What topsy-turvy spring weather will be thrown at us this weekend? Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the week:
Washington and Oregon on Thursday announced a new look for the popular Buoy 10 late-summer salmon season at the mouth of the Columbia River: Only adipose fin-clipped hatchery chinook will be allowed to be kept on Sundays and Mondays.
The goal is to keep the season from closing prior to Labor Day, which is Sept. 5 this year.
Learn about the changes at Buoy 10.
Two former Vancouver mayors are working to overturn a decision by a city panel to more than double the mayor’s salary and give generous raises to the rest of the city council.
Bruce Hagensen, mayor from 1987 to 1995, said he’s exploring the possibility of putting something on the ballot asking voters to repeal the Salary Review Commission’s Friday decision.
“I think there are a significant number of people that believe the salary review commission made a mistake,” Hagensen said Tuesday. “We’re exploring ways to correct it.”
Read more about who else opposes to the raises.
State safety regulators have imposed $30,400 in fines on Instafab, a steel fabrication and installation firm under fire from labor union advocates, for 10 safety violations categorized as “serious” at the Vancouver company’s fabrication plant.
The Department of Labor & Industries’ fines range from $2,400 to $4,800 for violations related to hazardous chemical safety, management of open flames in the manufacturing area and inadequate noise monitoring procedures. The company was also tagged with seven “general” fines.
Get the details of the violations.
Three-year-old Lewis Taylor looked over the small stand of fresh fruit at the Fisher’s Landing Fred Meyer offering rows of clementines and bananas, Gala and Granny Smith apples. He went straight for a banana.
The Vancouver tyke and his mom, Melissa Taylor, were shopping for produce when they came across Fred Meyer’s new campaign, Fruit for Kids, that offers free healthy snacks to young shoppers.
“We’ve always offered free cookies in our bakery,” said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer and QFC stores. “The purpose here is to get parents thinking about fruit as a fun, free thing.”
Learn more about the new program.
Long before white-nose syndrome reached the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Forest Service had warned visitors to Ape Cave at Mount St. Helens of the disease. Now that it’s been found in Washington state, the message has new gravity.
Situated within a couple of hours’ drive from two major metropolitan areas that are home to two international airports, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is among the Northwest’s most popular tourist attractions. One of the most alluring features of the monument is the Ape Cave, a nearly 2.5-mile-long lava tube on the south side of the volcano.
Read more about white-nose syndrome.
Six days after Port of Vancouver commissioners publicly approved a lease amendment for the country’s largest proposed oil terminal, the port has yet to make the document publicly available.
Though commissioners read, tweaked and unanimously approved it April 15, the port is refusing to release the lease amendment, which extends Vancouver Energy’s permitting deadline as the rail-to-marine terminal continues through a third year of the state vetting process.
Learn more about the public-records request.
