The Columbian

A Clark County Superior Court judge sentenced two known gang members to decades in prison Wednesday for the 2023 murder of Henry Carmona, bringing a close to what she called one of the most difficult cases of her career.

Lemonade Day Greater Vancouver is seeking youth ages 6 to 16 who are interested in learning how to launch and operate their own small businesses.

One day ahead of schedule, road workers cleared a massive landslide that blocked Interstate 5 south of Bellingham for a month, reopening both northbound lanes to regular traffic Wednesday.

You’re driving down the highway in Washington when a motorcycle suddenly zips past you. The motorcyclist heads for the nearest exit, threading a path between lines of cars to avoid traffic. This practice, known as lane splitting, is legal in some states. What about Washington?

A Vancouver man facing first-degree murder in the April 9 stabbing death of his wife appeared in court Wednesday via Zoom from a hospital bed.

Teachers, staff, students and parents filled Tuesday’s Vancouver Public Schools board meeting to oppose layoffs across the district resulting from a $24 million budget deficit.

The Vancouver Fire Department welcomed the newest addition to its fleet this week with a nod to the 19th century.

Firefighters rescued four pets from a burning home Tuesday night in the Livingston area, though only one dog survived.

OLYMPIA — Washington is taking home an “F” grade for failing to adopt a statewide ban on cellphones in schools last session, according to a new report.

A national drugmaker group is suing Washington state over a newly approved law that aims to protect patient access to discounted prescriptions.

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho officials are encouraging high school students to start or join chapters of a conservative group that has in the past advocated for political candidates including President Donald Trump and has called to mobilize the country’s most “spirited, anti-woke warriors.”

Vancouver archaeologist Doug Wilson was already well steeped in local history when a few of his Southcliff neighbors approached him with a request: Could Wilson help the midcentury Vancouver neighborhood apply for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places?

Costco pushed back last week against claims of salmonella risk in its beloved $5 rotisserie chicken, following a proposed class-action lawsuit.

The Vancouver Police Department has identified the suspect in the April 9 domestic violence homicide of a 33-year-old Vancouver woman.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Washington’s 3rd Congressional District race Tuesday with a social media post that endorsed state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and bashed incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania.

A Texas man involved in a multistate string of violent ATM robberies, including targeting a technician in Vancouver and an ATM in Battle Ground, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Tuesday in Seattle.

TACOMA — The Frederickson area is getting more than 200 units of affordable housing.

Boeing delivered fewer airplanes in March than the month prior as it dealt with an issue on a small number of 737 MAX planes.

Work to restore the upper stretch of state Highway 504 is scheduled to begin Wednesday, state transportation officials announced Friday.

Businesses along Main Street in Downtown Vancouver are still struggling, but they’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

SEATTLE — At the water’s edge, Pastor Mary Elise Scott led a group in prayer for a safe and bountiful fishing season.

Dozens of people filed a lawsuit against King County and its flood control district Monday morning, arguing that the entities knowingly allowed aging levees and flood barriers to languish without crucial repairs.

If you’re struck by a sudden desire to branch out this Saturday, look no farther than the Beaver Bash, where you can broaden your beaver “gnaw-ledge” (according to the event’s clever tagline) and celebrate the Northwest’s most iconic rodent.

Vancouver city officials disapprove of a new Interstate Bridge Replacement Program plan that would limit how far TriMet’s MAX light rail trains come into Clark County.

BOISE, Idaho — A Texas woman ordered to pay $10 million in damages to a University of Idaho professor who she repeatedly accused on social media of orchestrating the 2022 Moscow college students murders has appealed the jury’s award in federal court.

Two Vancouver men were each held on $80,000 bail Monday for their alleged involvement in a late-March drive-by shooting in east Vancouver.

Yvonne Fryar became a survivor of human trafficking at the age of 7, an experience that forced her into years of exploitation. By 11, she was on the streets, surviving by trading sex for food, safety and drugs.

Six months into a stalemate over history and safety at Seattle’s Gas Works Park, an unexpected intervention appears to have tipped the scales in favor of altering one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.

KENNEWICK — The Kennewick City Council agreed this week to rezone a former 38-acre orchard that will soon be home to hundreds of houses.

Roughly 18 small earthquakes were recorded off the coast of Washington early Sunday, geologists reported.

A Clark County judge on Friday set bail at $50,000 for a 21-year-old man accused of soliciting a 14-year-old girl for sex while she was commuting to school on a C-Tran bus.

On a sunny Thursday afternoon in early April, Jaggy Road Park near Vancouver Mall was packed with children screaming with laughter while adults enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Tax Day is Wednesday, but for Washington residents in areas affected by storms, flooding and landslides late last year, the Internal Revenue Service is offering an extended deadline.

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho school districts will soon have a little help to serve students with disabilities.

Washington boasts 221 housing-related programs across 30 state agencies.

Budget cuts approved by the state Legislature could bring an end to some programs and services provided by Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group.

The 13th annual Clark County Open Studios Tour, Nov. 7 and 8, is accepting applications from visual artists working in Clark County in all mediums.

Seeing limitations in a Washington law solely focused on methamphetamine, the Longview City Council on Thursday voted to begin steps to add to the city’s books a misdemeanor crime for exposing children to fentanyl.

Investigators believe the 20 dead canines that washed ashore in Skagit County — some found skinned, missing front paws and with twine wrapped around their necks — were foxes used for commercial fishing.

The southbound lanes of Interstate 5 were closed for several hours on Saturday as Vancouver Police responded to a report of a man brandishing a gun at a neighbor, Vancouver Police said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is scaling back its once-ambitious plans for a polar security base along Seattle’s waterfront. In documents filed last week by the Coast Guard, the military branch says it now plans only a modest footprint expansion and that it will not build any additional ship berths.

“It’s never good when a U-Haul truck backs up to your neighbor’s driveway late at night,” I said to my wife, Melissa.

Proposed changes by the Department of Homeland Security could deprive Washington asylum seekers of opportunities to work legally and provide for their families, exacerbating the financial burden on social service agencies, according to local and state experts.

Future court dates, including for a possible trial, are set for the two Mark Morris High School teens accused of committing sex crimes against fellow students.

An infant infected with measles could have exposed King County residents to the disease in Bellevue and northeast Seattle, including on public transit. Public Health — Seattle & King County said the infant likely was exposed to measles during international travel.

A missing special-needs girl found unconscious in a canal near Prosser on Friday has died. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that the 7-year-old who was pulled from the irrigation canal was taken to a local hospital but did not survive.

LONGVIEW — A Longview paper mill that built its reputation on “superior quality newsprint” will stop making the product at the end of the month, according to industry reports.

Named for a standoff rather than a fight, Battle Ground didn’t have a store until Peter Onsdorff arrived. He offered customers a step up from the muddy road. He rented and sold Studebaker wagons and buggies.

As the weather warms, outdoor enthusiasts across Washington are heading out on hikes.

Anne McCaffrey was an American science fiction writer who was born on April 1, 1926.