Spanish officials expected at celebration
 
Signal sent up to hillside
 
$30,000 available
 
Wealth of services provided
 
Upzoning of six-acre parcel approved by planning commission
 
Team from Grindline skatepark building company arrive
 
Numerous rescuers involved in search
 
Hearing held in Port Angeles
 
Forks Marine vet writes story of his heroic buddy
 
Hearing Thursday in Port Angeles
 
Work planned to start this month
 
Looks more urban than Forks
 
Attorney fees would be covered by city
 
Fired police officers, dispatcher to file appeal
 
Possible May burn dates may be set
 
West End Thunder joining forces
 
New facility is opening soon
 
Two officers, dispatcher fired
 
Report to be released in mid-March
 
Two police officers, one dispatcher complete hearings
 
Road closed since December storm
 
Obama wins big in Forks
 
Team takes Evergreen Division championship
 
Luke Dixon takes 189 pound championship
 
Recall of mayor sought
 
Number of homeless may be down
 
Educational Web site drawing radiology technicans
 
Museum helping local economy
 
CLOSER TO PORTLAND FILMING LOCATION
 
Stephenie Meyer Day invitation graciously returned
 
Robert Pattinson slated for role
 
Readers advised to check out ForksForum.com
 
Stephenie Meyer Day celebrated in Forks
 
Mayor leads meeting
 
Real-time demonstration of online learning
 
Living conditions described
 
County response to storm questioned
 
Fundraising efforts launched
 
Forks youth have place to skate indoors
 
Practice called legal
 
Now at JT's Sweet Stuffs
 
Vote possible in May
 
Support for new clinic offered
 
Alternative uses on agenda
 
Problems encountered leading to emergency management changes
 
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation represented
 
Motorcyclists proposed summertime event
 
DSHS building fire under investigation
 
State representative looks ahead to 2008 session of Legislature
 
Dangerous conditions in forest
 
Forks Police Department working with other law enforcement agencies
 
Mustang goes off road near Lower Hoh

Community News

May 14, 2008

Author to speak about war years in Germany
Author Eycke (Laabs) Strickland is speaking at Peninsula College’s Stadium General program on Thursday, May 15 at 1 p.m. at the college’s Forks Extension at 71 South Forks Avenue.
Strickland is the author of the book “Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening: Growing Up in Nazi Germany, 1933-1946” and will tell of her experiences as a young girl living in Germany and near the Auschwitz death camp in Poland during the years of World War II. Her father risked his life in helping rescue Jews from the Holocaust during the war and was later honored by Israel. More information is available at her Web site: www.eyckestrickland.com.

WE CARE meeting
West End Community Advocates for Rural Elders (WE CARE) will present a public forum on “A Circle of Friends” on Tuesday, May 20, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the new Forks Community Center, 91 Maple Street, adjacent to the pool facility. Community Connectors Lonelle Huckabone for the Forks area and Kathleen Haney, for the Clallam Bay/Sekiu area will provide an overview of the Circle of Friends concept and how it will work to maintain and enhance relationships between senior citizens and the West End community. The meeting is open to the public. For more information contact Char Carte at 374-9496, Carole Rose (ext 292) or Geoff Roach (ext 165) at Forks Community Hospital, 374-6271.

Salmon restoration meeting
The next public meeting of the North Pacific Coast Lead Entity for Salmon Restoration is scheduled from 1- 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 at the Department of Natural Resources Conference Room in Forks. The agenda will focus on updates about salmon restoration activities on the West End and will offer an opportunity for public comments or suggestions for future topics.

Blood drives
The Puget Sound Blood Center is holding blood drives at Neah Bay High School on Friday, May 23 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in classroom 12, and at Clallam Bay on Thursday, June 12 from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Clallam Bay/Sekiu Community Center.

Forks Open Aire Market
The Forks Open Aire Market opens its season on Saturday, May 24 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. adjacent to the Forks Timber Museum on Highway 101 across from the Forks Municipal Airport. The market is open Saturdays through October.

Rayonier talk
Clallam County Historical Society is holding the second of three evening lectures describing large landowner approaches to forestry and the Washington Forest practice rules that guide these approaches. The program is part of the Rayonier photo exhibit now on display in the lower gallery at the museum at the Carnegie, and is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, at 7 p.m. The museum is located at Second and Lincoln streets in Port Angeles.
Dan Varland, wildlife biologist with Rayonier for 14 years is the speaker and will describe how Rayonier provides habitat for the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bald eagle, and other wildlife. He will also discuss an innovative research project on creating wood decay through the inoculation of trees with fungi.

Native American Cultural Evening
The third annual Native American Cultural Evening is being presented Friday, June 20 from 7-9 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints at 1301 Calawah Way in Forks. The event is sponsored by Milton and DeeAnna Beck. Admission is free.

 
The Seattle Times: Home
Tours of Hanford nuclear waste site draw interest (posted ago)
In a cramped control room, a bright yellow sticker cautions workers about critical radiation alarms. Now a novelty stuck on a wall between dials that haven't spun in decades, the sign hints at the enormity of the plant's mission.
Strong aftershock hits China quake epicenter (posted ago)
A strong aftershock sparked landslides Friday near the epicenter of this week's powerful earthquake, while some survivors were pulled from rubble after being buried for four days.
Macy's signs deal to put FAO Schwarz in its stores (posted 7 minutes ago)
FAO Schwarz will open toy stores in close to 700 Macy's department stores over the next two years, the companies said Friday.
Boston Herald reporter expresses regret over Spygate story (posted 12 minutes ago)
The Boston Herald sports writer who reported the New England Patriots taped a pre-Super Bowl walkthrough by the St. Louis Rams in 2002 said he will regret the erroneous story for the rest of his life.
Abercrombie profit edges up on sales increase (posted 28 minutes ago)
Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch said Friday that its first-quarter earnings rose 3 percent from a year ago on stronger sales.
In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet (posted 32 minutes ago)
More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to interfaith dialogue.
Spree of jewel heists puts Houston dealers on edge (posted 32 minutes ago)
Brazen jewel thieves are robbing traveling dealers around Houston in a spree of heists that has jewelers on edge.
French arrest 10 in connection with terror probe (posted 32 minutes ago)
Authorities in France, Germany and the Netherlands on Friday detained at least 10 people suspected of helping to fund al-Qaida-linked militants with roots in Uzbekistan, officials said.
Tibetans protest again in Nepal capital (posted 33 minutes ago)
Hundreds of Tibetan exiles calling for freedom in their homeland demonstrated in the Nepalese capital Friday until police stopped them.
 
UPDATED Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Fast pitch team wins key district playoffs game

The Spartan Ladies came through Wednesday in fast pitch playoff action. After losing their first game to 1A state title defending champions Castle Rock, 5-0, the team came back to defeat Kalama 12-6. Madison Justus hit a rare in-the-park grand slam in the victory over Kalama, and her cousin Alexa Justus pitched the team to victory.  The win Wednesday is the second district playoff victory in the history of fast pitch play at Forks High School.  The team is now 13-9 overall and plays La Center on Saturday in the consolation round of the 1A Southwest Washington District playoffs. If the Lady Spartans win Saturday the team moves on to the state tournament, which would be a first ever event for Forks' fast pitch team.


Halibut opening day turns tragic:
Fisherman dies, others rescued off LaPush



MCpl Brian Schoneberg, flight engineer, Canadian Coast Guard photo
Sgt. Serge Poirier, flight engineer on the Canadian Forces CH-149 Cormorant helicopter delivers the hook to a search and rescue technician to pick up a capsizing victim who was pulled from the sea by the crew of the Ultimate, a chartered fishing vessel, about 22 miles off of LaPush on Tuesday, May 13.

Associated audio and video provided by the U.S. Coast Guard (requires broadband internet connection)
Chris Cook photo
A Canadian Forces rescue helicopter from Victoria B.C. landed at Forks Municipal Airport Tuesday morning as part of a rescue effort for three men who fell out of a capsized fishing boat about 22 miles offshore.

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum Editor

Tragedy hit the fleet of recreational fishing boats reeling in halibut offshore of LaPush on the opening day of a season expected to be only three days long.

A 71-year-old man reportedly from Lynnwood in the Seattle area died after the small fishing boat he was in capsized about 22 miles northwest of the Quileute Marina at about 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13. The seas were measured at 13-feet, and foggy conditions were noted.

Fortunately, the opening day crowd of recreational boats brought a fast rescue for the three fishermen aboard the capsized vessel. Crews from the charter boats Fury and the Ultimate pulled the men from the cold sea water. The rescued men were wearing life jackets. One of the men was unresponsive, and the other two showed signs of hypothermia.

Earlier, the Coast Guard at Air Station Port Angeles received a distress call at 8:56 a.m. from another recreational fishing boat, saying the 22-foot boat My Wife was taking on water 28 miles out of LaPush. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles, a crew aboard a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Quillayute River, Wash., and a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter crew from Canadian Forces Base Comox, British Columbia were launched to assist.

Following that incident, an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Astoria, Ore., the 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Quillayute River and the Canadian CH-149 Cormorant helicopter were diverted to assist with the three men rescued from the capsized boat.

The Canadian Forces helicopter airlifted the unresponsive man to Forks Municipal Airport. He was transferred to Forks Community Hospital and declared dead at the hospital.

The other men were taken to the Forks airport by the Coast Guard helicopter sent north from Astoria, Ore., treated for hypothermia and later released.

Local fishermen said surf rose during the morning of fishing, making it much more difficult to return to port than it was going out.

About 10 a.m. the main engine failed on another fishing boat, which was also towed back to the Quileute Marina by the Coast Guard lifeboat crew.

Halibut catches landed at LaPush


Chris Cook photo

Fishermen clean their catch at the Quileute Marina on Tuesday afternoon. Despite stormy offshore conditions, a large turn out of fishermen drove down to LaPush for the day of halibut fishing.

Class of 2008 valedictorian, salutatorian named
at Forks High School


Chris Cook photo

The Forks High School’s Class of 2008 valedictorian and salutatorian were named Monday. Billy Nguyen (second from left) is the valedictorian and Kim Olsen (fourth from left) is the salutatorian. Joining the students at an in-class presentation were Billy’s mother Susan Nguyen, Forks High School Principal Kevin Rupprecht and Kim’s mother Robin Olsen. Billy is heading for the University of Washington in Seattle, and Kim is going to the Rexburg, Idaho campus of Brigham Young University.

Forks Logging Tours opens for new season


Chris Cook photo
Forks Logging Tours volunteer driver Mark Johnsen (left) took Forks visitors Jim and Linda Work of Livingstone, Texas on a Forks Chamber of Commerce-sponsored tour on Wednesday, May 7. The tour made stops at a logging site located above Oil City Road, and at Allen Logging in the Hoh River area. The popular tours started last week and run through the summer.





MSNBC.com: U.S. news
Clean-air rules for parks may be eased (posted 8 hours ago)

** FILE ** The view from Clingman's Dome on the Tennessee, North Carolina line, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seen here in an undated file photo. The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to set new rules by early 2005 aimed at cutting air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas, in a court settlement with an environmental group Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003. (AP Photo/File)The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan.


Gay marriage ban overturned in Calif. (posted 16 hours ago)

May 15: California's Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage, making California the second state to allow gay couples to wed. NBC Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reports. (Nightly News)The California Supreme Court has overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry.


Mom indicted in MySpace suicide (posted 14 hours ago)

**FILE** In this Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 file photo, Tina Meier holds two pictures of her daughter Megan who committed suicide last October after receiving cruel messages on MySpace, in St. Charles, Mo. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 15, 2008, indicted a Missouri woman, Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against Megan Meier. ( AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)A Los Angeles federal grand jury indicted a Missouri woman on Thursday over an alleged role in a MySpace online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide.


Why the Iraq funding bill was rejected by House (posted 13 hours ago)

U.S. Army's soldier from the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division runs to take cover behind an armored vehicle during a patrol in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Did the House of Representatives vote Thursday to end funding for the Iraq war? It may look that way, but behind the vote there's a complicated card game going on between Democrats and Republicans.