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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the week:
Six Battle Ground Public Schools campuses reported elevated levels of lead, a news release reported Monday evening.
Testing shows Amboy Middle School, Captain Strong Primary School, Chief Umtuch Middle School, Maple Grove School, Yacolt Primary School and the Lewisville campus administrative office have lead contents above the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended lead limit of 15 parts per billion.
Lead more about the district’s lead test results and the district’s response.
After months of legal conflict, a Hazel Dell marijuana shop that opened in defiance of Clark County’s moratorium against recreational pot businesses is finally closed.
Sticky’s Pot Shop at 9411 N.E. Highway 99 was forced to close its doors Friday after Superior Court Judge Daniel Stahnke denied owner John Larson’s request for stayed enforcement. Larson also is on the hook for about $100,000 in fines he’s been accruing since this spring.
Read about Sticky’s closure.
When large trucks roar past Deb Lowry’s house on 39th Street in Vancouver, the noise is so disruptive, it can set off her car alarm, she told city councilors Monday.
“It’s really loud,” Lowry said.
That could change.
On Monday, the Vancouver City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to prohibit trucks from moving freight on 39th Street. The city hopes to have signs up redirecting the vehicles by October. The decision is part of a larger effort to balance commercial needs with livability concerns.
Learn more about the city council’s decision.
Standing in front of Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School on Monday morning, Dr. Gary Gilliland couldn’t help but notice how Lacks’ story had come full circle.
In 1951, Lacks died from cervical cancer — a cancer that can now be prevented by a human papillomavirus vaccine. Lacks’ own cancerous cells were harvested, without her knowledge, to create an immortal cell line and used to develop, among other things, the polio vaccine.
“It’s a tremendous contribution,” Gilliland said of the HeLa cells. “That’s why it’s such a wonderful thing to have this school named after her.”
Read more of Dr. Gilliland’s praise of the school.
A measure backed by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, allowing for the killing of sea lions to protect endangered fish, is gaining momentum in Congress.
The Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, co-sponsored by Oregon’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, was approved by the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday.
The bill allows tribal members and fish managers to remove California sea lions from specific areas to protect salmon, steelhead and other native fish that are considered threatened.
Learn more about the proposed bill.
Accessing Wintler Park from the east just got a little easier and safer.
Contractors Art and Margaret Rojsza finished building a set of galvanized steel stairs that lead down to the waterfront park in Vancouver’s Riverview neighborhood. Site grading and final inspections remain, but otherwise they’re usable stairs.
Many people frequent the park, which marks the east end of the popular Waterfront Renaissance Trail. The new stairway has 15 steps and three landings made of galvanized steel with grating supported by concrete, as well as handrails on either side.
The project cost $34,308.
“Hopefully, they’ll last forever,” Art Rojsza said.
Read more about the new stairs.
