It’s shaping up as a gorgeous workweek weather-wise. When will the rain return? Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:
A lot of people helped Christina Gay move forward in life.
Now it’s her turn. Earlier this month, she was helping a patient take his first steps down a hospital hallway following surgery.
It’s a situation Gay has seen from both sides, first as a cancer patient and now as a nurse.
“To understand what it’s like to be in that bed and not know what’s going on: It helps me when I explain something,” Gay said. “I have a little more empathy.”
Gay was part of a program that began in 1995 to help children attending four Vancouver elementary schools. Gay and about 75 classmates at Hough Elementary were tapped in 1997.
She now is a nurse at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
Read the full story: Cancer couldn’t derail this ‘I Have a Dream’ alum’s goal to be a nurse
A small propeller airplane on a training flight out of Pearson Field Airport made an emergency landing at about 4:50 p.m. Saturday on state Highway 14, westbound at Milepost 3 near downtown Vancouver.
Nobody was injured and the airplane was moved onto the right shoulder of the road almost immediately. State police and Clark Country Sheriff’s deputies were on hand within minutes. The right lane of the highway was partially blocked.
“We don’t need any medical assistance. Everybody’s fine,” was heard on the emergency scanner in The Columbian newsroom.
Read the full story: Airplane makes emergency landing on Highway 14
Over the last few years, Vicki Fitzsimmons has watched the changes that have occurred at the empty lot at the intersection at Northeast 117th Street and Highway 99.
Fitzsimmons, who lives nearby and serves as president of Sherwood Hills Neighborhood Association and other community groups, said it was first an open lot covered with trees and shrubs. Then the owner cleared the lot, leaving a big pile of trees that she said some neighbors worried would catch fire during a particularly dry summer. She said the trees were later cleared and the lot graded. Now, it holds a big pool of water.
The slow pace of development on the lot has prompted some readers, like Jo Turpin, to wonder exactly what is going on with the property at the busy intersection. They’ve submitted those questions to our Clark Asks feature, where readers ask questions for reporters to dig into and answer.
Read the full story: Clark Asks: What’s planned at parcel on N.E. 117th, Hwy. 99?
Marty Snell has abruptly resigned as Clark County’s director of Community Development, a county department that oversees licensing and code enforcement as well as the troubled Permit Center.
Interim County Manager Jim Rumpeltes said in an email that Snell submitted his resignation effective Friday, “to pursue other opportunities.”
“The County is in the process of determining an Interim Director with an anticipated announcement early next week,” said Rumpeltes. “We thank him for his dedicated service to Clark County.”
Snell, who has worked for the county since 2005 after working for the cities of Camas and Washougal, could not be reached for comment.
Read the full story: County’s code director resigns