A historic transformation is starting to unfold this summer along the banks of the Columbia River in Clark County.
Industrial land that for decades remained off-limits to public access is on the verge of a long-awaited rebirth in Vancouver and Washougal as the cities begin to transform their waterfront property. Meanwhile, efforts to redevelop what was once one of the most contaminated industrial sites in Washington along Ridgefield’s Lake River — a tributary of the Columbia — are also picking up steam.
After waiting out the pitfalls of the Great Recession, construction is finally well underway this summer on the 32-acre waterfront site in Vancouver. With more space to develop, the demand is finally there to build in Vancouver, said Barry Cain, the president of Tualatin, Ore.-based Gramor Development, which is leading the project.
Three Vancouver men who were allegedly shooting propane bottles have been arrested in connection with the Colvin Creek Fire, which burned forest land near Woodland this week.
Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies announced early Saturday morning they had arrested Michael J. Estrada-Cardenas, 22; Nathan C. Taylor, 21, and Adrian D. Taylor, 23, on suspicion of first-degree reckless burning, a felony. All are being held in the Cowlitz County Jail without bail, pending a first court appearance. In addition to jail time, under state law they could be ordered to repay the cost of firefighting efforts.
The fire began July 19. Deputies say the three men shot four 16-ounce propane bottles in a forested area off Frederickson Road, east of Woodland, on a day when temperatures reached the high 90s and it hadn’t rained in weeks.
With the air of a forewoman on a manufacturing line, 53-year-old Wendy Wimer operated a roaring machine at the Clark County elections office on Wednesday, occasionally barking out numbers to fellow staffers.
Wimer, standing on a step stool, watched a small screen on the hulking piece of equipment as more than 6,000 ballots wound their way through a maze of bands and loops. The machine sorted the ballots into precincts and scanned signatures under the watchful eyes of Wimer and other elections staff.
Wimer has worked in the elections office since 1995, back in the days of punch-card ballots. A lot has changed since then, and Wimer has been eager to learn every step of the way.
“My previous boss here used to call me his get-‘er-done girl,” Wimer said.
WASHOUGAL — It is a slick track when it is dry, the course at the Washougal MX Park.
A day of rain and racing made it even more treacherous at the 35th Peterson CAT Washougal National.
There were unpredictable rides. The best motocross riders in the world were falling, going off course, grinding, trying to find the right line.
So of course the guy who conquered it was Ryan Dungey.
It just had to be Ryan Dungey.
Or, if you prefer, Mr. Washougal.
Dungey put himself in position, then took advantage of a crash in front of him in the second moto to win the overall of the prestigious 450 class at the Washougal National, the ninth round of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. It is his seventh victory in Washougal in the past eight seasons.
A new Parkrose Hardware will be opening in a central Vancouver shopping center that is getting an upgrade as well as a new name.
The Parkrose Hardware will open at the center that until now has been known as Garrison Square, at East Mill Plain Boulevard and Garrison Road. The center’s owner, the Vancouver-based Killian Pacific development firm, said this week that the center will now be known as The Mill.
Parkrose Hardware will open the 16,000-square-foot store this fall following renovation of the building that until recently housed an Ace Hardware store. Killian Pacific did not renew the lease for the Ace Hardware store.
Killian Pacific said the original wood ceiling structure will be exposed as part of the building renovation. The store also will have a natural concrete finish floor, and energy-efficient LED lighting will be installed.
What the Rev. Brooks Berndt did for his Hazel Dell church, he now hopes to do for many more congregations in the United Church of Christ family: get them actively fighting for environmental causes.
Berndt, 38 — “Pastor Brooks” to his flock — will leave the Pacific Northwest at the end of this month to take a new activism job — National Minister of Environmental Justice — at UCC headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. It’s a natural continuation of his work over the last few years, as he’s led his First Congregational Church to demonstrate in public and to lobby policymakers in Olympia for left-leaning causes like stricter gun laws, marriage equality, labor empowerment and an end to the use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
“Christianity usually leads us to challenge the status quo,” he said. “That’s what Jesus was about, and I think that’s where our faith and values need to lead us.”
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