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Washougal

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

HeART Fest moves to Black Pearl

The Artisans’ Guild of Camas will present the third annual HeART Fest, a non-juried art show, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7 at Black Pearl on the…

January 22, 2026
Former Camas-Washougal Fire Battalion Chief Kevin West, right, speaks to a member of the gallery as he is led away in handcuffs Tuesday after a jury found West guilty of the murder of his wife at the Clark County Courthouse. (Photos by Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

West convicted of murder

A Clark County Superior Court jury on Tuesday convicted a former Camas-Washougal Fire battalion chief of first- and second-degree murder for strangling his wife to death in January 2024.

January 22, 2026

WSD accepting applications for board position

The Washougal School District is accepting applications to fill its No. 1 director position, which will be vacated by Jim Cooper on Jan. 30. Applicants must be a registered voter…

January 22, 2026

City of Washougal honors LDS missionaries

The city of Washougal presented a Community Impact Award to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints full-time missionaries during its Jan. 12 meeting, celebrating their “enduring commitment to…