Morning Press: Affordable housing; Hotel on the waterfront; WWII marine

This week is expected to be a scorcher. Check how hot it is expected to get with our local weather coverage. In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the week:

Report looks at lack of affordable housing

How much do you need to make to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Clark County? It’s more than the area’s median wage of $20.32 an hour, and much more than the average renter’s wage, estimated at $13.95 per hour.

Clark County renters need to make $23.23 hourly, or $48,320 annually, to avoid spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent if living in a typical two-bedroom apartment, according to the Out of Reach 2016 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. At the time the report was written, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Clark County was $1,208 a month.

Read more from the housing report.

Churches step up security in wake of fires

The lead pastor at Crossroads Community Church said Tuesday that there used to be a time when churches were off-limits when it came to falling victim to crime. “Unfortunately those days are gone,” the Rev. Daniel Fusco said. “Destruction doesn’t really have any boundaries at this point. … It’s completely unacceptable and unfortunate.” In response to the recent string of arsons targeting current and former churches, Fusco said the church hired 24-hour security over the holiday weekend and assessed the campus’s security on Tuesday. Learn how churches are responding the string or arsons.

Developer bringing Hotel Indigo to Vancouver Waterfront

With one new upscale hotel already planned for Vancouver’s waterfront, commercial property developer Dean Kirkland believes there’s room for at least one more.

Kirkland, chairman of Vancouver-based Kirkland Development, said Wednesday that he plans to launch construction next spring of a hotel-condominium building at the foot of Esther Street, within the 32-acre Vancouver Waterfront development that is finally getting traction after years of preparatory work. Kirkland’s disclosure to The Columbian of the approximately $40 million project, to be branded Hotel Indigo, comes on the heels of last month’s announcement that Vancouver-based Vesta Hospitality will build an AC Hotel by Marriott at the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1, immediately east of the planned Hotel Indigo. Construction of that project could be two years away, Vesta executives said.

See the plans for the new hotel.

Final salute for WWII Marine: Sand of Iwo Jima

Ed Tice, who lost comrades in 1945 on Iwo Jima, didn’t quite make it to Memorial Day, when we pause to honor those who died defending our country.

Tice died Friday afternoon.

But three days earlier, the 89-year-old veteran received a unique salute from the Marine Corps. Lt. Col. Brad Aiello visited Tice at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center. Aiello presented a glass container filled with a few ounces of the beach that Tice and his fellow Marines had stormed in 1945, some sand of Iwo Jima. A Battle Ground resident, Aiello is based at Swan Island in Portland as inspector-instructor, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group.

Read Ed Tice's tall.

Radio Vancouver getting green light

Vancouver is bigger than many cities that have a host of their own radio stations, yet Radio Vancouver is largely silent. Hearing that dead air, one small station is seeing a big opportunity in the local spectrum. “It’s a legit, official, nonprofit, community radio station,” said KXRW advisory board chair Susan Galaviz. “I think the community needs a media outlet like this. So many community members are so excited about this.” KXRW will be the sister station of Portland’s XRAY.FM, which is a mix of progressive talk radio and music. When the station goes live at 99.9 FM in Vancouver, listeners will be able to pick up the Portland station’s feed, which will be interspersed with a growing offering of local content. Learn more about the new radio station.