What’s on tap for this week’s weather? Check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories of the weekend:
A Vancouver police officer fired shots at a fleeing suspect who crashed into a vehicle and a building before he was apprehended by police.
Detectives remained at three crime scenes that spanned about eight blocks of Vancouver’s Uptown Village for hours on Saturday collecting evidence.
The incident began at about 11:15 a.m. Saturday when a Vancouver police officer was dispatched to Walgreens, 2521 Main St., to assist the Department of Corrections in apprehending a wanted suspect, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
When the officer contacted the male suspect, the suspect attempted to hit the officer with his vehicle, police said. The officer fired at the suspect, who then fled the scene in his vehicle, according to police.
The fleeing suspect vehicle then crashed into a car at 16th and Broadway and then crashed into Not Too Shabby, the business at the corner, police said.
The male suspect and female passenger fled on foot, Vancouver police Lt. Kathy McNicholas said.
Read the full story: Fleeing suspect crashes into car, business before arrest
A pedestrian pushing a shopping cart died late Saturday after a hit-and-run along Northeast Minnehaha Street east of Hazel Dell.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies said they were dispatched at 11:35 p.m. to a collision in the 2300 block of Northeast Minnehaha, along with the Vancouver Fire Department.
They arrived to find a pedestrian had been struck and was lying in one of the eastbound travel lanes of the five-lane arterial street. There was a shopping cart near the victim, identified as a 44-year-old man who has been living as a transient.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said the victim,who was wearing dark clothing, was walking eastbound in the inside eastbound lane and pushing the shopping cart when he was struck by a white vehicle.
The driver of the sedan sped away toward the east, the witnesses said.
Read the full story: Pedestrian killed in hit-run on Minnehaha Street
A group of volunteers and businesses is working to combat the shortage of feminine hygiene products available for homeless women in the area with an online campaign that’s gaining traction on Facebook.
Dianna Kretzschmar, founder of Friends of the Elder Justice Center, organized #Every28Days, a monthlong effort to collect pads and tampons for Share’s Women in Transitions Program.
“Women don’t have access to these products,” she said. “This is such a need.”
Local businesses and government offices this month set up pink Waste Connection bins or other collection bins in highly visible locations bearing the hashtag #Every28Days, a reference to women’s menstrual cycle running every 28 days. Donations can be made at any of the sites, as well as at a Period Party at Garage Bar and Grille at 1101 W. Fourth Plain Blvd., marking the culmination of the campaign.
And yes, bar owner Kevin Kloewer said, bloody marys are on the menu.
The drive has come with a healthy dose of cheekiness and jokes, organizers say, but is rooted in a serious cause: shelters and programs for homeless women notoriously lack the feminine hygiene products women need to make it through each month.
Read the full story: Every28Days effort seeks support
A review of pending criminal cases investigated by a former Clark County sheriff’s detective shows that no further cases are compromised, according to the county prosector’s office.
But because he could be facing criminal charges himself, former detective Kevin Harper will no longer be called to testify for the prosecution at trials.
“Honestly, he’s just not a viable witness,” Clark County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield said.
Even so, Banfield said nearly all of the criminal court cases that he investigated are still moving forward.
Prosecutors have finished reviewing the cases Harper was involved in investigating and aside from dropped charges in an attempted murder case, all other unresolved criminal cases he investigated are viable, she said.
Harper, who was a major crimes detective with the sheriff’s office for 20 years before he resigned earlier this month, was placed on administrative leave in September when a Vancouver police sergeant was made aware of an affair Harper was having with a known heroin addict, according to an investigation by the Washington State Patrol.
In the investigative report, state patrol detectives reported they found evidence that Harper, 57, met with Tracy Wasserman during work hours, documented her preparing and using heroin, provided her with money to purchase heroin and failed to seize her cellphone during the execution of a search warrant.
Read the full story: Review OKs former county detective’s cases
As Congress gears up to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a crowd met Saturday morning at Clark College to make their message clear: Health care is a human right.
Held in conjunction with others across the country sponsored by Our Revolution, the movement created by Bernie Sanders, the Vancouver rally drew about 200 demonstrators.
Local organizer Paulina Oberg said that simply put, the rally was to combat what she called “class-based warfare.”
“(The rally) is a direct response to the outright assault by Republican leaders, including our own congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler, as well as our Washington State legislation and the Trump administration,” Oberg said. “This assault is on the most vulnerable persons in our community, the people who aren’t able to afford health care.”
Doctors, hospital representatives, patients and everyday citizens took to the stage Saturday to tell their stories of how repealing the Affordable Care Act could have dire repercussions.
Read the full story: Supporters rally in defense of Affordable Care Act
