Cheers: To a generous community. Organizers of Walk & Knock, a one-day food drive that took place Dec. 1, report that they collected 282,460 pounds of food and about $10,000 in cash for the Clark County Food Bank. Walk & Knock was first organized in 1985, and officials claim it is the nation’s largest single-day community food drive. “We’re very pleased that once again people in our county have stepped up to help those less fortunate,” organization President Justin Wood said.
Walk & Knock is among the most notable of numerous local charity drives during the holiday season, but there are many opportunities for residents to help their needy neighbors. In addition, we offer a reminder that the Clark County Food Bank welcomes donations throughout the year. According to its website, the organization distributes 6.6 million pounds of food and 5.5 million meals a year — thanks to the generosity of local residents.
Jeers: To a widespread hoax. Multiple Vancouver businesses were targeted as part of what appears to be a coordinated nationwide bomb threat hoax. Several local businesses received emails they reported to law enforcement, and Vancouver Police Department officials said no suspicious devices have been found.
Nationally, schools and businesses ranging from Anchorage, Alaska, to Miami received threats. In at least some cases, the emails demanded a payment of $20,000 through Bitcoin. FBI officials said, “As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.” No damage was reported, but we hope the perpetrators are identified and prosecuted.
Cheers: To engagement. We’ll examine the details at a later date, but for now we are happy that officials from Washington and Oregon are talking face-to-face about a replacement for the Interstate 5 Bridge. Discussions about the bridge have been sparse since the Washington Legislature scuttled plans for a bridge in 2013; last year, Oregon lawmakers snubbed an invitation from this side of the river.
The meeting is only a start, but we hope that leaders from both states can remained engaged and slowly chip away at the issues that have prevented replacement of the 101-year-old bridge. Even the longest journey begins with a single step, and it is encouraging that a bistate commission finally is taking shape.
Jeers: To being stranded. Workers at Mt. Hood Meadows had to evacuate about 150 would-be skiers from a chairlift when power fluctuations caused the lift to be shut down. Would-be skiers were lowered to the ground using harnesses and ropes. As OregonLive.com explained: “Workers shoot the harness over the chairlift line, climb up the chairlift using its stanchions and watch the skiers put their harnesses on. Workers down below then belay — or lower — the skiers to the ground.”
Clearing the entire lift, which was near capacity, took nearly 2 1/2 hours. That’s a good way to ruin a day of skiing, but it gave those involved a memorable story to tell.
Cheers: To Ridgefield City Hall. The 1920 building, originally used as a bank, has been added to the Clark County Heritage Register. According to the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission, “the building is a rare example of formal Classical Revival architecture in Ridgefield. In the state of Washington, the building is one of the few remaining smaller banks of the era, and it has a high level of historic integrity.”
We can’t speak for its architectural significance, but the building looks pretty cool and lends a historic feel to downtown, harkening back to when Ridgefield had a population of about 600 people.
