HeyJaredLower Columbia Currents
Commentary about issues of importance to Southwest Washington.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 14
- Latest publication
- Sep 29, 2026
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- Aug 24, 2026
Latest issues
County museum dodges major cuts; commissioners consider witholding non-union COLAs (opens the original)
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The Cowlitz County Historical Museum will dodge budget cuts that could have jeopardized its existence as the county commissioners search for savings to fill a $3.6 million deficit for 2027.Commissioners on Monday also indicated they may withhold cost-of living raises for non-union workers next year, though they were warned that doing so could torpedo staff morale.Lower Columbia Currents is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or p
County department heads push back against budget cuts (opens the original)
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Cowlitz County department heads told commissioners Monday that budget cuts proposed by Commissioner Rick Dahl are impossible to hit without staff cuts.Dahl in December proposed department budget cuts ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent for 2027. Department heads are pushing back on what they see as arbitrary and damaging reductions.<div class="subscription-widget-wrap-
Two Longview ICE detainees still in Texas camp with uncertain futures (opens the original)
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Two long-time Mexican residents of Longview awaiting deportation in a Texas detention camp witnessed a revolt among detainees, and one of them spent five days in a hospital due to an asthma attack, according to a friend of their families.At a September 15 hearing before an immigration judge, Gumercindo Hernandez and Valentín “Valentes” Romero were given a choice to self deport or be subject to a mass deportation with other detainees.The choice is crucial, because self deporters can find it much
Before casting ballots, recall philosopher’s centuries-old warning (opens the original)
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Erasmus Darwin, an 18th-Century scientist, philosopher and grandfather of Charles Darwin, penned a phrase that perfectly describes the strategy that underpins modern political campaigns.“Ignorance and credulity have long marched together, and misled and enslaved mankind,” Darwin wrote.Lower Columbia Currents is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"
Memories of visit to 9/11 ground zero still haunt me 25 years later (opens the original)
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Editor’s note: In memory of the September 11 terrorist attacks, I am republishing this column I wrote in 2019, when I was still the city editor of The Daily News. It has not been changed except to clear up a few typos. As I was editing Marissa Heffernan’s story about Cowlitz 2’s annual 9/11 memorial service Wednesday, it rushed at me again.Lower Columbia Currents is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming
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