Cheers: To Duncan Lou Who. The two-legged canine recently celebrated his fifth birthday, a milestone for a dog who was not expected to survive a year. Duncan was born with his hind legs fused together, and at 3 months had them amputated. He has thrived despite that and other troubles, and has been a bit of a celebrity since a video of him frolicking on the beach went viral four years ago.
The work of owner Amanda Geise, who runs Washougal-based Panda Paws Rescue, will be featured on a new Animal Planet show, “Amanda to the Rescue,” beginning in the fall, and Geise finds inspiration in Duncan. “He’s a great educational piece that we’re all different, whether you’re special needs, different-abled,” Geise said. Others also have found inspiration in Duncan, with Geise saying, “If there’s an opportunity for him to show up somewhere and encourage someone . . . we always try to make that happen.”
Jeers: To smog. Local agencies issued an air pollution advisory this week, warning residents of poor air quality and urging them to limit driving. High temperatures and calm winds have created stagnant air that prevents air pollution from being carried out of the area.
Air quality has improved throughout the United States in recent decades, but pollution remains a concern. According to the Mayo Clinic, poor air quality can result in headaches; irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; damage to airways of the lungs; and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Pollution is not only a nuisance, but it is a costly public-health concern.
Cheers: To learning from experience. Reacting to concerns from business owners and customers, county officials have removed a median that divided a portion of Northeast Minnehaha Street in Hazel Dell. The median was installed in May, limiting access to local businesses, and the process of installation and removal cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Of course, we could jeer local government for the needless expense, but instead we hope they have learned a lesson. As Clark County Councilor Julie Olson said, the county must improve public outreach before undertaking such a project. While the process was flawed, we cheer the fact that officials responded to input from residents — even if that response was belated.
Jeers: To boondoggles. A project to link two Seattle streetcar lines with a new line is beset by examples of government at its worst. City officials ordered 10 streetcars at a cost of $52 million, but this week revealed that the new cars might not fit the tracks or the maintenance barn. Apparently, they ignored a time-honored lesson of “measure twice, cut once.”
Meanwhile, the deadline for an independent review of the project’s finances has come and gone, but the preliminary results are not encouraging. The projected cost for the project already has risen to $200 million from an initial estimate of $150 million. Overall, the streetcar project is a reminder of why the public often is suspicious of government’s ability to shepherd large transportation projects.
Cheers: To food trucks. Efforts to attract more food trucks to downtown Vancouver have hit some snags but remain promising. Operators of Turtle Place — C-Tran’s downtown bus terminus — and the nearby Columbia Food Park have had mixed success in drawing food vendors to the area.
The hope is that the sites eventually provide reliable lunchtime outings for downtown workers and visitors. As Portland has demonstrated in multiple locations, food trucks are a relatively easy way to offer a wide variety of dining options. They also can add vitality to the region by getting people out of their cars or offices and increasing pedestrian traffic.
