Top Stories: Safeway closure rumors; man killed with bow and arrow; hiker killed on Mount St. Helens

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Here are some of the top stories of the week on columbian.com.

1. Rumors swirl after Safeway property on Mill Plain in east Vancouver is sold

Rumors of east Vancouver’s Safeway falling to a Mercedes-Benz dealership have swirled around the community for weeks. The rumors may come true, but not seemingly right away.

Portland’s Beardsley Building Management purchased the property at 13719 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., in 2013. Last October, Beardsley sold the property to a holding company called SC Vancouver RE I LLC for $14.5 million, according to county records.

• Holding company that bought site managed by dealer principal at Las Vegas-based Swickard Auto Group

2. Battle Ground council rejects partnership to almost double amount of affordable housing in the city

The Battle Ground City Council has voted 4-3 against allowing Vancouver Housing Authority to work with a private developer to create a project that would almost double the amount of affordable housing being planned in the city.

“I respect the people that voted no, but I’m astounded that, on one hand, we beg for affordable housing, but then, when we’re given the chance to do it by a developer that has invested so much in our community, we kill it time and time again,” said council member Adrian Cortes, who voted in favor of the project. “It’s absolutely ridiculous, and it’s shameful.”

• Eaton Park Apartments, a 95-unit multifamily housing project, would have been built in conjunction with Vancouver Housing Authority

3. Man killed with bow and arrow in Clark County shooting; suspect in custody

Clark County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of murder after he allegedly shot another man with a bow and arrow during a fight in the Minnehaha area.

Deputies responded at 6:44 a.m. to the 3200 block of Northeast Petticoat Lane. A man identified as Richard Vanderhoek called 911 to report he had shot another man with a bow and arrow, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

• The victim was shot in the chest and found dead by Clark County Sheriff’s deputies
• Day 2: Vancouver man suspected of murder in bow and arrow slaying appears in court
• Update: Medical examiner IDs 42-year-old Vancouver man killed with bow and arrow

4. Washougal man killed on Mount St. Helens while summiting the peak

A Washougal man was killed early Saturday morning on Mount St. Helens when the snow underneath him collapsed and he fell into the crater, causing an avalanche.

A climbing group reached the summit near the Monitor Ridge climbing route about 7 a.m. the same morning and located a backpack, digital recording devices and other personal items near the rim of the crater. The climbing group reported a motionless person within the crater about 1,200 feet below the summit, according to a news release from the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.

• Roscoe “Rocky” Shorey, 42, summited the peak and, while at the top, triggered a cornice — an overhang mass of snow

5. Fentanyl crisis descends on jail in a small WA town short on treatment

GOLDENDALE, Klickitat County — When he was growing up, Ivan Howtopat dreamed of being a famous skateboarder. Playing college basketball. Buying his mom a house.

More recently, he told her that he wanted to go to opioid treatment. Maybe he’d start to learn a trade.

Ivan was still just at the beginning of his life when drugs came into the picture — about 20 years old, said his parents, Melissa and Donovan.

• Goldendale jail doesn’t provide any of the three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorder