Showers are in the midweek forecast, but most of the week ahead promises partly cloudy skies and highs in the 80s. Check out our local weather coverage.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:
Following four Vancouver police shootings — three of which were fatal — the city has ordered an independent assessment of the police department’s use-of-force protocols and training, and will explore the possibility of a body-worn and dash camera program.
The city entered into a contract with the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit, national law enforcement membership organization, to conduct a use-of-force assessment, according to an Aug. 1 email from City Manager Eric Holmes to the city council.
Read the full story: Review set for Vancouver police use of force
This is the third year of the Summer of Murals project along Fourth Plain Boulevard, with proposals vetted and artists hired to add several new diversity-oriented artworks to what’s often called the city’s international district.
But the campaign to make Vancouver a real “mural town” has never gone as smoothly and quickly as Jerry Rolling envisioned when he founded the Mural Society in 2004. Rolling, who worked as a Realtor then, wanted to bolster a downtown still struggling to reinvent itself. Today he still sees the approximately two dozen large and small artworks that have appeared on downtown walls as only a peek at what’s still possible — if only property owners, both public and private, would rally around the idea.
Read the full story: Vancouver as mural town facing formidable challenges
The vision for downtown Vancouver’s Columbia Food Park has always been clear: transform the abandoned bus station waiting area on Seventh Street into an outdoor food destination and community hangout.
It’s taken two years of slow and difficult work, but earlier this month the park hit an important milestone on the road to turning the vision in to a reality: the official opening of longtime vendor-in-waiting Slow Fox Chili Parlor.
Read the full story: Columbia Food Park in downtown Vancouver tasting success
American Medical Response of Southwest Washington has been training Apollo, a 7-month-old brown labradoodle, as a therapy dog. The ambulance service provider hopes Apollo can earn a therapy dog certification and begin responding to calls next year.
AMR’s National Therapy Dog Team formed in the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting as first responders continue searching for ways to cope with emotional stress. Dogs have responded to several mass incidents since then, most recently the shooting in El Paso, Texas.
Read the full story: Labradoodle trains to one day work with first responders as therapy dog
