Our top stories of 2014

The Top 10

(with points)

1: County charter (59).

2: Oil/coal trains (51).

3: (tie) Commissioner Madore (48).

3: (tie) Legalized marijuana (48).

5: Columbia River Crossing (35).

6: Horrific Halloween (29).

7: Police officer shot (23).

8: Workplace shootings (22).

9: Sparks, Steakburger close (21).

10: Fatal snow-related I-5 crash (15).

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While its impact has yet to be felt, the Clark County charter topped The Columbian’s annual survey.

Newsroom staff members were asked to pick 10 stories from a list of 25 candidates, then select their No. 1 story. Thirty-five ballots were submitted; the charter was on 29 ballots, and it was the top pick on 10 ballots, resulting in 59 points.

Coverage of oil and coal shipments was on 30 ballots, and drew seven No. 1 votes for 51 points.

The Columbia River Crossing — the top story in 2013 and 2012 — made what should be its final appearance for a while at No. 5.

1. Clark County charter

Ratified in 1889, the state constitution spells out how county governments operate.

A 1948 constitutional amendment gave counties the option of changing that template, but voters in Clark County never saw fit to mess with anything until this year, when in November they approved a significant revamping of government by passing a home rule charter written by 15 elected freeholders.

Former charter attempts failed in 1982, 1987 and 2002.

The November ballot measure passed with 53 percent.

The “how” of the charter may not interest anyone except political geeks, but charter proponents emphasized the “why” in what turned out to be the season’s hottest political fight: Take the steam out of Republican Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke, who’d angered many people by giving a six-figure job to Republican state Sen. Don Benton (then subsequently paid $250,000 to settle an unfair hiring practices complaint) and highlighted how much power a two-person majority can wield.

The charter was championed by a mix of Democrats and Republicans, led by Auditor Greg Kimsey, Sheriff Garry Lucas, former Commissioner Betty Sue Morris, former state Sen. Joe Zarelli, former Vancouver City Councilor Pat Jollota and former Camas Mayor Nan Henriksen, chairwoman of the 15-member board of freeholders.

Madore, a millionaire businessman, spent more than $35,000 trying to defeat the charter, joining opponents who claimed on signs and in ads that the charter would transfer “unprecedented power to an unelected county manager not accountable to you.” They also claimed that a professional county manager would be a “downtown dictator.”

The day after the Nov. 4 election, however, no tanks rolled through downtown Vancouver.

As of Jan. 1, Mark McCauley, the county administrator, will be acting county manager. He’ll have executive authority over departments — despite a last-ditch effort by Mielke this month to establish some departments, including Benton’s, by ordinance. Two more commissioners, who will now be called councilors, will be elected in November 2015 and take office in 2016. The councilors will have limited ability to direct county staff, but will have the authority to hire and fire the county manager. The charter also cuts the council members’ pay nearly in half, an aspect of the charter Mielke dismissed with his usual succinct prose: “That sucks.”

2. Oil/coal trains

The proposal by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal at the Port of Vancouver continued to come under criticism as opponents regularly called on port commissioners to cancel the lease and as more neighborhood associations, citing safety, environmental and other concerns, took positions against the project.

The port urged critics to focus on the draft environmental impact statement that will eventually be issued by the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which has permitting authority over the Tesoro-Savage proposal. Tesoro and Savage, meanwhile, announced a new name for their joint venture: Vancouver Energy. The companies, touting new jobs and tax revenues, want to receive an average of 360,000 barrels of crude per day at the port.

The companies submitted their permit application to the evaluation council in August 2013. The council is expected to release the oil terminal’s draft environmental impact statement in May 2015. The public will then have an opportunity to comment on the draft. Eventually, the council will make a recommendation to Washington’s governor, who may approve or deny the project, or send it back to the council for more work. Parties may appeal the governor’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

3. (tie) Legal marijuana

Marijuana legalization had a rocky start after the first Washington stores opened in early July. Main Street Marijuana, Vancouver’s first recreational pot shop, opened to packed crowds and a street fair on July 9, with New Vansterdam following on July 11.

Both stores were plagued throughout the summer with shortages, which spiked prices to upwards of $40 a gram and caused random closures, sometimes for several days in a row.

As more growers were able to harvest crops, prices began to drop closer to $20 or $25 a gram. And both stores, along with the Cannabis Country Store, which opened in Battle Ground in November, haven’t had to close since late September.

Statewide, legalization had netted more than $13 million in excise tax by early December, and sales continue to rise steadily.

In the coming year, stores expect to see prices drop even lower and supplies continue to increase as the market normalizes. Oregon, which legalized marijuana in its November election, may impact the local Washington market when its first stores open, likely in 2016.

3. (tie) Commissioner Madore

In the second year of his four-year term, County Commissioner David Madore continued to take bold actions: He promised the public a toll-free bridge across the Columbia River at Southeast 192nd Avenue despite his total lack of authority to build one. He has threatened to cut funding to the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council because he doesn’t like the leadership elected by the majority of the council. He has continued to champion waiving county permit application and traffic impact fees for nonresidential development, despite Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey’s findings that costs of the fee-waiver program to taxpayers far outweigh the benefits.

Faced with the facts — such as the city of Vancouver owns 192nd Avenue and has no plans for a bridge on it, or that a comprehensive list of RTC leadership shows no negative patterns, or that the county has waived $7.8 million in fees to gain 115 jobs, most in low-wage food, consumer service or retail sectors — he soldiers on.

5. CRC project

The Columbia River Crossing project died for good in 2014, after an Oregon-led version of the proposed Interstate 5 Bridge replacement fizzled without enough political support or any state funding. The CRC began shutting down in March, and its downtown Vancouver office stood empty by the end of May.

The CRC spent close to $200 million in planning without ever turning a shovel toward construction. Opponents celebrated the demise of a project that embroiled Clark County in controversy for the better part of a decade. But divisions sowed by the CRC debate still linger in many political circles.

Despite its apparent death, the project has remained in long-range transportation plans. In December, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council approved a regional plan that lists a $3.3 billion “I-5 Corridor improvement project” that includes many of the same elements as the CRC. State officials have also said I-5 remains a priority, though political realities make a CRC revival unlikely any time soon.

6. Horrific Halloween

Four people died and five were injured in three separate incidents on Oct. 31.

A two-year neighborhood feud came to a violent end when John Kendall shot a neighbor in the face. Erich and Abigail Mounce — on their way to court — were stopped at a traffic light when Kendall pulled up next to their car and shot Abigail Mounce in the face. Kendall later killed himself after leading police officers on a manhunt.

Another man was wounded by SWAT officers who thought he was the gunman.

Later that day, Duane C. Abbott was accused of killing 7-year-old Cadence Boyer as she was trick-or-treating.

Abbott is accused of being impaired by marijuana when his 1967 Ford Mustang struck the girl; her mother, 32-year-old Annie Arnold; 30-year-old Chelina Alsteen; and 6-year-old Ava Carrodus at about 8:20 p.m. on a sidewalk along Northeast 112th Avenue in east Vancouver.

Finally, at about 9:45 p.m., two Mountain View High School students died in a high-speed car crash. William W. McCulloch, 17, was driving an Acura Integra, and Shaun M. Hvass, 18, was in the passenger seat when the car crashed into a pole on Northeast 136th Avenue and Fourth Street.

7. Police officer shot

Vancouver police Officer Dustin Goudschaal was shot seven times during a routine traffic stop in east Vancouver on June 30.

Accused shooter James T. Sapp was found dead in his jail cell on July 17.

Goudschaal, a motorcycle officer, stopped the black Ram truck that Sapp was driving near Northeast 34th Street and 162nd Avenue. Sapp shot him twice in the head, once in his ballistic vest and in his arm, shoulder and leg. Passing motorist James Bridger Jr. used Goudschaal’s radio to report that the officer had been shot. Another motorist, Earlene “Sam” Anderson, stopped and wrapped her scarf around a gunshot wound to Goudschaal’s neck.

Sapp’s death was ruled a suicide by hanging.

8. Workplace shootings

A murder-suicide took two lives on Feb. 3 and a VA official was wounded in his office on Feb. 4.

On Feb. 3, Robert R. Brown brought a weapon to a Benjamin Moore Paints warehouse at 1800 W. Fourth Plain Blvd. in Vancouver and killed logistics manager Ryan E. Momeny. Robert R. Brown, 64, a driver for the company, was found in his car in the parking lot, dead of a gunshot wound to the head.

On Feb. 4, former Veterans Affairs employee Deborah A. Lennon, whom authorities say was infatuated with a former supervisor, allegedly brought a gun to a VA office at the Center for Community Health in Vancouver. Allen Bricker was shot twice but managed to get away.

Lennon was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder; she remains in jail awaiting a January trial date.

Neil Burkhardt, who tackled Lennon, was recently awarded a Citizen Service medal by Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas.

9. Sparks, Steakburger

Sparks Home Furnishings (132 years) and Steakburger (58 years) closed their doors after a combined run of 190 years in business.

Sparks had been in downtown Vancouver since 1882, when Marshall Rowe Sparks came here from Iowa and opened a tinsmith shop. New owner Ryan Hurley is converting the furniture store at 1001 Broadway into a multi-use development.

Steakburger, with its adjoining miniature golf course, was a landmark at 7120 N.E. Highway 99 since 1956. It was removed to make room for a $5 million redevelopment, the first of which, a Panera Bread restaurant, opened this month.

A third longtime business, Luepke Florist, announced closure plans but was sold instead.

10. Snowy chaos on I-5

An Oregon man died in a massive snow-related crash on Feb. 6 on Interstate 5 that also injured seven people.

Twenty-eight vehicles, including tractor-trailers, were involved in the 10 a.m. crash near the Gee Creek Rest Area.

Matthew S. Scott, 39, of Tualatin, Ore., died in the collision, which dispatchers coded as a mass casualty incident.

A multiple-vehicle crash also was reported at I-5 southbound less than two miles away near the Northeast 219th Street exit. State troopers responded to scores of other weather-related crashes on I-5, Interstate 205 and state highways.

Aaron Corvin, Eric Florip, Stephanie Rice and Sue Vorenberg of The Columbian contributed to this report.

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THE YEAR IN LISTS

2014 runners-up: The second 11 in newsroom voting

11: County commissioners: Ed Barnes replaces Steve Stuart, and Jeanne Stewart overtakes Craig Pridemore in Nov. 4 election.

12: State agrees to $9.75 million settlement to five siblings who were abused by parents Jeffrey and Sandra Weller.

13: New Crestline Elementary replaces school lost in 2013 fire.

14: (tie) Veterans Day winds whip county: 65,000 lose power.

14: (tie) Fall chinook: Huge year for sport, commercial, tribal fishermen in the Columbia River; coho exceed expectations.

16: (tie) Riverfront and downtown development continues to take shape.

16: (tie) East County bridge proposed, and advisory vote passes.

16: (tie) Auto fatalities increase sharply: toll stands at 38 so far.

19: (tie) Local incumbents (mostly) rule on Election Day, and there’s a new sheriff in town.

19: (tie) Park Service solidifies Pearson Air Museum management as city declines ownership role.

19: (tie) Cowlitz Casino may be back in the game.

Online poll results: 2014’s top stories in an online reader poll

1: Charter passes, giving county new form of government.

2: Legalized marijuana implemented.

3: Columbia River Crossing shuts down in May after Oregon-led option fizzles.

4: Commissioner Madore’s influence in county affairs.

5: Oil trains and coal trains.

6: Three longtime local businesses end: Sparks (132 years), Luepke Florist (105) and Steakburger (58). *

7: New Crestline Elementary replaces school lost in 2013 fire.

8: VPD Officer Dustin Goudschaal shot 7 times on June 30; jailed suspect kills himself on July 17.

9: Halloween: 4 dead, 4 hurt in 3 events (plus a fifth injury with SWAT shooting).

10: County commissioners: Barnes replaces Stuart, and Stewart overtakes Pridemore in balloting.

A LOOK BACK

2013 top stories

1: Columbia River Crossing.

2: Don Benton hired by county commissioners.

3: David Madore exerts influence.

4: Crestline school fire.

5: Oil, coal shipments.

6: Same-sex marriage.

7: Shonny Bria-B.G. schools settlement.

8: Gun in school.

9: (tie) Pearson Air Museum dispute.

9: (tie) Affordable Care Act.

2012 top stories

1: Columbia River Crossing.

2: Same-sex marriage legalized.

3: Legal marijuana.

4: Election drama.

5: Condit Dam removed.

6: Economy.

7: Liquor sales privatized.

8: Jail suicides.

9: Coal trains.

10: Whooping cough outbreak.

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* After Luepke Florist closed, it was sold to a new owner who plans to keep the florist business alive.