In Our View: Cheers & Jeers: Main St. update; morning mess

Cheers: To Main Street improvements. City of Vancouver officials are finalizing plans to renovate Main Street, enhancing the downtown core and improving pedestrian access. Reports The Columbian: “The city will soon direct more than $10 million — mostly from federal grants, such as the American Rescue Plan Act — to improve the streetscape of Main Street between West Fifth and West 15th streets.”

Not all that long ago, Main Street traveled in one direction — heading out of downtown. Now, there are visions for a vibrant hub in a revitalized city, joining the bustling waterfront, Esther Short Park and the Terminal 1 development as an attraction for visitors and locals alike. Construction is expected to begin next year, adding another amenity to the heart of the city.

Jeers: To inconveniences. Multiple events conspired to make for a difficult Wednesday morning in Clark County. Two large fires — one at a paper mill in Longview and one at an abandoned Kmart store in Northeast Portland — resulted in a smoky haze in Clark County, leading many to assume there was a wildfire in the vicinity. Meanwhile, accidents on both the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 bridges snarled traffic throughout the area.

Fortunately, it appears that no injuries occurred during the confluence of emergencies, and the smoke and traffic eventually cleared. So, for most of us, Wednesday morning was little more than an inconvenience, albeit an annoying one.

Cheers: To car retrieval. Two months after a landslide wiped out a bridge leading to the Johnston Ridge Observatory on Mount St. Helens, stranded vehicles finally have been retrieved. Following the May 14 landslide, 12 people and a dog were taken from the area by helicopter, but they had to leave their vehicles behind until a modicum of access to the mountain was restored.

Although the Johnston Ridge Observatory remains closed, the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater remains open, as do other facilities near the mountain. As for the cars? One owner said, “Some birds left a few gifts on my hood, but other than that, it’s exactly how we left it.”

Jeers: To dangerous algae. Clark County Public Health officials have issued a warning about the water at Vancouver Lake, recommending that people avoid swimming in or drinking lake water. They also recommend minimal pet contact with the water. The reason: high levels of harmful algae, which can cause coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, abdominal pain, vomiting, rashes, itching, blisters and eye irritation.

The advisory is a predictable rite of summer, with Vancouver Lake annually facing a host of issues that hamper water quality. To help make the lake accessible year-round, we encourage officials at the state, county and city levels to intensify efforts to improve the health of the 2,400-acre lake.

Cheers: To Tyler Hokama. The Vancouver native and Fort Vancouver High School graduate is interim executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. The renowned festival has faced recent challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires that have canceled performances and financial struggles. When the previous executive director left, Hokama stepped into the role, at least for a while.

“My goal is to make sure the theater has a healthy, sustainable business model that I can hand off to whoever next takes on the role,” he told The Columbian. We would say we hope Hokama breaks a leg, but we don’t think that was Shakespeare. Instead, we’ll just say cheers to Hokama and the festival.