What’s on tap for this weekend’s weather? Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the week:
The results of most standardized testing were released by the state Monday. Statewide, about half of students from grades 3 to 8 were considered proficient in English language arts and math.
Clark County children achieved similar results, including in the county’s two largest school districts, Vancouver and Evergreen. Districtwide, 50.6 percent of Vancouver students met the standard in English language arts and 42 percent met the standard in math. The Evergreen district’s numbers were a tad lower, with 47.8 percent meeting the English language arts standard and 41.9 percent meeting the math standard.
Camas students, who typically have higher test scores, continued to do better. In Camas, 73.1 percent of students met the English language arts standard, while 63.9 percent met the math standard.
Battle Ground’s middle school students did very well on the science assessment. Nearly 70 percent of fifth-graders met the standard and 64.9 percent of eighth-graders met the standard.
Learn how Clark County students did.
After a chaotic Fourth of July, the Vancouver City Council favors banning personal fireworks within city limits, but members are torn on whether to hold a citizens’ advisory vote.
Following a Vancouver Fire Department presentation Monday about the impacts of fireworks on the community, six city councilors said they think it’s time to ban fireworks in city limits. Mayor Tim Leavitt was absent but relayed a message that he too felt a ban was appropriate.
Councilors Alishia Topper and Bart Hansen insisted that the public should have the chance to weigh in on the decision, even though they weren’t opposed to a ban.
“On an issue like this, I feel as though because every single citizen has a unique opinion about it, they should be given an option to vote,” Topper said.
Read more about the council’s thoughts on fireworks.
The Southwest Washington real estate market continues to sizzle during this year’s hot summer, with home sales and prices continuing their steady year-over-year upswing in July, according to the latest report from the RMLS real estate listing service.
Home sales did decline by 3.5 percent from June, a typical summer sales pattern that contributed in part to a slight increase in the inventory of homes for sale. But the 2.4 month supply of homes on the market is still well below the 4.5 to 6.5 month supply that typifies a healthy balance between supply and demand, said Terry Wollam, managing broker at ReMax Equity Group in Vancouver. “Monthly inventory is still at an abnormal low,” he said.
On average, a home sold in July had been on the market for 58 days. That compares to an average of 85 days on the market for homes sold in July 2014.
Learn more about home sales.
C-Tran ridership down so far in 2015
C-Tran ridership continued to slide in the first half of 2015, continuing a slow but steady trend of declining passengers in recent years.
The dip comes as the transit agency steps up its efforts to boost ridership and considers new ways to achieve that goal. C-Tran offered free shuttle service to the Clark County Fair this month, and has raised the possibility of additional promotional days with free or discounted service. C-Tran also detailed its marketing and outreach work in a presentation to its board of directors earlier this month.
C-Tran’s overall ridership from January through June was about 3 percent lower than the same period last year. Explaining why, however, isn’t always simple, said Scott Patterson, C-Tran’s director of planning, development and public affairs.
Read more about C-Tran ridership.
Local theaters checking bags
If you’re seeing a movie at Regal Cinemas this week, prepare to have your bag checked before entering the theater.
After a recent spate of violence in movie theaters this summer, Regal Entertainment Group adopted a new companywide policy instructing its employees to check any backpacks, packages or other bags customers are carrying before letting them in to see a movie. Regal operates the largest chain of theaters in the U.S., with more than 580 locations in 44 states.
Other theaters around Clark County have their own policies.
Regal’s policy went into effect shortly after a theater shooting during the film “Trainwreck” in Lafayette, La., last month. The shooter killed two people and injured nine before taking his own life.
Learn more about searches at theaters.
On any given day, one in about 25 hospital patients has at least one health care-associated infection. In 2011, an estimated 722,000 patients contracted an infection in a U.S. hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those infections cost U.S. hospitals an estimated $30 billion or more per year in direct medical costs, according to the CDC.
Pedigo Products, a Vancouver-based hospital equipment manufacturer, hopes a line of new products will help bring those numbers down and prevent patients from contracting infections.
Learn more about using alloy to battle infections.
