Clark County Today News

Clark County Public Works, Parks and Nature is asking residents to help shape the future of local parks, trails and natural areas through an online survey open through Nov. 1. The survey takes five to ten minutes, is available in multiple languages, and includes a chance to win one of five $50 gift cards. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/community-invited-share-what-they-like-about-county-parks...

Karen Crowley, president of the League of Women Voters of Washington, makes the case for candidate forums, arguing that in races for school board, city council, and state legislature, a forum may be the only real chance voters have to compare candidates side by side. Debate participation among U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidates has been falling since at least 2016. https://clarkcountytoday.c...

Battle Ground resident Dick Rylander examines Clark County's Proposition 12 and Proposition 13, questioning whether the county has demonstrated that a 739-bed expansion, $366.2 million in bonds, and a permanent levy-lid lift are the right response to an aging 1984-era jail. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/letter-serious-jail-problem-deserves-serious-solution #ClarkCounty #Proposition12 #Proposi...

A 34-year-old woman was killed and a 43-year-old man left in critical condition after a DUI driver ran a red light at NE Andresen Road and NE Van Mall Drive, flipping his Jeep into two pedestrians crossing legally. Noah Merchant, 26, faces vehicular homicide charges. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/vancouver-police-investigate-fatal-collision-3 #VancouverWA #DUI #VehicularHomicide #FatalCrash #...

Rep. John Ley argues Washington's new 9.9% income tax on income over $1 million is a temporary line. Democrats including Rep. Cindy Ryu and Sen. Jesse Salomon are already pushing to lower the threshold, and lawmakers have openly said voters shouldn't trust it will stay limited to millionaires. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/opinion-theyre-coming-your-money-and-your-retirement #WashingtonState...

The Clark County Prosecutor's Office declined criminal charges in the death of Marc Fogle, who attorneys say was stabbed 17 times in the back by a deputy using his own personal dagger. Attorneys Mark Lindquist and Angus Lee say the decision has no bearing on their $27 million civil claim, pointing to disputed body camera gaps and ignored TASER and holster evidence. https://clarkcountytoday.com/sto...

Reform Clark County founder Rob Anderson argues Councilor Wil Fuentes is violating Charter Section 8.8 by holding a paid role at Fourth Plain Forward, a nonprofit that received approximately $299,000 in County funds in 2025. Anderson has filed an ethics complaint and is awaiting a response from the County Manager and Prosecuting Attorney. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/opinion-county-charter-s...

Camas resident Gary Perman makes the case for Rep. David Stuebe in the 17th Legislative District, citing Stuebe's votes against Senate Bill 6346, gas taxes, and property and business tax increases in his first term. Perman argues Vancouver City Councilmember Diana Perez's council record of property-tax increases, utility-rate hikes, and new fees should not be brought to Olympia. https://clarkcount...

The Eileen Quiring O'Brien campaign has released a report alleging that an Eritrean national with an active ICE detainer remained on Clark County voter rolls under Auditor Greg Kimsey's 28-year tenure. Kimsey then retained attorney Ted H. Gathe, husband of a candidate Quiring O'Brien defeated in the August primary, to send a $5,000-per-violation demand letter to the campaign. Trial attorney D. Ang...

The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has determined that Deputy Bryson Layton's use of deadly force in the May 7, 2025, death of Marc Fogle was lawfully justified under Washington's objective good faith standard. The determination follows an independent OII investigation and review of body-worn camera footage. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/sheriff-provides-statement-prosecuting-atto...

Vancouver Fire Department crews rescued a trapped occupant from a burning apartment at 7609 NE Vancouver Mall Drive Saturday morning. The fire was upgraded to two alarms, bringing 33 firefighters to the scene. The victim was transported by AMR. The cause remains under investigation. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/two-alarm-apartment-fire-vancouver-mall-drive #VancouverFire #ApartmentFire #Clar...

Female athletes from five states gathered in Vancouver at the Firmly Planted Family Homeschool Resource Center to support I-638, a Washington ballot initiative that would protect a separate female category in sports. U.S. national champion gymnast Jennifer Sey and state Sen. John Braun also spoke. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/jennifer-sey-high-school-athletes-girls-supporters-gather #GirlsSp...

Skyview linebacker TyAllen Edmon says last year's 3-6 record left a bad taste that fueled an offseason of hard work. Now the Storm are 5-0, the only undefeated Clark County team, after a 49-7 win over Union. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/high-school-football-skyviews-tyallen-edmon-highlights-how #SkyviewStorm #HighSchoolFootball #ClarkCounty #GSHL #ClarkCountyToday

Jennifer Sey, the 1986 U.S. All-Around gymnastics champion and founder of XX-XY Athletics, is set to speak at a Protect Girls Sports Rally in Vancouver on Saturday. The event, presented by Let's Go Washington, supports Initiative 638, which would prohibit biologically male students from participating in female-designated K-12 sports in Washington. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. at Firmly Planted Family....

The Nutter Family Foundation marks 20 years of Dozer Day in Clark County, drawing close to 1,000 high school students to a hands-on career fair Friday before opening the Clark County Event Center to 15,000 to 20,000 families Saturday and Sunday. One former student, Braden Roth, returned not as an attendee but as a volunteer for AKS Engineering and Forestry, the company that hired him right out of...

From a Washougal motocross champion to a one-point polling gap in the 3rd District, it was a consequential week across Clark County. Full newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/clarkcountytoday/this-weeks-top-news_october_2_2026

R.A. Long has already pulled out of its varsity schedule, a Class 4A program in the Clark County area can't field varsity, JV, and freshmen teams, and a Puget Sound squad is ending its season early. Paul Valencia, Tony Liberatore, and Cale Piland examine the numbers behind high school football's participation decline, plus scheduling quirks in the 2A Greater St. Helens League and the scarcity of O...

A new DHM Research/OPB poll shows Republican John Braun leading incumbent Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez 48% to 47% in Washington's 3rd Congressional District. In the August primary, nearly one in three Democrats voted for her progressive challenger. The poll also found 91% of Southwest Washington voters say affordable housing is hard to find. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/poll-shows-third-...

George Onyango was 14, suicidal, and living in a Ugandan orphanage when a shoebox of small gifts, including a notebook, a pencil, and a glowing Yo-Yo, changed everything. Now 41, he tours America for Operation Christmas Child. Collection week runs Nov. 16 to 23. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/operation-christmas-child-starts-2026-campaign-looking-send #OperationChristmasChild #SamaritansPurse...

Staff for Washington State Senate Democrats overwhelmingly voted down a new two-year contract, not over wages, but over the right to be fired only for cause. Legislative assistants, policy analysts and communications specialists said the Senate Administration refused to budge on any just-cause dismissal proposals. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/legislative-staff-wa-state-senate-reject-new-cont...

The Zimmerman family has farmed their Brush Prairie land since 1872, but Bi-Zi Farms as a fall destination only took root in the mid-1990s when they planted three acres of pumpkins and parked 32 cars. Bill and Joe Zimmerman share how straw bales, corn bins, and rubber duck races became beloved community traditions. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/pumpkin-patch-highlight-bi-zi-farms-owners-share...

Clark County Council debated whether to send a letter to congressional leaders about the SAVE Act, focusing on implementation costs and election timing. WSAC and NACo estimate the act would cost counties millions. Councilor Matt Little proposed asking the Clark County Auditor for county-specific facts instead of a boilerplate letter, and the council approved that approach. https://clarkcountytoday...

For the ninth consecutive year, Ridgefield Police officers will wear a limited-edition pink shoulder patch throughout October, raising funds for the Pink Lemonade Project, a local nonprofit supporting all communities affected by breast cancer. Officer Kaylin Debiak led the 2026 design, which features nine stars and the city's beloved sandhill crane, Carty. Patches are $10 each. https://clarkcounty...

Vancouver's Old Apple Tree Festival returns Oct. 3 to mark 200 years since the Pacific Northwest's oldest apple tree was planted at Fort Vancouver in 1826. The free event runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with live music, cider pressing, fresh apples, and limited cuttings from the original root system. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/old-apple-tree-festival-celebrates-200-years-pacific #OldAppleTreeFestiv...

With five of nine Washington Supreme Court seats contested on the Nov. 3 ballot, the League of Women Voters of Washington released six-minute, individually conducted video interviews with all 10 candidates. Each candidate answered four identical questions on background, philosophy, and decision-making. Responses were not edited. https://clarkcountytoday.com/story/lwv-washingtons-supreme-court-cand...