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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:
Brent Luyster’s triple-murder case captured the public’s interest from across the nation and was arguably one of Clark County’s most notorious in recent years. It was also one of the most expensive.
Luyster’s case was the county’s second-most expensive in the last decade, according to public records obtained and analyzed by The Columbian.
Less than $1,000 separated Luyster’s total defense costs from the costliest case, a 2011 case in which Dennis Wolter was convicted of aggravated murder. And Luyster’s defense cost taxpayers more than three times Darrin Sanford’s 2009 aggravated murder case.
Clark County Indigent Defense spent $374,594 on Luyster, compared with $375,439 on Wolter and $111,571 on Sanford, according to Indigent Defense Manager Ann Christian. And that doesn’t count the costs of the initial investigation and prosecuting the case, which are virtually impossible to calculate.
Read the full story: Luyster murder trial cost Clark County $374,594
It began Sunday night and will run through August. Several two-week-long, 24-hour-a-day ramp closures at the Interstate 5/Interstate 84 interchange in Portland are expected to dramatically congest the city’s streets and highways.
The Oregon Department of Transportation is warning of congestion similar or worse than typical rush-hour conditions from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays. Commutes could last for a couple of hours. Backups could stretch to the Interstate 5 Bridge, to Troutdale on I-84 and to the Glenn Jackson Bridge and Sunnyside on Interstate 205.
C-Tran is anticipating “major gridlock” and urging its Express service passengers to be prepared.
“Make sure you know this is occurring if you have a time-sensitive job,” said C-Tran spokeswoman Christine Selk.
Read the full story: Summer closures will snarl traffic for Clark County commuters
Jim Carlson knows his dream house is close at hand, if he can land the right deal.
It’s not a down payment that he’s negotiating, but rather the price of his land to sell. He bets his P-shaped 7 acres, with a long driveway that widens around an unfinished home and an old horse training arena, is worth about $500,000 today.
Someday soon the land could triple in value. That is, if Clark County decides to lift a zoning overlay that has rendered the land in his neighborhood practically undevelopable.
“If I can’t sell it as developable property, what does 7 acres and an old farmhouse sell for in that area?” Carlson asked. So he said he plans to wait. “We’re not going to leave $1 million sitting on the table.”
Good news arrived in 2015 for landowners like Carlson, private developers and economic development officials, when the state awarded $50 million to rebuild the Interstate 5 interchange near 179th Street.
But there was a caveat: the first installments wouldn’t arrive until 2023.
Now, private developers and local officials may be near a short-term plan that would kick-start development sooner.
Read the full story: What does future hold for the 179th interchange?
WithRollie Mayberry’s retirement from barbering at Cecil’s Barber Shop on July 1, he wraps up six decades of work that included thousands of haircuts, the first haircut for a former National Football League kicker, one nicked ear and countless hours of offering unofficial therapy for customers.
Mayberry, who worked at Cecil’s for about seven years of his career, was hired by friend and former Cecil’s owner Debbie Wright Packer, 67. Her father was Cecil Wright, the shop’s founder. Wright Packer retired in December after 45 years of barbering.
