Cheers: Huzzahs are warranted for the many people in Clark County who worked to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for those who otherwise would go without. When Chronis’ Restaurant and Lounge closed its doors in April after 48 years in business and 30 years of serving a free Thanksgiving meal, there were some concerns about where the homeless, poor, or lonely would go this holiday season. But several organizations and hundreds of volunteers stepped up.
Ohana Farms put together a free meal at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, and even organized daylong shuttle service between the church and downtown Vancouver. “We want it to be a party atmosphere,” organizer Carolyn Carpio said. “We want to celebrate. We do have so much to be thankful for.” Share House, the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater, and others also provided meals. Most important, the largesse served up some dignity for those who are struggling.
Jeers: County Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke approved an update to the Clark County Comprehensive Growth Management Plan that is problematic on many levels. First is the fact that Madore ignored input from county staff and recommendations from the county’s Planning Commission. Second is the fact that Mielke blindly went along with the proposal without providing much thought or input.
Critics have said that Madore’s plan to shrink the minimum allowable parcel size for subdividing some rural, forest, and agriculture lots will lead to drawn-out legal struggles for the county. Time will tell whether those criticisms are valid, but Madore’s unilateral approach is troublesome enough. So is Mielke’s approval of that approach.
Cheers: Mount Hood recreation areas have opened for the season, which is good news for skiers and might be good news for everybody else. While there are concerns that a strong El Niño winter is in the forecast, Dave Tragelthon of Mount Hood Meadows told The Columbian that is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Strong El Niños … actually bring near average, or even way above average, snow,” he said. Considering that snowpack — or lack thereof — is the first indicator of future drought conditions, we remain hopeful for plenty of snow in the mountains this winter. Irrigation, wildlife habitat, and many aspects of the economy depend upon a strong runoff when the spring thaw hits.
Jeers: The need for changes at Western State Hospital in Lakewood, near Tacoma, has been highlighted by a report from the Associated Press. Between 2010 and 2014, injured employees missed 41,301 days of work, and on-the-job injuries forced staff to move to other jobs for a total of 7,760 days. Workers’ compensation insurance, meanwhile, paid $6 million in wage and medical costs to injured hospital workers between January 2013 and September 2015.
Hospital officials say they have made improvements to satisfy the demands of federal regulators, who have threatened to pull federal funding over concerns about safety for patients and employees. We hope so. The ongoing problems have cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Cheers: Vancouver’s Uptown area just got a little more hip with the opening of a record store at 17th and Broadway. That’s records, as in the old vinyl things your parents used to play, and the new store joins Everybody’s Music to give Vancouver two record stores.
Audiophiles claim that vinyl provides a more pure sound than digital MP3 players or compact discs. For longtime music lovers in the area, it might be time to dust off that old turntable in the garage.
