Top Stories: Humane Society costs; what was that odor?; ‘Ticket sent’ sign

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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.

1. Humane Society for Southwest Washington says costs are up, asks for per animal increase from Clark County

Services provided to Clark County by the Humane Society for Southwest Washington will soon cost more. A lot more.

Humane society leaders presented new proposed rates to the county council during a Sept. 18 work session.

• Shelter president says donor funding has subsidized as much as half of the cost of caring for animals housed under the county contract

2. Officials still have no idea what that odor was in Southwest Washington

Residents in Southwest Washington from Vancouver to Chehalis reported a foul odor so strong, it roused some people from sleep Tuesday night, causing nausea, headaches and burning lungs and sinuses, according to Facebook comments directed to Cowlitz and Clark county emergency agencies.

Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management started receiving reports about a terrible odor starting at 6:30 p.m. , Cowlitz County’s Emergency Management director Larry Hembree said in an statement today.

• A stench described by some as burning garbage or sulfur was reported from Chehalis to Vancouver and into Oregon

3. Great ball of something: Vancouver residents aren’t only ones who saw a fireball Monday night

Something hot and bright came speeding down from the sky after 10:30 p.m. Monday night. While nobody knows exactly where or even if it hit the ground, many observers across the Pacific Northwest watched its fiery descent in amazement.

Reports of the fireball flooded into the American Meteor Society overnight, according to Jim Todd, the director of space science education at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. While most eyewitnesses were in the Portland-Vancouver area, many reports also came from as far away as Seattle, Eugene, Ore., Boise, Idaho, and San Francisco.

• Sightings were recorded as far away as San Francisco; what the fireball was made of remains a mystery

4. ‘Ticket sent’? Sign on Highway 14 off-ramp in Vancouver was a mistake

Vancouver drivers exiting state Highway 14 onto East Evergreen Boulevard late last week who thought they would be getting a ticket in the mail can breathe a sigh of relief. Vancouver police said a speed sign mistakenly warned drivers “ticket sent.”

Because of the relatively short exit from the highway onto East Evergreen Boulevard, drivers have to rapidly decelerate from 60 mph to 35 mph. Despite a permanent sign installed on the road warning drivers of their speed, many continue to whiz by. The Vancouver Police Department brought in a second mobile sign with an LED screen and placed it a few feet down from the first sign. That’s where the ticket troubles began.

• Message was added to mobile sign in error, police say, no tickets will be arriving in the mail

5. Kalama hotel to be demolished this fall; port plans development to build out downtown business district

Once home to Elvis for just one night, a Kalama motel is now slated to be demolished after falling into disrepair more recently.

The OYO Hotel, formerly known as the Columbia Inn Motel, is located at 602 N.W. Frontage Road, right beside Interstate 5 as it passes through Kalama.

• Elvis Presley stayed there on his way to Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair