Cheers: To an improving economy. A new estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests the median household income in Clark County rose more than 8 percent last year to $74,747. That figure includes all income from jobs, Social Security, investments, and other sources. Meanwhile, wages for full-time workers in Clark County rose 11 percent over the previous year, outpacing the national average.
“That’s a good increase,” regional economist Scott Bailey said. “I don’t quite believe the magnitude of the Census numbers, but I would’ve been shocked to see it go down or stagnate.” The economy has been robust in Clark County, and broad-based wage growth is particularly encouraging. There still is room for improvement, with the percentage of county residents living below the poverty line increasing last year, but overall there are strong signs for continued growth.
Jeers: To keeping students out of school. Without taking sides in the lengthy Battle Ground teachers strike and without commenting on a judge’s order that teachers return to the classroom, one conclusion is pretty clear: When the situation reaches the point of a court injunction, nobody wins.
Battle Ground teachers have been on strike for weeks. While other districts in the county managed to reach agreements, Battle Ground did not. That led district officials to court, arguing that strikes by public employees are illegal. A judge agreed. When a strike winds up in court, there is plenty of blame to go around for both sides, and the biggest losers are students and families in the district.
Cheers: To progress at Hanford. Congress is working on a spending bill that will increase the budget for cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The proposal includes $2.4 billion for work at Hanford — $342 million more than the Trump administration had sought. We hope lawmakers continue to recognize the need at the nation’s most contaminated site and provide final approval for the money.
Meanwhile, work is scheduled to restart on demolition of Hanford’s highly contaminated Plutonium Finishing Plant. Work was halted in December after the spread of radioactive particles was discovered for the second time in a year. For decades, the federal government has underperformed in cleaning up Hanford, which sits near the Columbia River about 200 miles upstream from Vancouver. It is past time for the feds to make Hanford a priority.
Sad: An orca is lost. A young orca known as J50, a member of the J pod that frequents the waters near Puget Sound, is presumed dead. The 3-year-old whale has been ailing for some time, and officials were unable to spot her this week.
The plight of Washington’s orcas has put a spotlight on the decline of chinook salmon, the orcas’ primary food source. Experts say environmental degradation has hampered the salmon run and, in turn, impacted the killer whales that are a beloved symbol of Washington. “The southern resident killer whales are running out of reproductive capacity and extinction of this population is looming,” wrote Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research.
Cheers: To Terminal 1. While the billion-dollar Waterfront Vancouver development has drawn much attention, the Port of Vancouver continues to make progress on an adjacent development. Officials this week revealed initial plans for the Terminal 1 site along the Columbia River, between the Interstate 5 Bridge and the burgeoning Waterfront Vancouver site.
The idea is a new public market echoing that of Seattle’s Pike Place Market, with anchor tenants and stalls to serve as incubator spaces. While plans are in the preliminary phase, they combine with the development downstream to form an exciting vision of an increasingly vibrant Vancouver.
