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In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the week:
An Amboy woman who was sentenced to three years in prison last year, stemming from a 2013 car crash that seriously injured a Battle Ground teen and led to the amputation of his right leg, will receive a new trial.
A state appeals court Monday overturned Shaun C. Johnson’s convictions for vehicular assault and possession of methamphetamine. The higher court reached its decision after finding that a Clark County sheriff’s deputy, who discovered methamphetamine in Johnson’s possession, had illegally searched her purse. That evidence was then erroneously allowed during Johnson’s trial in Clark County Superior Court, according to the unpublished court opinion.
The prosecution used the methamphetamine discovered in Johnson’s purse as evidence that she was under the influence when she struck then-16-year-old Justin Carey as he waited for the school bus alongside Northeast 82nd Avenue in Battle Ground.
Read more about the case.
Protesters broke into applause and gave Vancouver city councilors a standing ovation Monday night after they unanimously approved a ban on new oil refineries and facilities.
But the council’s vote won’t affect the nation’s largest crude-by-rail facility proposed for the Port of Vancouver that many protested shortly before the council meeting started.
Instead, the city’s ban would prohibit expansion of existing and new crude oil refineries and facilities that average less than 50,000 barrels a day.
Learn more about the city’s ban.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn sued Evergreen Public Schools and six other school districts Tuesday as he seeks to ramp up the pressure on the Legislature to fully fund public schools.
A state Supreme Court order known as the McCleary decision compels the Legislature to fully fund basic education by 2018, but four years after it was issued, the court’s order has yet to be implemented.
In the interim, Evergreen and many other school districts have spent local school levy money to augment salaries for teachers, administrators and classified staff.
Read more about the suit.
Vancouver’s downtown waterfront is getting another restaurant.
Developer Barry Cain announced WildFin American Grill would overlook the Grant Street Pier during a groundbreaking for that iconic piece of the waterfront park on Monday afternoon.
“WildFin is exactly the kind of restaurant we wanted to attract,” Cain, president of Gramor Development Inc., said in a statement. “They are the perfect complement because of their attention to the quintessential Northwest quality fare that comes directly from nearby farms, fields, waters and ranches.”
Learn more about the newest restaurant to sign up to be on the waterfront.
The cost to fish for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River would more than double under Washington’s draft license fee increases for 2017-19.
Most of the increase would come through charging $17 for both separate salmon and steelhead catch-record cards, which currently are issued free with purchase of a fishing license.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife initiated its “Washington’s Wild Future’’ program in 2015, which included a series of public meetings around the state to determine the priorities for the agency over the next several years.
Read more about the proposed fee hike.
Matt Pozsgai lives with the reality of cystic fibrosis every day. During the past six years, he’s spent the equivalent of 48 weeks — nearly a year — in the hospital fighting his disease.
He wasn’t alone in his fight. The Pozsgai family, who live in Salmon Creek, have spent so much time at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland that they jokingly refer to it as “Club Doernbecher” or “the club.” They play video games, card games and draw. Sometimes Matt strums his guitar.
“We try to make it feel as normal as possible,” said Matt, 21.
Read more about the Pozsgai family.
