In Our View: Cheers & Jeers

Cheers: Work is progressing on Vancouver’s Waterfront Renaissance Trail, and the 5-mile-long path that serves to connect Vancouverites with the Columbia River is expected to be completely open in January. Portions of the trail have been closed since high water levels caused erosion more than three years ago, and the renovation has been delayed while city leaders worked to find money in the budget for the repairs.

The second phase of the reconstruction is underway, with designers creating a shoreline that curves in and out while also using heavy woody material for enhanced protection for the waterfront. Completion of the project will serve as a conduit between residents and the river that has long defined this region.

Jeers: Well, they sure missed on that one. In the wake of the National Weather Service predicting that a “snow-vember” event would engulf the metro region, local news outlets spent Wednesday evening breathlessly providing coverage. TV stations offered “Storm Team Coverage,” the weather service said snow could reach 4 to 6 inches and a headline in The Columbian read, “Snow threatens county.” Vancouver Public Schools — and some other districts — decided Wednesday evening that the start of classes would be delayed by a couple hours Thursday, which later left VPS spokeswoman Pat Mattison Nuzzo to explain, “Yesterday, the meteorologist we work with was so confident about an incoming weather system that we went ahead and made a decision yesterday.”

As we know by now, there were plenty of cold temperatures and a little rain, but nothing like the “snowpocalypse” that was predicted. Forecasts are nothing more than predictions, and predictions sometimes are off the mark. But the so-called experts missed this one by a country mile.

Cheers: The idea of service is ingrained for America’s veterans, so it is logical for that service to be extended from defending the country to providing assistance for others. Several local veterans joined roughly 150 teen volunteers on Veterans Day to help with projects to feed the hungry at the Clark County Food Bank.

“If this is what gets them started thinking about things bigger than themselves, that’s great,” former Air Force pilot Mike Burton told Columbian reporter Scott Hewitt about the young volunteers. “Community service is really important to veterans, and I’m glad it’s important to them, too.”

Jeers: We’re not certain there is a cheer to be handed out here; after all, business is business. Yet it’s always sad to see a local company close, particularly one that has been part of the community for more than a century.

Luepke Florist has been in Vancouver at 13th and Washington streets for 105 years, since being founded by Frank and Edla Luepke in 1909. Now, Alan and Maria Adler — who have owned the shop for about a decade — have announced intentions to close the store. As they have been unable to find a buyer for the shop while the flower industry undergoes rapid changes, the Adlers’ decision is understandable. But it’s still lamentable for longtime residents.

Cheers: This past week — Tuesday, to be exact — marked the official 125th birthday of the state of Washington. On Feb. 22, 1889, Congress had passed a law enabling the Washington Territory to become a state, along with North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. Statehood was declared official on Nov. 11 of that year.

Washington, at the time, had a population of 350,000: fewer people than reside in Clark County today. We have come a long way since then.