The 5th Annual Esther Borte Walk In the Park is coming to Toledo in February, this one is a bit different than the rest. The participants will still participate in the 5K walk, run, or roll. They just get to do it at their leisure.

The participants choose the date, time, and route of their race. You can track your race using the app of your choice, just take a screenshot and email it to walkintheparktoledo@gmail.com.

The City of Winlock is looking for volunteers who are interested in training in the water and sewer department. This will be the fifth year offering this training, former Mayor Lonnie Dowell started this program the first year and the program has continued under former Mayor Donald Bradshaw and Mayor Brandon Svenson.

Over the years, volunteers who have graduated from the program are: Sue Parker who is now a licensed water and sewer operator. Heather Luurs has graduated and passed the program but she has not taken her certification. Jessie Weimer has graduated and has passed his water and wastewater certificate. James Agren will graduate in April of 2021. This training will open up opportunities to work in this field. Wages in this field range from $35,000 per year up to $100,000 per year.

You will be getting training in water distribution and wastewater.

On New Year's Eve, Lewis County Courthouse was the place where change was to occur. The new Lewis County Commissioners were sworn in to little fanfare but family and reporters.

Sean Swope was sworn in by Judge and Municipal Attorney Jim Buzzard with Buzzard and O'Rourke Law firm. Dr. Lindsey Pollock was sworn in by outgoing Commissioner Edna Fund.

The Lewis County Law and Justice Center was the place where citizens of Lewis County and visitors gathered to show their support for Spiffy's Restaurant. On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, Lewis County restaurant Spiffy's was given a continuance while Farm Boys in Maytown was slapped with Contempt of Court over being open by a Thurston County Judge.

In all the years of writing about the year's events, this is the first year I am wondering if I can fit everything into one paper. This was the year that took all of us by surprise, surprises in ways we would have never thought. Tragedies, businesses lost, and an uproar in our country we have not seen since the 1960s. While the year started out with zero knowledge of a virus, it would soon change everything we know about our world.

We started the year off with hope and excitement, within a few weeks COVID-19 was announced right here in our state. It was in a nursing home that was on lockdown, no concerns. Washingtonians continued to go on about their day, still not concerned for what was to come roaring through. Before long, our lives were going to be altered, not for a week, a month, but for the entire year. February would be the beginning of the changes.

In March, Governor Inslee ordered a "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order. The ban included no social gatherings and closures of all nonessential businesses. We saw schools go remote, students were no longer in the classroom.

In April, businesses were starting to struggle, we had no idea how long. This is when we started to see an increase in suicides and drug overdoses in Lewis County, being home was killing people.

By the end of May, we saw another change. George Floyd was killed and our big city streets erupted in riots. Businesses were burned down, police were killed. We were also introduced to a new phased opening for businesses during Covid.

June brought car cruises for graduates, as graduation was canceled. It was different for seniors, they could not have commencement ceremonies. Communities came out to support the local seniors. The biggest change was masks were now mandated, while some businesses were partially allowed to open. Black Lives Matter held a peaceful protest in Toledo. For the first time, a foreign area was set up in our state, known as CHOP, "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone." It was a violent area where two lives were eventually lost. Times have changed, violence has now erupted in our state and our capital.

My wife and I lived in Sofia, Bulgaria for over 3 years. One November, she decided to make a Santa Suit so that I could walk the streets handing out candy and sharing an American Santa. I thought it was a novel idea, mainly because they may not have never seen or had contact with an American Santa Claus.

It didn't take long to notice it was the adults that wanted the candy, and it didn't take long to catch the eye of the police. I mean, here's a guy in a red Santa suit passing out candy to people on the street. Two policemen arrested me and took me to the large train station in Sophia which is the capital of Bulgaria. Santa got hauled off to the big house!

On Monday, December 14, 2020, Napavine Planning Commission decided to meet in the parking lot of Napavine City Hall. They met to protest not being allowed inside city hall, where business is usually conducted for the citizens. Napavine Planning Commission members were on their cell phones in the parking lot where they called into the meeting.

Governor Inslee's proclamation has shut down several businesses and governments from operating indoors, but many have decided to not adhere to the new proclamation. Napavine Planning decided to stand up against his ban on inside activities, mainly for the citizens of the city.

Editor's Note: The funds that were received from the campaign by the Culps came in the days and weeks after the election. See https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/campaign-explorer/candidate?filer_id=CULPL--166&election_year=2020 for more information.

It's December, a full month after the election and a few things have recently come to light that the voters should know about. According to the Public Disclosure Commission and the Campaign Summary Receipts & Expenditures - C4 reports for the Loren Culp Campaign large amounts of money were spent on items not disclosed to the public while he was running.

Recently, Culp filed a lawsuit against Kim Wyman and Washington State for election irregularities. According to his C4 reports, he has also paid himself the amount of $33,136.30 from his contributors for lost wages.

Weaponizing "Science"

To the Editor,

I'd like to take this opportunity to comment on the search for our next Lewis County Health Officer. It is a critical and complex position that requires care to find a good match. There is a history of difficulty in recruiting skilled professionals to rural locations. I have hope that the tide will begin to turn in our favor.

Before diving into the Public Health Director position, I'd like to take a brief walk through the history of how our community came to our earned distrust of "science." I place "science" in quotations because I'm going to discuss the weaponized version that was used to destroy our cities and towns back in the 1980's and 90's, and we haven't forgotten.