Sun? Rain? Who knows? Check out our local weather coverage.
Here are some of the stories that grabbed our readers’ attention this week.
HOCKINSON — Makena Nelson never thought of herself as the type of student who could jump up and scream in front of the entire second grade. But she found herself doing just that when a friend choked on his lunch.
Makena, 8, and Kaylin Oliver, 7, second-graders at Hockinson Heights Elementary School, were eating lunch in the cafeteria on May 5. Their friend tried to eat a large potato chip, but it went down his throat at a bad angle, and he started choking. He put his two hands up to his neck, and his face quickly turned red.
“He was gasping for air and nobody else even noticed,” Kaylin said.
The robbery of a Vancouver credit union ended in the suspect’s death Tuesday after he traded gunfire with police.
A man reportedly wearing a ski mask and holding a rifle entered the iQ Credit Union at 15705 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. about 2:20 p.m., Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said. The robber fled with an undisclosed amount of cash in a white vehicle, then drove to a nearby parking lot. There, he switched vehicles and drove away in a blue vehicle.
As rents continue to rise in Clark County, so does the wage needed to afford one. A full-time worker needs to earn $18.19 hourly to afford a studio apartment, $20.25 for a one-bedroom or $23.88 for a two-bedroom, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Out of Reach Report.
“Affordable” means rent is no more than 30 percent of a renter’s income, but more than half of Clark County renters devote a larger chunk of their paychecks toward rent.
Papa Murphy’s will close 16 of its company-owned stores and give its online sales strategy an upgrade, the Vancouver-based pizza company announced Monday morning.
The company didn’t name the stores to be closed but said they will be in “several markets.” Company-owned stores are separate from Papa Murphy’s 1,357 franchise locations.
In the announcement, Jean Birch, chairwoman and interim CEO, said the company has “a clear opportunity to reduce short-term losses while giving new owners a more profitable portfolio from the start.”
River Maiden Artisan Coffee is looking for a new home after lease negotiations with its landlord fell apart, the coffee shop announced this week. Its last day is June 21.
The closure comes after weeks of back-and-forth negotiating between the coffee shop at 602 N. Devine Road and property owner Highland Square LLC. Aaron Flies, who co-owns River Maiden with his partner Melissa Layman, said the landlords wanted to raise rents 41 percent and require a 10-year lease.
Flies and Layman said they were fine to pay more rent, but the cafe industry’s free-flowing trends made them reluctant to lock into a decadelong lease.
