Weather was the big story this week. Check out what is in store for the weekend with our local weather coverage.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the week:
Vancouver-area residents are plowing their way through one of the top 10 snow events in the past 100 years.
More than a foot deep in some places, it’s also a total that might approach the biggest accumulation since a snowstorm hit Clark County 67 years ago.
In a National Weather Service update of snow totals in and around Vancouver, the top figure Wednesday afternoon was 12.5 inches in Salmon Creek.
The report from the agency’s Portland office showed considerable variation around Clark County, from 3 inches in Washougal to 14 inches in Yacolt. But forecaster David Bishop affirmed that this week’s snowfall “was the biggest since 2008.”
Read more about a past big storms.
The state Supreme Court ruled against former county Councilor Tom Mielke Thursday, saying that his petitions to recall a majority of the council cannot move forward because they do not meet necessary legal or factual requirements.
In a unanimous decision, the state’s highest court affirmed a Superior Court judge’s determination to dismiss Mielke’s efforts to recall three of his former colleagues: Council Chair Marc Boldt and Councilors Julie Olson and Jeanne Stewart.
Read the report by the state Supreme Court.
With the Grant Street Pier months into construction, the city of Vancouver has turned focus to the park that will be the pier’s entryway.
The waterfront park, a 7.3-acre patch of land that will stretch from Grant Street to the cable-stayed pier over the Columbia River, will be built by Battle Ground-based Tapani Underground Inc. The company received the $9.9 million contract from Vancouver City Council Monday evening.
Development of the park will start “as soon as possible,” said Julie Hannon the city Parks and Recreation director.
Get more details on the new park at the waterfront.
For weeks, Larry Bremmeyer Sr. shrugged off his cough and runny nose.
Family members, friends and employees tried to get the 56-year-old Vancouver man to see a doctor, but he kept brushing off his illness as a common cold. In late November, Bremmeyer’s health took a sudden turn for the worse. And by the time he sought medical care, it was too late.
After spending five weeks sedated in the intensive care unit, Bremmeyer died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia. His family was stunned, unaware of how critical pneumonia can become for a healthy man in his mid-50s. Now they hope to educate others about the risks of the lung infection.
Learn more about the warning signs of pneumonia.
There are signs of life at the former Borders bookstore in east Vancouver. New York-based fitness company Crunch Fitness may move into the space.
Damion Clanton, a partner with the gym, confirmed last week Crunch has signed a lease agreement with property owners TMT Development. Terms were not disclosed, but Clanton called it “a fair deal.”
Barring any hiccups in the permitting process, the gym could open around spring, Clanton said.
Read about the company’s plans for the space.
First, there was the good news for Ginger Marcom: her name was pulled from the lottery for a coveted Section 8 housing voucher.
Then came the bad news: finding a place would be a lot more difficult than she thought.
Marcom, whom The Columbian recently featured in a series on homelessness in Clark County, is the single mother of two young daughters in Vancouver. She says she was evicted without cause from her home over the summer, and she has been struggling to get back on her feet since. She and her girls, 12-year-old Kaylynn and 10-year-old Emily, are staying with her sister while they look for a home.
Learn more about the struggles to escape homelessness.
