U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, said Tuesday there are “no hard feelings” between her and the local GOP, even though the Clark County Republican Party considered formally rebuking her earlier this year.
“I was honest about who I was before I was elected. I have not changed … I stuck to the issues that the people elected me to work on and I beat every Republican I ran against in the primary,” Herrera Beutler said. “If I change that now, I think that would be dishonest.”
In the end, the local party voted not to consider censuring the congresswoman, but the discussion generated headlines and highlighted sharp divisions within the party.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Columbian’s editorial board on Tuesday, Herrera Beutler also touted a plan to better manage federal forests and touched upon whom she would likely support for Clark County council chair and what’s next for the Interstate 5 Bridge replacement efforts.
CAMAS — Camas football coach Jon Eagle has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season by the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League for a what is being described as a recruiting violation.
Camas athletic director Rory Oster disagreed with the ruling and said the school plans to appeal.
“I wholeheartedly believe there was absolutely no attempt to recruit an athlete from another school,” Oster said.
Eagle had no comment when reached Wednesday.
Dan Kielty, an assistant coach with the program, has been suspended for one game. Kielty also declined to comment.
The Papermakers are not banned from participating in the 2015 postseason.
Learn more about the violation against the Papermakers.
Jake Hanes, 29, is always one to offer a helping hand. So when a Seattle-area friend asked for assistance in cutting down a tree, Hanes and his family drove up from their Vancouver home to University Place, near Tacoma.
During the cutting of the tree on May 1, it fell and landed on Hanes, crushing both of his legs. Hanes’ wife, Melanie, was nearby, as Jake Hanes had called her to deliver a tool shortly before the accident, and she called for help.
Hanes was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Both legs had to be amputated, one below the knee and one above.
Now it’s Hanes who is receiving help. Jodi Dobbe, one of Hanes’ four older sisters, set up a GoFundMe page, and as of Thursday afternoon, 270-plus people had donated more than $28,000 to Hanes, who grew up in Woodland.
BRUSH PRAIRIE — Holding a bag of animal crackers, Heidi Holmstrom swung open a trailer door and greeted the region’s traveling vegetation-management team.
“Hi, kids!” she said cheerfully, using the crackers to coax them out.
One by one, a group of 13 goats hopped out of the trailer and went to work Wednesday morning. The animals began munching weeds at a Washington State Department of Transportation stormwater facility along state Highway 503. It’s the first site among about a dozen where WSDOT plans to dispatch the herd this spring and summer.
Holmstrom, a WSDOT maintenance lead technician, raises the goats and other livestock at her home in La Center. Holmstrom’s herd was first used to control invasive plants in the area last year as part of a pilot program. They’re back on duty this year, and WSDOT has expanded the program to other parts of the state with additional herds of goats.
Six weeks after graduating from Prairie High School, he was pursuing his dream of becoming a career firefighter when a drunken driver plowed into his car. In critical condition, Fletcher was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to OHSU Hospital in Portland.
Jack’s body was broken. He was unconscious. Doctors were unsure whether he’d make it. Each hour he survived was a milestone.
“We couldn’t even function at the start,” said Jack’s dad, John. “We were just hunkering down. If we’d lost him, we would be worthless.”
Six days later, Jack woke up.
He had lost the sight in his right eye. On his right hand, he’d lost his pinky finger and half of his thumb.
He had multiple fractures on his face and his right arm. To repair his facial fractures, he underwent a 12-hour surgery that included immobilizing his jaw with more than 100 bands.
