| In our view, Nov. 8: Accepting Change » Sun, November 8 With typical humor and uncharacteristic tears, Royce Pollard stood before his friends on Friday and did something he's never had to do: concede political defeat. The... |
| Cheers & Jeers, Nov. 7 » Sat, November 7 Cheers: To downtown merchants and liquor wholesalers who have made a voluntary ban on sales of fortified beer and wine work. It wasn’t many years ago when downtown was an uncomfortable place, full of street alcoholics and the... |
| In our view, Nov. 6: Name Change? » Fri, November 6 Not every community discussion has to be a knockdown, drag-out that concludes — in the immortal words of Johnny Cash — with kickin' and a' gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer. Civil people can have civil conversations, as... |
| In our view, Nov. 5: Smooth Transitions? » Thu, November 5 Three crucial transitions will confront Vancouver's City Council in the next year, and there's no reason (other than the fickle volatility of politics) that these changes cannot occur smoothly. The first will be at the literal center of... |
| In Our View, Nov. 4: Leadership Shift » Wed, November 4 Call it the political equivalent of an upstart freshman shoving the senior cheerleader out of the spotlight. Tuesday night, Tim Leavitt took a commanding 1,750-vote lead over 14-year incumbent Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard. The poised and... |
| In our view, Nov. 3: Vote Today » Tue, November 3 No victor in today's Clark County election is likely to be named among Bill O'Reilly's "Pinheads and Patriots" or excoriated by Keith Olbermann as the "Worst Person in the World." That's because nary a single Republican or... |
| In our view, Nov. 2: Powerful Generosity » Mon, November 2 In a world that has no shortage of blustering, self-important billionaires, it's refreshing to witness one who lets his actions speak.Consider this: In 2007, the latest year for which information is available, the Bill & Melinda... |
| In our view Nov. 1: Power Worries » Sun, November 1 When it warms your shower water on a cold morning, electricity is a wonderful thing. But when there's talk of erecting 150-foot-tall towers in your neighborhood or on that dream retirement property you bought in the Cascade foothills and stringing... |
| In our view, Oct. 31: Cheers & Jeers » Sat, October 31 Jeers: To Skamania County Auditor Michael Garvison. Responsible for much more than running elections and selling auto licenses, auditors are charged with making sure public funds are spent appropriately. That makes more malodorous... |
| In our view, Oct. 30: Don't Blame Boeing » Fri, October 30 Our state's most influential leaders were not bashful about bashing Boeing's decision on Wednesday to open a second assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in Charleston, S.C. Gov. Chris Gregoire was disappointed and angry, and "I hurt for the... |
| In our view, Oct. 29: Spending Wisely » Thu, October 29 What happens in Vegas … can explode in the next election campaign.Four years ago, 1,580 Washougal voters wanted Stacee Sellers to become their mayor. They so voted for myriad reasons, but likely not because any of them wanted... |
| In our view Oct. 28: Quiet, Please » Wed, October 28 Residents along Evergreen Highway east of Interstate 205 apparently want to become part of the solution, and many of them are willing to pay for it. As Andrea Damewood reported in Sunday's Columbian, more than 80 percent of respondents to a city... |
| In our view, Oct. 27: Brand New Brand » Tue, October 27 Even when confined to just one or two words, it's easy to play word association with big cities: New York City = Big Apple; St. Louis = Gateway Arch; Denver = Mile High. A few cities even succeed with dual branding: San Francisco = Golden Gate... |
| In our view, Oct. 26: 10 Days Left » Mon, October 26 One of the many advantages of all-mail voting (whatever happened to that huge debate?) is the convenience of having almost three weeks to vote. Ballots were mailed on Oct. 14 for the Nov. 3 general election.But that convenience could... |
| In Our View, Oct. 25: Helping Veterans » Sun, October 25 It is human nature to seek easy answers. The more complex the issue, the more tempting it is to affix quick labels or punchy slogans, rather than exploring the depths of the reality. So it is that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., once found herself being... |
