Top Stories: C-Tran; 3rd District candidates and border; Buttigieg and I-5 Bridge; Abandoned buildings and homeless

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Here are some of the top stories on columbian.com this week:

1. C-Tran’s plans to extend Vine would connect Vancouver Mall and Fisher’s Landing transit centers

C-Tran officials are refining plans for an extension of the bus rapid transit line known as The Vine on Fourth Plain.

The new line will connect the Van Mall Transit Center and the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center along Fourth Plain Boulevard and 162nd Avenue/164th Avenue, although C-Tran staff are also exploring a southern terminus at the Mill Plain Transit Center.

• Proposed route travels along Fourth Plain Boulevard and 162nd/164th Avenue

2. Oregon bill for year-round standard time would create time warp for Clark County residents

If you’re already perplexed by falling back and springing forward, a bipartisan bill in the Oregon Legislature may make it even more confusing.

The bill would institute year-round standard time in all of Oregon except the eastern portion that’s in the Mountain Time Zone. If passed, Oregon and Washington would be on the same schedule from roughly November to March (standard time), but Oregon would be an hour behind from March to November (currently daylight saving time for the two states).

• If enacted, states would be on different schedules part of the year

3. 3rd Congressional District candidates Perez, Kent, Lewallen: Tighten border security

After the U.S. Senate’s border and foreign aid bill was shelved last week, candidates for Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District are staking their positions on what is becoming a key issue in the 2024 election.

The Biden administration is under intense scrutiny for its handling of immigration. Border Patrol arrests totaled 249,735 in December, the highest monthly tally on record, and many Democrats are joining Republicans in demanding tighter border security.

• Fentanyl crisis in state, U.S cited as among most serious fallouts from failure to resolve policy

4. ‘We have a sense of urgency about getting this done’: Buttigieg joins Washington, Oregon officials for tour of Interstate 5 Bridge

Carbs, caffeine and the Interstate 5 Bridge consumed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s Tuesday morning in Vancouver.

Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, renowned pie baker and expert in “cobbler diplomacy,” presented the secretary with two pies: key lime and huckleberry. One pie depicted the I-5 Bridge with its lift span up and the other with it down.

• Buttigieg spent 24 hours in the Vancouver area primarily focused on promoting the federal investment to replace the bridge.

5. Clark Asks: Why abandoned buildings can’t be used to house people experiencing homelessness? It’s complicated

Can’t some of the abandoned or under-used buildings in Clark County be used for shelters or affordable housing? That’s a question many readers have submitted to The Columbian through the Clark Asks portal on our website.

It seems like a simple solution: Here are four walls and a roof not being used in the midst of a housing and homelessness crisis.

• Clark County needs to build an anticipated 100,000 homes by 2044 to meet statewide targets.