty leaving the Turf, near Aberdeen. They warned the occupants not to drive, to which they agreed, the officers said. But, returning to the scene a few minutes later, they found the car just starting on its weaving way.

They arrested Victor O’Sino, 28, although considerable dispute arose over just who was driving. However, Justice Furnia fined O’Sino $100 and suspended his license for one year. The defendant announced he would appeal to the superior court.

Then, also on Saturday night, Lester Haynes complained he had loaned his car to Bernard W. Heideman, a Fort Lewis soldier, so that Heideman could run it around the block to warm up the motor preparatory to a trip together to Aberdeen for some noodles.

But, Heideman didn’t show. About 6:30 Sunday morning, Deputy Ford found the car in a ditch near Melbourne and reported that Heideman told him he’d first gone to Melbourne, then to the Gayway, and had driven back to Melbourne.

Heideman, recently paroled by superior court here on a charge of taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission, was again released, no new charge being filed against him.

50 years ago

Nov. 10, 1966

Police seek vehicle in school damage

Montesano Police this week continued their investigation into vandalism at the playground area of the Simpson Avenue school, which has occurred twice in the past month.

“We received our first report of deep tire tracks having been dug in the mud behind the school after the weekend of October 22-23,” Officer Charles Mero said. “Then some even more serious damage was done the following weekend, just before Halloween.”

Mero estimated the damage to the property between $250 and $300, noting that “apparently, the same car was responsible for both incidents.”

Police are attempting to match tire tracks with the guilty vehicle, he said.

Pointing out that a similar act of destruction at the city park last summer cost the vandal a $100-plus fine, Mero warned would-be culprits to expect “the book thrown at them,” if caught.

“This nonsense has got to stop,” Mero added.

25 years ago

Nov. 7, 1991

Sanctuary Termed Vague

A proposed marine sanctuary off the Olympic coast has port officials concerned about shipping and there is also a generalized anxiety about how far future regulations may go.

Fulfilling a 1988 act of Congress, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a division of the Department of Commerce, has proposed that a section of Washington’s coastal waters be designated as the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The Congressional Act was originally a response to concerns about offshore oil and gas drilling.

There are five sets of proposed boundaries, but NOAA’s preferred alternative consists of approximately 2,605 square nautical miles, stretching from above Cape Flattery at the state’s northwestern most point to a section of Grays Harbor, just north of Ocean City. The most comprehensive alternative would designate an even larger area, stretching to the Columbia River.

“The debate is not if, not how much,” said Dennis Dooley of the Grays Harbor Regional Planning Commission during an informational meeting in Montesano Tuesday.

Regulated activities in the sanctuary include oil and gas exploration, any kind of discharges, alteration of the seabed, the taking of marine mammals and commercial vessels.

The only exception is fishing. “Fishing in the sanctuary,” including fishing for shellfish and invertebrates “shall not be regulated,” according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by NOAA.

Any conflicts between existing permitted activities and management goals will be resolved in favor of the regulation “more protective” of sanctuary resources. No activities for which permits or licenses already exist may be terminated, but the department could regulate the exercise of such authorization or right consistent with the purposes for which the sanctuary is designated…

10 years ago

Nov. 9, 2006

From Washington to Washington, D.C.

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas on Nov. 1 as a giant Pacific silver fir tree was cut down near a logging road in the Wynooche Valley and sent on its journey to Washington DC to be the nation’s Capitol Christmas tree.

It will be the first time that a tree from the Evergreen State has been given that place of honor on the Capitol’s west lawn and also the first Pacific silver fir tree to be a “congressional tree.” Schoolchildren from around the state have been making decorations for the tree, with one student to win a drawing to attend the tree-lighting ceremony Dec. 6 with his or her parents and teacher.

The 45-year-old, 65-foot fir, growing on a ridge, was cut down by Phil Zembas, a longtime forest service employee who had just retired but who agreed to come out of retirement for the occasion.

A ceremony preceded the cutting, with the singing of “O Christmas Tree” by the Aberdeen High School choir and others, and speeches by dignitaries including Congressman Norm Dicks. Dicks said his office overlooks Independence Avenue and he’ll be able to see the tree from his office window. After the fir was cut down, it was placed in a protective cradle atop a Snell crane. It was weighed, tipping the scales at 2,500 pounds. It will be touring the state before making its way to the Capitol.