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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the weekend:
Six small children greeted visitors on Friday at Mattress Factory Outlet near Vancouver Mall.
They’re Jeff Weinstein’s grandchildren, they’re in a poster-size photo, and they’re a big part of the reason Weinstein has decided to end a 72-year-old era.
Weinstein announced a “Going Out of Business Sale!” with an insert that appeared Friday in The Columbian. He and his father, Allan Weinstein, opened the business in 1994, the same year they stepped away from Vancouver Furniture Co., a downtown fixture from 1946 to 1996.
Jeff Weinstein, 70, grappled for months with whether to close the mattress store and move on with his life, but ultimately decided it was time.
“I’ve been working in town five, six, seven days (a week) for 48 years,” Weinstein said. “I don’t know if there’s ever a right time, but we have six grandchildren in Southern California. I’d like to spend more time with them.”
Walk into downtown Vancouver and throw a rock. Chances are you’ll hit a brewery.
In a region with over a century of beer-brewing history, from thirsty Civil War soldiers at Fort Vancouver to the bottling behemoth Lucky Lager, being flooded with beer is hardly new.
But the current state of the industry, with 22 microbreweries scattered around Clark County that just didn’t exist 10 or even three years ago, marks a new era in the identity and economy of Southwest Washington.
Beer, if you’ll excuse the pun, is hopping. And the more local, the better.
“For those of us who grew up in this town, Lucky really was a landmark that kind of defined our community,” said Steve Becker, executive director of the Vancouver Downtown Association.
A former Safeway grocery store building in the Orchards area is getting remodeled, and the work may be in preparation for the opening of a Big Lots store at the site, according to a pair of building permits submitted to Clark County.
The two permits pertain to the building at 11606 N.E. 76th St., which is part of a shopping center at the intersection of Northeast 76th Street and 117th Avenue. The building has sat empty since the Safeway closed in May 2016; at the time, a corporate spokesperson said it had been underperforming.
The two permit applications were submitted in June and July, and they both list Big Lots as the business name. They describe a building update that includes minor interior renovations and finish work along with exterior facade changes.
The most popular Halloween candy in Washington is almost certainly not what you think it is.
But if Halloween brings back memories of time at the beach, sunny summer days and a trip to the sweet shop — well, you’re a weirdo — but you might also be in luck this year. Washington state’s top-selling Halloween candy — by a large margin — is salt water taffy.
Really.
According to a survey by CandyStore.com, Washington’s three top candy sellers during the Halloween season are salt water taffy, with a whopping 220,965 pounds sold; Tootsie Pops, with 195,602 pounds; and Skittles, with 71,553 pounds.
So how the heck did that happen? Shelly Garrett, store manager and regional assistant at Candy Tyme in the Vancouver Mall says it’s actually not so surprising.
“It actually makes a ton of sense,” Garrett said. “It’s the No. 1 item we give away.”
A last-minute look at contributions flooding into the 3rd Congressional District shows the race isn’t slowing down.
Candidates must file a pre-general election report spanning Oct. 1-17. Those filings with the Federal Election Commission were available Friday.
In that time, contributions to Democratic challenger Carolyn Long outpaced those to Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, three times over.
Long brought in an additional $685,267 in contributions, bringing her election cycle total to $2,919,736.
Meanwhile Herrera Beutler took in another $209,521 in contributions, putting her total at $2,241,466.
