The Columbia River Crossing is dead, and it just might be for good this time.
The Oregon Legislature adjourned Friday without any action on the proposed Interstate 5 Bridge replacement, prompting state leaders to say they’ll close down the controversial megaproject this spring.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber had vowed to pull the plug on the CRC unless lawmakers recommitted money to the project this session. That didn’t happen. The Oregon Department of Transportation announced Friday, minutes after the final gavel fell in Salem, that the $2.9 billion CRC will “shut down completely” by May 31.
That’s a process that began last summer when Washington pulled out of the project. A last-ditch effort brought the CRC back from the grave by last fall. But Kitzhaber spokeswoman Rachel Wray appeared to close the door on a revival this time around.
A Vancouver man was sentenced Friday to more than 23 years in prison for the premeditated murder of his roommate in a field in the Vancouver Lake Lowlands in 2012.
Matthew E. Starr, 21, admitted Nov. 25 in Clark County Superior Court that he planned the murder of Joshua R. Schenk, 25, and then shot him twice in the head on Feb. 29, 2012, on Lower River Road while the two were shooting near the lake with two other friends.
The motive was to rob Schenk of a couple hundred dollars and some drugs, said Deputy Prosecutor Dan Gasperino.
Imagine you’re driving on Interstate 5, barreling along at 70 mph, when you see a car coming straight at you.
Detectives say Gage W. Musgrave, 84, of Vancouver, drove at least a mile south in the northbound lanes of I-5, enough time for four horrified onlookers to call 911 before his car crashed into oncoming traffic. The Feb. 28 accident killed a 6-year-old La Center boy.
The Washington State Patrol has yet to pinpoint where Musgrave entered the freeway. It’s possible he got turned around in the Gee Creek rest area. It’s also possible that he entered the northbound offramp at Exit 11. The mouths of the northbound offramp and onramp are a few feet apart. Either way, he would have driven by several bright-red wrong-way signs.
Musgrave is cooperating with the Washington State Patrol’s investigation, which is ongoing. “The investigation revealed there is no cause of impairment, although we have an 84-year-old male,” Trooper Will Finn said. “Everybody wants answers as to what happened.”
Clark County Environmental Services Director Sen. Don Benton is being paid for his county job even while he’s up in Olympia during the legislative session.
And he’s doing so despite a written agreement — signed by Benton — saying this wouldn’t happen. This results in Benton being paid for both the county and state job, increasing his salary and adding to his pension.
County Administrator Mark McCauley said Benton had approached him before the session to cut this new deal. The previous arrangement had been hammered out by former County Administrator Bill Barron.
When it comes to customer service, Clark Public Utilities is playing in the big leagues.
The low-profile public utility, which provides electric and water services to county residents, is ranked with Amazon, Apple, Lexus and Southwest Airlines as one of the nation’s “2014 Customer Champions” in a survey by J.D. Power & Associates, a market research firm. Clark Public Utilities also ranked No. 1 in 2013 for customer service among midsize Western utilities.
The recognition is noteworthy in its consistency over time — the utility has won the Customer Champions award three times and topped the customer service list for comparable utilities for six consecutive years. The Customer Champions award is particularly rewarding because utilities are not generally leaders in customer service. By definition, they serve a captive customer base with no other choices for electricity or water. In such an environment, it’s easy for management and employees to become complacent or worse in dealing with a sometimes demanding public.
