Morning Press: Special session, teachers walk out, downtown Camas
The Columbian
Published: May 1, 2015, 5:00pm
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Birch Street Uptown Lounge is one of several downtown Camas nightspots. Owner Kevin Taylor said he welcomes the growing competition along Fourth Avenue. More foot traffic for one bar means more business for the others, he said.
What do the skies have in store for the weekend? Check out the forecast.
Here are a few stories that you might have missed this week.
On the first day of the special legislative session, Washington House members took up a bill that would change the way the state taxes recreational marijuana.
Washington lawmakers are back in Olympia this week after failing to pass a two-year operating budget during the regular legislative session. Now, lawmakers have 30 days to address the operating budget, a transportation package and satisfy a court mandate to adequately fund the state’s public school system.
Also on their to-do list is cracking down on the illicit marijuana market by addressing the current tax structure.
With Oregon’s recreational market about to come online, the bill could have particular implications for border counties such as Clark County.
Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, chief sponsor of House Bill 2136, which passed the House in a 70-25 vote, said a lower tax rate would better align with both the black market and Oregon. Carlyle’s bill would change the tax structure to a 30 percent tax applied only at the point of sale. Currently a 25 percent tax is applied to recreational marijuana three times as it goes from grower to producer to processor.
Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, said she voted in favor of the measure because it would protect medical marijuana patients from having to pay taxes. And Pike said she believes it’s a key measure if the recreational industry wants to win the battle against the black market.
Fed up with inaction by state legislators to fully fund basic education, some teachers’ unions in Clark County school districts are taking resolutions to their memberships for a one-day walkout on May 13.
Last week, teachers in a handful of Puget Sound area districts held one-day walkouts to send a message to legislators to comply with the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision regarding education funding. On Saturday, more than 4,000 educators rallied in Olympia to tell legislators to abide by the McCleary decision and adequately pay for the state’s public schools. They also said they want lawmakers to pay for an initiative approved by voters last November to reduce class sizes.
If the May 13 walkout occurs, participating districts would have to tack another day onto the end of the school year in June so that students would attend the required 180 days.
Despite a legal challenge hanging over their heads, leaders of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe say they’re moving toward starting construction on a new casino-resort near La Center this year.
Last week, Cowlitz Tribe Chairman Bill Iyall signed a labor agreement for the project with the Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council. The deal ensures that the council will be responsible for all site preparation and construction on the resort.
“The most important thing is that it hits home with the local workers who might be looking for employment through their union,” Iyall said. “I think there’s a substantial need in that area.”
Designs for the tribe’s property — just west of Exit 16 off of Interstate 5 — haven’t been finalized. At this point, the tribe envisions building a casino up to 134,000 square feet with shopping and retail space nearby and a hotel with as many as 250 rooms. Iyall expects the project could provide jobs for about 3,000 construction workers. But financing and construction have been held up in the court system by challenges from several local entities.
CAMAS — Downtown Camas was an almost unrecognizable place a quarter-century ago.
Longtime residents remember a time when the mill was far more prosperous, employing thousands of workers and churning out loads of paper at all hours of the day. And when the workday was done, the crews flocked from the factory floor to comfortable bar stools in several seedy downtown taverns.
Back then, in a quick drive down Fourth Avenue, the heart of the city’s quaint historic district, it was normal to see the bars packed with mill workers fresh off their graveyard shifts grabbing some beers at 8:30 a.m. Then, when 2 a.m. rolled around, it wasn’t unusual for a drunken bar fight to spill out into the streets, Mayor Scott Higgins remembers.
“I have all these memories of a very different-looking downtown Camas,” Higgins said. “The mill folks love still being down here. But there is no doubt that as the demographics changed and we became more of a white-collar community, that was reflected down here.”
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TUALATIN, Ore. — With their wounds still fresh after being eliminated in five games by the Memphis Grizzlies, the Portland Trail Blazers said their goodbyes to each other and the media for the 2014-15 season.
Two figures will be under the microscope this summer: unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge and Vice President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey.
As they both try to move on after a promising season that was derailed by injuries, they face a summer that will go a long way toward determining their legacies.
All eyes will be on whether Aldridge will re-sign with Portland or move elsewhere.
Aldridge would not give a statistical estimate which way he is leaning, but was positive about Portland.
“I’ve always been here, I’ve had a great nine years here,” Aldridge said. “That’s always going to have more weight than anything else.”
Aldridge said he was thankful for his nine years in Portland.
A new feature called Market Fresh Finds kicked off this weekend in the Weekend Section. WSU Clark County Extension Master Food Preservers offer information what to look for are area farmers’ Markeets.
Spring is in the air, and asparagus is arriving at local farmers markets.
Asparagus is a perennial plant that lives for 15 years or longer. It grows for 2 years before the initial harvest so the plant can establish an extensive root system to support rapid growth. An asparagus spear can grow up to 10 inches in 24 hours! It also contains compounds that repel bugs, so pesticide use is often minimal.
Asparagus comes in various colors, such as green, purple, and white. The spears of the green and purple varieties are grown above ground, while those of white varieties are grown underground to prevent chlorophyll formation.
Select asparagus spears having stems that are firm, smooth skinned and uniform in color. The tips should be dry and compact. For green asparagus, the stems should be bright green with purple-tinged tips. Stalk thickness is not an indicator of vegetable quality but a characteristic of the asparagus variety.
