Southwest Washington Medical Center's $146 million expansion information

Is the proposed project at our Daybreak property in the public interest? You decide.

There will be NO mining at all near the EFLR, including the banks, ordinary high water marks, floodway, channel migration zone, or the 100 year flood plain.

Call 397-2232 and let the commissioners know that
solid science and not politics must guide their decision regarding the project.
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Republicans to nominate a candidate
for county commissioner Saturday

Republican precinct committee officers representing the 53 precincts in Clark County Commissioner District 3 will meet in convention at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 11, in the Clark Public Utilities’ community room, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, to select a candidate to oppose Democrat Steve Stuart, who was appointed by the board of county commissioners to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Democrat commissioner Craig Pridemore. Pridemore successfully ran for 49th District state senator.

The Saturday nominating convention will be a first for Clark County Republicans since the early 20th century and will be one of the first in Washington this year.

However, under the state’s new primary system, mandated by voter approval of Initiative 872 last year, anyone may file for partisan elective office, pay the filing fees, and put down whatever political party he or she claims. Thus, the new way is much like the old way before the partisan primary election of 2004.

The filing period is Monday, July 25, through Friday, July 29. The only partisan office in Clark County up for election this year is the one Stuart now holds. And at stake is the just final year of Pridemore’s unexpired term, which means there will be another election for that commissioner position in 2006.

Initiative 872 is the target of a current law suit in several Washington counties, including Clark, brought by the Republican Party. The Democrats have also joined that suit.

Both parties want to be in control of who their candidates are. If I-872 is overturned by the courts, then only the party-nominated candidates would go before the voters in the general election.

County Elections supervisor Tim Likness says that unless I-872 is overturned, voters in the primary and general elections this year will see ballots that appear much the same as they did before the courts overturned open primary elections first in California and now in Washington and elsewhere.

After listening to Likness describe it, one would conclude that the 2004 primary election in Washington was just short of bizarre. Likness said elections workers had to work seven day weeks to cobble together a system that met the legal requirements and that enabled adherents of each political party to vote their party’s ballots. Voters in last year’s primary received four separate color-coded ballots and were required to select the color of their choice.

While Republicans are close-mouthed about who will be selected to run against Stuart, it is widely speculated that the candidate will be Tom Mielke, former 18th District representative, who did not stand for reelection to the legislature but instead, last year, ran a close contest against incumbent Democrat county commissioner Betty Sue Morris. Less than 2,000 votes separated the winner Morris and Mielke. The final count was 78,154 votes for Morris, 76,212 for Mielke.

Nautilus gives Firstenburg Center
$250,000 worth of fitness equipment

Gregg Hammann, Nautilus Inc. chair, CEO and president, today has a surprise for Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation during Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce luncheon today, where as featured speaker, he talked about Vancouver being a “world-class” community.

He announced a company gift of $250,000 worth of fitness equipment for the Firstenburg Center now under construction in East Vancouver. More than 100 pieces of fitness equipment will be installed in the center, due to open this fall.

“Thanks to the commitment by our community, and by the Firstenburg family, we will soon have one of the finest community park and recreational facilities in the country,” Hammann told chamber members.

County goal: 110,077
new jobs by 2024

Clark County commissioners, wrestling with revisions in the county’s Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, today announced agreement on a goal of 110,077 new jobs by 2024.

To achieve that goal, the three commissioners, who are in agreement on new assumptions that will determine they amount of land available for residential, commercial and industrial development over the next 19 years, have set the annual rate of population growth at 2 percent. They forecast that by 2024 there will be 584,300 people living in the county.

Commissioners have established a job creation goal of one new job for every 1.75 new persons. The jobs are expected to be created in both urban and rural areas.

Cities in the county are also revising their growth assumptions and will present recommendations for their urban growth areas at a 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, meeting of the commissioners.

Calendar

An open house to discuss plans for the Clark County Trail and Bikeway System for 2006 is being presented by Vancouver-Clark Parks & Recreation at 6 p.m. this evening in Battle Ground City Hall, 109 SW 1st Street. g Nearly 1,500 Clark College students will be presented associate degrees in arts or certificates of achievement and proficiency in graduation ceremonies that begin at 7 p.m. this evening in the Amphitheater in Clark County. g Clark County commissioner Steve Stuart will address the Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association at the association’s regular meeting at 7 p.m. this evening in the Church Community Room, 400 NE 179th Street.

For sale: Providence Academy, $15 million--Columbian, Gretchen Fehrenbacher

Storedahl wins support for gravel mine--Columbian, Kathie Durbin

Barking dog alerts parents to boy submerged in pond; two-year-old expected to recover--Columbian, Jeffrey Mize

$7.5 million east Vancouver medical building opens--Columbian, Gretchen Fehrenbacher

Parade of Homes to open August 19 in Washougal--Columbian, Pat Stephens

C-TRAN steering talk toward a sales tax increase--Oregonian, Bill Stewart

Big ships due in for Rose Festival; expect downtown Portland traffic delays--KATU

Mortgage rates dip to lowest level in 14 months--USA TODAY, AP

Headlines at home and from around the world:
(Click on the headlines below for the rest of the story)

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam [updates every five minutes]--USDA Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
 

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