You never know what you’ll see, on Duck Lake:

“We saw a rare occurrence on Monday. Two eagles were taking a bath in Duck Lake. This was the first time we saw two eagles together. We had never seen an eagle bath in the lake. Wish the pictures were clearer for you. They were taken from our deck.

Bob Cleary”

From this week’s North Coast News City Council story:

” ‘We are being taxed to death,’ said Al Lizakowski, after giving council members charts showing Ocean Shores residents pay $902 per resident, compared to $105-347 per citizen in other Grays Harbor cities . . .”

While Mr. Lizakowski’s statistics are “factual,” they do not present the full picture. To get his “tax per resident,” he divided total taxes ($4.3 million, for Ocean Shores) by population (4,860, the official Ocean Shores figure).

For most cities, that might be a pretty good estimate. But in this case, it does not include the part-time residents and 12,000 lots/condo units that contribute to the tax base.

A 51-year-old Ocean Shores resident was slammed into by a 23-year-old Quinault resident just after midnight this morning, on 101 near Amanda Park. The Ocean Shores man suffered only bumps and bruises; he was wearing a seat belt, which was fortunate as his pickup truck was totaled. The Quinault man was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run; he had a broken arm.

What is in the locked box so closely guarded by Waldo (“he’s a literary lion, at least in his own mind,” says Crystal Dingler; her husband Dean snapped the photo)?

Winner gets a prize package, including (but limited to): one (1) Ocean Shores Library Card (some restrictions apply); one (1) free “tweet”; free Wi-fi at the Library; two (2) box seats for the grand opening of the Roundabout Traffic Show (date TBD).

A 50 cent Levee lift? . . . I was just over at Levee Lumber, didn’t see any. Oh — that’s right — can’t get one until November . . .

*EMS services (primarily taking care of severe medical situations, and/or transportations to Grays Habror Community Hospital, way off yonder in Aberdeen) in Ocean Shores given glowing reviews, with many expressing their gratitude for “life saving” actions from Ocean Shores Fire Department/EMS

*Streets that were horrendous in the very-near past are now smooth sailing, thanks to the LID

*A “levy lift” would (potentially, at least) bring back the animal control officer and solve EMS billing/financing problems.

*Street LID is running (approximately) 25 percent over first-advertised

*Ambulance fee collection running far behind schedule, voters asked to approve a 50 cent per thousand (31 cent increase) “bailout” EMS levy lift

*Animal shelter closed, no plan of action revealed

From last night’s City Council meeting:

Ken Lanfear, director of Public Works, asked for $12,250 from the city’s Real Estate Excise Tax Fund for airport lighting; this represents 2.5 percent of the total cost of the lighting, which is almost $500,000. The remaining 97.5 percent is to be paid for by state and federal grants. The motion passed 6-1 (Dave Creighton opposed).

Lanfear also requested $7,950 for weed control. It, too, comes with a grant, this one of $42,500. The motion passed.

In the “public comment” of the meeting, several citizens who volunteer with animal organizations expressed alarm over this news.

“We have tremendous concerns about the animals who are lost or strayed in Ocean Shores,” said Lorna Valdez (not Debby, her sister, as originally posted erroneously), of North Beach PAWS, an all-volunteer organization.

“There are so many stray animals, especially on weekends of big festivals.”

“I think it was assumed that I and the 10 other volunteers would continue to take care of the animals,” said Jan Lane, volunteer coordinator for the City’s animal shelter. ” . . . when you let the animal control officer go, you also eliminated 11 volunteers.”

The Ocean Shores woman running against veteran Nick Johnson stepped to the microphone during the “public comment” section of last night’s council meeting. After saying she has a background in construction, she had some questions about the new fire department: “I was under the impression the fire department was going to be built in a modular construction. I drive by there and have noticed it’s all been stick frame.”

She also wanted to know where the funds for the construction are being kept, and asked for responses to several other questions. In writing.