December continues to be soggy. Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:
Kaylin Tompkins sits cross-legged on the carpet surrounded by her four children. She tickles them, cuddles them and asks them questions in that high-pitched mom voice reserved for little ones. Karly, 7, sits quietly, hands folded, on her mom’s leg while 1½-year-old AJ dives into his mom’s lap. The twins — Kamryn and Kristina — lie on their stomachs, giggling.
This floor where they play is not their floor. The toys around them are not their toys. The beds where they rest their heads at night, along with all of the other furniture in this basement, are not theirs, either. The lit Christmas tree and stockings on the mantle were a surprise gift from the family that lives upstairs and owns the house they’re staying in.
Tompkins’ family of five may not look it, but they’re homeless.
Read this full story at Families in search of secure housing face ‘vicious cycle’
Newly-elected council Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference, and councilor Julie Olson, Republican, will take their oaths of office Dec. 29, marking a new era in county politics as the three-member board expands to five under the new county charter. But the time for celebrating will soon give way to a busy January.
The new councilors will be stepping in at a time when the spotlight has been on the controversial policies and culture of the board for some time, recently including a 2 percent cut of the county’s property tax levy, changes to its 20-year zoning and growth plan, and continuing criticism of how the board interacts with other jurisdictions.
Read more about the Clark County council
A Dallas real estate investment company has purchased the Westfield Vancouver mall and four other U.S. malls owned by Australia-based Westfield Corp., the investment company said Friday, in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.
New owner Centennial Real Estate Co. immediately restored the shopping center’s original name of Vancouver Mall. It said existing on-site management teams will continue to operate the properties under its direction. The transaction closed on Friday, and by day’s end, the name Westfield had already been removed from the mall’s website and Facebook page.
Learn more about the sale of Vancouver Mall
Reshell Douglas got an unwanted, early Christmas present — a construction site in front of her downtown Vancouver business.
Douglas, owner of Not Too Shabby Boutique at 1515 Broadway, was dismayed to learn Dec. 3 that road work for one of C-Tran’s future rapid transit system bus stops would begin Dec. 7, just as holiday shopping was getting underway. Now, there’s a fence surrounding a deep trench in the street, a porta-potty and heavy construction equipment.
Customers say it’s tough to know which streets are open, let alone find a parking space and navigate the “maze of fencing,” Douglas said Wednesday. Sales are down “thousands of dollars,” she said.
Read more about the impact of C-Tran construction on downtown businesses
This year was a big year for the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington — the biggest, actually. In 2015, the nonprofit disbursed more than $1.2 million in discretionary grant money to nonprofits and charitable programs in Southwest Washington. That’s a 36 percent increase over last year and a record for the 31-year-old foundation.
The bump in funding can be attributed to a couple of things. The Meyer Memorial Trust gave $250,000 to this year’s and next year’s discretionary grants program. The grant was a farewell gift from the trust, which is returning to its original mission of supporting Oregon-based nonprofits. Also, bequest gifts, which are made to the Community Foundation at the end of a donor’s life, provided $241,530.
Learn more about the Community Foundation’s big year
