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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:
A key state official’s internal review last December of the proposed oil transfer terminal at the Port of Vancouver reveals deep concern from regulators about the project’s potential negative impacts on public safety, the local environment and global climate change. Washington state Assistant Attorney General Ann Essko also said in her confidential review that the joint venture’s preliminary draft environmental impact statement, submitted to support its application for state approval, “fails to demonstrate full compliance” with the state Environmental Policy Act.
The analysis by Essko, a central component of the state’s regulatory review of the highly controversial project, questioned whether Vancouver Energy, the partnership of applicants Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos., had seriously considered alternatives, including transporting the oil by truck or choosing another location for the terminal. And it challenged statements by the companies that the project will reduce U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources. The repeated statement in the companies’ initial draft impact analysis “that Tesoro will ship crude to refineries on the West Coast appears to be misleading, as is its attempt to invoke the nation’s energy independence as a justification for the project,” wrote Essko in her 12-page review of the companies’ draft analysis that was sent to the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.
The memo was linked to a document released to The Columbian in response to a public records request. It reveals a scathing legal examination of the draft impact analysis submitted by Tesoro, a petroleum refiner, and Savage, a transportation company. The companies want to receive by rail about 360,000 barrels of crude per day at the port. They say the oil would then be transferred to marine vessels and sent down the Columbia River en route to West Coast refineries.
The companies’ initial draft environmental impact study provided the basis for the evaluation council to develop its own inspection of the oil terminal’s impacts on air, land and water.
The small, cream-colored Jindo pulled on the leash, hesitant to walk down the hallway and out the door toward the unknown. All the 5-month-old puppy had ever known was her kennel at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, the shelter’s fenced yard and before that, a Korean dog meat farm.
Eventually, adoptions counselor Shayla Saldano scooped up the pup to bathe her before handing her off to her new family. Seoul — named after South Korea’s capital city — is the first of 25 dogs at the shelter to get adopted after being rescued from South Korea in August.
On Saturday, Autumn and Jeff, who asked that their last names not be used, got instructions on how to care for their new family member.
“Just remember, everything is going to be new to her,” said Mary Clayton, adoption supervisor.
Dog ownership is new for Autumn, who’s been wanting a canine running companion.
“I had that gut feeling that she would be the perfect first dog,” she said.
“She went in and said, ‘I want that one,’ ” Jeff said. “It was pretty fast.”
Jeff, who works at Waste Connections, heard about the Korean rescue dogs during the Humane Society’s annual auction. After meeting Seoul and realizing the challenge they would be taking on, the Vancouver couple thoroughly researched the breed before making their decision.
The local legal community is rallying support for Clark College’s paralegal program, which is slated to be eliminated as part of proposed budget cuts.
Judges, attorneys, court staff and paralegals in Clark County are among a growing number of those who have signed a petition in support of keeping the program alive.
“The quality of education that the paralegals get there is (excellent) bar none,” said Superior Court Judge Gregory Gonzales, who signed the petition and is encouraging others to do the same.
Gonzales, who previously taught at Clark College as an adjunct professor, said students are learning from working lawyers.
“They’re giving the students a very practical education of what will be expected of them when they graduate,” he said.
Under the supervision of a lawyer, paralegals are trained to assist with various tasks including research and legal writing and documentation. Clark College’s paralegal program is one of a number of programs slated for the chopping block to reduce the college’s budget by $2 million. Other programs include humanities, medical radiology, nursing assistant program, surveying and geometrics, fitness training, addiction counselor education, French, German, and reading.
The proposed cuts are a response to decreases in state funding and declining enrollment, which the college reports has fallen 19 percent over a four-year period as the recovering job market drew would-be students into the workforce. The final budget proposal is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 30.
The operators of Oregon’s largest casino, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, have purchased a former greyhound racetrack in Wood Village, Ore. The announcement immediately fueled new rumors about whether a casino will be built on the property.
Tribal officials announced the purchase of the former Multnomah Greyhound Park on Thursday, saying they bought the property to ensure that no competing casino will be built there, The Oregonian reported.
“I wouldn’t say we would never do gaming there,” said Justin Martin, a Grand Ronde lobbyist, adding that the tribe could go in that direction if the “face of gaming changes in Oregon.”
The Grand Ronde, owners and operators of Spirit Mountain Casino southwest of the metro area, have opposed plans by the Cowlitz Tribe to build a casino resort along Interstate 5 west of La Center. The Cowlitz casino would be much closer to most of metro Portland than Spirit Mountain, which is more than an hour’s drive away for most residents.
The greyhound track closed in 2004 and the 31-acre site near Interstate 84 in the heart of Portland’s east metro area has since been eyed by developers as a casino site. The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde effectively campaigned against those efforts. The property is within the historic homelands of the Cascade and Clackamas Chinook tribes (both of which are confederated at Grande Ronde), which gave up the territory to the United States by treaty in 1855, according to a tribal press release issued Friday.
The name of the club is Happy Hoppers, and in Danny Williamson’s case, it is literally true. You can’t miss the way Williamson adds his own gleeful bobs and bounces, struts and skips to the moves crooned by the caller.
“I think square dancing is the greatest thing on Earth,” said Williamson’s wife, Carol, who said she and Danny got into it about five years ago because they needed to lose weight. A long-haul truck-driving lifestyle was doing their bodies no good, Carol said, and Danny’s doctor’s harangues eventually culminated in a warning that if he didn’t get in shape soon, his inevitable dance partner would be an oxygen tank.
So the couple became Happy Hoppers. That’s one of Clark County’s premier square dancing clubs, offering dances on the first and third Saturday of each month, and cycles of lessons at every level starting on the first Monday night each month. All hopping takes place at the Clark County Square Dance Center, at 10713 N.E. 117th Ave. in Brush Prairie.
Carol Williamson said she used to weigh 250 pounds but has dropped at least 50 since she and Danny started dancing, here and elsewhere, five or even six nights a week.
Such frequency doesn’t appear unusual. Organizers Tom and Liza Halpenny do some sort of folk dancing four nights a week, Tom said. He’s retired from Hewlett Packard; Liza works part-time and teaches folk dance throughout the region.
“It’s social and it’s healthy. It’s a great way to connect with people. Our thinking is, it’s our health care plan,” Tom said.
