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Here are some of the stories that grabbed our readers’ attention this week.
The Vancouver City Council may decriminalize the city’s unlawful camping ordinance. The current ordinance making it illegal to camp in public between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. is a misdemeanor but could be demoted to a civil infraction.
Since infractions are punishable by fines — and most homeless people would not be able to pay such a fine — the councilors discussed during a city council workshop Monday whether there are alternative penalties for camping outside of lawful hours.
“Is there community service? Is there any other way of putting something in there that’s not just financial?” said Councilor Jack Burkman.
Vancouver market intelligence company DiscoverOrg will grow yet again, this time after buying Maryland-based competitor RainKing.
The deal, announced Monday, was struck for an undisclosed sum. DiscoverOrg co-founder and CEO Henry Schuck told The Columbian it cost them “at least $100 million.”
Besides eliminating a competitor, DiscoverOrg absorbs RainKing’s workforce, customers and proprietary software; and it also gains a wider reach into the East Coast market, Schuck said.
The lawsuit aimed at removing Port of Vancouver Commission District 1 candidate Don from the November ballot was dismissed in Clark County Superior Court this morning.
“I think it was an attempt to take the vote away from the people of Clark County,” Orange said.
Judge Gregory Gonzales dismissed the suit filed by Vancouver resident Carolyn Crain because her petition to remove Orange from the November ballot was filed too late.
State law requires petitions challenging candidacy to be filed three days after candidates are certified to appear in the general election by the Secretary of State. Despite taking several months to prepare the case, Crain’s filing missed the deadline by a day.
A Vancouver woman was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail and mandatory mental health and alcohol treatment after pleading guilty to recklessly dropping her children on the ground and scuffling with police and medical personnel.
Jasmin C. Crump, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony harassment involving a criminal justice official and domestic violence reckless endangerment.
There is some inventive math happening at the site of the upcoming Ridgefield Outdoor Sports Complex, where city and Ridgefield School District officials have a simple equation to describe the joint project.
“The guiding concept is one plus one equals three,” said Bryan Kast, the city’s public works director. “We can build more together than separately.”
The complex, which breaks ground Thursday, was promised to residents as part of the school district’s $78 million bond, which residents passed with 68.82 percent of the vote in February. However, no bond money is going toward the actual complex.
