Shows / Clallam County Watchdog

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Clallam County WatchdogMore than a fee
The Clallam Conservation District wants to charge every property owner a $5 parcel fee, claiming it’s to support conservation. But behind the scenes, the…
Clallam County Watchdog"Equity" is the new buzzword
In Clallam County, taxpayer-funded grants meant to promote “equity” are increasingly going to select groups—while many struggling rural communities are left…
Clallam County WatchdogFuel, fumbles, and forgotten taxpayers
When a fuel truck plunges into Port Angeles’ water supply, tribal-owned PetroCard is barely mentioned. Meanwhile, taxpayers face massive new levies for…
Clallam County WatchdogThe tipping point: tax hikes and reckless spending
As the cost of living in Washington State skyrockets, Clallam County residents are being hit from all sides—rising fuel costs, school levies, a recent hospital…
Clallam County WatchdogCheck your state rights at the door
With Olympic Medical Center limiting new patient intake, many Clallam County residents have turned to Jamestown Family Health Clinic—without realizing they are…
Clallam County WatchdogWhat happens when you normalize dysfunction?
What do boofing kits, broken tractors, and free meth pipes have in common? In Clallam County, they’re all taxpayer-funded. Dive into a local economy fueled by…
Clallam County WatchdogFlashback Friday
In 2019, Reps. Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger told residents that a new MAT clinic in Sequim would reduce crime and homelessness — dismissing critics as…
Clallam County WatchdogTaxed but turned away
Clallam County residents were told higher taxes were needed to save Olympic Medical Center—but now they’re being turned away from the very hospital they’re…
Clallam County WatchdogMillions for a few?
While Clallam County struggles to meet the basic needs of its residents, one small but politically powerful tribe received over $19 million in federal funding…
Clallam County WatchdogFirst Fed leadership changes raise questions
When a respected community bank quietly loses its CEO and top banking officer within days, pays out a six-figure severance, and posts the worst financial…
Clallam County WatchdogWho does government serve?
Despite overwhelming public support for ethics reform, Clallam County’s Charter Review Commission is again turning to government insiders instead of honoring…
Clallam County WatchdogWho speaks for the West End?
Despite overwhelming public support for restoring district-only voting in Clallam County, political maneuvering and delays threaten to keep the issue off the…
Clallam County Watchdog11 stories you won't hear anywhere else
This roundup pulls back the curtain on the stories slipping through the cracks — or being buried on purpose. From a major housing discrimination lawsuit in…
Clallam County WatchdogPay to play?
Clallam County Commissioners say they want public input — but is it only from those who pay to play? Despite repeated calls for open dialogue and a town hall…
Clallam County WatchdogWhose water is it, anyway?
Clallam County’s Charter Review Commission is pushing a deeply unpopular Water Steward proposal despite 70% public opposition — and instead of listening to…
Clallam County WatchdogSmooth sailing (for some)
Washington State is offering $4.75 million in electric boat grants—but you might be ineligible. Funded by the Climate Commitment Act, the new program is open…
Clallam County Watchdog$320K for "Harm Reduction"
As Clallam County struggles to fund schools, retain jail staff, and keep essential hospital services, officials are proposing a $100,000 increase to a harm…
Clallam County WatchdogCommissioners to award $800k to Habitat this week
Clallam County is poised to grant $800,000 in public funds to Habitat for Humanity—but key questions about transparency remain unanswered. Despite promises of…
Clallam County WatchdogSaving the hospital meant losing a voice
Voters stepped up to save Olympic Medical Center with a tax hike—but now the hospital is shutting out the public, hiding its finances, and quietly planning a…
Clallam County WatchdogInside the bond machine
Last month, questions were raised about whether the Sequim School District’s partnership with the Wenaha Group was more about selling a school bond than…
Clallam County WatchdogWhen "help" hurts
Free food. Free rides. Free housing. But who’s paying—and who’s watching? Clallam County’s spending spree is wrapped in compassion, but the price tag includes…
Clallam County WatchdogClallam County Lapdog
A recent column in the Sequim Gazette raises serious questions about the role of local media—publishing glowing praise for a costly, controversial public…
Clallam County WatchdogBillion-dollar bridge boondoggle
Local tribes and an NGO are exploring a costly and disruptive replacement of the Hood Canal Bridge—not because it’s failing, but because of concerns that it…
Clallam County WatchdogDelayed promises and rising prices
The long-promised Simdars Road Interchange was supposed to bring safer access and economic opportunity to Sequim’s east side—but now it’s delayed until at…
Clallam County WatchdogBlood quantum
As tribal bloodlines thin and policy debates grow louder, it's time to ask whether the boundaries we draw around ancestry still serve justice—or simply…
Clallam County WatchdogOPM (Other People's Money)
County Commissioners are poised to grant Habitat for Humanity $800,000 to support a housing project in Carlsborg—but questions remain. The nonprofit has sent…
Clallam County WatchdogWho’s in charge of the Dungeness Reservoir?
Who’s really in charge of the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir? County officials say Public Works is leading the project—but the County Charter, floodplain…
Clallam County WatchdogCrisis and contradiction: Are we on the right track?
Crime is rising, budgets are buckling, and public trust is wearing thin in Clallam County. While repeat offenders roam the streets and homelessness spreads…
Clallam County WatchdogVirtues, values, and a tale of two proclamations
While Sequim’s city leaders devote time to virtue-signaling proclamations for Pride and Juneteenth, they’ve stayed silent on the fatal assault of a local…
Clallam County WatchdogInside Clallam
From abandoned activist camps and political gatekeeping to unchecked tribal influence and public safety risks, this roundup dives into the contradictions…
Clallam County WatchdogThe Charter Review Commission thinks you’re the problem
The Charter Review Commission was supposed to represent the people—now it’s lecturing them instead. From dismissing public comments as partisan noise to…
Clallam County WatchdogWhen sovereignty meets incompetence
When the Jamestown Tribe breached a Dungeness River levee before Clallam County’s replacement was built, it triggered a $15 million emergency, real flood…
Clallam County WatchdogThe show he never got to have
He spent decades creating breathtaking art — but died before he could show it. Now, the Sequim community has a chance to give Richard Madeo the gallery opening…
Clallam County WatchdogSurvey of suspicion
The Charter Review Commission promised a public survey to “listen to the people.” Instead, it manipulated the questions, buried the results, and is now trying…
Clallam County WatchdogReservoir of power
The Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir is being managed as a public works project—but should it be? Clallam County’s own Charter says watershed planning belongs…
Clallam County WatchdogFive years later
Five years after protests and powerful promises of justice and “real change,” a closer look at water rights, tax policy, and tribal influence raises serious…
Clallam County WatchdogClallam in crisis
The lights are dimming in Clallam County. While our neighbors to the east are investing in jobs and industry, Clallam is downsizing education, turning its back…
Clallam County WatchdogPiped dry
A buried agreement proves Clallam Conservation District knew ditch piping could dry up wells—yet only the wealthy got mitigation while the public got silence…
Clallam County WatchdogWill Weneha win the Sequim Schools build bid?
Sequim voters passed a $145 million school bond to upgrade aging facilities—but was it also a payday for the consultants who helped sell it? The Wenaha Group…
Clallam County WatchdogHabitat for who, exactly?
Habitat for Humanity’s good intentions are clear—but as millions in public funding flow in and political partnerships deepen, the questions get harder to…
Clallam County WatchdogA county of contrasts
In Clallam County, justice, taxation, and opportunity increasingly depend on who you are—not what’s fair. See how violent crimes go unpunished, how tax dollars…
Clallam County WatchdogCanoes, culture, and county code
The Canoe Journey is a powerful celebration of Indigenous culture—but this year’s landing at Jamestown Beach highlights a deeper issue. While the Tribe isn’t…
Clallam County WatchdogDRMT to weigh in on Water Steward proposal tomorrow
A powerful coalition of government officials, tribal leaders, and environmental activists is advancing a controversial “Water Steward” position—potentially…
Clallam County WatchdogNeedles, name-calling, and no accountability
As Clallam County leaders push agendas around reconciliation, drug policy, and water rights, the tangled web of public spending, tribal influence, and…
Clallam County WatchdogCounty department becomes "reconciliation" program for "historic injustices"
Clallam County is spending millions to make drug use “safer”—handing out crack pipes, boofing kits, and Plan B while overdose deaths continue to climb. A…
Clallam County WatchdogDrought of rain, flood of cash
Washington’s annual drought declarations unleash millions in grants—but not for who you think. While rural homeowners face restrictions, the Jamestown…
Clallam County WatchdogPush intensifies for new bureaucracy
A “volunteer” water role is quickly becoming a taxpayer-funded office. Unelected insiders are drafting policy. Public questions are dismissed, critics…
Clallam County WatchdogBehind the curtain
What do spicy wings, skewed surveys, and million-dollar margins have in common? They’re all part of the strange saga unfolding in Clallam County.From a…
Clallam County Watchdog"Equity" at whose expense?
While Sequim schools struggle with failing test scores and declining enrollment, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is steering the curriculum toward cultural…
Clallam County WatchdogThe value of citizen sleuths
A known Level 3 sex offender was spotted lingering near young women at the Port Angeles Farmers Market—hours later, he was booked into jail for assault. One…
Clallam County WatchdogEvading accountability, tribal privilege, and the high cost of silence
From land grabs to hit-and-runs, housing failures to hidden agendas—ten stories that expose a growing pattern of double standards, vanishing oversight, and…
Clallam County WatchdogHappy Virtue Signaling Month!
I never expected to be silenced by the very groups that once stood for inclusion and free expression. But after speaking up for First Amendment rights…
Clallam County WatchdogFlooding, mapping, and a shakeup at Juvenile Services
It was a revealing week in Clallam County government, as Commissioners addressed flooding in Dungeness, advanced a new coastal mapping project with tribal and…
Clallam County WatchdogStories you won't see in the legacy press
A lot of great article ideas are sent to Clallam County Watchdog, but not all of them fit neatly into a full-length feature. That doesn’t make them less…
Clallam County WatchdogEquity for some?
Washington State is pouring millions into grant programs that are only available to tribal governments — bypassing equally struggling rural and low-income…
Clallam County WatchdogAnother victim steps forward
A young girl comes forward with chilling details about her year-long relationship with Aaron Fisher—the same man accused in the fatal assault of Richard Madeo…
Clallam County WatchdogThe new Pamphleteers and the illusion of consent
This Memorial Day, we ask: are we honoring the freedoms others died to protect—or quietly giving them away? Clallam County’s proposed “Water Steward” may sound…
Clallam County WatchdogRaise a glass to the new podcast
Cheers, Clallam County! We’re kicking things off with something new: the very first episode of the CC Watchdog Podcast is now live. It’s a little less…