What’s on tap for this week’s weather — Rain or shine? Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:
With voter turnout at 25.69 percent as of Friday’s ballot count, it’s hard to think of last week’s primary election as a pivotal moment for Clark County. But it may have been.
The voters who filled out their ballots set the new county charter — think of it as a county constitution — further down the road to implementation. They also eliminated all three current county councilors from contention to be the group’s first chair.
Though the election isn’t due to be certified until Aug. 18, there are already at least five obvious takeaways from this year’s primary. It’s likely the savvier candidates will heed these lessons as they prepare for Nov. 3.
See what the 5 takeaways are.
Killians look long-term, focus on local
Clark County was still largely a rural community, dotted with farms and forests, when the founder of Killian Pacific decided to get into the development business more than 40 years ago. Interstate 205 had not yet been built, and the county’s population was just one-third of what it is today.
“And you could actually borrow money at a bank without being wealthy,” George Killian said, as he reflects on the company he’s spent a lifetime building, a business that has helped to bring about many of the changes that have reshaped Clark County into the bustling urban and suburban network of neighborhoods, roads and businesses that define the community today.
At age 68, Killian is still chief executive of Killian Pacific, engaged in the big picture and strategy as his son, 44-year-old Lance, heads daily operations. The two say they see eye to eye on the business and that they both believe in thinking long term, staying local and choosing to stay relatively small so they can remain close to their roots. George said he has no plans to retire, and Lance said he values working with his dad.
Learn more about Killian Pacific.
Clark County Fair serves up tradition on first day
RIDGEFIELD — Surounded by his family, 3-year-old Colt Potter gobbled down bites of pancakes and yogurt at the Clark County Fair.
Colt, whose cheeks were stained with sticky syrup, was the youngest member of the Potter clan, and he joined a tradition predating his birth by more than a decade. The family — made up of grandparents John and Kathy Myers, their daughter Colleen Potter and Potter’s three children, Colt, Brooke, 6, and Luke, 7 — have been attending the pancake breakfast since 1998.
“It’s part of Americana,” John Myers said of the fair, which kicked off its 10-day run Friday.
Colt, meanwhile, was most excited to ride the “loop-de-loop,” translated by his mother as the children’s roller coaster.
Read more about the pancake kick-off and follow all of fair coverage. Also check out Toni Woodard’s blog, “It’s the Fair!”
With only three artists participating in this year’s Summer of Murals contest, everyone took home a check.
Friday evening, the Clark County Mural Society doled out $7,000 in prize money donated by local businesses to the three winners at the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce.
Taking the first prize of $3,000 was artist Guy Drennan, who transformed a huge wall at The Columbian newspaper office into a nostalgic Norman Rockwell-type scene featuring a paper boy on a bicycle followed by a dog. In the background are graphics of The Columbian’s vintage mastheads. Drennan, who has painted several other murals around town, also won the People’s Choice $500 award.
Find out the rest of the mural contest winners.
There is only one way to stay in shape for water skiing, Scott Thompson likes to say.
Water ski.
The 67-year-old would know. Nearly every day, he skims over the water in a private water-skiing lake in Yacolt.
Water skiing is an adrenalin junkie’s sport, he said. It’s addictive and intense — and to be good, it requires discipline.
He has no intention of ever trading in his ski for a set of golf clubs. But for him, water skiing has always been more than about clearing the next buoy.
It’s also about family.
Along with his wife, Mary, who was his high school sweetheart, Thompson bought his first ski boat in 1969. He had recently returned from Vietnam, where he earned a Purple Heart, and was approached by a soldier trying to sell his aluminum ski boat. It was the winter in Kansas; ice lined the lake.
Read more about water skiing on private lakes.
Market Fresh Finds: Suggestions for satisfying, delicious sweet corn
Locally grown sweet corn has arrived, providing a healthy way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Selective breeding of corn varieties allows us to enjoy many sweet and colorful varieties of corn. Popular varieties include Ambrosia, Delectable, Kandy Korn, and Silver Queen. Technically classified as a grain, sweet corn is harvested immature and enjoyed as a vegetable. Each stalk yields one to two ears of white or yellow corn, or a combination of the two.
Corn originated in southwestern Mexico 8,700 years ago. Though numerous varieties of sweet corn exist, there are only three main types that each of these varieties fall into: standard, sugar-enhanced or super sweet.
Standard sweet corn has the traditional tender and creamy sweet-corn texture and flavor with 5 to 15 percent sugar. Once picked, these quickly lose their flavor. It is recommended to have the water boiling before picking.
Learn more about summer-favorite corn in our weekly Market Fresh Finds column.
