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News / Clark County News

Morning Press: Legislators, firefighter, manufacturers

By Susan Abe, Columbian staff writer
Published: April 4, 2016, 9:30am

The clouds are rolling back in, but they’re not likely to linger. Check our local weather coverage.

In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:

Straight from the legislators’ mouths

Every year, we send our senators and representatives to Olympia to be our voice on important issues. But what about their voices? Our delegation’s priorities are as diverse as the growing county they represent. So as the legislative session drew toward a close, we invited them to spend a minute with us to discuss their key issues on video. Eight of the nine accepted our offer (Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, declined.)

You can see the finished products, which we are calling “60 Seconds,” on our website.

We chose the video format in the hope it will engage voters and let them see their elected officials in a new way. Unlike presidential candidates, local and legislative candidates are rarely seen on video. Although the videos were edited, we think the “60 Seconds” format gives them more than just the typical tiny sound bite.

 

 

Firefighter struck, killed in street

An off-duty firefighter died Thursday night after he was struck by a vehicle in Vancouver’s Fircrest neighborhood, Vancouver Fire Department Chief Joe Molina said.

Andrew Miller, 27, was walking near his home in the 500 block of Northeast 112th Avenue when he was struck by a northbound vehicle at about 10:30 p.m., fire and police officials said.

He was treated at the scene by two crews from the Vancouver Fire Department and paramedics with AMR before being transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to the fire agency. He died from those injuries around midnight Thursday, fire officials said.

 

 

Global manufacturing trends drive local plants

Thompson Metal Fab was bright, loud and busy on a recent morning as sparks met seams in the company’s vast manufacturing plant. Men and women worked massive machines as their hard hats dotted the cool cavern of heavy industry on Vancouver’s Columbia River waterfront.

If manufacturing is dead or dying, no one has told Thompson.

Yet manufacturing remains the only part of Clark County’s jobs mix that isn’t growing significantly. While manufacturing jobs finally started growing again in 2011, the recovery has been tepid. The state Employment Security Department reported last week that manufacturing employment in Clark County is stuck at 12,900 jobs, exactly the same as a year ago.

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“The last two years have been up and down” for manufacturing, said the department’s regional economist, Scott Bailey.

 

 

Pinwheels planted to help abused kids

Volunteers planted gardens of sparkling blue pinwheels Friday around downtown Vancouver, part of a national effort to raise awareness for child abuse prevention, and, in part, to point out work done locally at the county’s Children’s Justice Center.

Volunteers bearing thousands of pinwheels placed them around Esther Short Park, Main Street and city and county buildings.

Pinwheels have been a part of child abuse prevention and awareness campaigns during April, when child welfare advocates work to spread the message, for years.

“Which is what it’s about, so that communities, for that month, can really join in solidarity, for the commitment that we really do our bit to protect our children, all the children, in the community,” said Mary Blanchette, the executive director at the Children’s Justice Center.

 

 

Peeping Tom will go to prison

A man caught peeping through the windows of two elderly women’s homes as they undressed for bed was sentenced Friday to more than 3.5 years in prison.

Scotty R. Rowles, 50, pleaded guilty last month in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree burglary with sexual motivation, voyeurism and two counts of second-degree criminal trespass in connection with the incidents last year.

 

 

An array of embarrassments

Oh you goofy people. We used to think you were so sharp. Now we know just how foolish ye mortals be.

We thought it would be fun to ask our readers to embarrass themselves in honor of April Fools’ Day. Three didn’t mind sharing their least-proud moments, and I tossed my own into the mix. Here is an anthology of Clark County foolishness — just in time for April Fools’ Day.

Well, not quite. Whoops.

 

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Columbian staff writer