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The City of Winlock is suing the residents in the UGA who signed a petition to invoke the Lewis County Boundary Review Board (BRB) to review the annexation of the UGA. There are several petitions, but there is no language that shows the residents have done anything wrong. It is strictly the county who they allege have made errors. Regardless, the city is suing the residents and asking for attorney fees from the citizens.

The purpose of the Boundary Review Board is to review the annexation to validate that the city has all the necessary services to annex in the Urban Growth Area (UGA). In the petitions, it states that the Boundary Review Board should have been invoked on December 1, 2022 when Winlock filed their Notice of Intent. Instead, the county sent a letter to the City of Winlock on January 12 stating the 45 days had commenced. What's most interesting is the fact that Winlock did not start their lawsuit until the residents of the UGA signed and gave the petition to the county.

Hailey Schwarz, 15, a student at Winlock High School, recently traveled to Olympia to serve as a page in the state House of Representatives. Rep. Jim Walsh was her legislative sponsor.

SOUTH BEND - The Federal Government is funding $25 million in wildfire defense grants in Washington. Pacific County Emergency Management, Pacific Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Development (South Bend) will receive $103,000 to create a CWPP developed in collaboration of Federal, State, and local partners and stakeholders in the Wildland Urban Interface of Pacific County.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, "The plan will clearly identify our mission to protect life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment in the Wildland Urban Interface. This plan will focus on reducing wildfire risks in the landscape of the specific urban interface areas, incorporate the Firewise USA program, and implement large scale fire fuel reduction efforts."

DNR Forest Practices Communications Manager Natalie Johnson explained to the Herald Monday morning, "A Wildland Urban Interface is a general term for areas where wildland areas, which could be forests, prairies, etcetera, meet up with populated areas. Wildland Urban Interfaces are becoming more common as housing becomes more dense in rural areas." Johnson did not know the "specific areas Pacific County applicants have in mind."

On March 1, Pacific County Health Department started offering public health clinics (walk in or by appointment) for sexual reproductive health including birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), COVID testing, and immunizations.

The clinics will be in the South Bend office at 1216 West Robert Bush Drive on Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and in the Long Beach office at 7013 Sandridge Road on Thursdays, 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.