Morning Press: I-5 Bridge replacement talks; Supplying school supplies; Lots of bugs

Will the rain continue through the weekend?  Check our local weather coverage. In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories of the week:

Commission debates I-5 Bridge replacement

Local officials pleaded their case for re-opening talks about an Interstate 5 Bridge replacement during a Washington State Transportation Commission meeting Wednesday at the Port of Vancouver. “The Columbia River Crossing discussion might be behind us, but the problem didn’t go away,” said Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick, who represents Portland regional government on the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council. Read more about the renewed discussion.

Evergreen Public Schools to pay for school supplies

Evergreen Public Schools made a sweeping gesture toward eliminating financial barriers for students on Friday. Instead of requiring families of elementary students to buy a long list of school supplies at the beginning of the school year, the district will foot the bill. The district will spend about $275,000 on school supplies for all 11,000 preschool through fifth-grade students. That’s $25 per student that parents won’t have to fork out at the beginning of the school year. The district sent letters home with each elementary student Friday. Learn more about the district's plans.

New PAC to take on Madore

There’s a powerful new ally in the effort to remove Clark County Councilor David Madore from office. Camas investor and philanthropist David Nierenberg, along with a bipartisan team of community leaders, has formed Connecting Clark County, a political action committee focused on electing Republicans John Blom and Jennifer McDaniel in council Districts 3 and 4, respectively. Learn more about the political action committee's goal.

Warm wet winter was big for bugs

It’s going to be a good year for the brown marmorated stink bug, which means it’s going to be a rough year for farmers and gardeners in Southwest Washington. The brown marmorated stink bug is a voracious eater of more than 170 ornamental and edible plants. It has no traditional predators locally and few pesticides trouble it. Cold temperatures are one of the few ways to reliably kill the insect, but the same balmy weather that’s hampered the snowpack this year has also proved to be a boon for the bugs. Read more about stink bugs.

Camas grad Tyler Hallead signs with Phillies

Tyler Hallead signed a professional baseball contract with the Philadelphia Phillies organization Wednesday and nobody — seriously, nobody — saw that coming a year ago. Not even Hallead, a 2013 graduate of Camas High School, could have envisioned such a scenario. After all, Tyler Hallead was not even playing baseball last year. Learn more about Tyler Hallead.