Need something to lift up your spirits during the holiday season? Trying to decorate in order to shake the COVID blues? Just need an extra roll of wrapping paper? Try the Liquidation Warehouse in Raymond. They carry many seasonal items along with food staples and other fun stuff.

Located at 350 Blake St., this little store is tucked away off Hwy 101 behind Dennis Company. The owner Nick Delin is sprucing up the store to encourage more holiday shoppers to come in and spend their money locally.

"So we purchased lots of inventory over the past few weeks, added more lighting, and shelf space," said Nick. "[We] added some new employees. We are working on the exterior trying to get signs painted."

Pacific County Health Department has received notice of 39 additional positive COVID-19 cases last week. This brings the total case count to 509 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Public health nurses are monitoring 47 active cases. Pacific County's average case rate per 100,000 population over the past 14 days is 351.

"You can see that our case rate per 100,000 has gone down considerably," said PCDOH Director Katie Lindstrom. Last week's case rate per 100,000 was 984.3 for 14 days. "[The case rate] is still very high, still about 4 times higher than the high-risk category, but much, much lower than the week before. It looks like we are moving in the right direction."

A violent two-car accident took place when one car crossed the center line and collided with another car at milepost 62 on Highway 101 near Butte Creek Road at approximately 6 pm Friday. The roadway was fully blocked for 3 hours and 45 minutes, and traffic was delayed for at least an hour, to allow Airlift Northwest to safely operate at the scene with two helicopters. Traffic had to be rerouted through Smith Creek Road and Butte Creek Road.

Vehicle one, driven by Aaron S. Larsen, 20, of Cosmopolis, was northbound when it crossed the center line and struck vehicle two, driven by Lorri K. Johnstone, 59, of Tumwater, who was driving southbound. Colin J. Johnstone, 26, of Tumwater, was a passenger in vehicle two.

So far two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have created COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA is fast-tracking approval on both of these vaccines with dates set for this month.

After approval, batches of vaccines will be sent out to the states who will then send it out to their counties. From there the vaccines will be given to the most vulnerable first.

"Looks like the first round may be out by the end of this month," said Pacific County Health Department Director Katie Lindstrom. "The first round is going to be prioritized for high-risk workers and health care settings and first responders. After that, the second tier will be people with underlying health conditions and are significantly high risk for severe illness from COVID and people who live in congregate settings or who work in congregate settings. And then tier 3 is going to be critical workers at high risk of exposure. Food processing is in tier three."

Christmas decorations are starting to go up and the season of giving has kicked off. This year is the 5th year for the Derik Nissell Toy Drive. Beginning in November each year, the toy drive gives people a chance to help out local children who all need a brand new toy to unwrap for Christmas.

The Derik Nissell Toy House was set up to honor lifelong South Bend resident Derik S. Nissell who passed away in his mid-twenties on February 29, 2016. Derik enjoyed donating toys to kids in need while he worked for the Westport Shipyard. The toy house continues this tradition.

"We were unable to hold any of our fundraisers this year due to COVID, which has impacted the number of toys that we have been able to purchase," said Joyce Kidd, Derik's mother. "We are hoping that the community will continue to support this event with toys or monetary donations. We have no overhead so every penny donated goes to purchase toys for our local kids. Even though times are tough, we want to continue to share Derik's wish that every child has a gift on Christmas morning."

Drop off locations
Raymond:

• Dennis Company
• 7th Street Coffee

South Bend:

• Pioneer Grocery
• Elixir Coffee Shop

If you need your donation picked up, call Joyce at 360-875-6473. Toys are picked up from the drop off locations by Thursday, December 10.

Last week the COVID-19 case count rose to 415 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. There are currently 197 active cases being monitored by public nurses. The current cases bring Pacific County to an average case rate of 1076.7 per 100,000 population over the past 14 days.

On Tuesday, November 24, 55 additional positive COVID-19 cases were reported to the Pacific County Public Health and Human Services. On Wednesday an additional 20 COVID cases were reported. Ten of the current cases have been hospitalized with all other individuals isolating at home. Case investigations and contact tracing are on-going.

"Pacific County has one of the highest rates in the state right now," said PCDOH Director Katie Lindstrom. "With our surge, we are close to 1000 cases per 100,000. It is really, really high. We figured that 1 in 100 people in the county are currently positive. More in certain areas than others. The majority can be tied to either workplaces or social gatherings."

Last week the data for positive COVID-19 cases reported in Pacific County took a huge leap. By Wednesday, November 18, 81 new cases were reported for a total of 246 cases. On Friday, 94 additional positive cases were reported for a total of 340 cases.

This puts Pacific County into the high-risk category with 859 cases per 100k for a rolling 14-day average. Six of the new cases were hospitalized with all other individuals being isolated at home.

On Wednesday, November 18, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held to dedicate the new Riverview Playground at the Grays Harbor College Riverview Center. Right to left: Kathryn Staats, Jewel Hardy, and Mike Geer-Wagenblast cutting the ribbon.

Sunday Afternoon Live sponsored a surprise outdoor performance in Raymond's downtown riverfront amphitheater on November 1. The audience assembled carrying their chairs to enjoy local musician Alfred Beattie playing classical and folk music on his viola during the hour-long concert.

As the flu surges so does the pandemic. If you have flu-like symptoms, you need to be tested to see if you may have been infected with COVID-19. On Tuesday, November 10, the Pacific County Public Health and Human Services received notice of four positive cases of COVID-19 in Pacific County.

The individuals are:
A male between 30-40 years old, linked to a workplace exposure
A female between 50-60 years old, linked to a workplace exposure
A male between 60-70 years old, linked to a medical screening
A female between 70-80 years old, linked to out of county travel

On Wednesday, November 11, six additional positive cases were reported.

The individuals are:
A female between 20-30 years old, linked to a workplace exposure
A female between 20-30 years old, linked to social interaction
A male between 30-40 years old, linked to social interaction
A male between 60-70 years old, linked to social interaction
A male between 70-80 years old, linked to social interaction
A Female between 40-50 years old, unknown exposure

All cases are isolating at home.