It seems as if the new year just began, but the upcoming 2011 elections are already on the minds of many local residents and the elected officials who may have to battle to keep their positions. While a few current elected leaders have announced their intention to seek re-election, speculation is beginning to surface about those who may want to give public service a try.
After much discussion and deliberation during the past year on the issue of tweaking local fireworks regulations, the Camas City Council has finally whittled down an option that reduces the period of time fireworks can be legally discharged within city limits.
The bright green light pole banners advertising the Mother's Day Plant and Garden Fair will be missing from downtown Camas this year. Instead of being held along Northeast Fourth Avenue and its side streets, as the event has for more than a decade, the 14th annual festival on May 7 is being moved several miles away to the Camas High School campus.
Today marks the third week since former Camas Fire Chief Leo Leon, a veteran of 38 years in the emergency services field, was unexpectedly fired by Mayor Paul Dennis.
In just an hour's time, each one of us could help save a life. The Georgia-Pacific Camas mill, 401 N.E. Adams St., is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive on Wednesday, from 6:45 to 11:45 a.m.
Positively impacting local children will be the focus of an upcoming dinner and auction organized by the Camas-Washougal Soroptimists. The event, set for Saturday at the Camas Community Center, will support the East County Resource Center's Weekend Backpack Program. Through donations and other support, children who might otherwise not be fed over the weekends when they don't have access to school lunches are given nourishment they can easily assemble on their own. Donated backpacks are filled with items like peanut butter, pancake mix, crackers, cereal, snacks, applesauce, fruit snacks, fruit cups and canned goods such as ravioli and spaghetti.
The lights in downtown Camas will soon be a little brighter when the marquee at the Liberty Theatre will once again burn bright. The much awaited news that a lease has been signed with a new tenant to occupy the well-known building on Northeast Fourth Avenue finally came to fruition. It is a space that holds fond memories as a downtown destination spot for the many who were sad to see it close more than a year ago.
Camas School District Superintendent Mike Nerland and two Camas High School students had the opportunity on Friday to tout to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell the Camas Math, Science and Technology Magnet program that is now in its fourth year, preparing to graduate its first class of students.
The city of Washougal is once again in the spotlight- -- and not in a good way. Police, eye witnesses and Mayor Sean Guard have given conflicting reports as to what happened on Christmas Eve as Guard was traveling on I-5, reportedly encouraging slower traffic to move out of the left lane through the use of flashing lights. What is not in question, however, is that Guard was driving a 1995 Ford Taurus that belongs to the city of Washougal to treat a family in need to breakfast and shopping. Although the act was one of kindness, Guard admits it was not an excursion associated with any kind of city business.
As 2010 comes to an end, it is natural to start to contemplate the past year, and begin looking to the future -- wondering what 2011 will bring. But, how about focusing instead on what our local history has meant for Camas and Washougal? And how the area's past has impacted its present and future? Answers to these questions and much more are available under one roof at the Two Rivers Heritage Museum in Washougal. It is truly one of the local area's best kept secrets. A place that should be explored and appreciated by the citizens of the Camas-Washougal communities that have such rich and diverse histories.
