Cheers: To Hockinson High School. The Hawks football team defeated Tumwater 35-22 last weekend, wrapping up an undefeated season and capturing the Class 2A state championship. For Hockinson, which opened 14 years ago in Brush Prairie, it was the first state title in any team sport, and it arrived despite an early 10-0 deficit in the championship game at the Tacoma Dome.
Successful high school athletic programs inevitably are a reflection of their community, relying upon broad support from parents and residents while galvanizing the local population. Despite having the fourth-smallest enrollment among schools competing in Washington’s 2A classification, the Hawks soared highest of all. As lineman Kordell Johnson said, “Just because we’re a small school nobody knows about, it doesn’t mean we can’t make a big impact.” The Hawks did just that, creating lasting memories for the entire Hockinson community.
Jeers: To litterbugs. Local officials with the U.S. Forest Service report that they are seeing more trash in public lands than at any time in memory. One area highlighted in a recent Columbian article is the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, with an official saying of a particular campsite, “It was a disaster.”
Increasingly, Forest Service employees say they are encountering signs of people living at campsites, rather than simply visiting — likely an extension of a failure to effectively deal with homelessness in urban areas. They leave behind trash, food waste, and primitive toilets. But even short-term visitors are becoming less conscientious about their duty to clean up after themselves. So, we offer one of the basic rules of camping: If you pack it in, pack it out.
Cheers: To an ounce of prevention. The city of Vancouver already has applied de-icer to some city streets in preparation for winter. No, that does not mean the flakes are expected to fall anytime soon, but it does acknowledge the likelihood of that eventuality. When the snows hit, Vancouver officials focus on plowing main arterials, bus routes, and streets near schools in an effort to keep traffic moving.
Portland is planning for the first time to use salt to help clear roads of ice. That’s a necessary experiment after last winter’s Snowpocalypse, which paralyzed traffic throughout the city; Vancouver officials should keep an eye on the effectiveness of Portland’s strategy. For now, it’s nice to know local leaders are planning ahead for the winter to come.
Jeers: To poor facilities management. Many people know what it’s like to misplace keys or loan out a hammer and forget where it went, but when the Clark County government does it, that can be costly for taxpayers in terms of replacement items and poor efficiency. A new audit suggests that the county’s facilities management processes require some retooling. For example, 170 keys have been classified as “lost;” if those keys provide access for a sensitive area, the locks need to be changed.
General Services Director Bob Stevens, who requested the audit, said: “I expected a poor result and I got a poor result. But now we are going to fix it.” We trust that new procedures and attentiveness will improve the situation.
Cheers: To the spirit of the season. An anonymous donor made a big dent in the Salvation Army’s holiday fundraising drive by dropping a gift of $10,000 into a kettle in Portland.
Salvation Army bell-ringers are a familiar site — and sound — this time of year as they station themselves in front of stores throughout the metro area. The generosity of donors helps the organization provide services such as a community center, summer camps, and an emergency food pantry.
