The Morning Press: A review of the week’s news

A look back at some of this week’s top stories:

I-5 Bridge listed as ‘fracture critical’

Both spans of the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Columbia River are considered “fracture critical” by the Oregon Department of Transportation, meaning if one crucial part of the bridge sustains a big enough blow, the bridge could collapse.

It’s a designation the bridge shares with many bridges in both Oregon and Washington, as well as the I-5 Skagit River Bridge that collapsed Thursday evening. The Oregon Department of Transportation, which is tasked with maintaining the I-5 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver, has released a fact sheet about Oregon’s bridges following Thursday’s nonfatal bridge collapse.

In it, the I-5 Columbia River bridge is categorized as a bridge without safety redundancies or backups that would prevent it from collapsing if part of a bridge truss is damaged or removed.

“If one of the fracture-critical pieces is somehow taken out, removed or fails in some way, the whole bridge could collapse,” Oregon transportation spokesman Don Hamilton said Tuesday. He declined to specify where the bridge would need to be damaged in order to collapse, because he didn’t want to make the bridge’s weak spots public.

Read the full story here.

County officials oppose fee waiver

Four Clark County elected officials say they are dubious of Clark County commissioners’ proposed plan to expand cuts to county development fees.

Republican Auditor Greg Kimsey, Democratic Treasurer Doug Lasher and Republican Assessor Peter Van Nortwick each expressed concerns at Wednesday’s board time meeting with commissioners.

John Fairgrieve, chief deputy to Democratic Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik, also spoke of concerns his office has in the matter.

Commissioners are preparing to consider a plan to reduce several development fees for business developments as long as the county’s unemployment rate was above the state’s level, where it has been since 2000.

The plan is a major part of first-term Republican Commissioner David Madore’s campaign promise to “open the floodgates” of jobs in Clark County.

The basics of the plan are to remove traffic impact and permit fees for non-residential county developments so long as Clark County lags behind the state average in jobs. But nothing in the plan is yet concrete as the plan moves to public hearing on June 11, and all three commissioners have made it clear they intend to introduce amendments to the proposal at that time.

Still, other elected officials say they have concerns over even the basics of such a plan.

Read the full story here.

Man found dead after car explosion in VanMall neighborhood

Investigators remain on the scene of a explosion that killed a man in a car in the VanMall neighborhood early Tuesday, according to the Vancouver Police Department.

Investigators are taking extra precautions to clear the scene due to various potentially dangerous chemical components involved.

“At this point in time, this explosion appears to be isolated in nature,” Vancouver Police Department Sgt. Kathy McNicholas said in a press release.

McNicholas said there are no known outstanding persons of interest and no reasons to believe that there is any danger to the community in relation to this incident.

She said police will not be able to release any further information on the incident until further notice.

The man was found dead in a vehicle after it reportedly exploded in the VanMall neighborhood early this morning.

Read the full story here.

Prosecution rests in Wolter murder trial

After six days of testimony, the prosecution rested today in the aggravated murder trial of Vancouver resident Dennis Wolter, who’s accused of killing his estranged girlfriend, Kori Fredericksen, with a knife in May 2011.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case in Clark County Superior Court with testimony from a Vancouver police homicide investigator and jailhouse calls by the defendant.

Two of the calls were played for jury today.

The defense’s case begins after the lunch hour.

Some of the words in the audio recording of the calls were unclear, but prosecutors gave the jury transcripts of the calls.

In one call on June 24, 2011, Wolter tells Jonathan Luepke that one witness “needs to understand there was nothing said.” The person he was referring to was Dannielle Williams, Luepke’s ex-girlfriend and Fredericksen’s stepson from a previous relationship, said Vancouver police homicide Detective Lawrence Zapata. Williams testified Thursday that while she was in custody for a probation violation, she spoke with Wolter outside the Clark County Jail. She said Wolter told her that he killed Fredericksen because she “narced on him.”

Zapata said he was concerned about Williams’ safety and arranged for her to be moved to the Skamania County Jail for her protection.

Read the full story here.

Some things you may have missed:

Weather accelerates strawberry-picking season, local growers say

It wouldn’t be a good idea to procrastinate this year on buying local strawberries for jam or preserves.

This year’s strawberries are already a delicious-looking red, and local growers advise buyers to head to the farm store or farmers market before it’s too late.

“Strawberries are coming in the earliest I have ever seen them in my life, and I have been growing strawberries since 1956,” said Joe Beaudoin of Joe’s Place Farms, 701 N.E. 112th Ave.

Beaudoin says his farm began picking on May 16, in sharp contrast to last year when only a few berries were ready to pick even by June 1.

The same is true at most other Southwest Washington berry farms. At Thoeny Farms in Woodland, picking began May 18, and the crop probably won’t stretch into July, said Erin Thoeny. Those who wait until school is out or — worse — the Fourth of July to buy berries may find themselves outwitted by nature, she said.

“People aren’t mentally ready to do jams and freeze,” said Thoeny, who sells berries at the Vancouver Farmers Market and other mobile locations. “If they wait, there won’t be any.”

Read the full story here.

Volunteer firefighter operates out of rural home in Bear Prairie

Pulling up to a blue, one-story residence in rural Bear Prairie, firefighter Frank Billington is met by a Little Tikes plastic car in the yard, a basketball hoop in the driveway and a burly golden Labrador-retriever mix wagging its tail as it approaches.

Opening the door to his vehicle, Billington said: “Welcome to Station 96.”

It’s not your typical fire station. There aren’t garage bays filled with 40-foot-long red firetrucks. There isn’t a large sign and an American flag standing outside. And, Billington said, “There’s no fire pole. One of the first questions I get is, ‘Do you have a fire pole in your house?'”

Billington, a 40-year-old man with jet-black hair, is a resident firefighter with East County Fire & Rescue. He lives with his wife, Wendi, and five of their six children at the agency’s Bear Prairie Fire Station — which is really a house. The firefighters call it “Fort Billington.”

“I like being out here. There’s something unique about it,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Neighbors triumph in long train noise fight

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt thanked a group of residents last week for having a quality essential to interacting with government: patience.

Talking to East Old Evergreen Highway Neighborhood residents, who first started asking in 2004 how they could get trains to stop blowing their horns at crossings, Leavitt acknowledged the long and tedious process.

“I’m sure it was an indoctrination for many of you into the sometimes very bureaucratic process to get something done, right?” Leavitt said. “And I know it was frustrating at times — and it’s frustrating for us up here at times, as well — to get some of these things done.”

At the meeting, the council unanimously approved the formation of a local improvement district so owners of 467 parcels near the Columbia River can pay for railroad crossing safety upgrades necessary to establish quiet zones at Southeast 139th, 144th, 147th and 164th avenues.

All crossings but the one at 144th Avenue are public.

To meet federal requirements, the crossings will be upgraded with new medians, extra lighting, signs and striping.

Read the full story here.

Runs promise summer fun in Clark County

If your upcoming plans include getting bombarded with multi-colored corn starch, following instructions from a mystery envelope or crawling under barbed wire — you just might be a Clark County runner.

Those are just a few options for the more than 15 running events coming to the area over the next three months.

The selections, which range from the blood-pumping Vancouver USA Marathon to the bizarre Color Me Rad 5K, where runners get coated in colored dust, are a testament to creativity. And all hold forth the promise of fun.

“For most people, exercise is a chore,” said Sherri McMillan, owner of Northwest Personal Training, which puts on the Summer Solstice Amazing Scavenger Race. “So a lot of these events try to make it more fun and interesting. If it takes your mind off the fact you’re working out, people are more likely to do it.”

In the scavenger race, which starts at 1011 Broadway at 6 p.m. June 22, participants will solve trivia clues that will lead them to 15 stations with physical or mental challenges over the course of about an hour and a half.

“At the start of the event we will throw up a bunch of envelopes, and each team will get a clue,” McMillan explained. “It ends up being about four miles of walking and running, along with whatever’s involved in the 15 stations. It’s very fun, and it’s very team camaraderie focused.”

Read the full story and see the schedule here.