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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the week:
Another of La Center’s cardrooms is folding.
The New Phoenix Casino will close Sunday. Casino spokesman John Bockmier said the casino, which opened in 1991, could no longer withstand diminishing sales and an exodus of employees.
“Our labor pool is diminishing,” he said. “We have employees leaving us and going to (Ilani Casino Resort). It’s a very skilled job. There are a limited number of people who can do it.”
Employees were told Wednesday, he said.
U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, announced Thursday morning she would not support House Republicans’ proposed Affordable Care Act replacement bill.
“I remain steadfast in my commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare with health care solutions that better serve all residents of Southwest Washington. But we can do better than the current House replacement plan, and I cannot support it in its current form,” she said in a statement.
The son of a woman twice convicted in a 2013 crash that cost a Battle Ground teen his right leg is wanted in connection with a February hit-and-run crash that injured a pedestrian in the Minnehaha area.
That pedestrian, Paul P. Adams, will lose his lower left leg, his mother, Nancy Peterson, told The Columbian from the hospital Friday. He is scheduled for amputation Monday. It’s possible his right leg will also need to be amputated, she said.
BRUSH PRAIRIE — Ever since the winter rains began falling, Larry Johns’ mornings have been filled with dread. Each morning, he said, he looks out of the window of his house, located at the end of 130th Avenue just north of Vancouver, worried that waters from a nearby pond will have completely flooded his property, rendering it worthless.
When he purchased the 5-acre property in 1988, there was a small duck pond on its southern end. Over the last two years, he said, it’s gotten bigger each rainy season. This year, Johns recalled how the pond grew with murky, gray-colored water after a rainstorm, and how the pond grew and crept to within 30 feet of his house. Johns, a retired maintenance worker, dug a hole near his shop, which he said quickly filled with water.
Lisa Feder recalled how the workday was winding down on March 10 at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington when she received a phone call about a situation that was both adorable and urgent.
Feder, the Humane Society’s vice president for shelter operations, said that on that Friday afternoon, Clark County Animal Control contacted the nonprofit regarding a family (she doesn’t know their name) who found themselves overwhelmed and ready to surrender their 23 chickens, 21 guinea pigs and 107 rabbits. The county contracts with the Humane Society for sheltering services, and Feder said that it helps out with animal hoarding situations that periodically arise.
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