News / Clark County News

Morning Press: Golden Skate, port commissioners, courtroom assault

The Columbian

Published: June 13, 2015, 12:00am

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This weekend promised to be a scorcher. Check out the forecast.

Here are some of the week’s top stories:

Vancouver to buy, likely demolish Golden Skate roller rink

After 71 years in Clark County, including more than 30 as its only indoor roller rink, Golden Skate is gliding into retirement.

Golden Skate’s owners, John and Janie Wainwright, are selling the land to the city, which wants the property for an expansion of its Public Works Operation Center. The Vancouver City Council on Monday authorized a $1.5 million purchase and sale agreement for the 2.2-acre parcel at 4915 E. Fourth Plain Blvd.

“It’s time to do what has to be done,” said John Wainwright, 78, who bought Golden Skate with his wife in 1984. “It’s time to move on.”

Selling Golden Skate to the city — which likely will tear it down, according to city staff — is a “wonderful solution,” said Janie Wainwright, 69.

“We had this deal with them, and we are happy that we made the deal,” she said last week.

The old, brick building is cracking and becoming unsafe, and its expanse of white maple floors have been sanded so many times there’s not much wear left in them, John Wainwright said.

Read more about the end of Golden Skate.

Port leaders issue warning to critics on public comments

After months of public criticism over approving a lease for an oil terminal, the Port of Vancouver’s leaders on Tuesday showed a new sensitivity to barbs directed at the port by its critics.

Before the open public forum portion at the port commission’s regular public meeting, Commission President Nancy Baker warned that people would be asked to leave if they make personal attacks or criticisms of elected commissioners or port staff. While the port has appreciated public comments over the past two or more years, Baker said, public behavior during the last few meetings has been “disturbing and inappropriate to me.”

Critics did not hold back after Baker’s remarks, with tense exchanges following the commissioner’s warning. The flare-ups underscored the ongoing tension over the port commission’s decision, in 2013, to unanimously approve a lease for what would be the nation’s largest rail-to-marine oil transfer terminal.

Baker’s comments raised a red flag for Doug Honig, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State. Harshly criticizing public bodies and government officials is “what free speech in a democracy includes,” he said in a phone interview requested by The Columbian.

Learn more about the commissioners’ meeting request.

Clark County judge bitten in courtroom scuffle

A Clark County Superior Court judge was injured Thursday afternoon when he stepped in to stop a defendant from allegedly attempting to assault a deputy prosecutor.

Roberto Diaz-Lara, 49, of Vancouver was on trial in Superior Court for three charges of first-degree child molestation – domestic violence in Judge Daniel Stahnke’s courtroom.

The trial wrapped up shortly before noon. The jury found Diaz-Lara guilty on all charges, Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes said.

According to video footage from the courtroom, once the jury was excused, Diaz-Lara abruptly left the defense table and attempted to strike Hayes. Diaz-Lara is seen in the video pointing at Hayes and yelling a profanity.

A Clark County deputy who was in the courtroom intervened and a struggle ensued, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Stahnke also tried to intervene in the physical altercation and sustained injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

Learn more about the courtroom assault.

New chapter begins for young amputee

June 10 is a date that Justin Carey will never forget. On that date, two years ago, he laid bloodied and broken, hidden by brush alongside a road, fighting for his life.

But this year, he’s assigning the date a newer and happier memory: The day he graduates from high school.

“It basically closes a whole chapter while opening a whole new one,” he said. “On the same day that I graduate high school, I have overcome the second year of battling this battle — the amputation and the pain and the trial.”

As Carey prepared to walk across the stage in his cap and gown tonight, he reflected on four years at Battle Ground High School split in two: before and after the crash.

On the morning of June 10, 2013, the then-16-year-old Carey was waiting for the bus to school at the corner of Northeast 82nd Avenue and 289th Street when a Nissan Altima veered off the road and struck him.

The impact threw him 150 feet, and he landed in thick brush. He remained there, hidden from medics and sheriff’s deputies when they arrived. It wasn’t until an hour and a half later, when a tow truck operator came to collect the Altima, that Carey was discovered and rushed to the hospital.

The crash broke both of Carey’s femurs and severed both of his femoral arteries. He underwent several surgeries but eventually lost his lower right leg.

Learn what is next for Justin Carey.

Prairie High teacher facing cancer fight gets support from Team Kristie

Kristie Vinyard is a warrior. The proof plasters the walls of the art teacher’s classroom.

There’s the obvious: The red and yellow “Fight like a Warrior” poster, surrounded by artwork and messages of love and support from her students at Prairie High School.

And the subtle: A black-and-white drawing of Vinyard with streaks of color on her face — an image created by a student and part of a series of photos called “Warrior Women.”

And then, there’s her spirit, summed up best on the website chronicling her fight with Stage 4 melanoma: “I am a warrior and I will beat this thing called cancer!”

For Vinyard, 45, there’s no other option.

Vinyard is a single mom of three kids: 10-year-old Justice, 13-year-old Jackson and 21-year-old Emily. The kids’ father died six years ago from an accidental overdose.

“I’m the only one they have,” Vinyard said.

“All my thoughts are about my kids,” she added.

Vinyard’s first hint of trouble came on April 8, the Wednesday during spring break. Vinyard was spending time with her children when she felt a sharp, persistent pain in her right breast near her sternum.