Brandon Cline

Mar 27, 2025 | chinookobserver.com | Brandon Cline

OCEAN PARK — A small appliance was the cause of a fire last month that led to the closure of Ocean Park Elementary for several days, district officials announced. According to Ocean Beach School District Superintendent Amy Huntley, the March 19 fire originated from an electric tea kettle in a second-story classroom of the grades 3-5 school. No students or staff were in the room at the time the fire began, which happened during OPE’s lunch break.

Mar 26, 2025 | chinookobserver.com | Brandon Cline

Pacific County’s unemployment rate clocked in at just shy of 7% to kick off 2025, according to preliminary data released by the Washington State Employment Security Department last week. The monthly figures from the state agency estimated that the county’s jobless rate in January stayed steady month-over-month at 6.9%. It’s below the 7.6% mark from January 2024, and the lowest unemployment rate for the month that the county has seen since at least 1990. kAmkDA2?

Mar 25, 2025 | chinookobserver.com | Brandon Cline

SOUTH BEND — Finding themselves back in the political wilderness, Democrats descended upon the coast earlier this month for a tradition that’s stood the test of time: The Pacific County Crab Feed. Hosted by the Democrats of Pacific County since the 1920s, the 97th annual crab feed held March 15 at the Willapa Harbor Community Center was not a time for celebration.

Mar 25, 2025 | chinookobserver.com | Brandon Cline

ILWACO — As fans and followers of the Ilwaco Lady Fishermen softball team already undoubtedly are aware, the 2025 squad is playing their games at a new home ball field.

Mar 25, 2025 | chinookobserver.com | Brandon Cline

As local emergency management officials explain it, partnerships that have been built over the years with National Weather Service personnel have made Pacific County more prepared and better equipped for the regular extreme weather events and crises that threaten our small slice of the Pacific Coast.