Cheers: To Parent University. Educational Opportunities for Children and Families has an innovative solution to a shortage of early education instructors. The nonprofit early child care provider has developed Parent University, helping parents earn credentials to teach in their facilities. The program provides health screenings, safety guides, mental health support and child care, and attendees also work on obtaining an education certificate from Clark College. Thanks to grants, tuition is free.
“We do complete wraparound services. We’re not just serving the kids, we’re serving the entire family unit,” said Rekah Strong, CEO of Educational Opportunities for Children and Families. Accessible, affordable child care is essential to a strong economy, and a lack of staffing is a major roadblock for providers. The program helps mitigate that shortage while also helping parents develop professional skills.
Jeers … and cheers: To homelessness along Mill Plain. A homeless encampment along West Mill Plain Boulevard continues to cause problems. One neighbor recently told the Vancouver City Council that she hears people screaming and sees people under the influence of drugs, “walking around like zombies, neither dead or alive.” Several residents also testified that their children are afraid to go outside their homes in the Hough neighborhood.
City of Vancouver officials have worked diligently to deal with homelessness; Homeless Response Manager Jamie Spinelli said there is a plan for cleaning up the encampment of approximately 50 tents, but did not reveal a timeline. Jeers go to officials who have allowed a problematic area to fester near a residential area. But cheers are warranted for the dozen or so citizens who raised concerns at a city council meeting.
Cheers: To volcano monitoring. A U.S. Senate committee has approved reauthorization of the federal National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act. The legislation, originally passed in 2019, has helped fund six new monitoring stations at Mount St. Helens and improvements to the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver. At Mount Rainier, the program has led to 22 new monitoring stations, along with enhanced landslide detection capabilities along the Puyallup and Nisqually rivers.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said: “The state of Washington is home to four of the most dangerous volcanoes in the nation. This bill ensures we have the right science and monitoring in place to keep our communities informed.”
Jeers: To unexpected costs. After an original estimate of $60 million, the 32nd Street rail crossing in Washougal is now expected to cost between $69 million and $80 million.
The situation is not unique to Washougal; construction projects routinely exceed initial cost projections, and inflation in recent years has exacerbated the issue. But we use this occasion to jeer all governments that underestimate costs and ultimately hand taxpayers an unexpected invoice. The practice leads to public cynicism and mistrust in government.
Cheers: To horse wrangling. Motorists near a busy Tacoma intersection had a surprise last week — two horses galloping down the street and through a gas station. The horses had escaped from a nearby barn, eliciting a response from law enforcement.
The animals eventually were lassoed by their owners; no animals or people were injured, and no property damage was reported. But as a headline in The (Tacoma) News Tribune summarizes: “There’s something you don’t see every day — 2 horses running loose on streets of Tacoma.”
