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News

January 25, 2011

Council approves changes to vehicle policy

Washougal elected officials may not use city automobiles unless they are traveling to conferences, seminars, training programs or other city-related business trips. The Washougal City Council has amended a chapter in the city's personnel policies, to include language that prohibits the assignment of take home vehicles to elected officials. Questions were raised about the auto usage policy after Mayor Sean Guard used a city-owned vehicle for personal reasons. He returned a vehicle to the city's surplus fleet on Jan. 3. It had been assigned to him in the early part of 2010.

January 25, 2011
The World War II Liberty ship SS Davy Crockett suffered a significant structural failure this past week on the north shore of the Columbia River near Camas. Ballard Diving and Salvage hazardous response teams cleaned the ship of all imminent ecological threats, including oil and other industrial waste.

Teams complete cleanup of derelict ship near Camas

Ecological threats including oils and other industrial waste have been removed from a derelict Liberty ship located on the north shore of Columbia River near Camas. The SS Davy Crockett, moored at the site for a number of years, suffered a significant structural failure during the past week and its owners were recently issued an administrative order by the United States Coast Guard to take cleanup action or face stiff monetary penalties. According to a press release from Ballard Diving & Salvage, the Seattle based company was hired by the vessel's owner to complete the cleanup. Trained salvage crews working on the ship included confined space teams and commercial dive teams, as well as remote underwater vehicles with sonar to locate and evaluate all sources of oil on and within the 442-foot vessel.

January 22, 2011
The Liberty Theatre, located at 315 N.E. Fourth Ave., in downtown Camas, will re-open with new operators in March. The space has been vacant since September 2009, when the former operator closed up shop. Future plans for the facility include offering food, beer and wine service.

Liberty Theatre slated to re-open in March

After being closed for more than a year, the Liberty Theatre in downtown Camas will re-open in March with a new operator, a new look and a new business plan.

January 18, 2011
Firefighters responded to a two-story house fire at 530 S.E. Blair Road in Washougal on Wednesday. The cause of the blaze is being investigated by the Clark County Fire Marshal's Office. Updates to this story will be posted at www.camaspostrecord.com.

House fire in Washougal ruled arson

A fire that destroyed a rural Washougal home last week is now being investigated as an arson case. Richard Martin, Clark County assistant fire marshal, said today that the fire originated in the garage of the two-story home located at 530 S.E. Blair Road. He declined to offer further details citing the ongoing investigation.

January 18, 2011
Rock and gravel has been trucked in from Skamania County and piled along the highway shoulder between Second and Sixth streets in Washougal in preparation for work on the state Route 14 improvement project. Work is expected to get under way early this summer.

Pre-construction work begins along Highway 14

For the past several weeks crews have been stockpiling rock and dirt along the shoulder of state Route 14 in anticipation of the onset of construction of the much anticipated Camas-Washougal widening and interchange project. According to WSDOT Area Engineer Chris Tams, the material is being trucked in from another ongoing WSDOT Highway 14 project -- $4.3 million in safety improvements being made from the Cape Horn Bridge to Cape Horn Road. The stockpiling between Second and Sixth streets will continue for the next two to three weeks with no scheduled traffic impacts. The material will be used to create embankments for the interchange project.

January 18, 2011

Local residents are involved in project for the homeless

Several Camas residents are doing their part to provide necessary supplies and services for the area's homeless population. Missy Shepherd, a volunteer with the Council for the Homeless, is coordinating "guest guides" for the fourth annual "Project Homeless Connect." The event will be held Thursday, Jan. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Red Lion at the Quay, 100 Columbia St., Vancouver.

January 11, 2011
Matt Henry played the double bass, accompanied by Kristin Yoshimura on violin and Scott Powell on organ at the Jan. 2 Epiphany concert at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, in Camas. The violin was made by Alan Boehlke, who also constructed the pipe organ with Powell. It was Powell's senior project at Washougal High School last year. "I really wanted to do something that no one else at that school had ever done," he said. "Only a handful in that area had ever played before."

Making memorable music

A small-scale handmade pipe organ recently made its public debut at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, in Camas. The musical instrument was constructed by Scott Powell, a 2010 Washougal High School graduate, and Alan Boehlke, a Camas resident who enjoys carpentry as a hobby. Powell, a University of Washington freshman, worked on the pipe organ for his high school senior project. "I had tried to find an organ builder in the Portland area, but no one was interested," he said. "I knew Alan built other instruments. Before I gave him some drawings, Alan visited 10 websites and watched 20 YouTube videos about building pipe organs. He was very interested from the first minute."

January 11, 2011

Economic development director search begins

In January 2010, officials from the cities of Camas and Washougal, and the Port of Camas-Washougal, came together during a public forum to discuss how the entities might work together to create economic development opportunities that would benefit the greater community. Today, nearly one year later, progress is being made with that goal in mind as the finishing touches are put on a draft "request for professional services" document. It is among the initial steps in the hiring process for an economic development director who will lead a proposed Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association. "I think this entire process has been deliberate," Washougal Mayor Sean Guard said Monday. "It has been focused on getting to a goal."

January 11, 2011

Washougal schools superintendent announces plans for retirement

Washougal School District Superintendent Teresa Baldwin has announced her retirement. Baldwin, 63, will make it official at the School Board meeting tonight. Her retirement will become effective in July. "Washougal has been the most wonderful place for this phase in my career," she said. Baldwin began working in the district in 2005 as assistant superintendent to then-Superintendent Bob Donaldson.