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Here are some of the stories that grabbed our readers’ attention this week.
A Clark County Jail inmate died after being shot by a corrections deputy Thursday morning at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting was reported at 10:41 a.m. when at least one of two corrections deputies guarding the inmate fired their weapon and injured the inmate, who was in the hospital receiving care, sheriff’s office spokesman Fred Neiman said.
The situation, which took place in a patient room on the fifth floor of the Firstenburg Tower, was quickly brought under control. Within the hour, the hospital returned to normal operations, PeaceHealth spokesman Randy Querin said.
A Vancouver woman was killed and her 14-year-old son was injured Tuesday morning when a passenger train struck a car at a private rail crossing in Camas.
The crash occurred about 10:30 a.m. at the private crossing on Southwest Viola Street between Southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues, according to the Camas Police Department.
Maria G. Gonzalez Torres, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son, a passenger, was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, the police said.
Texting or holding a phone to your ear is already against the law for drivers in Washington, but soon they will be prohibited from doing all the other stuff some do while driving or sitting in traffic: checking Facebook, reading emails or anything else that requires them to hold their electronic devices while behind the wheel.
The measure, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday in Tacoma, prohibits holding an electronic device — including phones, tablets and other electronic gadgets — while driving, including while in traffic or waiting for a traffic light to change.
The measure was championed by Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center.
A U.S. Court of Appeals panel has reinstated the $9 million jury award to Clyde Ray Spencer, the former Vancouver police officer who spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
Spencer was awarded the multimillion-dollar verdict in February 2014, after a 14-day trial in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. But in August 2014, Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the U.S. District Court threw out the jury’s decision.
Spencer’s high-profile attorney, Kathleen Zellner of Chicago, appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. And Thursday, that ruling came out in favor of Spencer, reinstating the $9 million jury verdict.
A Portland corporation bought an east Vancouver retail center this month with payments of cash and seven single-family homes.
Kingsgate-Luxe Group-Blackstone, a Portland corporation, reportedly bought Heritage Plaza in east Vancouver with a “substantial” cash down payment and seven leased, single-family homes. The payment amounted to $6 million.
Property owner Gene Thompson said the deal was “pretty simple,” though not typical.
