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Camas

July 3, 2025
The Camas School District Zellerbach Administration Center is pictured April 15, 2020. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian files)

Camas schools on verge of balancing ‘25-26 budget

Having just completed one of the largest budget reductions in the Camas School District’s recent history, district leaders say they are on the verge of achieving a balanced 2025-26 budget and bringing the district’s reserve funds back to a more sustainable level.

July 3, 2025
The innermost Diebold “cannonball” safe. “You can see how thick it is,” Dave McOmie said. “A monster. I’ve drilled about a half-dozen, and none of them went well.” Fortunately, he found Frank Sinatra’s unlocked. (Photo contributed by Dave McOmie)

Sinatra’s vault challenges Camas safecracker

Dave McOmie of Camas doesn’t claim to be a big Frank Sinatra fan. If he was, he might have hummed a Sinatra ballad of longing and uncertainty — “Maybe You’ll Be There” or “If I Had You” — while cracking a spectacularly difficult safe at a Tahoe resort a few weeks ago.

June 26, 2025
A recreational vehicle is parked on a side street in Camas on Friday, June 20, 2025. A new city ordinance limits RV parking, storage and occupancy on public and private properties in Camas. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Camas adopts new RV rules

Recreational vehicle owners living in or visiting Camas may be surprised by a new law limiting RV and trailer parking, storage and occupancy within the city limits, including on private property.

June 19, 2025
Fire trucks stay dry inside Camas Fire Station 42 on March 21, 2025. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian files)

Union urges officials to revamp RFA plan

Two months after voters rejected the formation of a Camas-Washougal regional fire authority, the head of the local firefighters’ union is urging officials to revamp the proposal and get it back on the ballot as soon as possible.

June 19, 2025
A new report from an environmental watchdog group claims greenhouse gas emissions from paper mills using older boilers are significantly underreported. The Georgia-Pacific mill in Camas, seen here on June 10, 2025, was included in the report, although the company said it has replaced the mill’s boiler. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Researchers: paper mills generate more greenhouse gases than reported

A new report from Environmental Integrity Project — a national watchdog group founded by Eric Schaffer, former director of the Environmental Protection Agency — claims some paper mills could be generating up to three times more greenhouse gas emissions than reported.