The Columbian

Everybody Has a Story: Pacific island bomb tests resonate

March 9, 2024, 6:06am Clark County Life

The other night I watched “Oppenheimer,” an extraordinarily powerful film. It reminded me of late 1960s and early 1970s, when I spent five years living in the Marshall Islands. I spent two as a Peace Corps volunteer and three more as a teacher at Marshall Islands High School, on contract… Read story

Weather Eye: Trio of incoming storms forecast to shower region

March 9, 2024, 6:04am Clark County News

Friday’s weather was pleasant with high temperatures almost reaching 60 degrees at the official weather station in Vancouver. A few of you let me know you observed 60 degrees or a little above. We are on the right track. Friday’s high of 59 degrees was above the average and the… Read story

Check it Out: Happy, scrappy reading list

March 9, 2024, 6:03am Clark County Life

When I search the library’s catalog for “Check It Out” titles, I always find something that surprises (and delights) me. If the “something” doesn’t relate to the theme I’ve picked for the column, I add it to my “topics for consideration” file. However, some titles are so unique that finding… Read story

Gardening with Allen: Drainage key for veggies in pots

March 9, 2024, 6:03am Clark County Life

Last year I grew some vegetables in 5 gallon pots on my sunny deck with poor success. I prepared the containers by cleaning, putting crumpled plastic bags in the bottom and then filling with a good soil mix. Plants had poor leaf color. The maturing tomatoes had the “dreaded black… Read story

In this 1942 photo, American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese are shown at the start of the Bataan Death March. A Vancouver High School graduate and Army chaplain, Ralph W.E. Brown, was among the prisoners. He ministered to soldiers until his death in January 1945 in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Clark County history: Vancouver High graduate received WWII Distinguished Service Cross

March 9, 2024, 6:02am Clark County Life

Three months after the invasion of the Philippine Islands and the Battle of Bataan, the Japanese captured nearly 78,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war. Japanese soldiers marched them for six days down the Bataan peninsula to a railhead, denying them food and water before dispersing them to internment camps.… Read story

NWCAVE fundraiser hosts Elizabeth Smart: “Media is so powerful. I have no doubt that I would not be here if not for the media”

Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart chats with guests Friday at the Java For Justice Brunch. Smart was abducted in 2002 from her Salt Lake City home and held captive for nine months before she was rescued.

As a child, Elizabeth Smart was taught to not talk to strangers, to use the buddy system, and to stop, drop and roll if on fire. But she wasn’t taught what to do when confronted with sexual violence. Most kids aren’t. Read story

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