Clark County Today News

After an accidental fire damaged their boathouse in December 2025, Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue's repaired structure was towed back to its dock on Lake River in Ridgefield. The $222,500 repair, covered mostly by insurance, ends a six-month stretch where the fire boat sat near a parking lot — adding up to 15 minutes to water response times. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/clark-cowlitz-fire-resc...

A single-vehicle rollover near the 18900 block of SE 20th Street at 2:20 a.m. left one person ejected and conscious, with the vehicle's rear suspended above the ground by a tree. Vancouver Fire controlled a natural gas leak while AMR transported the patient for further care. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/community_news/single-vehicle-rollover-crash-results-in-injury-and-natural-gas-leak/ #Vanco...

June, July, and August are Washington's deadliest consecutive 90 days for traffic fatalities — and Clark County ranks fourth in the state for work zone collisions, with about 80 incidents recorded each year. A construction inspector describes watching a distracted driver pin a young worker to a machine and throw him 20 feet down the road. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/as-summer-days-approa...

Evergreen Habitat for Humanity's Taste of Home fundraiser raised over $120,000 for the 132nd Cottage Homes project in Vancouver — the organization's largest construction effort to date. The 32 cottage-style homes will serve residents earning 35–80% of area median income and will remain permanently affordable through Habitat's Home Trust program. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/people/evergreen-ha...

Transportation engineers from Battle Ground and Ridgefield will join the Clark County Commission on Aging on June 15 to discuss ADA compliance challenges in smaller cities. The public meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Public Service Center in Vancouver, with hybrid attendance available. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/commission-on-aging-to-discuss-implementation-of-ada-transportation-stand...

Vancouver resident Justin Forsman is calling out Congress for quietly advancing Section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act — a provision that would deepen U.S.-Israel integration across AI, missile defense, cyber systems, and biotechnology with little public debate or oversight. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/letter-congress-quietly-advances-u-s-israel-military-integration-thr...

A March 2025 memo from Assistant Attorney General Andrew Krawczyk warns there is a "realistic possibility" a Washington State wealth tax would be struck down under the constitution's uniformity clause. The $50 million threshold exemption and out-of-state tax credits pose the greatest legal risk, the memo states. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon says the House has no plans to advance a wealth tax in 2027. https...

Five Washington Supreme Court seats are on the 2026 ballot — and 675,000 voters skipped judicial races in 2024. Nancy Churchill opens her series examining what's at stake: income tax precedent, a $4 billion pension raid on retired first responders, voter-approved initiatives, and sheriff authority. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-high-stakes-hidden-election/ #WashingtonSupremeCour...

Bob Pishue of the Mountain States Policy Center argues rail costs on the I-5 Bridge replacement are being severely underestimated — and that Phase 1's $5.9 billion freeway-only option reveals officials may be quietly pivoting away from the full $14.4 billion plan. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-transportation-officials-may-be-pivoting-as-costs-explode-on-interstate-bridge-replace...

Vancouver resident Myronie McKee was filming a commercial playing a breast cancer patient when she received her own diagnosis the very next day. At PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center's National Cancer Survivors Day, she shared how surgery, radiation, and community transformed her outlook on survival. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/people/peacehealth-celebrates-national-cancer-survivors-day/ #C...

OFM Director K.D. Chapman-See warned state agency directors in a June 5 memo that Washington faces severe shortfalls in both its operating and transportation budgets for the 2027-29 biennium. Inflation has risen 39% over a decade, population grew 14.2% between 2015 and 2025, and agencies have been told not to count on the legally contested millionaire's tax. Budget requests are due to OFM by Sept....

Washington AG Nick Brown is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to accept a challenge to the state's redrawn legislative maps — then send the case back down for review under Louisiana v. Callais, a ruling Brown calls "a horrible decision" that undermines minority voting power. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/why-ag-nick-brown-wants-the-supreme-court-involved-in-was-redistricting-fight/ #Washington...

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence not by seniority, but because John Dickinson refused to support independence. Rob Natelson of the Mountain States Policy Center profiles each member of the Committee of Five — their origins, careers, and the roles they played in founding the nation. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-the-men-who-wrote-the-declaration-of-indepen...

Public records obtained by economist Joe Cortright reveal the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program allocates $320 million to TriMet's Ruby Junction maintenance facility in Gresham — 20 miles from the bridge — while the overall IBR price tag has ballooned from $3.2 billion to potentially $15 billion. Rep. John Ley of the 18th Legislative District breaks down the numbers and questions who is accoun...

Washington and Oregon transportation commissions reviewed four tolling proposals for the Interstate Bridge, with rates ranging from $1.55 to $4.70 depending on time of day and plan. Tolling is expected to begin in July 2028, years before the replacement bridge opens, possibly in 2035. Critics raised concerns about traffic diversion to I-205, low-income discounts, and whether the public has enough...

Gov. Bob Ferguson's budget director, K.D. Chapman-See, sent a three-page memo to state agency directors warning of significant shortfalls in both operating and transportation budgets next biennium. Agencies must submit budget requests by Sept. 14 and are directed to pause most new programs. The state's two-year operating budget now sits near $80 billion — nearly double the $43.7 billion budget sig...

Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi breaks down where the I-5 Bridge replacement project actually stands: the river bridge package is at roughly 30% design, $280.2 million has been spent since 2019 on planning and preconstruction, and the first funded phase of $5.68 billion is not the same as the full $14.4 billion corridor vision. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/letter-that-is-why-the-proce...

Tom Schenk of Amboy argues that 40 years of Democrat governors — led by Jay Inslee's 123 judicial appointments — have stacked Washington's courts with partisan judges who rubber-stamp emergency clauses, tax hikes, and the Interstate Bridge Replacement. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/letter-forty-years-of-democrat-governors-judicial-appointments/ #WashingtonState #JudicialAppointments #Cl...

Clark County is replacing the intersection at Northeast 182nd Avenue and Risto Road with a single-lane roundabout. Road closures begin June 22, with Northeast Risto Road closed between Northeast 176th and Northeast 182nd avenues. Northeast 182nd Avenue will also be resurfaced. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/work-begins-this-month-to-improve-intersection-at-northeast-182nd-street-and-risto-r...

Decades after the land was purchased in 1999, Clark County officially opened Curtin Creek Community Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The park features the county's first lighted multi-sport rugby field, four lighted pickleball courts, inclusive play areas, and trails overlooking the Gaddis wetlands and Mount Hood. Development was funded through the Metropolitan Park District Levy, REET II fund...

175 booths and more than 300 small businesses run by teens and children took over Esther Short Park in Vancouver for the Greater Vancouver Chamber Lemonade Day Junior Market. From Origami flapping birds to crochet plushies and hypoallergenic jewelry, young entrepreneurs showed up — some as early as 7 a.m. — ready to sell. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/people/its-an-early-morning-for-those-who-p...

Clark County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a stabbing near NE 117th Avenue and NE 244th Street in Battle Ground at 1:28 p.m. Friday. A man died at the scene and a woman was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. A suspect is in custody as the Major Crimes Unit processes the scene. NE 244th Street remains closed from SR 503 west to NE 239th Street. https://www.clarkcountyto...

Mayor Eric Overholser defended ICE and anti-Antifa proclamations as the Regional Transportation Council debated light rail costs and who pays. The Veterans Advisory Board asked for two new positions to serve 33,000 veterans, while Hockinson's Bridget Brennan heads to Annapolis as her family's third Naval Academy appointment. https://mailchi.mp/clarkcountytoday/this-weeks-top-news_june_5_2026 #Clar...

The U.S. Senate voted 48-50 against advancing the SAVE America Act, Trump's push to require birth certificates or passports for voter registration. Four Republicans — Collins, McConnell, Murkowski, and Tillis — joined Democrats in opposition, falling well short of the 60-vote threshold needed. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/us-senate-blocks-trumps-save-america-act/ #SAVEAmericaAct #VoterID...

Vancouver resident Jonathan Hines makes the case that universal mail-in voting has exposed serious logistical and security failures — from nearly 400 abandoned ballots found near a Renton dumpster to California acknowledging weeks-long primary count delays. He proposes a three-pillar hybrid model built around verified drop boxes, expanded in-person voting windows, and a request-based absentee syst...