Banks City Hall. Photo: Brenda Schaffer It was a light agenda at the most recent Banks city council meeting held Tuesday, October 13 via the video chat platform Zoom. After an executive session held at 6 p.m., which is not open to the public and the proceedings of which cannot[Read More…]
Chas Hundley
Fire season ends in NW Oregon forests
Banks Fire District Water Tender 14 responds to a field fire in Gales Creek on Tuesday, August 18. Photo: Chas Hundley The official fire season ended Monday, October 12 in this portion of NW Oregon, bringing to an official close a season unlike any other in recent history in Oregon. [Read More…]
Voter registration deadline is Tuesday
A 24-hour ballot drop site at the Banks Public Library. Photo: Chas Hundley The deadline to register to vote or update your registration is Tuesday, October 13. To register or to make a change to your voter registration, visit and complete the online form at oregonvotes.gov/register before midnight on Tuesday,[Read More…]
Banks Fire District heads to California to battle wildfires
Banks Fire District Brush Rig 13 and a crew of three prepare to head to California for a similar deployment in 2019. Photo: Banks Fire District Brush Rig 13, two volunteers and one paid firefighter from Banks Fire District 13 have joined a number of Washington County crews along with[Read More…]
County seeks input on transit options, infrastructure in rural Washington County
A Columbia County Rider bus stops at one of two bus stations in Banks on April 15, 2019. Photo: Chas Hundley WASHINGTON COUNTY – An online survey released on Friday, October 2 by Washington County and Ride Connection Inc., a regional public transportation nonprofit, is asking for feedback on the[Read More…]
Stagnant air expected through Monday, NWS says
Smoke hovers above Gales Peak on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley Stagnant air — a soup of haze, smoke and fog — is settling in for the weekend and beyond as a strong inversion traps pollutants in the air, with the potential to cause breathing issues for those[Read More…]
Banks School District offers childcare grant program for low income families and essential workers
The Banks School District on September 3, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley BANKS – A grant awarded to the Banks School District by Washington County with CARES Act funding will pay for two months of childcare for some Banks-area low-income families and those working as essential employees. The deadline to apply[Read More…]
From the newsroom: What to expect from our newsroom for election coverage
A 2019 sign in front of the Banks Public Library noting the official drop box location. Photo: Chas Hundley Here we are, 40 days from the November 3 election. It might seem like an arbitrary number, and you’re probably right, but for our newsroom, it marks a mad scramble to[Read More…]
ODOT: Keep political signs out of right of way
A Trump campaign flag hangs above Highway 26 between Buxton and the Dennis L. Edwards Tunnel on a Port of Tillamook Bay trestle on Thursday, September 3, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Department of Transportation is asking people to stop putting election-related signs in state owned right of ways. [Read More…]
Deadline looms for 2020 Banks Citizenship Award nominations
The city of Banks sign on Highway 6. Photo: Brenda Schaffer BANKS – The deadline to nominate someone for the 2020 Banks Citizenship Award — a recognition given to someone who has gone above and beyond for the Banks area — is September 30. The city’s announcement that nominations are[Read More…]
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