Issued just before 5 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said that waves of between one and three feet could strike the West Coast. Locally, the tsunami could strike the Seaside area around 8:45 a.m.

County commissioners from the six counties in Senate District 16 appointed Rachel Armitage to fill the remaining year of former State Senator Betsy Johnson’s empty seat.

With cases of omicron skyrocketing, the Oregon Health Authority is taking a new approach to tracking new Covid-19 infections.

Neil Armstrong Middle School has joined Forest Grove High School in pausing in-person education as staff absences rise. “Our decision to pause in-person instruction is because we do not have sufficient staff to safely run classes at NAMS at this time,” FGSD Superintendent Dave Parker said.

A man is caught in a friction wheel in Scofield, a shoe shop is expected to open in Gales Creek, and more in this week's Dispatches from History: Western Washington County 100 years ago.

The Oregon Department of Transportation published an online open house featuring the state agency’s construction plans for Oregon in 2022. A number of projects will be in the Highway 26 corridor and near Banks, but for Gales Creek, most major construction projects fall just outside of the Gales Creek Journal's territory in and around Forest Grove. Here's what's coming.

A new Oregon law that went into effect January 1 allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to seven days after Election Day as long as they are in the mail and postmarked by 8:00 p.m. the day of the election.

Washington County will appoint a replacement for former State Sen. Chuck Riley, who resigned Jan. 1, and will join several other counties in appointing a replacement for former State Sen. Betsy Johnson, who resigned Dec. 15.

With 18% of school staff absent due to illness, Forest Grove High School will switch to remote learning beginning Tuesday through January 21. “To be clear, our decision to pause in-person is because we do not have enough staff to safely run the high school at this time,” FGSD Superintendent Dave Parker said. It's hoped that the move will keep other schools in the district from closing their doors.

The Oregon National Guard is once again on the move to help the state’s hospitals. The order to do so came Wednesday from Gov. Kate Brown ­– less than a month after Guardsmen had completed the largest in-state mobilization in history.

At 2:30 p.m., the Banks Fire District announced that the Washington County Sheriff's Office had officially suspended the search for a possible missing aircraft somewhere in the Tillamook Forest. "Ultimately there have been no reports of missing planes/pilots and no beacons or other signs of downed aircraft," Banks Fire said.

The Banks Fire District said that the search has been turned over to law enforcement. "The search vicinity is west of Banks and likely into Tillamook County," the agency said. "Thank you all for your reports and descriptions."

We'll be featuring state news from a new digital newsroom run by trusted journalists—a move giving us more time to focus our efforts locally in the New Year—tips on writing a letter to the editor as the political season ramps up, and more in this month's peek behind the curtain of the smallest newspaper in Oregon.

With ​high winds expected Thursday night and into Friday and the area under a mix of flood watches and advisories, those living in flood-prone areas should be prepared, the Portland office of the National Weather Service said. Sand and bags can be found across from the Forest Grove Fire & Rescue station in Forest Grove.

A wedding in Hillside, and New Year's greetings from Gales Creek and beyond. That and more in this week's Dispatches from History: Western Washington County 100 years ago.

Between snow levels rising and rain falling in the forecast, “expect rising river levels, with potential of some flooding,” starting Thursday morning, the Portland office of the National Weather Service said in a Flood Watch issued Tuesday afternoon.

The Oregon Health Authority has ordered 6 million home test kits to be given away free to help detect the coronavirus, the agency announced Thursday. The kits, each containing two tests, will be sent to health agencies, schools and community organizations to distribute. They also will go to farm and agricultural workers, health care workers, shelters and early learning centers.

As families across the state gear up for Christmas and finalize travel plans, the Portland office of the National Weather Service is warning that snow and freezing temperatures are increasingly likely beginning Friday, Christmas Eve for higher elevations and lower elevations later this weekend.

Oregon is facing a surge from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that by early February could put twice as many people in the hospital as the Delta variant, state officials announced Friday.

Johnson, who left the Democratic Party in October to launch her campaign to become Oregon's next governor said in a video shared Tuesday that she would resign as state senator to ensure her constituents had someone fully dedicated to representing them.

Oregon lawmakers during a special session on December 13 voted to pass a series of bills approving more than $400 million in spending to protect farmers, tenants and landlords, and to increase law enforcement in rural areas.

Starting today, the Gales Creek School Library will open on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. following a nearly two year closure.

The son of Asa Ellsworth Westcott, a state representative and Banks resident, runs away from home and is found in Bend, a Sunday school in Gales Creek is booming, and Timber residents seek to better their roads. That and more in this week's Dispatches from History: Western Washington County 100 years ago.

A new strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been reported in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. The World Health Organization dubbed the new variant "Omicron" today. Little is known yet about the new strain.

We're returning to January, 1928 in Esther Lilly Hundley’s personal diaries which chronicle her life on the family’s original homestead and farm in the Fir Creek community of Gales Creek from 1928 to 1960.

Adverse winter weather at mountain passes, impaired drivers, and more could face travelers as they hit the road this weekend.

In a tradition the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) dubbed “Green Friday,” a $5 parking fee is waived at more than two dozen parks Friday, November 26.

Those attending local dances in Gales Creek are asked to leave the moonshine at home, Banks' American Legion Post helps form a county-wide organization, and some impressive potatoes are unearthed in the Fir Creek community near Gales Creek. That and more in this week's Dispatches from History: Western Washington County 100 years ago.

Following recommendations from the FDA, CDC, and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, Oregon Governor Kate Brown gave the go-ahead to open eligibility for booster shots to all adults in Oregon Saturday.

Vaccine booster shots could soon be available for adults in Oregon, pending approval from the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup and Oregon Governor Kate Brown.

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) issued this week a quarterly economic forecast predicting higher wages increasing projected tax revenue will allow the state to recover more quickly from the recession.

Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said that six out of 36 people in a school bus involved in a crash near mile marker 35 on Highway 6 Friday morning were transported to area hospitals. After a closure, the highway reopened after 11:30 a.m. to one lane of traffic.

The Oregon Department of Transportation announced that beginning January 1, 2022 fees for renewing vehicle license plates, getting new trip permits, and applying for vehicle titles would increase by 3 percent.

Chief Jim Geering, who began work Wednesday, will serve as the head of many of western Washington County’s fire agencies and districts, including Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District, which counts Gales Creek in the district's bounds, Cornelius Fire Department, Cornelius Rural Fire Protection District, and the Gaston Rural Fire Protection District.

Supply chain disruptions continue to impact county road work projects. As winter approaches, the Washington County Department of Land Use and Transportation warned that a number of materials could be delayed, including liquid magnesium chloride, an anti-icing agent, but that enough had been stockpiled to last the winter.

Free Fishing Weekend will return to Oregon on Friday and Saturday, November 26 and 27, the last of three such "Free Fishing Weekends" to be held in 2021. Hagg Lake is expected to be stocked with 4,000 legal-size trout this week.

A Buxton man and World War 1 veteran is laid to rest after an illness fells him at age 32; fortunes are told in Gales Creek; a Gaston man sends his truck flying near Dilley. That and more in this week's Dispatches from History: Western Washington County 100 years ago.

Oregon State Police are seeking public assistance in two poaching cases in Tillamook County that both happened in the first half of November. It was not clear if the cases are considered connected.

Washington County’s mobile vaccine clinic will hold three school-based vaccination clinics which will include vaccines for students in the newly eligible age bracket of five to 11 years old in western Washington County this week.

A new business in the Gales Creek area will host a holiday market featuring vendors, music, a food cart, and more Sunday, November 14 to introduce their farm and event space to the community.