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Here are some of the top stories of the week on columbian.com. Wondering what else was popular this week with readers? Check out our Trending Stories page.
Marina Vile always dreamed of owning a home, especially after experiencing homelessness briefly as a child. At 28, she purchased a blue house with a lush garden in Vancouver’s Hough neighborhood.
She had no idea a homeless camp growing behind her backyard would force her to consider selling a mere four years later. The sound of screaming and the sight of drug use has become a regular part of her life in her once idyllic home. Once, while she was working in her backyard office, she heard people panic after finding a body just 10 feet from her.
A new downtown Vancouver gathering space is one step closer to reality. City staff unveiled the proposed master plan for the Waterfront Gateway Plaza at an open house Saturday. The plan will go before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission for approval Wednesday.
“Both the master plan materials and presentation provide a range of goals and objectives, based on what we heard from neighbors and the broader community during earlier engagement,” said Tim Becker, spokesman for the city of Vancouver.
A Clark County man is being held without bail until he can have his mental competency evaluated after he was arrested late Wednesday in the stabbing death of his sister at their Orchards home.
Dwayne Robinson, 34, appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree murder. He is scheduled for a hearing Monday to enter an order to be evaluated. According to a jail screening, Robinson said he suffers from depression.
A Yacolt man was sentenced Tuesday to four months in federal prison for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol and disruption of a joint session of Congress convened to confirm the 2020 presidential election results.
Benjamin John Silva, 37, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court of Columbia to a charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, including four months of home incarceration. The judge also ordered he pay $2,000 in restitution, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
The Vancouver City Council expressed a collective decision Monday on five ballot initiatives that will appear before voters in November. The council’s positions support law enforcement funding and oppose four Republican-supported tax initiatives.
Washington state law generally prohibits the use of public facilities to support or oppose a ballot initiative, according to City Attorney Jonathan Young. However, a city council may conduct a public hearing and take a collective position in support or opposition on a pending ballot measure if constituents are provided an equal opportunity to express an opposing view.
