Pirates Invade Westport

Karmic Woodcarver

Chainsaw carver Sean "The Whittler" Brown sits next to a sculpture of the buddha he carved at his lot on State Street in Aberdeen Saturday. Two days ago Brown discovered that two of his pieces, a beaver and a blue heron, had been stolen. He's fairly sure who the culprit is, because a man had been hanging around last week asking about the beaver and told Brown "his mom liked birds," Brown said. Still, the artist has chosen not to involve the authorities, leaving justice instead to a higher power. "I'm just going to let karma take care of it," he added.

Waterpark Fun

Aberdeen has opened the new Finch Waterpark for the summer.

The Cosmo Mill

The crew at Cosmo Specialty Fibers works to re-spool newly-manufactured fiber through the machines after a brief shutdown. The stuff looks like thick paper and can be used in a variety of ways, from synthetic clothing to cigarette filters.

Fastpitch Celebration Shots

Contagious enthusiasm

Wipeouts

Role Playing Carnage

The local police department staged the aftermath of a fake drunk driving accident in the parking lot of Hoquiam High School, complete with a wrecked car, students as victims, emergency responders and ketchup for blood. Besides being great for photos, the event seems to really hit home for a lot of students, which is why PDs across the country continue to put these events on.

Turf Wars, Swallow Style

Tree swallows bicker over real estate at the Bishop Athletic Complex.

Unsafe at Second

He was OK

Booby

Wildlife rehabilitator Angie Messmer watches as the new addition to her menagerie of wild animals, a Brown Booby, stretches its wings in the the back room of the Hoquiam Licensing & Transportation Agency where she works. The bird was picked up from Westport fisherman Jeff Dungey, who said that the large, brown seabird jumped onto his boat while he and his crew were near Willapa Bay checking crab pots. The bird is typically found in more southern climates, like the Hawaiian Islands and the gulf of Mexico, making its appearance off the Washington coast highly unusual. Messmer says that there are a few options for the animal, including soliciting an airline to donate a round trip trip for a handler to return the bird. In the meantime, the booby continues to consume about 2 pounds of fish and squid per day.