Man Hit By Amtrak Train In Kelso Identified
The Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office positively identified Joshua P. Lewis, age 38, of Hoquiam, as the person hit by the Amtrak train in Kelso while it was traveling to Seattle.
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Cowlitz County Obituaries Jan 1
In Loving Memory of our Family, Friends, and Neighbors January 2026
Sediment Retention Structure (SRS)
The proposed spillway raise, currently scheduled for July 2026, relies on 2019 data, which may no longer accurately reflect current river conditions, sediment loads, flood behavior, or environmental and economic considerations. Given the scale of public investment and the long-term implications of this project, it is both reasonable and prudent to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study to obtain updated and current data first.
Cowlitz County Police Blotter 12/19/2025 – 12/25/2025
The police were extra busy this Christmas week: 48 people were booked into jail, and Longview had multiple calls, including a food delivery driver chased around 3:30 AM on Christmas Eve. Woodland had a suspicious abduction; witnesses reported a woman being pushed into a car near exit 21. We had a fugitive detained in downtown Kalama, and Yacolt even chimed in with a non-injury airplane crash too.
Cowlitz County Police Blotter 12/5/25 – 12/11/25
Weirdest Alleged Crime of the week-Glue Sniffing; Highest Bail of the week-$50,000 ; 44 arrests, and lots of crazy calls.
WA Legislature Proposal Guts Local Camping Bans in Public Spaces
HB 2489 would prohibit cities from enforcing camping bans unless they can afford to house every homeless person with their pets and belongings in the immediate area. HB 2266 would require cities to permit homeless shelters anywhere outside industrial zones that allow residential housing and hotels.
Toutle River SRS Spillway Raise Moves Forward
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded. Anvil Builders, Inc., to California Contractor, the $35.9 million contract for the SRS10 ft Spillway Raise construction. The Plan is to raise the SRS Spillway by 10 ft to store an additional 125 million cubic yards of sediment behind the 35-year-old earthen dam. Construction is estimated to be completed by September 2027.
Paper or Plastic? By Ed Orcutt
36-year forester & 24-year legislator explains how overzealousness threatens to remove 200,000 acres of land from working forests – a few acres at a time, and at a very high cost to our rural communities.