Morning Press: Panhandling, charter, B.G. schools, Blazers

The work week ended on a soggy note. Check out the forecast for the weekend.

Here’s a look at some of this week’s top stories:

Clark County passes panhandling ordinance

Clark County commissioners Tuesday approved an ordinance explicitly forbidding people from soliciting in streets, following months of discussions and a complete overhaul of what the ordinance originally proposed.

The ordinance, which passed with a 3-0 vote, restricts soliciting money from motorists in public roadways. The purpose of the ordinance, which bars individuals from entering the roadway or stopping traffic to solicit money, is to cut down on those types of monetary transactions for safety reasons.

“We’re trying to manage a transaction that will take place immediately on a traveled part of the roadway,” said Sgt. Randon Walker of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, who first proposed the ordinance and helped draft it.

Drafting a panhandling ordinance stemmed from concerns he’d heard from residents and business owners, Walker said.

Shaping an ordinance that would be constitutional took nearly a year of work.

Learn more about the panhandling ordinance.

New lay of the land for Clark County government

The form and function of county government was the issue du jour during the general election, with the topic of whether voters should approve a home-rule charter reaching harried political heights.

Even those close to the charter issue, such as charter proponent and county Auditor Greg Kimsey, expressed surprise at how heated the debate over the charter became.

Now, with less than two months before the charter goes into effect, there are still questions about exactly how it will work. Will current county Administrator Mark McCauley be named the interim county manager? Will the current crop of county commissioners, including Commissioner-elect Jeanne Stewart, work to undermine it in some way? After all, the three of them opposed it.

What is known is how the charter will impact voters. They’ll vote to fill one new position — possibly two, depending on where they live.

Nan Henriksen, former chairwoman of the board of freeholders, which wrote the charter, said great lengths were taken to make the addition of two new board members as painless as possible. That process included redrawing voting district lines.

“The most important thing to us was that (the district lines) would be delineated fairly and nonpolitically,” Henriksen said. “That is why we had (geographic information system) folks at the county … include how districts should be formed.”

Learn more about the reshaping of Clark County government.

Crowded classrooms in growing Battle Ground district

Shouts and squeals erupt from the busy playground at Daybreak Primary School during recess.

On the other side of the school’s chain-link fence, two dozen new homes are being built. Those already completed have a “for sale” sign in their postage-stamp-sized front yards. In a large field immediately west of the school, 130 homes will be built in the coming months.

The almost 160 new homes planned to abut the campus will be on one of several large parcels being developed in the Battle Ground Public Schools boundary area.

From 2000 to 2014, the city’s population doubled from 9,300 to 18,680. Battle Ground, both the city and the school district, are poised to grow — again.

Housing development plans indicate more than 1,500 homes and more than 600 multi-family units will be built in the coming months. With district estimates predicting the addition of 0.619 student per new single-family home and .256 for each new multi-family unit, the next 18 to 24 months could see the addition of 1,080 students. That’s an 8.3 percent increase.

“I can see the wave coming,” said Mark Hottowe, the district’s new superintendent. “We’re going to grow dramatically in the next several years.”

Read more about the growth in Battle Ground.

Vancouver 12-year-old battling scleroderma

Lilliane Grahek was just 2 years old when the first blotch appeared.

The spot on her stomach looked like a bruise, her fair skin turning a darker shade. The spot didn’t go away quickly, and then Lilliane’s mom, Kerin Clark Severson, noticed another spot forming.

Clark Severson took Lilliane to her pediatrician, who determined the spots weren’t bruises but couldn’t explain them. After a few more visits for new spots appearing in the following six months, the pediatrician referred Lilliane to a dermatologist at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

“He knew right away,” Clark Severson said.

Two-year-old Lilliane was diagnosed with scleroderma, a rare disease that involves the hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissues.

Typically, scleroderma runs its course in three to five years, Clark Severson said. Lilliane, now 12, wasn’t so lucky.

“Unfortunately, it’s been 10 years, and hers is still active,” Severson said.

Read more about LIlliane and her battle with scleroderma.

Columbia Sportswear eyes Vancouver

Columbia Sportswear, the Portland-based maker of jackets and other outerwear, is considering expanding into Vancouver, city and company officials said Thursday.

Mayor Tim Leavitt said the company met with him this week to discuss opportunities for about 30,000 square feet of space to house 50 to 150 staff people. The company’s direct-to-consumer business line is growing rapidly, Leavitt said, and it’s looking to enlarge its operational footprint.

Peter Bragdon, senior vice president and general counsel for Columbia, said Thursday that he, CEO Tim Boyle and Xander Smit, the company’s director of global real estate, met with Leavitt on Wednesday. The company’s timeline is uncertain, Bragdon said, and it remains in search mode. “We’re looking around this area and other parts of Oregon and in other places,” he said. Nevertheless, the meeting with the mayor was good, he said.

“We have been growing rapidly,” Bragdon said. “We’re bursting at the seams at some of our properties. That’s causing us to look for other opportunities and, frankly, Vancouver has a lot of things to recommend it, in addition to having a responsive mayor who’s done a good job of conveying some of the strengths of that city.”

Learn more about the possible deal.

Crabbe shows he fits right in with Blazers lineup

The Portland Trail Blazers had been calling second year swing man Allen Crabbe “Cool Breeze” since last season, and it was not until this week that most fans understood why.

Crabbe had not had nearly any meaningful minutes in his Blazers career until this week, starting three games and possibly more for an injured Nicolas Batum.

It was a surprise to many, but he seamlessly fit in the starting lineup as the Blazers went 3-0. The Blazers outscored their opponents by 20 points per 100 possessions with Crabbe on the court this past week.

Last season Crabbe showed promise in training camp and preseason. Then an illness wiped him out for about a week.

Batum, for whom Crabbe has filled in, liked Crabbe’s game last season.

“He’s very smart. he can shoot. He can do a lot of things on the court. People don’t really know him because he hasn’t played that much, but he can play,” Batum said.

Get to know more about Allen Crabbe.