There can be no better showcase of the importance of voting than the Ocean Beach Hospital bond, with its fate hanging by as little as a single vote out of more than 5,500 cast.

As of this writing, the bond is failing by three-100ths of a percent — just an eyelash short of the required 60%.

With around 40 ballots remaining to be added to the tally this week, it’s still just barely possible that it might squeak by. If there are any nail-biters among the bond’s most dedicated supporters and opponents, they may need to stock up on Band-aids before this Friday’s final tally.

Close may only count in horseshoes, hand grenades and teenage crushes, but it’s impossible not to sympathize with the frustration hospital leaders and personnel must be feeling. If the bond does fail, the board will obviously have to decide when and how to try again. The Chinook Observer will keep a close eye on all of this for you.

Last week’s other major ballot issue provided elected officials with an indication from citizens about whether they want to end the sale and use of consumer fireworks in the city of Long Beach and the peninsula’s unincorporated areas.

A ban looks likely in Long Beach. But county commissioners didn’t get the super-majority 60% pro-ban vote they said they required for unincorporated areas. This could result in the mess of a ban in Ilwaco and Long Beach, but no ban in Seaview and north of Long Beach. And then there’s the separate important question of what Washington State Parks decides about fireworks on the beach itself.

As with the hospital bond, fireworks will undoubtedly be the subject of many more news stories in the months ahead — including some in the May 3rd edition.

Thank you for reading the Chinook Observer. We are a community project that relies on you.