Last night, the North Beach High girls basketball team charged back to beat Toutle Lake, and earn a spot in the State tournament. Elizabeth Thatcher and Nicole Mosely were the forces; when these two are on, it spells “WIN” for the Hyaks. They play in the District championship Saturday night, a prelude to the State tournament.

Tonight, it’s gut-check time for the talented boys team. Lose, season over. Win, advance to State tournament (and District final). 

Call me a homer (and you’d be right), but here’s what I see: I see Jamaal Lind, working inside and out for about 17, 19; I see Russell Alfaro busting out on the fast break; I see Jake Ray playing tough D and controlling the paint; I see Derek Archer dishing assists and Tres Pope, again as “Mr. Clutch.”

I see a scoreboard reading: North Beach 75, Toutle Lake 60.

Coach Larry Moore and the crew, earlier this season.

os-2008-salary-information

from the Ocean Shores Fire Department

“On February 23, 2009 at approximately 5:00 p.m. Ocean Shores Fire Department was dispatched to a call for a trapped cat stuck behind a water heater. The cat had fallen from the top of the water heater and had been trapped upside down on its head for a day and a half stated the cat’s owner. The cat was sandwiched in so tightly that it was unable to put itself in an upright position, and with only about an inch and a half between the cat and the wall, the reporting party was unable to free the cat and called the fire department for help. The water heater was installed in a way that draining it would have taken to long for the already distressed cat. The fire department repositioned the water heater enough that a small arm could reach beside the water heater while a fire fighter nudged the cat in the in the direction of the fire fighters arm with a broom handle. After securing the cat it was lifted back up the way it fell down. The owner and the fire department were glad to see that the cat had no ill effects from being upside down for almost two days.”

Randy Peck comment countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7 . . . 

Losing my mind dept.: I posted the list of nominees a few weeks back, but forgot to post the winners (the winners list appeared in the Feb. 4 edition of the North Coast News).

    Top:    OCEAN SHORES  winners  

         Bottom:  NORTH BEACH (Ocean City-Taholah)     winners    

Best Event: Sand & Sawdust                                                                                                                                     Kelpers

So I’m hearing that businesses around Ocean Shores have been having a really nice February (great weather, clam dig, etc.); none of the D&G the rest of the country is suffering.

I’d like to follow up on this: if you’re a business person who has been doing well of late, or just know of a retail shop or restaurant that is on a roll, post a comment below or email me: tscanlon@northcoastnews.com.

Are those cash registers I hear, or is that a ringing in my ear?

Your favorite young photo-journalist, longtime NCN contributor Jonathan Olson, showing his skills in shooting his Eastern Washington U team. Hopefully he’ll be photographing the Hyaks (girls are in, boys could follow tonight) at the State tournament in Spokane.

Nice work, Jon, now get back to those books!

Gaelic proverb, passed on by Nicky Anderson from a favorite Web site of hers:

Cha deoch-slàint, i gun a tràghadh.

It’s no health if the glass is not emptied.

click here for the web site

LOCALS ONLY (all others turn back now!)

By Tom Scanlon

I’d like to begin this column by boldly stating:

“I heart Dave Creighton!”

I’ll get back to that, and explain why, after meandering around a bit. 

Now, I’d like to clearly mark the above as “opinion,” and note that this column is, indeed, a column. As opposed to a News story.

and you thought he was a pessimist . . . he passed on this Miami Herald story

Fewer vacationers could add up to fewer shark attacks, expert says

BY EVAN S. BENN

ebenn@MiamiHerald.com 

The bear market may be taking a bite out of the number of shark attacks on humans, according to a University of Florida researcher.

Shark attacks worldwide in 2008 sank to their lowest level in five years, and shark expert George Burgess says it’s because fewer people are spending money on beach vacations.

A District playoff win tonight at Chehalis clinched a State tournament appearance for the North Beach High girls basketball team. Sebastian Makinson, Yearbook Editor, reports: “The girls won their game tonight against Toutle Lake 43-40. They were behind until the last 3 minutes of the game and made a miraculous recovery and won the game by 3.”