Cheers: To a unique plant. Titan VanCoug, a corpse flower on the Washington State University Vancouver campus, has bloomed again. And with its fourth bloom in recent years, the rare plant has perplexed experts and provided an opportunity for researchers. “I need to get in the dirt,” said Dawn Freeman, a biology instructor and the plant’s caretaker. “What’s more fascinating to me is finding out what’s going on under there.”
Corpse flowers are native to the island of Sumatra and get their name from the rotting-flesh smell they emit during a bloom. Titan VanCoug is no different in that regard, but its frequent blooms have set it apart. Previous growths have drawn thousands of onlookers to the WSUV campus, but this one came as a surprise and ended quickly. “I’m lucky that we’ve had three in a row to learn as much as we had, but it still just gives us new questions every time,” Freeman said.
Jeers: To fatal overdoses. Officials report that there were 158 overdose deaths in Clark County during 2023 — a 21 percent increase from the previous year. The increase, they say, is partly attributable to the combined use of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
In addition to the deaths, overdose calls to emergency services increased by more than 10 percent, and emergency department visits for opioid overdoses increased approximately 30 percent. Whether or not the overdoses result in a fatality, fentanyl and other drugs are costly and dangerous to our community.
Sad: The death of Walter Lee “Buddy” Smith Sr. Vancouver’s first Black barber, Smith died last month at the age of 84. As recounted in a recent Columbian article, he faced systemic racism in his attempts to become licensed and to open his first shop.
But he endured. “He was an entrepreneur. He was a hard worker,” one of Smith’s children told The Columbian. “He did not believe in anyone getting the best of him. He knew what he wanted in life, and he went after it.”
Smith managed to build a business, and the outlet he opened off Fourth Plain Boulevard in 1969 still exists — now as Walt and Jack’s Hair Affair.
Jeers: To a bus driver shortage. School districts are having difficulty finding enough drivers to ferry students to and from school — or to extracurricular activities. “We’re definitely still seeing a shortage,” one local official said. “Right now, we don’t have enough drivers to fill all our routes. Anyone who comes to us doesn’t become a sub. They get a route.”
The issue is not unique to Clark County. Districts throughout the country have reported a decline in the number of drivers, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential that drivers be properly vetted and well trained, but lawmakers in Olympia should explore ways to ease the requirements for obtaining a commercial driver’s license or to facilitate the hiring of more drivers.
Cheers: To Bowser. The 9-year-old African spurred tortoise has been reunited with his Portland family after two days on the lam. According to OregonLive.com, Bowser lives in the front yard of a home in a residential neighborhood; his owners returned home to find an open gate and no sign of the tortoise.
Considering that Bowser has gotten out of his yard on three occasions, jeers go to his owners. But cheers are warranted for his safe return and to the police officers who spotted him about 1½ miles from home. “We were able to catch up to him pretty quickly,” a spokesperson said.
We’re guessing it was a low-speed chase.
