AT LONG LAST!
BG history book is
reprinted
The popular Battle Ground In and Around history book, out of print for several years, is being reprinted and will be offered for sale starting Sat., Nov. 4, at the Ladybug Bazaar in Battle Ground.
The 400-page, hard-bound volume with over 1,000 photographs and drawings depicting the history of the greater Battle Ground area, will be offered at $50 per copy at the bazaar, which will take place 9 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Battle Ground High School gymnasiums.
At the bazaar, the book will be sold at a table operated by Bob Peck.
After the Ladybug Bazaar, the history book will be available at The Reflector, 20 NW 20th Ave., (687-5151), and at the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce, 2903 W Main St., Battle Ground (687-1510).
The book may be ordered by calling the author, Louise Tucker, 687-3619. Add $10 for shipping if required. Sales tax is additional.
The book was first compiled for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, and covers the history of the Battle Ground area from the first settlers to about the time of the Great Depression. The book is organized into seven main sections dealing with transportation (rivers, trails, roads and railroads), and income sources (farming and logging). Written material is included to described the many photographs.
The book was a joint project of the General Federated Women”s Club of Battle Ground and Tucker. The club received $2,000 toward printing costs from the U.S. Bicentennial Commission. The club funded the production of $1,000 books and Tucker the remainder.
Tucker, an employee of The Reflector at the time, did much of the preparation work at the newspaper office, setting type on a phototype machine and using photograph halftones created at a newspaper in Camas. Tucker said she worked on the project for three years leading up to publication in 1976.
The project got started, said Tucker, when historic photos were loaned for a display during a dedication of Chief Umtuch Primary School in Battle Ground in 1973, and people suggested compiling the photographs into a booklet. Hundreds of photos were borrowed from various sources as the book as prepared. All photos were returned to their owners, said Tucker.
The initial press run of 2,500 books was sold out by the early 1980s, said Tucker, who decided to print another 2,500 books in 1984. Because the negatives from the first printing were lost, new negatives were made by copying pages from the original book. The finished books were stored at a warehouse owned by Dick Harris on S Grace Ave. The second printing, with books offered at $30 each, sold out several years ago.
The third printing now underway is being handled by The Reflector. This time the book is being printed on a web press, with stitching and case binding similar to past editions.
Why print more books?
“So many people have asked for it,” said Tucker in explaining her reasons for a third printing. “There are a lot of new people. There”s another generation out there.”
People have looked for copies of the book for several years. One copy sold on E-Bay, said Tucker. Some people have advertised in search of buying a copy.
Tucker has spent years writing, printing, storing and selling the now-famous book. “It seems like I”ve lived with boxes of books my whole life,” said Tucker, 71.
Tucker was born in Aberdeen and grew up on a farm in the Pleasant Valley area. Both of her parents were Clark County natives with her grandparents homesteading in the Yale area in 1886. She raised her own family in the county.
The books contains a list of photo contributors, an index of place names and family names, maps showing locations of 37 early school houses, and Clark County”s significant dates in history from 1775 until 1933. The book also contains a photograph of the oldest house in Battle Ground which dates to the late 1880s and housed the first post office in the community. The book has photos of the community of Lewisville which no longer exists.
Tucker has announced that $5 from the sale of each book will be donated to the Battle Ground library construction fund from sales through Jan. 20, 2007, the date of a dinner-auction event to support the library project. The book has one additional page from past printings, with bits of information provided since earlier printings.

Gutsy goldfish won”t quit
Bill Myers
staff reporter
Tiger, an 18-year-old goldfish and beloved pet of Steve and Esther Alfrey of Amboy, recently became a fish out of water and lived to gulp about it.
Sometime before 7 a.m. on Oct. 14, Tiger, almost 12-inches long, found a way to jump through a small opening at the top of a 32-gallon aquarium in the Alfrey living room.
“My husband always feeds the fish at about 7 a.m.,” said Esther Alfrey. When he looked in the tank, Tiger, a pet at the Alfrey home since he was purchased for 25 cents in 1988 and placed in a small fish bowl, was gone.
The alarmed husband called his wife from the bedroom. “Tiger is gone!” he said.
The Alfreys, on hands and knees, searched the floor under the aquarium. “We looked for several minutes and found nothing,” said Esther. They began to suspect their house cat, Peggy Virginia, may have “rescued” the goldfish.
As a sense of dread came over them, the Alfreys continued their search. Steve began to move a large upholstered chair away from a wall. Under the chair, they found Tiger, inert and lying on his side.
“We knew he was dead,” said Esther. She asked her husband to put the fish in a plastic bag so they could bury it when she came home from work that evening.
As Steve gently lifted Tiger to a dustpan, the fish tried to flop. “He”s alive!” Esther shouted.
Steve placed the goldfish back into the aquarium, and an almost lifeless Tiger sank. He slowly settled about 18 inches to the bottom of the tank. Tiger, his only movements occasional gulpings, came to rest on his side. “He wasn”t moving, except to gulp, and once again we were certain he wouldn”t make it,” said Esther.
As the Alfreys went about their morning routines, they occasionally checked on Tiger. After almost an hour, they were astounded. Tiger was upright and swimming slowly in the tank, said Esther.
A recent condition report revealed that Tiger is his old self, leisurely swimming about in the aquarium.
It appears that what Tiger didn”t know helped him.
Tiger didn”t know fish can”t survive out of water. And he obviously never heard that goldfish normally die before age 15.
A roommate in the tank is an Albino Cory catfish about two inches long, Tiger”s swimming pal for eight years. Tiger also never learned that goldfish don”t get along with catfish.

Ridgefield mulls police services
Mayor, council member say they won”t run again
Bill Myers
staff reporter
What do you expect from police services? Should the City of Ridgefield look elsewhere for such services?
About 40 Ridgefield citizens weighed in on these and other questions at an Oct. 18 meeting facilitated by interim police chief Erin Nolan.
Most citizens at the meeting raised hands in support of keeping a Ridgefield Police Department.
More opinions are on the way. About 2,000 survey forms about police services were recently mailed to city residents with a due date for completion of Oct. 20.
Nolan said survey results will be tallied and given to city council members. She said they will use the public input to decide whether to keep police services in Ridgefield or look to alternatives possibly involving the City of La Center or Clark County Sheriff”s Office.
Interim city manager Justin Clary said he made a management decision to take the public temperature about police services after some citizens suggested that a study should be made of alternatives to having a city department.
“Liability” is a main consideration for exploring alternatives, said Clary. He announced plans to survey citizens about police services at an Oct. 11 city council meeting.
In recent years, lawsuits involving the Ridgefield Police Department have included allegations that improper actions by a Ridgefield police officer contributed to a homicide, allegations by former officer Carl Mealing that he was fired because of race, and allegations by a former police sergeant that he was fired because he was a whistle blower.
Two Kirkland police officers, after investigating police department operations in the wake of Mealing”s termination, concluded that the department was “dysfunctional” and poorly managed.
Former Ridgefield mayor Tim Thompson said he prefers services from a city police department because it provides local accountability. Thompson questioned how a decision to study the police services issue could be made without a city council vote.
It was a management decision discussed in public, said Clary.
Ridgefield business owner Ellis Dunn said it is wise for city leaders to explore all avenues in deciding on effective police services.
City council member Scott Hansen said he fears a “knee-jerk” reaction by community members to recent police department problems that have some wanting to throw everyone out and start over.
Retired Washington State Patrol commander and Ridgefield citizen Carrie Green said citizens should make a decision based on what they want for police services--not on potential liability.
Nolan drew praise from the audience as she explained how properly managed community police services earn the respect and admiration of citizens.
“No one thing led us to the dilemma we face today,” said Nolan. “The focus needs to be on how we move forward and prevent such problems in the future.”
A majority of citizens at the meeting agreed that their City department should continue to handle traffic and code enforcement, police patrols and emergency responses, outreach activities and public events, school resource responsibilities, vacation, home and business checks, and vandalism or noise issues.
Most agreed that homicide investigations, SWAT responses, fatal traffic investigations, K-9 services, dog/animal control, child abuse and undercover narcotics investigations should be out-sourced. Mayor and council member won”t run again
Ridgefield mayor Gladys Doriot and council member Gary Adkins said orders from the City”s insurance carrier have prevented city council members from discussing police operations in open meetings.
The mayor and Adkins said they will not seek reelection after their terms expire in 2007. Adkins will have completed one term as a city council member, and previously served on the Planning Commission.
Doriot served several years as a city council member, and will complete her second term as mayor in 2007.
Interim chief of police Erin Nolan asked Ridgefield citizens what they expect of police services at Oct. 18 meeting.

Woodland tax rate to decrease in 2007
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
Woodland landowners will see a decrease in their property tax rates next year, thanks to an increase in the city”s total valuation.
The city”s property tax rate for 2006 is $2.30, but the rate for 2007 will be set at $2.22, down 8 cents per $1,000 of property value. The city has estimated that the owner of a house valued at $200,000 will pay $16.15 less for 2007 than for the current year.
A public hearing on the property tax levy will take place Mon., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall Council Chambers, 100 Davidson Ave.
The City Council has been holding work sessions to budget expenditures for 2007. A public hearing on the proposed budget, revenues and expenditures, is scheduled for Tues., Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m..
The proposed revenues project a 1% increase, as allowed by state law, bringing the total estimated taxes to be collected to $992,523, with $978,556.53 of that collected from residents living in Cowlitz County. The city”s assessed valuation has risen from $403,703,652 in 2006 to $447,061,882 for the 2007 fiscal year which begins Jan. 1.
The 1% rate increase is limited to existing property. The city has estimated an increase of $35,024.41 in new construction and $12,348.87 in annexed property.
The City Council will set the revenues before adopting the budget. Although the proposed revenues project a 1% increase, the council could decide not to impose the 1% hike.
Woodland has been experiencing a building boom for the past few years, but Jim Hough, interim public works director, said at the city council meeting Oct. 16 that new construction in 2006 has been somewhat less than projected.
Of the total city property tax to be collected, $454, 838 will go to the general fund, $266,320 to the street fund, $131,365 to the Park Fund, $5,000 to the Woodland Library, and $135,000 to pay a portion of the city”s share of improvements to a light industrial area annexed in 1994.
The general fund supports the overall city operations including most salaries and benefits.

Study of I-5, SR 503 through city to begin
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
The first steps in improving traffic flow through Woodland will begin soon.
The City Council on Oct. 16 approved an agreement with the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments (COG) to hire consultants to study the I-5 corridor, including both interchanges. At the same time, the COG will prepare a plan for widening SR 503 and developing a Scott Avenue viaduct over I-5.
Woodland has already received about $885,000 to widen SR 503 from Schurman”s Corner to Evergreen Street. The study will incorporate those improvements, and construction will begin as soon as the plan is finished.
“My scientific guess is it will be a couple of years before the work starts,” said Jim Hough, interim public works director.
Construction funds for the I-5 and viaduct projects have not been allocated, and it is not known when construction would begin.
The joint study is being funded with $250,000 from the state and $250,000 of federal money. The city”s share is expected to range between $50,000 and $75,000.
An overall plan for all of SR 503 will be developed in conjunction with the highway plan for the city, but Hough said highway construction inside the city will not wait for construction to begin along the remainder of the state highway.
As the Woodland population grows, the need grows for another route from the east side to the west side of the city, Hough said. At present there are only two routes for motor vehicles and only one for pedestrians or bicycles. A Scott Avenue viaduct is important, he said, to maintain traffic flow in the future. The viaduct plan will be developed in conjunction with the I-5 plan, he said.
The improvements planned for SR 503 inside Woodland are to improve the traffic flow in areas where new residential development is planned
The staff recommendation for council approval states that the long-range study and management plan “will have no detailed design or environmental work component, but rather conceptual plans...”
Rosemary Siipola, spokesperson for the COG, said a contract with a consultant is expected to be signed by the end of the year, and work on the plan should begin in January.
In a notice to consultants, the COG said the report would become the long-range strategic plan for the city, the Port of Woodland, Cowlitz County, the state highways and the railroad.