Camas-Washougal Post-Record

January 29, 2026

Yvonne Yeh Gee reaches out to touch her rescue cat, Barney, in her huge craft studio on Dec. 19. The room is the site of many workshops hosted through Gee’s nonprofit wellness collective, Embrace Qi. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

Force of Nature: Couple create artistic and healing collective in Washougal

The first thing I saw as I drove into Rising Phoenix Farm is an 8-foot-tall woman gazing serenely toward the horizon. She’s seated in a meditative pose with her legs crossed and open hands resting on her knees, her bronze skin impervious to rain or sun. Her name is Shakti and she watches over the farm’s 51/2 acres in the green hills near Washougal. The farm is home to Yvonne Yeh Gee’s nonprofit wellness collective Embrace Qi and the huge studio belonging to Gee’s partner and Shakti’s sculptor, David Van Zandt.

January 29, 2026

Camas revisits ‘strong council’

The city of Camas is revisiting a 2018 recommendation to adopt a “strong council” form of government.

January 29, 2026

City of Washougal Mayor Pro-Tem David Fritz, left, and city Councilor David Szyplinski hold an oath-of-office certificate after Szyplinski was sworn in to the Washougal City Council’s No. 5 position on Monday. (Contributed by the city of Washougal)

Washougal council appoints Szyplinski to position vacant since Coston’s deathUpdated 9 hours ago

The Washougal City Council has appointed a longtime business developer and project manager — and yet another David — to its ranks.

January 29, 2026

Canyon Creek Middle School band students practice for a winter concert in the fall of 2025. It’s among the programs funded by a local property tax levy. (Contributed by the Washougal School District)

WSD asks voters to approve two renewal levies

The Washougal School District is asking voters to approve two renewal levies in Clark County’s Feb. 10 special election.

January 29, 2026

Providence Portland Medical Center is pictured along Northeast Glisan Street on Jan. 9. Some local residents have been crossing the bridge into Oregon for specialty care. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Specialty care shortage sends county patients to Portland

When Gwyn Bateman accidentally fell into a fire pit late last year, she thought receiving medical care in Clark County would be a given.

January 29, 2026

Tamine Robinson of Battle Ground, left, holds her daughter Riley, 1, as registered nurse Julie Ward administers the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine at Legacy Medical Group in Vancouver on March 1, 2019. (The Columbian files)

Melnick fearful of vaccine rollbacks

Vaccination rates for Clark County’s K-12 students have been slipping over the past five years, and with recent federal rollbacks in childhood immunization recommendations, local health officials fear there will be serious, long-term impacts on community health.

January 29, 2026

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