Will the rain stick around this weekend? For details, check our local weather coverage.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the week:
Can’t say that George Taylor didn’t jump right in to volunteering. The Vancouver resident was literally jumping into the large tote boxes Tuesday afternoon in a sorting room at the Clark County Food Bank. It was his first day volunteering. He was pulling food donations up to hand off to another volunteer. Despite pandemic conditions, everyone helping thought this year’s Drive & Drop — formerly known as Walk & Knock — was a success.
A temporary homeless shelter at the former Motel 6 in east Vancouver, created in response to COVID-19, closed Monday afternoon. The closure, expected for several months as funding sources disappeared, is believed to have left dozens without immediate living arrangements. The 116-room facility opened in April for homeless people who contracted or come into contact with COVID-19, but it expanded to include those considered to be high-risk if they contracted the virus. Isolation and quarantine activities are expected to continue until at least Dec. 21.
Pierce County prosecutors reviewing the investigation into the fatal police shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr. have a thorny history with one of the attorneys representing the 21-year-old Black man’s family. Peterson’s family is being represented by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump and attorneys in Tacoma with Herrmann Law Group. One of the attorneys is Mark Lindquist, who was Pierce County’s top prosecutor before being unseated in November 2018 by former colleague Mary Robnett. A small team of Pierce County prosecutors, headed by Chief Criminal Deputy Jim Schacht, will review the law enforcement investigation and make a legal determination in Peterson’s shooting, office spokesman Adam Faber said.
Loretta Shaw is the kind of person who will say hello to everyone she passes on the street during a walk. She is also one to buy a sandwich for someone who is homeless and hungry. At 81 years old, Shaw just sees a need and wants to help however she can. And she’s homeless herself. In stepped her Vancouver neighborhood. This group of friends, who all live and work in the Hough area, have banded together to give Shaw the kind of help she gives to others.
Clark County recorded seven new deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the pandemic’s local death toll this week to 15, according to Clark County Public Health. Public Health reported 273 new cases on Friday, bringing the total number of cases in Clark County 10,630 since the pandemic began in March. The county has been averaging about 178 new cases a day since late last week, according to Public Health data. The number of active and potentially contagious cases in Clark County rose to 1,045, counting people with COVID-19 who were still in their isolation period.
