Sinkings and sailings

Good luck to Hospice; a distorted endorsement for city council; Xfinity's "Root Sports" decision a strike out; and WSDOT needs to move faster to repair highway to volcano

The reopening of the Community Home Health & Hospice care center in Longview has been pushed back two weeks, to about Dec. 15. But its resurrection is nevertheless great news for the community, which has donated millions of dollars over five decades to build and help operate the palliative end-of-life clinic.

PeaceHealth announced last week that it will reopen the 11th Avenue clinic through a partnership with Community Home Health & Hospice.

Here’s hoping that PeaceHealth can overcome the financial stresses that led to the clinic’s closure last spring. Few communities this size have such a competent and classy facility for helping the terminally ill and their families.

The center had been losing millions of dollars. Hospice officials attributed the losses to pandemic-related declines in patients, nursing and other staff shortages and reduced reimbursement rates from insurance providers.

PeaceHealth officials did not return repeated requests for comment on why it believes it can keep the Hospice center on a sound financial footing. However, PeaceHealth spokeswoman Debra Carnes did say staff is in place and ready to operate the center.

The center closed at the end of April after Vancouver-based Eden Health purchased the in-home hospice part of Community Home Health & Hospice. Hospice vowed to try to find some organization to resume operating the 11th Avenue center. It has now found one in PeaceHealth, which is Cowlitz County’s largest medical group and operator of St. John Medical Center.

The original reopening target was the end of November, but the opening now is planned for mid December, Carnes said.

This is PeaceHealth’s first hospice partnership in Southwest Washington.

Conservative newsletter distorts "endorsement” of LaFave

Longview City Councilman Mike Wallin says a conservative political newsletter is “disingenuous” for suggesting that he is endorsing his opponent for re-election. 

The October issue of “Watchdogs of Cowlitz County” sports a snapshot-sized picture of candidate Kalei LaFave on the cover in front of Longview City Hall. Across the corner of the photo a message in yellow lettering on black background states “Wallin endorses LaFave!” It refers readers to page 7.

On page 7, readers find a letter of recommendation that Wallin wrote on behalf of LaFave for a job at the the Port of Longview in October 2019.

The right-wing newsletter, distributed last week by a group called Cowlitz County Concerned Citizens, was devoted to endorsing candidates in the upcoming Nov. 7 general election who ”we believe are better poised to reverse our community’s downward trajectory.”

Wallin, who is seeking his third four-year term on the Longview City Council, said this of the newsletter’s message:  “Is disingenuous. I supported (LaFave) for a job she is qualified for. I am not endorsing her for City Council.”

LaFave said last week she was unaware of the newsletter’s use of the job letter or its message and wasn’t bothered by it, noting that the “endorsement” does not specify “for city council.” She declined to answer further questions.

However, even for a newsletter that excoriates anything that sniffs of Democratic politics, the “endorsement”  is a gross distortion. It’s the type of unethical, win-at-all costs practice that turns people off to politics and is clearly meant to undermine Wallin’s campaign. Had I written a headline like this in my 41-year newspaper career, I’d have been disciplined, if not fired.

One of the ironies of this race is a that LaFave was once a strong Wallin ally and worked on behalf of Democrat Teresa Purcell’s unsuccessful state legislative campaign in 2016. Now she is running with the backing of the GOP’s conservative wing.

The newsletter is produced by longtime Republican Larry Crosby, 80, a retired Castle Rock Christmas Tree grower and active timber lot owner.  He was cordial when I called, but he declined to discuss this matter or the newsletter until mid November — well after the election.

Cowlitz County Concerned Citizens is not registered as a political action committee. The state Public Disclosure Commission, which tracks campaign spending and contributions and the people and groups behind them, is in talks with the group  to determine whether it should register, said PDC spokeswoman Natalie Johnson. 

Such a determination depends on matters such as whether the group solicits donations and makes expenditures on behalf of candidates.

State, Forest Service need to move faster to reopen volcano highway

A summer after a slide destroyed a bridge on  the upper portion of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, officials still have no timeline for reopening the route to the premier Mount St. Helens destination — the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

At the very least, the washed out road and bridge will not be replaced for several years, Kelly Hanahan, spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Transportation, said by email.

WSDOT has re-established a temporary one-lane road through the slide area but won’t determine until the spring whether the road and the slope where the slide originated are safe for public access. Another issue is replacing communications and power lines to Johnston Ridge that were damaged by the slide.

So, even though the public awaits an official decision, restoration of at least rudimentary public access to Johnston Ridge next spring looks unpromising. (That portion of the highway closes every winter due to snow.)

The 300,000-cubic-foot slide damaged the foundations of the  bridge and roadway just downstream of the outlet of the Spirit Lake Drainage Tunnel. So repairs “are not a simple replacement activity, “ Hanahan wrote.

 “Scope, cost and timeline for a two-lane permanent solution will be informed by planning and design work that is starting this fall. Completion of a permanent replacement is several years away,” she said.

It’s important to appreciate the complexity of this project, but this segment of roadway accesses the county’s biggest tourist draw. Local officials and our state legislative delegation should be pressing WSDOT and the U.S. Forest Service for a speedy restoration of access.

Officials initially closed the highway at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center —a clear overreaction to the slide, which took place several miles farther east. WSDOT and the Forest Service have since moved the closure  eastward, restoring public access to the popular Coldwater Lake trail and boat launch and the Hummocks and South Coldwater trail heads.

Xfinity riles Mariners, Kraken, Trailblazer fans by moving “Root” to more expensive tier; Congress must mandate a-la-carte cable TV

Xfinity angered Northwest sports fans recently with a surprise email announcement that TV subscribers must pay $18.50 extra each month to continue watching the Seattle Kraken, Seattle Mariners, Portland Trailblazers and other Root Sports Northwest offerings.

Against the opposition of these teams, Xfinity moved Root, a so-called regional sports network (RSN), to its highest-tier “Ultimate TV” package.

“Xfinity is the largest television provider in the Pacific Northwest, and their decision makes it harder for those who live here to watch their favorite teams,” Mariners senior vice president of marketing Kevin Martinez said in a press release.

 “The sports broadcasting landscape is experiencing significant change,” Kraken president Victor de Bonis said in a press  release issued last week. “We want our games to be available to as many fans as possible, especially as we drop the puck for our third season today.”

The move reflects an ongoing struggle between cable companies and RSNs. Cable providers note that a majority of subscribers don’t watch sports but pay for the presentations, which are expensive to produce.

I’m an avid Mariner and Kraken fan, but I’m not going to dig into the roots of this dispute here. What I will say is that Congress should force cable providers to offer a-la-carte choices, so consumers pay only for the channels they want. (Take direction from the Liberty Mutual Insurance ads that appear so frequently on Mariner and Kraken telecasts: “Only pay for what you need.”) Why should I have to  pay for shopping, cartoon, golf and other channels that I never watch? 

Congress for years has refused to act on demands for a-la-carte cable TV. If you feel like taking the gloves off to fight Xfinity’s latest move, let Congress and the Federal Communications Commission know about it. The FCC’s complaint number is 1-888-225-5322.