Lewis River RV Park residents have obtained a court order to keep the electricity flowing beyond Tuesday’s scheduled cutoff, and the park’s owner has confirmed that he will make sure the lights stay on.

The Lewis River Homeowners Association, a recently formed entity representing the park’s residents, appeared in Cowlitz County Superior Court on Monday afternoon to ask for a court order compelling the residential RV park’s owner, Jerry Reeves, to maintain the power supply. In addition to relying on electricity for their RVs, tenants rely on well water delivered by an electric pump.

Reeves owned the park until March 2019. He regained ownership in mid-January but refused to create a new account with the Cowlitz Public Utility District, arguing that the prior owner still held the tenant contracts and should be responsible for paying the park’s utilities.

Cowlitz County and PUD staff stepped in to try to mediate the situation, and an initial power cutoff deadline of Jan. 16 was extended three times, but county commissioners declared last week that Tuesday would be the final deadline. In the meantime, the park residents began receiving legal assistance from the Northwest Justice Project.

The court granted the residents’ motion and ordered Reeves to open an account with the PUD by 10 a.m. Tuesday and to make regular payments to ensure continued power service. The order also imposed a Wednesday deadline for Reeves to contact Waste Management and set up regular garbage service (Cowlitz County has been providing a dumpster at the site in the interim).

If Reeves misses either of the deadlines, the order states that the court will appoint a custodial receiver who will be able to accept rent payment from residents and pay the utility providers to maintain service until Reeves begins to do so. The order also prohibits Reeves from retaliating against park residents, and states that all residents have a duty to pay timely rent.

Reached for comment on Monday evening, Reeves said he was working with PUD staff and had already created the account and paid the necessary fees. He said he would resolve the garbage service Tuesday.

A “show cause” hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 19 to determine whether the temporary restraining order should continue, and Reeves said he was looking forward to that hearing which would allow him to “tell our side of the story.”

Change of owners

Reeves is the park’s longtime owner, but in recent years the property has twice passed back and forth between Reeves and John Berman, an attorney based in Tigard, Ore.

Berman represents the Gail A. Reeves trust, which was created by Jerry Reeves’ late ex-wife. Gail Reeves was awarded a $7 million judgment against Jerry Reeves stemming from the divorce, and the balance of the judgment passed to the trust when she died.

Exercising the trust’s power to collect, Berman filed a writ of execution to have the park sold at auction in 2017, then bought it by bidding part of the money that Reeves still owed to the trust. The sale included an option for Reeves to reclaim the property by paying back the money within a year, which he did.

Berman then repeated the process, this time acquiring the park in March 2019. Again, Reeves paid back the sale price in December, setting him up to reclaim the park in January. But this time, Reeves argued that the residents were still tenants of Berman’s separate management entity and that it would be Berman’s responsibility to pay for the utilities.

He also alleged that Berman had failed to pass on any of the rental contract information, forcing Reeves to start from scratch. He said he was refusing to create his own power account because he did not want to be responsible for “Berman’s mess.”

Berman disputed both of those claims and told The Columbian that he cannot keep managing the park because he is no longer the owner. He said he had reached out to Reeves to try to coordinate a smooth management transition, but never received a reply.

Cowlitz County staff became involved in order to try to maintain utilities for the park residents, many of whom are low-income and would have difficulty moving. The park was home to an estimated 75 RVs as of mid-January.

At a meeting last week, Reeves told park residents that he intended to start fresh by reacquiring licenses for his own management company and signing everyone to new leases with a $600 deposit, which drew strong objections from the assembled residents.

Reeves later told The Columbian that he would waive that fee for residents who could prove that they were already living in the park under leases with Berman, again asserting that Berman had not passed on the contract information.

Reeves also told residents that he intended to sue Berman, and Cowlitz court records show that he filed a lawsuit on Jan. 29.

After Monday’s closing arguments, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell spoke on the Senate floor, pointing to the importance of maintaining public trust in free and fair elections. Cantwell said President Trump’s actions undermined that trust, and therefore U.S. democracy.

“Election interference is the issue of our day. It’s not because we just spent 11 days talking about it and what might have happened in the Oval Office about interference in the upcoming 2020 election. It is the issue of our day because we live in an information age, and weaponizing misinformation has become a lethal campaign tool,” Cantwell said.

She continued her prepared, 10-minute speech:

“We must fight back against Russia or anyone who interferes in our elections. Protecting our elections should be a bipartisan effort, and we should listen to what the intelligence community says, because they’re warning us now that Russia will interfere again in the 2020 elections,” Cantwell said.

“Seeking, requesting and accepting interference in a U.S. campaign is wrong. It’s not inappropriate, it’s not just improper. It is illegal. By calling it improper, or turning a blind eye in this case, is enabling more election interference,” Cantwell said.

Her remarks came as Trump’s impeachment trial speeds toward its conclusion, with senators scheduled for a final vote on Wednesday. Both Cantwell and Washington’s other senator, Democrat Patty Murray, have said that they will vote for the president’s conviction and removal. However, Trump appears to have a comfortable majority for acquittal in the Republican-dominated Senate.

Toward the end of practice, Les, 79, and Julie Burger, 80, stood up and started to dance.

The small choir was seated around, singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” After a little prying, Julie Burger was able to convince her husband to abandon singing for a short dance on Thursday, as the Sing Here Now choir met for its weekly practice at Mannahouse Church in Vancouver.

Sing Here Now is Vancouver’s only choir for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It’s run by the Alzheimer’s Association Oregon & Southwest Washington Chapter. The choir had its first session in the summer. It has re-grouped for a winter session that will run through mid-March, and it might culminate in a small concert if the choir can get enough participants.

Research shows that listening to or singing music can provide “emotional and behavioral benefits” for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic. Music can relieve stress, reduce anxiety and depression and reduce agitation in those impacted by those disorders. It can also bring back happy memories, which is partly why Sing Here Now meets before lunchtime, said Joey Yourchek, who co-directs the choir.

“We chose this time of day because people are bringing their loved ones here, and they’re going to sing for an hour and a half, and then they’ll be able to go out to lunch and have a conversation,” Yourchek said.

Les Burger said his wife of 59 years has always been very musical and enjoyed singing or playing instruments. A Columbian story on the couple from 2017 outlined how Les Burger would always sing “You Are My Sunshine” to Julie after she answered his calls. It was a way for her to quickly recognize who was calling, because she didn’t always remember names, but she could remember song lyrics.

The Burgers first joined an Alzheimer’s choir in Portland, also through the Alzheimer’s Association, and they said they are happy there’s been a choir created in Vancouver. Les Burger said his wife is enjoying the singalongs.

“If you start singing a song from the ’60s, Julie will know all the words,” he said.

Beth Anderson, who directs the choir with Yourchek, said “music defies dementia” since music reaches memories with such success. The affection on display when the Burgers danced is also a component of the choir. Anderson and Yourchek believe the choir can be a stimulating, social activity. There’s a brief intermission at each practice, where the choir can chat with each other. Jokes also flow frequently during practices.

Right before the choir sang “Fly Me to the Moon,” one man joked: “Fly me to the moon, but I can’t go. I got dishes to do at home.”

Anderson says the choir has become a community in a short amount of time.

“We’d like to see people realize that just because they have the label of dementia doesn’t mean they can’t be out and do things and have fun,” Anderson said.

Claire-Marie Wisner, a program specialist with Alzheimer’s Association Oregon & Southwest Washington, said leaving the house and interacting with others is important to quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. She’s been inspired by Sing Here Now.

“They’re living life after a diagnosis,” Wisner said, “and lots of people think there’s no life after that.”

Outside of it being on the cool side of things, Monday turned out quite nice. Did you get a chance to get outside and take a walk? Fresh snow on the foothills to our east, a few puffy cumulus clouds here and there and even a few reports of snowflakes or graupel floating gently downward from one of those clouds.

Earlier, in the wee hours of Monday morning, some locations in the county had a light dusting of snow. Some had a half-inch to an inch and others no dusting but subtle truth of falling snow. Do you want to make a snowman? Hardly enough but I had one family near Amboy who sent me a picture of a 12-inch-tall snowman from a shallow amount upon the deck.

Fortunately, the clouds that brought light precipitation early Monday were a blessing as temperatures would have been in the 20s with icy streets otherwise. Overnight Monday night into this morning skies were expected to be mainly clear ,so frosty this morning and perhaps areas of freezing fog. But hey, it’s still winter, right?

Clouds will increase today as a warm front heads our way with clouds, rain and snow in the mountains. Freezing levels do jump and rain will be expected above 5,000 feet within a day or two. Heavy rain will fall along the coastal strip and into the Willapa Hills with 2 to 4 inches of precipitation. Rivers will rise once again.

So hang up the winter coat and don the raincoat again as we juggle our attire to keep up with the ever-changing weather. I expect about an inch of rain this week here in the city and upward of 2 inches in our wetter outlying areas and foothills.

Cooler air will arrive Saturday afternoon with possible light snow once again in the foothills. The cooldown will be brief, however, as we head into next week.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, Vancouver had .26 of an inch of rain recorded this month, about .30 of an inch below normal. Our average mean temperature was spot on at 43 degrees. So back to rain it is as we look forward to chatting on Thursday.

A Washington man who leapt over bank counters and held up six banks at knifepoint in a five-month span was sentenced Monday to eight years and one month in federal prison.

Police dubbed Diego Sanchez-Lopez, 25, the “froggy robber,” for his unusual entry into banks in Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Wilsonville and Scappoose in Oregon and in Vancouver.

He was ordered to pay more than $119,000 in restitution.

Sanchez-Lopez cornered victim tellers behind the counters and either pointed his knife at them, banged it against the counter or lunged towards the tellers, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Brassell.

Several of the tellers confronted were traumatized and have left the banking industry as a result, Brassell said.

The following are the banks that were hit:

On Nov. 27, 2017, $9,710 was stolen from the Albina Community Bank, at 2002 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Portland.

On Dec. 27, 2017, $26,000 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank, at 8699 SW Main St. in Wilsonville.

On Jan. 11, 2018, $11,580.99 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank, at 6785 Beaverton Hillsdale Highway in Beaverton.

On Jan. 30, 2018, $6,720 was stolen from the U.S. Bank, at 52313 Columbia River Highway in Scappoose.

On Feb. 12, 2018, $15,400 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank, at 1800 Main St. in Vancouver, WA.

On April 30, 2018, 33,357 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank, at 7200 NE Butler Street in Hillsboro.

Sanchez-Lopez, who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, also will face deportation from the United States, according to federal prosecutors.

A Camas principal is under fire after comments she made on her personal Facebook page about the death of basketball star Kobe Bryant.

The former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard was among nine people, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles. That same day, Camas High School Principal Liza Sejkora wrote “Not gonna lie, seems to me that karma caught up with a rapist today.”

Bryant was arrested and accused of rape in 2003. He denied the allegations, and the charges were dropped after the accuser decided she would not testify. In 2005, he settled a civil lawsuit with the woman who made the accusation for an undisclosed amount.

Sejkora, who has worked at Camas High School since 2017, later deleted the post. In a follow-up, she wrote that people missed the intent of the original comment.

“You are free to judge me for the post just as I am free to judge the person the post was about,” she wrote.

In an email to Camas High School families sent Monday, Sejkora described the response as a “personal, visceral reaction” that was “inappropriate and tasteless.”

“In education, we remind students to think before they post online, especially when feelings are inflamed,” she wrote. “We also teach our students about context. My emotions and past experiences got the best of me in that moment.”

Superintendent Jeff Snell wrote in a statement that the district appreciated Sejkora’s response, and that they will work to “support her in rebuilding trust with the community she serves.”

“As school district staff, we strive to model a high standard for students,” Snell wrote. “This situation did not meet that standard.”

District spokeswoman Doreen McKercher said the district is investigating following district policy and looking to move forward in a positive way.

The U.S. Supreme Court has generally upheld the First Amendment right of school faculty to express their opinions privately. Still, that does not leave all faculty free from scrutiny. An adjunct professor and administrator at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., was fired last month after comments he made following President Trump’s threat to target 52 Iranian cultural sites in the midst of ongoing tensions in the Middle East. The Washington Post reported that Asheen Phansey wrote in a Facebook post that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “should tweet a list of 52 sites of cultural American heritage that he would bomb.”

“Um … Mall of America? … Kardashian residence?” Phansey tweeted.

Bryant left a complicated legacy, particularly to survivors of sexual assault. Many took to social media following his death to say they felt mainstream remembrances of Bryant’s legacy detailed his accomplishments on the court, but ignored the sexual assault allegations against him.

Bryant was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman working at a hotel in Edwards, Colo. in 2003. Prosecutors dropped the case in 2004 after the accuser decided she would not testify. Bryant later said he viewed the encounter as “consensual,” but recognized that “she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did,” according to reporting from the Los Angeles Times.

A man who was hospitalized Sunday after crashing his motorcycle into a car on Southeast 164th Avenue has been identified as 38-year-old Shawn Lushenko.

Lushenko lost control of his motorcycle near the intersection of Southeast 15th Street at 2:47 p.m., according to a news release from the Vancouver Police Department, and crashed into a car that was driving west through the intersection.

He was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for evaluation and treatment of potentially serious injuries.

A hospital spokesperson told The Columbian that Lushenko was released on Monday.

Speed was a factor in the crash, according to the police department. The driver of the car remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.

The family and supporters of 5-year-old Hartley Anderson sat quietly in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon as the trial began for the man accused of beating her to death.

The scene was markedly different from raucous earlier court proceedings. Clark County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Snider had warned those in the gallery that any outbursts could lead to a mistrial.

Opening statements in Ryan M. Burge’s murder trial began Tuesday, following 1½ days of jury selection. More than a dozen people filed into the courtroom for the start of trial.

Burge, 38, is accused of first- and second-degree murder in Hartley’s death. She suffered severe head trauma and died at a Portland hospital.

Vancouver police responded about 5 p.m. Nov. 2, 2018, to the Madison Park Apartments, where emergency responders were treating Hartley’s injuries.

The girl’s mother, Nataasha Luchau, called 911 and said that Hartley “reportedly threw herself into a wall and was unresponsive,” according to court records.

Burge, Luchau’s live-in boyfriend at the time, had been babysitting Hartley all day while Luchau worked and her sons were at school.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith asked jurors to picture a little girl with her whole life ahead of her, alone in an apartment with Burge. While in his care, she suffered more than 20 blows to her head and face. Her body was covered in bruises and lacerations — injuries no child should suffer, Smith said.

As he spoke, jurors looked at a photo of Hartley dressed as a vampire butterfly for Halloween. The picture was taken days before her death.

Burge’s defense attorney, Renee Alsept, urged the jury not to view the case with emotion.

She argued that “not everything is always as it appears,” and said Burge did not murder Hartley; she hurt herself.

The defense maintains that Hartley’s injuries were self-inflicted — the product of a violent temper tantrum. Smith argues they were caused by Burge’s reaction to the girl’s tantrum.

Burge had told investigators that Hartley smashed her head into the wooden frame of a bed and into a wall, Smith said. Investigators found multiple impacts in the drywall inside the apartment, and strands of her hair were collected from some of the impact sites.

Alsept said Hartley frequently threw tantrums, and her mother had sought medical care for her on multiple occasions over the years, long before Burge was in the picture.

“They make this leap of assumption,” she said of investigators.

Smith argued for the prosecution that common sense and the evidence will show Burge’s claim is not plausible. Multiple medical experts will testify about the nature of Hartley’s injuries, including the medical examiner, who found them to be too numerous, bizarrely placed and violent to be self-inflicted, he said.

Burge, seated at the defense table, slightly shook his head as Smith said Hartley’s injuries were inflicted by a full-grown man.

After the prosecution’s opening statement, Alsept moved for the dismissal of the first-degree murder charge. She argued there’s no evidence of premeditation. Smith countered that Burge only had to reflect for “more than a moment in time” about what he was doing, to satisfy premeditation — an issue for the jury to decide.

The defense’s motion was denied.

The trial continues Wednesday.

An 18-year-old man was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon following an altercation with an acquaintance in the parking lot outside a small strip mall in central Vancouver.

The alleged shooter, identified by police as Antoine Steven Archer, 20, was located a short time later after seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to his hand, the Vancouver Police Department announced Tuesday night.

The victim, who died at the scene, has been identified as Trevonta Billie Steven Burks.

Vancouver police responded to reports of multiple gunshots near the intersection of Northeast Stapleton Road and Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard at 2:23 p.m. 

According to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian, shots came from a black sedan occupied by two people who then drove away on Fourth Plain Boulevard. 

“We’re working on the details,” said Lt. Tom Ryan of the Vancouver Police Department Major Crimes Unit, as officers worked to cordon off the scene behind caution tape and take statements from nearby witnesses. “We’re trying to piece this together.”

The victim’s sister was among the witnesses to the shooting. Their mother arrived at the scene around 3 p.m.

Around the same time, police responded to an urgent care clinic for a man, identified as Archer, who came in with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to a police news release issued Tuesday night.

Investigators learned that Archer and Burks, who knew each other, were involved in a verbal altercation that turned physical. Archer shot Burks and accidentally shot himself in the hand, police said.

Archer was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and booked into the Clark County Jail. He is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning in Clark County Superior Court, according to the jail roster.

‘It was just chaos’

Emergency dispatchers received multiple calls about the shooting, which occurred in broad daylight in the middle of a busy commercial area. Employees at nearby businesses reported hearing between three and six gunshots in rapid succession. At the scene, investigators had marked seven potential shell casings scattered in the parking lot. The victim’s body lay in the northeastern corner of the parking lot.

One person who called in the shooting was Eileen Moreton, a lab manager at Any Lab Test Now, a business located across the street. Moreton witnessed the event from behind the desk in the business’s windowed reception area.

Moreton heard the gunshots before she saw anything, she said.

“Just a pop, pop, pop, pop,” Moreton said. “All of the sudden, it was just chaos.”

She looked up to see a group of young people around high school age panicking in front of Boba Tree, a teahouse that is one of three businesses that share the building at 5210 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. Moreton then saw two other young people, a male and a female, jump into a black sedan parked in front of the neighboring business, Fit Curvez Nutrition.

“A man and a girl got in a black sedan and they took off real quick,” Moreton said, adding that she watched first responders arrive shortly afterward and attempt to administer CPR.

Dozens of officers responded to the scene, which is only about a block south of the Vancouver Police Department West Precinct offices on Stapleton.

Police closed a portion of Stapleton Road for the investigation, and blocked the road’s exit from state Highway 500.

A former associate principal at Evergreen High School pleaded guilty Tuesday following allegations that she had sex with a student at the school.

Sadie R. Pritchard, 42, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. She was arrested in June 2018 on suspicion of three counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.

Sentencing was scheduled for April 10. Both gross misdemeanor charges carry a maximum of one year in jail, according to court records.

The victim told police May 22, 2018, about having “sexual intercourse with (the) vice principal, Sadie Pritchard, at Evergreen High School,” an affidavit of probable cause reads.

Pritchard started following the student on Instagram around October 2017 and offered to help with homework, according to the affidavit. The contact turned flirtatious, leading to the exchange of nude photos, the affidavit said.

Starting in December 2018 and lasting roughly six weeks, Pritchard and the student allegedly had three or four sexual encounters during school hours in her office. Other encounters allegedly took place in what the affidavit referred to as a testing room.

Pritchard also repeatedly gave the student upwards of $1,000, according to the affidavit. The student denied that the payments were made for sex or to prevent disclosing the encounters.

The student reportedly ended the relationship after thinking about it and becoming mad, the affidavit said.

Emails found by the Evergreen Public Schools human resources director revealed that Pritchard would request that the student be pulled from class and report to her office, according to the affidavit. She also allegedly asked teachers to change grades to a pass/fail status in an effort to improve the student’s GPA.

Pritchard had hired an attorney by the time of her arrest and did not agree to an interview with police.

In 2013, Pritchard admitted to the school district’s human resources director at the time that she talked to students on her private cellphone and gave them money and gift cards. A disciplinary letter blamed Pritchard for “a lack of professional judgment and inexperience,” instead of “any inappropriate or nefarious intention.”

Pritchard was placed on administrative leave in May 2018 “as soon as the school received an initial report she acted inappropriately with a student,” according to school district spokeswoman Gail Spolar. She resigned later in the month.

Spolar said the Vancouver Police Department was immediately called when the school learned about the alleged behavior and that the school district fully cooperated with investigators.

At the time of her arrest, Pritchard was one at least five Evergreen Public Schools educators that had been investigated since 2015 for inappropriate or sexual behavior with students. In August, Jerry Miller, a physical education teacher at Ellsworth Elementary School who had worked in the district since 1986, was arrested after allegedly molesting a student at the school. His trial is set for next month.

Two people were injured in a car crash Tuesday evening in east Vancouver, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.

Vancouver firefighters and police, as well as AMR, responded shortly after 5:15 p.m. to 700 N.E. 136th Ave.

A single fire crew extricated two people, who were transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center with not life-threatening injuries, fire department spokesman Bryan Fredrickson said.

The southbound lanes and one northbound lane were closed during the extraction, Fredrickson said.

OLYMPIA — Hundreds of people rallied on the steps of the Washington Capitol Monday afternoon, calling for housing justice and support from lawmakers.

There didn’t used to be so many people flocking to Olympia for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day. Gary Akizuki has made the yearly trek from Clark County since 2003, when he was joined by just one or two other people.

“The attention that is now on this is indicative of the number of people who came out today,” he said. “It’s quite reflective of the crisis in our community.”

Akizuki is a longtime Clark County resident and housing advocate, currently serving on the Council for the Homeless board. For the last three years, the Vancouver-based nonprofit has chartered a bus to shuttle dozens of constituents to Olympia to talk with their local legislators about bills related to housing and homelessness. The advocacy day is organized by the Seattle-based Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, which sets a legislative agenda each session.

The crowd on the steps wore red, the color of housing advocacy, and cheered as the names of their legislative districts were called. Those from Clark County’s 17th, 18th and 49th districts whooped and hollered.

Rep. Alex Ramel, D-Anacortes, spoke about needing to be unified in order to solve the state’s homelessness problem.

“This issue is on everyone’s lips. It’s discussed every day,” he said.

Ramel urged the advocates who came to Olympia to tell their personal stories when meeting with legislators.

“When you tell your story, they listen. … They do change their minds,” said Caroline Lopez, the new director of organizing for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance.

Before starting her job a few months ago, the Portland resident worked at Council for the Homeless, helping Clark County residents secure housing. With her heart and focus on Southwest Washington, she adds a regional voice to the housing alliance. She recruited a couple of Clark County residents to help lead advocacy day workshops.

They included Vancouver’s Ren Autrey, who spoke about the Resident Action Project. Years ago, when Autrey began advocating on behalf of the homeless, her focus was hyperlocal; she now sees the benefit of broadening her reach and advocating for statewide change.

“Sometimes, Southwest Washington had led the way in some of those laws,” Autrey said. “The change starts with us.”

Legislators

Not every local lawmaker was available to speak with their Clark County constituents and had staff speak with them instead. Advocates used a cellphone app to report what occurred at each legislator meeting.

Akizuki thinks the lobbying makes a difference. He said he has seen Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, come around on issues, and saw former Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, buck his party at one point.

“This is their people,” Akizuki said.

On Monday, Harris met with Akizuki and others from the 17th Legislative District. A few said they were homeless or knew someone who was homeless and that was why they came to the Capitol.

“I’m sorry that some of you are having a tough time,” Harris said.

The group’s first ask was for $10 million to be invested in the state’s Housing Trust Fund.

“Yeah, $10 million on this budget will be interesting,” Harris said, adding he’ll advocate for the money but expected more funds to be available next session. “We might be able to get a portion of that.”

Carrie Parks, a retired case manager, told Harris about House Bill 2453, which would require property owners to have a legitimate business reason to make a tenant move.

When tenants are hit with a move-out notice, “It’s a stain on your record,” Parks said. “We’d really like to see that reformed.”

Harris said he supports House Bill 1590, which would allow local elected officials to implement a 0.1 percent sales tax increase for affordable housing. He said he’s looking into an amendment to increase the amount.

“I think I’m your friend on a lot of things,” Harris said.

Parks said she was heartened somewhat by the meeting with Harris. Throughout the day, she had a mix of positive and negative experiences with legislators. Parks likes knowing that she’s actively doing something about homelessness rather than sitting back and watching.

“Even with everything we’ve done … it’s not enough,” she told Harris. “We’ve got more people coming into the system than out of it.”

Treating a crisis

Toward the end of Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day, people crowded into a conference room to speak with Rep. Monica Stonier and Sen. Annette Cleveland.

“The problem is outpacing our resources and the work we’re trying to do,” said Stonier, D-Vancouver. “We have to treat it as the crisis that it is. We’re prioritizing funding for housing.”

She’s co-sponsoring House Bill 1694, which would require that landlords accept a three-month payment plan for moving costs (including deposits and fees) when a tenant requests it.

Amy Reynolds, deputy director of homeless service provider Share, asked the legislators to increase the monthly allotment for people receiving the Aged, Blind or Disabled cash grant program. Currently, people staying in shelters get $120 monthly rather than the full $197 monthly.

Cleveland, D-Vancouver, jotted down notes about different bills. The group thanked her for her work with Senate Bill 6426, which would make state-issued identification easier to obtain for homeless people.

Terrell Berry, a housing case manager at Janus Youth Programs, brought up lesser-known bills that would improve access to state IDs for homeless youth. He explained homeless youth and youth exiting foster care don’t have a parent to help them obtain an ID, and often don’t have the necessary documents.

“I’m seeing that personally with clients I work with,” Berry said. “If there was a way to reduce documentation barriers, that would be ideal.”

As legislator meetings wrapped up, some in the group joked they were looking forward to napping on the bus ride back to Clark County after a long day of lobbying. Then, they clambered onto the charter bus and headed south as the sky darkened over the Capitol.

Crime Stoppers of Oregon and the family of a Vancouver man are offering a cash reward of up to $25,000 for information related to his 2007 unsolved homicide.

Investigators with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office are seeking tips related to the stabbing of Donald “Donnie” Brown, 39, who was found dead in his home early Feb. 4, 2007. He suffered multiple stab wounds, and his home appeared to have been the scene of a struggle.

Information about Brown’s death leading to an arrest may result in a cash reward of $2,500 from Crime Stoppers and $22,500 from Brown’s family. The large reward sum will be offered for a limited time.

Anyone with information about this case should contact the Clark County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 1-877-CRIME11 (564-397-2120) or submit a tip online at www.p3tips.com/823.

A crash on the Interstate 205 Bridge snarled traffic throughout Clark County. The crashed cleared shortly after 8 a.m. but traffic had already come to a crawl on both freeways and backed up surface streets.

Traffic on I-205 southbound backed up to Salmon Creek, just south of the Interstate 5 merge around 8 a.m. Motorists attempting to escape that backups clogged state Highway 500 and southbound Interstate 5 to north of Northeast 78th Street in Hazel Dell. Surface streets, including Mill Plain and Fourth Plain boulevards, has slowed and stopped traffic until well after 9 a.m.

A crash on Highway 500 westbound east of St. Johns Road further complicated the commute, with Highway 500 slowing as far east at Falk Road.

Streets in downtown Vancouver were stop-and-go as people approached the freeway onramps and because of a crash on Washington Street, just south of Eighth Street.

State Highway 14 was backed up eastbound from I-205 to Lieser Road and westbound from I-205 to 192nd Avenue and I-5 to Grand Boulevard before 9 a.m.

C-Tran tweeted that Route 37 was on a detour due to the backups. Buses temporarily stopped serving eastbound stops on Mill Plain between 98th Avenue and Chkalov.

The suspect in a fatal Tuesday afternoon shooting at a central Vancouver strip mall told a detective he “did not mean to hurt anyone” and that he was “shooting at the ground,” court records say.

But during a first appearance Wednesday morning in Clark County Superior Court, a prosecutor said Antoine Steven Archer, 20, of Vancouver carried out the killing in “cold blood.” He is facing second-degree murder. The victim, 18-year-old Trevonta Billie Steven Burks, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two knew each other, and the shooting erupted from a verbal altercation that had turned physical. Archer shot Burks and accidentally shot himself in the hand, according to police. He was located shortly after at an urgent care clinic, police said, where he sought treatment for his wound.

Archer was escorted into the courtroom Wednesday wearing a suicide-prevention smock, given to inmates who may try to harm themselves with standard jail clothing. A bandage was wrapped around his left hand and up his arm.

About a dozen family and friends attended the hearing in support of Archer. A woman sobbed as he entered the courtroom in shackles, burying her face in her hands.

Scoffs and sobs sounded from the courtroom gallery when Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu asked that Archer’s bail be set at $2 million. The outburst prompted Archer to turn toward the gallery.

“You need to face forward,” Judge Suzan Clark told him.

Vu told the court that the shooting was carried out in broad daylight near the busy corner of Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast Stapleton Road. He said despite Archer not having prior criminal convictions, under the law, the young man wasn’t allowed to be in possession of a firearm.

Clark granted Vu’s request on bail, while voicing concerns over the nature of the incident and threat to the public.

Archer will be arraigned Feb. 19.

Archer’s supporters declined to talk to media after the hearing. But one woman turned as she was leaving the courthouse and said, “We all need to stop killing each other. Black lives matter, period.” She underscored her words with claps.

Shooting scene

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., Vancouver police responded to reports of multiple gunshots at 5201 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., just south of the department’s West Precinct office. The small strip mall sits on the corner, behind a Vine bus stop. Witnesses said a dark-colored sedan, possibly a Mazda, fled from the scene, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Burks was found suffering a gunshot wound to his chest on the east side of the strip mall. First responders with AMR pronounced him dead at the scene, the affidavit says.

The victim’s sister was among the witnesses to the shooting. Their mother arrived at the scene around 3 p.m.

Officers worked to cordon off the scene behind caution tape and take statements from nearby witnesses.

Around the same time, a woman called 911, identified herself as Tara Paige and said she is the owner of a 2015 Mazda 3. She told dispatchers that she and her son, identified as Archer, were at the Kaiser Permanente Urgent Care on Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard so he could be treated for a gunshot wound, the court document states.

Officers contacted Archer there. He was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for treatment of a “through and through” gunshot wound to his left hand, according to court records.

Video surveillance from the nearby Quick Stop Smoke Shop, east of where seven bullet casings were located, captured the shooting. Burks is seen walking toward the driver’s side of the Mazda, which is occupied by Archer. A physical altercation ensues, and Archer is seen getting out of the vehicle. He draws a weapon and shoots at Burks, who turns to run, the affidavit says.

“Smoke and recoil can be seen emitting from the discharging firearm,” the affidavit reads. After the shooting, Archer is seen clutching his left hand.

Court records do not indicate what prompted the altercation.

Archer was contacted by a detective at the hospital. He asked if there was a “deceased person” and was told yes, court records say. He began to cry and said he didn’t mean to hurt anyone, the affidavit states.

The Camas School District has placed a principal on administrative leave following comments she made on social media suggesting basketball star Kobe Bryant’s death was deserved.

The former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard was among nine people, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles. That same day, Camas High School Principal Liza Sejkora wrote, “Not gonna lie, seems to me that karma caught up with a rapist today.”

Superintendent Jeff Snell wrote a letter to parents Tuesday night, reporting that, “in light of threats to Dr. Sejkora and concern from our community, Dr. Sejkora has been placed on administrative leave today pending the outcome of our investigation.” In a follow-up email Wednesday morning, Snell said Camas Police and additional staff will be posted at entrances due to ongoing concerns over security.

District spokeswoman Doreen McKercher said the school has received “disturbing” voice mails about Sejkora’s comments, and vague threats against her have been made on social media. In a note to parents, Snell said police have not found the threats or rumors credible.

“We’re trying to keep the learning environment safe and appropriate for our students, and it makes sense to remove a staff member who’s attracting that much attention,” McKercher said.

Students at Camas High School were planning a walkout this afternoon to honor the victims of the crash. The walkout was canceled; many students left school early. There was notable police presence at the school with officers posted at entrances.

Bryant was arrested and accused in 2003 of raping a 19-year-old woman working at a hotel in Colorado. He denied the allegations, and the charges were dropped after the accuser decided she would not testify. In 2005, he settled a civil lawsuit with the woman who made the accusation for an undisclosed amount.

Sejkora, who has worked at Camas High School since 2017, later deleted the post. On Monday, she issued an apology to Camas High School families, describing her post as “inappropriate and tasteless.”

This story will be updated.

Vancouver police are asking for help in locating a missing 12-year-old girl.

Naleiyah Redford was last seen in the 7600 block of Vancouver Mall Drive around 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.

Police describe Naleiyah as African American, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. It’s unknown what kind of clothing she was wearing.

Anyone with information about Naleiyah’s whereabouts should call 911.

A Vancouver man has died from injuries suffered in a vehicle pileup in mid-January on northbound Interstate 205, according to Washington State Patrol.

Gordon Bigalow, 92, succumbed to his injuries Jan. 27. He had been in hospice care following treatment at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, a crash memo issued Wednesday states.

At about 3:15 p.m. Jan. 17, three vehicles — a 2004 Honda CR-V, 2010 Ford Focus and 2005 Toyota Camry — were stopped for traffic in the left lane of northbound I-205 at Burton Road. A white 2008 GMC Savana van failed to stop and struck the rear of the Honda, causing a chain reaction, according to the crash memo.

Bigalow was a passenger in the Honda. The driver, identified as Rovelyn N. Beiden, 27, of Longview was uninjured. She was transported with Bigalow to the hospital.

The drivers of the Ford and Toyota, identified as Tyler J. Simmons, 32, of Oregon City, Ore., and Volodymyr Gavryshchuk, 57, of Vancouver, respectively, were uninjured.

The driver of the GMC, identified as Keith Z. Ruark, 30, of Vancouver, was also uninjured.

Troopers determined the crash was caused by following too closely.

Oregon is pushing ahead with plans to toll portions of Interstate 205 and Interstate 5 in the Portland area, but it would be years before any tolls are collected.

The Oregon Department of Transportation says a two-year environmental study under federal law will begin this spring for tolling a portion of I-205 on or near the Abernethy Bridge over the Willamette River, between Oregon City and West Linn.

Plans for tolling a 7-mile stretch of I-5 through Portland would have a much bigger effect on Clark County drivers. That tolling project is lagging 12 to 18 months behind the I-205 work, in part, because of the need to coordinate with proposed tolling on the Interstate 5 Bridge replacement project.

Rian Windsheimer, ODOT’s regional manager for the Portland area, cautioned there is a lot more work to be done.

“We’re years away from this,” he told the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council Board of Directors on Tuesday. “We don’t know exactly what this looks like or how it’s going to work. And that’s why we’re here, to make sure we are getting your input.”

Specific dates to begin collecting tolls have not been determined, but it likely won’t be until at least the end of 2023 on I-205 and even later on I-5.

ODOT has tentatively identified North Going Street to Southwest Multnomah Boulevard as the section of I-5 to be tolled, but that could change as more work is done.

“There are still questions where exactly are the right places to begin and end,” Mandy Putney, ODOT’s policy and development manager in the Portland area, said during a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Oregon Legislature in 2017 passed a transportation bill directing the Oregon Transportation Commission to implement tolling on the two freeways to help manage congestion.

Putney said the tolling projects have a dual objective to generate revenue and manage demand. Tolling with variable rates also is called congestion pricing because it discourages travel during peak periods, when the highest tolls are charged, thereby reducing congestion and providing more predictability and reliability for drivers.

“Congestion pricing has proven to be a tool that can be effective in that regard,” she said.

ODOT will appoint an Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee, consisting of nonelected representatives from Oregon and Southwest Washington, to review who would benefit from tolling and whether benefits would be shared broadly. The committee also will examine whether tolling would have a disproportional negative effect on low-income and minority communities.

ODOT also will form two technical advisory groups that will include representatives from the city of Vancouver, the Regional Transportation Council and C-Tran, Putney said.

40 percent overhead?

Gary Medvigy, a Clark County Councilor and Regional Transportation Council board member, said tolling can be “phenomenally expensive,” with up to 40 percent of the revenue used for collection and other administrative overhead.

“Have they been able to come up with technology that won’t cost so much and basically waste our tolling dollars?” he asked.

Putney replied that tolling experiences in other communities will be a key piece of upcoming work, but she had no specific figures to share at this point.

Medvigy also asked if tolling alternatives have been discussed, such as providing businesses and workers with incentives for flexible work schedules.

“This tolling is going to be on the back of anyone who is commuting to work,” he said.

Putney said some businesses already offer flexible schedules and work-from-home alternatives because employees have trouble getting to work on time with unreliable commutes.

“Congestion pricing, when it is done well, is a mobility benefit for the workforce,” she said. “It might have a cost associated to it, but you are then given a much more reliable trip.”

Benefits

Not everyone agrees with that assessment.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, has repeatedly blasted Oregon’s tolling proposal. In a Sept. 4 letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, she wrote the plan “treats Southwest Washington commuters as a revenue source without providing them with any benefit.”

The Regional Transportation Council, in a June 2018 letter to Oregon officials, said drivers will expect clear benefits from tolling.

“Our observations about toll program implementation, drawn from Washington state, find that tolling highways is a complex technical and political endeavour,” the letter says. “We believe that the traveling public will expect funded projects and corridor performance enhancements as a result.”

Lucinda Broussard, ODOT’s new tolling program manager who started her new job only a few days earlier, attended Tuesday’s meeting but did not speak. Broussard has more than 20 years of tolling experience, including 13 years as toll operations manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

BATTLE GROUND — Two comments at a recent public information meeting captured the main questions voters have had about the potential annexation of Battle Ground into Clark County Fire District 3’s coverage area.

Jean Connor of Hockinson said the annexation wouldn’t have a big impact on her, but it would have a big financial impact on Battle Ground residents.

Later, she spoke to her own situation.

“I haven’t figured out how all of this benefits me at all,” said Connor, though she added after the informational meeting that she will support annexation.

Battle Ground and Fire District 3 voters will decide on the annexation in two resolutions in Tuesday’s special election, both requiring a simple majority to pass.

As the election approaches, city and fire district officials have fielded numerous questions on the complicated issue. But mainly, Battle Ground residents want to know why they should raise their taxes, and voters in the district wonder what will change for them.

“It’s definitely unique, and I think that’s where a lot of the confusion is coming from. There have been a lot of moving parts,” Battle Ground City Manager Erin Erdman said. “It’s a different scenario for the district and the city.”

Since 2016, Battle Ground has contracted with the fire district, which covers roughly 90 square miles that also includes Hockinson, Venersborg, Heisson and Brush Prairie. At the moment, the district includes 40,000 residents — shared almost evenly between the city and other areas.

The contract expires in 2021, when the annexation would take effect. If annexation is not approved, the city would need to renegotiate a fire services contract with Fire District 3 or another agency.

Currently, Battle Ground property owners pay a property tax to the city, which then pays the fire district to provide services.

The current contract nearly consumes all the city’s property tax revenues, gobbling up to $1.35 of the city’s $1.37 per $1,000 general property tax. By 2021, the contract is expected to exceed the city’s property tax revenue. The city uses 21 percent of its general fund budget to pay the contract, about $3 million last year.

Annexation would require city residents to pay the same levy rate as district residents: $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed value, which would cost the owner of a $300,000 home an additional $390 per year. To offset part of the cost, the city plans to decrease its utility tax for water, sewer and storm water drainage by 46 percent.

The city hopes to use property tax revenue freed up by annexation to bolster police services — including hiring additional officers and reimplementing a K-9 program for what Battle Ground Police Chief Bob Richardson has called a “bare bones” department. Funds could also go to complete needed maintenance and preservation projects for streets, sidewalks and parks.

“From a city perspective, we’ve fallen behind on a lot of things,” Erdman said. “Our citizens are asking for more service, and we can’t provide that without additional revenue.”

Annexation would also allow voters in Battle Ground to vote on fire commissioners, levies and bonds.

District impacts

Because property owners in the fire district already pay a fire levy, their taxes would not increase with annexation. But they would see impacts.

As call volumes rise, the district must keep two fire crews in the city at night, Clark County Fire District 3 Chief Scott Sorenson said. If the district annexes Battle Ground, it plans to keep Station 32 in Venersborg, which is currently open 12 hours each day, staffed on a 24-hour basis.

The district operates out of five fire stations, including one in Battle Ground — Station 35 at 505 S.W. First St. — and a future station planned south of the city. As Battle Ground and surrounding areas grow, the district is hoping to secure the long-term funding.

“(Battle Ground) kept moving closer to where we are, and who we are, really,” Sorenson said. “Basically, this makes us both stronger if we’re able to come together and help each other out.”

At another recent meeting, Fire District 3 Commissioner Rick Steele explained that emergency service agencies throughout Clark County have a mutual aid agreement. The agreement means that emergency service agencies often share calls depending on severity and proximity.

Steele said it would be beneficial for the district to have control over the layout of fire services in the city.

“You could have four calls in the city of Battle Ground, and it would strip the rest of the district of protection,” Steele said. “It’s easy to say, ‘Let Battle Ground handle their own problem.’ But Battle Ground’s problems are our problems when it comes to 911.”

On Tuesday and at other public meetings leading up to the vote, attendees asked a number of questions. It was difficult, however, to assess whether a consensus had been formed.

Erdman has fielded dozens of phone calls and emails from residents about the subject in the past couple of weeks.

“I’m taking that as a positive, but in my conversations with people, they haven’t indicated where they’re leaning,” Erdman said.

With days left before the election, “I feel like it’s going to be a pretty close call,” Sorenson said.