Stories by Anthony Macuk

Columbian business reporter

Clark Public Utilities CEO gets pay raise

September 8, 2021, 5:50am Business

The Clark Public Utilities Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to increase CEO and general manager Lena Wittler’s pay from $254,000 to $267,000, retroactive to July 1. Her other benefits, including a $400 monthly car allowance, remain unchanged. Read story

A motorist passes The Diner Vancouver, which is closed because of supply chain and staff shortages. The entire food service industry has struggled in recent weeks with an increased level of disruption to the supply chain.

Clark County restaurants struggle with supply chain disruptions

September 6, 2021, 6:05am Business

The supplies just aren’t there. Read story

A sign inside Main Street Marijuana directs customers where to pick up their online orders on Aug. 24. Cannabis retailers had to suspend curbside and walk-up service last month, but the state Liquor and Cannabis Board announced Thursday that it would reinstate the allowances for another two months.

Clark County cannabis retailers welcome return of curbside service

September 4, 2021, 6:03am Business

Cannabis retailers cheered this week after the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced that it would reactivate an allowance for curbside service and other pandemic-era rule changes that had previously expired. Read story

An American flag blows in the wind on the Pioneer Street rail overpass on Tuesday in Ridgefield. The nearly finished overpass connects downtown with the boat launch area to the west of the railway.

Ridgefield to celebrate Pioneer Street railroad overpass

September 1, 2021, 6:03am Business Subscriber Exclusive

Ridgefield residents won’t have to wait much longer to start using the new Pioneer Street railroad overpass. The $15 million project is wrapping up the final bits of construction and is targeted to open to traffic by the end of October. Read story

Power transmission lines and towers that run east through Vancouver are pictured above Burnt Bridge Creek on Monday morning. A balloon hit one of the lines near this spot on Aug. 21 and caused a brief power outage for nearly 19,000 people.

Clark Public Utilities warns: Balloon strikes can pop off power

August 31, 2021, 6:03am Business

Just after 8 o’clock on a recent Saturday evening, nearly 19,000 people in central Vancouver lost power. It was little more than a blip — the lights came back on in a matter of seconds — but it was technically an accidental outage, and there was a very specific cause:… Read story

Clark County cannabis shops kicked away from the curb

Budtender/cashier Robert Emmons, in blue mask, assists a customer as they pick up an online order inside Main Street Marijuana in Uptown Village on Tuesday morning. The store has put up new signs advising customers that all online orders must now be picked up at indoor counters following a change to state rules three weeks ago.

August 26, 2021, 6:03am Business

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived last year, alcohol and cannabis retailers in Washington were able to mimic their restaurant and retail brethren by embracing carry-out and curbside service models, thanks to temporary exemptions to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board’s normal sales rules. Read story

Clark County Food Bank volunteers make easy work out of packing 45,000 meal kits for hungry

Volunteer Elyce Naray, right, carries her 1-year-old daughter, Elowen, on her back, as she helps package jambalaya meals at the Clark County Food Bank in Vancouver on Saturday. A $15,000 grant from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to U.S. Hunger covered the cost of the food and packaging materials.

Approximately 400 local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered at the Clark County Food Bank on Saturday for a food-packing volunteer event that produced 45,000 jambalaya meal kits for local distribution. Read story