Monte Drill Team collects honors at River Ridge

The Montesano Drill Team competed at River Ridge High School on Jan 24, their second competition of the season. The team brought home a first place trophy in Military and a third place trophy in Pom. There were 26 teams competing and Montesano was the only 1A school there competing against 2A, 3A, and 4A schools, according to MHS drill team coach Kelsey Cole.

Body of Missing Hiker Recovered from Elwha Valley of Olympic National Park

Searchers, aided by several dog teams, yesterday located and recovered the body of missing hiker James Thomas Griffin in very rugged terrain near the Boulder Creek trailhead, Olympic National Park officials said Monday morning. Griffin, 60, of Port Angeles was the subject of an intensive five-day search that began on Christmas Eve, December 24.

Griffin’s remains were found by a search dog team in a very steep, rugged and densely forested area about a third of mile and nearly 1,000 vertical feet above the trail. An investigation at and around the scene showed no indications of foul play or wildlife interactions.

Griffin, 60 years old, was last seen by other hikers about 4pm Monday, December 22 at Olympic Hot Springs. He was reported missing on December 24 when he did not arrive at a Christmas Eve dinner as planned.

Griffin’s daypack was found on Dec. 25 about a half-mile from the trailhead. Despite the five-day search involving over 20 people and several search dog teams, no other clues were located until Sunday.

Griffin’s body was transferred to a funeral home late yesterday.

Six dog teams from the all-volunteer group German Shepherd Search Dogs searched on Saturday; two teams searched Sunday.

Wine draws a crowd in Elma

Linda Sue Evans and her husband Roy Evans sample wine from the Northwest Mountain Winery Saturday during the Elma Chamber of Commerce Winter Wine Festival at the Grays Harbor County Fair and Event Center.

Kilmer holds town hall meeting in Westport

Grays Harbor residents had local issues in mind, including struggles facing small businesses, and the Navy’s plans for electronic warfare training on the Olympic Peninsula, when they got a chance to address Congressman Derek Kilmer at his town hall gathering Saturday afternoon in Westport.

Attendees filled about two-thirds of the 100 seats set up in Ocosta High School’s commons room. The stop in Westport was the last of the Democratic congressman’s six town hall meetings over the last two weeks.

“I think it’s important for elected officials to make themselves available and accessible and accountable to the people they represent,” Kilmer said before taking the podium. “I’ve made it a priority to do meetings like this so folks can be heard and they can hear what I’m working on.”

The town hall began with a slideshow showcasing progress — or lack thereof — in Congress surrounding the economy, employment and work across party lines.

Kilmer didn’t mince words when expressing his feelings about Congress’s recent sessions.

“‘Sequestration’ is a Latin word that I believe translates to ‘stupidity,’” Kilmer said, inciting laughter among supporters.

Kilmer was also critical of lawmakers’ tendency to add provisions to bills just before sending them to a committee. “Congress has to stop doing things at the last minute. It’s not good for business.”

After his presentation, Kilmer opened the floor for public comment, giving constituents an hour to voice concerns to him directly.

Among the first issues raised was flood relief, and whether Kilmer has the capacity to help with efforts to restore Grays Harbor following its worst natural disaster in recent years. He urged anyone with property damage to have that damage assessed as soon as possible. Doing so, he said, leads to progress toward getting any assistance from FEMA.

“Part of the trigger for support out of FEMA is it has to cross that threshold of seeing a significant amount of damage done,” he said. “That means that folks who were impacted can be part of the solution by getting their damage assessed.”

Local and state officials said this week that they don’t expect FEMA funding to be a large part of the recovery effort.

Help for struggling local businesses also sat at the forefront of discussion on Saturday. Among those concerned was Carol Glover, who owns Mermaid Deli & Pub in Westport.

After opening her restaurant at the height of the Great Recession, Glover said she hasn’t been able to keep up with the numerous federal, state and municipal regulations. With Westport’s status as a seasonal town, Glover said she continually hires an influx of workers for the summer, but is forced to lay them off during the winter months. As a result, she said she’s hit with an unemployment rate every year.

“That is ridiculous in an area like this,” she said during public comment, adding that her outreach to the Small Business Administration didn’t yield any solutions. “We have no support from anyone. … The one time we contacted them, they said they only loan to businesses that are profitable.”

Kilmer, who had a background in economic development before going to Congress, said that although the Small Business Administration does offer valuable programs, its response to Glover “didn’t make sense.”

“This is something that the state has grappled with with regards to seasonal employment,” he added. “I’m not sure that the state has appropriately threaded that needle, and I think your business is a fine example of that.”

Grays Harbor College President Ed Brewster was at the gathering and said Kilmer has been an important resource for small business locally. He pointed to Kilmer’s help keeping the local small business development coordination office from closing its doors a year ago.

“He, frankly, personally was the one who turned around the closure of that center,” Brewster said. “He doesn’t just talk about things, but he takes action and has done specific things to help the community.”

Kilmer also fielded comments from supporters and opponents of the Pacific Northwest Electronic Warfare Range project on the Olympic Peninsula. Though the issue remains divisive, Kilmer said the most glaring mistake has been the Navy’s lack of outreach to gather public comment on the plan.

“I think they’ve done an inadequate job on engaging the public on this,” he said. “The Navy has said they informed 100 public officials. Frankly, I’ve not talked to a single one.”

The meeting came to a close with Kilmer congratulating Westport Mayor Michael Bruce on the city’s centennial in 2014. The congressman had originally planned to speak at the ceremony last year, but was unable to attend due to a family illness. Kilmer gave Bruce a flag flown at the U.S. Capitol, a gift Bruce said he had previously asked for, having never been able to go Washington D.C. himself.

After the town hall, Bruce lauded Kilmer for his accessibility to constituents.

“I’ve never had an issue that Congressman Kilmer and his staff wouldn’t get to the bottom of,” Bruce said. “I may not have always been happy with the answer, but they do listen, and he’s very responsive.”

Incident Management Team called in to help with flood relief

Grays Harbor has recruited the Homeland Security Region 3 Incident Management Team to help coordinate flood relief efforts after receiving requests from both Aberdeen and Hoquiam officials for assistance.

The team was called in by County Emergency Management and will be housed at Coastal Community Action Program’s offices for roughly a week or so to help set up a unified command structure and streamline flood recovery operations, said Grays Harbor Sheriff Rick Scott.

Incident management teams are set up throughout the U.S. to respond to emergencies and natural disasters, with the Region 3 team covering jurisdictions in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties. The team is made up of firefighters, police officers, dispatchers and volunteers that specialize in emergency relief.

According to Scott, a unified command structure will delegate different leaders from Hoquiam, Aberdeen and the county to coordinate resources for flood victims. Specifically, Scott said the team is here to better identify and activate resources that could be helpful for flood victims, which is something CCAP has had trouble with due to a high volume of phone calls they’ve received since the storm.

“We’re just trying to make it flow more smoothly … take a little bit of the burden off of CCAP as far as doing all of the coordination,” said Ed McGowan of Grays Harbor Emergency Management.

Before the incident management team was brought in at the request of the county, Aberdeen and Hoquiam were handling the disaster on their own. Scott said Emergency Management was only asked to take care of compiling resident damage report forms as part of assistance efforts, but no actions beyond that had been requested by city officials.

“The County Emergency Management wasn’t asked to do anything until just the other day,” said Scott on Friday.

Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson said with CCAP becoming overwhelmed, the city needed further assistance.

“We got to a point where everything was disjointed. (CCAP) just got flooded with all kinds of requests and everything else. When you’re in the middle of a disaster, you’re just trying to take care of what you can,” said Simpson.

Hoquiam Mayor Jack Durney said he hopes the team coming to Grays Harbor will improve the likelihood of the right information getting out to both city officials and residents.

“One of the things I think we’ve needed a great deal is communication. There’s been a lot on Facebook, but there has been some misinformation,” he said. “You need a single authoritative source on disasters.”

Having the team in town is a huge weight off of CCAP’s shoulders. The organization was getting roughly 100 calls per day from residents during the week of the flooding and mudslides, with that number tapering down to around 50 since.

For residents who need flood assistance of any kind, they should still call the CCAP offices at (360) 533-5100.

Renters and homeowners can report damages to Grays Harbor County Emergency Management at this link: http://ift.tt/1xZGupA

County Commissioners terminate clerk to the board

The Grays Harbor County commissioners terminated their clerk to the board, Donna McCallum, during a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21, by a 2-1 vote. Commissioner Frank Gordon voted against the termination of employment.

“I was unhappy with it,” Gordon said. “It was a personality thing. To me, Donna was one of the best county employees we’ve ever had.”

McCallum was contacted by The Daily World on Friday and said she is working on a prepared statement but wasn’t ready to comment at that time.

On Dec. 31, 2014, the commissioners drafted a severance agreement. Cormier voted against the agreement while Gordon and then-commissioner Herb Welch voted for it. During the meeting, Welch noted that McCallum wanted to end her employment under the terms of that agreement, which would have included severance pay, continued benefits and a payout of accrued vacation time, an uncommon agreement for an exempt county employee Cormier said.

“I felt the separation agreement was unprecedented and I didn’t think there was cause there,” Cormier said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the commission (Gordon, Cormier and Commissioner-elect Vickie Raines) unanimously revoked the severance agreement. Raines then made a motion to terminate McCallum “with cause.”

McCallum had been excused from work for medical reasons. A doctor’s note said McCallum would return to work on Jan. 12, however, she didn’t, according to commissioners’ comments following Raines’ motion for termination.

“One, job abandonment for no attendance or communication since Monday, Jan. 12, and number two, for just unfit as item G relates to an inability to work with the commissioners,” Raines said during the Jan. 14 meeting.

McCallum’s employment contract (section 4.5, item G) states, “Any other act or failure to act within the judgment of the Board of County Commissioners is sufficient to show the administrative assistant to be an unsuitable and unfit person to hold the position of administrative assistant,” as read during the Jan. 14 meeting.

That violation directly relates to McCallum’s opinions of Raines.

“As the incoming commissioner, I’ve been made aware over the last 12-14 months of her (McCallum’s) vocalizing the inability and desire to work with me,” Raines said during that meeting. “She’s clearly stated that she will not work with me and I don’t think that provides a cohesive manner in which to move forward for the county as a commission.”

Cormier seconded Raines’ motion to terminate with cause. Gordon said he didn’t like the description of the termination.

“I would like to have terminated her without cause because, while it was childish what she did discussing Vickie and things like that, which I will agree with, I think that within the 11 years she’s been here, she’s been a good assistant,” Gordon said.

Gordon voted against Raines’ motion and it carried 2-1 for termination with cause.

The commissioners met with McCallum on Tuesday, Jan. 20, allowing her to contest her termination. The conversation is not public record.

On Wednesday, the commission officially terminated McCallum’s employment with cause.

Following the decision, the commissioners unanimously appointed Jenna Amsbury, the commission secretary, as clerk to the board.

“Jenna, the new lady moving into the position, is a jewel,” Gordon said on Wednesday.

Kilmer town hall meeting Saturday in Westport

Grays Harbor County will be the last stop for Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington, in a series of meetings his office is hosting with constituents this week, according to a statement from Kilmer’s office.

The town hall session, which is open to the public to field questions from constitutents, is scheduled for Saturday at Ocosta High School Commons at 2580 Montesano St. in Westport.

Check back at thedailyworld.com after the town hall for coverage of the meeting.