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Opinion

January 30, 2020
(Contributed photo courtesy of Robert F. Williams) Members of the 1999 Evergreen High football team, including author Robert F. Williams (second from right, top row, No. 57), pose for a photo during the team's winning season.

Camas coach’s lessons help soldier face adversity in combat zone, life

As the Camas High School football team enjoys another state title, I hope the players realize how lucky they are to play for Jon Eagle. Jon Eagle is, 20 years later, one of my most revered mentors. Whether they realize it or not, Coach Eagle, through football is teaching them more than Xs and Os, but rather life lessons that will carry these young people into adulthood. Much like former Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen’s Built for Life program, Jon Eagle made me built for life, and has been doing the same for area youth for 30 years. The intangibles learned playing high school football in the Pacific Northwest have stayed with me through life’s trials and tribulations — they are an integral part of who I am in the 20 years since last donning a helmet and pads.

January 23, 2020

OPINION: Concerns about Camas’ growth are nothing new

As evidenced at a recent legislative town hall at the Port of Camas-Washougal and in online conversations posted during the November 2019 general election, issues surrounding Camas’ projected growth — including questions about where (and if) that growth should occur — have become a hot topic for longtime locals and newcomers alike.

January 16, 2020

Helping workers pay for student loans a win-win

Employers are looking at additional benefits to help workers stressed about paying rent, transportation and food costs and student loans. Even though job numbers and wages have increased, too often there just isn’t enough money to make ends meet, particularly in high cost-of-living cities such as New York, San Francisco and Seattle.

January 9, 2020

OPINION: Smart growth management is key to fighting climate change

The legislative town hall with Republican lawmakers from the state’s 18th District held Saturday morning inside the Port of Camas-Washougal’s picturesque headquarters had a few moments of drama over vaccines and taxes but was mostly a well-oiled affair covering an impressively diverse range of topics.

January 9, 2020

Historian reflects on fascism’s return

Back in 1941, the year of my birth, fascism stood on the brink of conquering the world. During the preceding decades, movements of the Radical Right — mobilized by demagogues into a cult of virulent nationalism, racial and religious hatred, and militarism — had made great strides in nations around the globe. By the end of 1941, fascist Germany, Italy, and Japan, having launched massive military invasions of other lands, had conquered much of Europe, Asia and the Middle East.