Just as predictably as Santa leaves toys, not coal, on Christmas, journalists will compile a year-end list of top stories. On today’s front page, you’ll find our picks for the local top stories of the year. But before the ball drops in New York City, let’s take a look at some of the best, though not necessarily the biggest, news in our community this year.
• 7,500 new jobs: Although December numbers won’t be published until Jan. 23, by November, Clark County had added 7,500 new jobs over the year, or 4.8 percent. That compares with 1.4 percent job growth nationally, 3 percent in Washington, and 2.1 percent in the Portland metro area. The Ilani casino was responsible for a thousand or more of those new jobs, but construction, business and professional services and trade, transportation and utilities sectors were also red hot. No wonder the local unemployment rate in November was a slender 4.5 percent and less than 5 percent for the seventh month in a row.
• Waterfront construction: Also picked as one of the year’s top stories, this was the year that plans for the waterfront became construction on the waterfront. Four buildings are rising on the old site of the Boise Cascade paper mill, along with a waterfront park and trail. If Esther Short Park is the city’s living room, by next summer, the waterfront will be the city’s deck.
• New mayor: Tim Leavitt was a good Vancouver mayor, but Anne McEnerny-Ogle, elected in November as Leavitt’s successor, may be a great one. A community activist before becoming a city council member, she has the deep knowledge and working relationships that will serve the city well. And, as the first woman to serve as mayor in Vancouver’s 160-year history, she will be a fantastic role model.
