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Here are some of the stories that grabbed readers’ attention this weekend.
TACOMA — Elated teammates joined the sea of fans as celebratory smiles stretched across one side of the Tacoma Dome.
The Class 2A state title game was long over, the trophy presentation in the rearview mirror.
And for the first time since the final seconds of Hockinson’s 35-22 victory over Tumwater to cap an undefeated season, quarterback Canon Racanelli and his head coach, Rick Steele, made eye contact.
Few words exchanged, only tears shared when they embraced.
“That kid had it all on his shoulders,” Steele said, “all year long.”
No different Saturday, either, in the program’s biggest game to date. And Racanelli delivered — just like he has all season — but so did every single player, too, helping Hockinson win the school’s first football state championship.‘Like a second father:’
HOCKINSON — Rick Steele wants his sleep back.
The 53-year-old sets his alarm clock every night but, without fail, beats it by 10 minutes every morning.
Thirty-three years in the Vancouver Fire Department will do that to you, he says. He’s on call for 24 hours at a time these days as a battalion chief. He reckons he’s responded to over 20,000 alarms, 400 structure fires and more than 300 scenes where a tragic death has occurred.
“For 33 years, I haven’t slept. My body is conditioned to get up every hour,” said Steele, who retires from the department in January.
People get a puzzled look on their faces when I talk about dining in Hazel Dell, and I get that it has a sketch reputation in many people’s minds.
Warren Neth, owner of Hazel Dell Commons, believes he can help change that perception.
One of the reasons Hazel Dell has such a bad rep, he recently told me, is “there is no community gathering space.” With Hazel Dell Commons, he is working to create that space at one of the busiest intersections in the county — the intersection of Highway 99 and 99th Street.
Phase one of his plan includes Brothers Cascadia Brewing and a food cart pod with four stellar food trucks: Pizzeria La Sorrentina, Papa Joe’s BBQ, La Oie Cajun Cuisine, and Bahn Mi Saigon.
A 26-year-old Vancouver man was sentenced Friday to 3½ years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree assault in a September shooting of a neighbor’s acquaintance with a shotgun.
“I had to protect my family,” Joseph Jordan Carswell said in Clark County Superior Court. “I made a bad choice, and it won’t happen again.”
Carswell was at home with his girlfriend at 1910 Todd Road at about 3 p.m. Sept. 14, when he heard an altercation outside, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
Defense attorney Ed Dunkerly said the victim, Eugene Waldo, had come to the home because another tenant apparently owed him money. Waldo was confronted by Carswell and Carswell’s girlfriend because “no one at the address wanted him there. … He was not wanted in the area,” he said.
Stuart Riley, a politically active resident of Hazel Dell, said he uses Facebook to keep abreast of what’s going on locally and what sort of topics are worth closer attention.
A few months ago, he said he got into a heated disagreement over climate change with state Rep. Liz Pike, a Camas Republican who is running for Clark County council chair, where he said he “purposely used harsh language” to get her attention. He said Pike responded by blocking him on Facebook, meaning he could no longer tag her on posts or see the posts on her timeline.
Pike said in a text that she applies the same rules for civility at her town halls as she does for her Facebook page. She said people she blocks on social media can still contact her through email, phone or in person.
