STEELHEAD JUMP LUCIA FALLS

REINHOLD NAMED BG CITIZEN OF YEAR

Battle Ground city council member Alex Reinhold was named 2004 Battle Ground Citizen of the Year during a Feb. 5 banquet sponsored by the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce.

Reinhold was cited for his volunteer service to the community, including city council work, and efforts to improve sidewalks throughout the city.

Reinhold has been a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, and has chaired various Chamber committees. He volunteers time on the rose float project, and will ride the 2005 float. He also volunteers with the food bank, and is president of a dog rescue group.

Also nominated for the award were Rich and Trish Rubin, Bob and Nancy Peck, Chuck and Esther Kessinger, and Beverly Brissler.

Skip Ogden, owner of Dan's Tractor, was named Business Person of the Year.

Ogden has expanded his business by adding Kubota construction equipment. He now has eight employees. He supports other businesses with referrals and by advertising.

Ogden has installed security gates, installed wash pits, and constructed a loading dock to accommodate all sizes of trucks.

Ogden supports charities with about $10,000 in annual donations. He is a member of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Also nominated were Maryann Haggerty of Alder Creek Veterinary, Mike Buentemeier of Fred Meyer, and Mike Williams of Wilco.

Two special life-time achievement awards were announced during the gala evening, attended by about xxx people at the Cedars Golf Course in Brush Prairie.

Bob and Nancy Peck were lauded for many years of volunteer services which included 4-H leadership, running food booths, leaning the fairgrounds, involvement in Halloween carnivals, and maintaining memorial trees.

Bob Peck founded Discovery Gallery and has directed a student art show for 45 years. He helps at I-5 rest stops, and other Kiwanis club projects.

The Pecks are active in the rose float project and the Clark County Fair.

A second life-time achievement award went to Elaine Hertz who heads the North County Community Food Bank. She was honored for the help she has given over the years to needy families, her work on the rose float, staffing a fireworks stand, and her compassion and understanding of people in need.

Hertz is a past president of the Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber has previously given life-time achievement awards to Florence Robison, Sue Tegthof, Louise Tucker and Bob and Thelma Bertsch.

The Citizen of the Year award has been given annually since 1973 when Larry Gaylor was honored. Rodger and Ruth Anne Lance received the first Business Person of the Year award in 1988.

During the banquet, Scott Collard of J.S. Collard Design was installed as chairman of the Chamber board, replacing Bonnie Franklin of Riverview Savings Bank.

JANUARY A MONTH OF EXTREMES

Area weather-watchers recorded below average rainfall in January, some as low as 30 percent of their usual January precipitation.

Temperatures during the month varied considerably.

In Hockinson, Don Gaines recorded a high temperature of 61 degrees on Jan. 19, a record high temperature for any January day since 1990.

In Brush Prairie, Mark Watrin noted 72 degrees on Jan. 18 and 71 on Jan. 19 which he noted as record warm temperatures of those days.

Watrin also recorded a low temperature of 16 degrees on Jan. 5.

Elsewhere in Brush Prairie, Greg Cawley noted a high temperature of 63 degrees on Jan. 19.

Ken McGowen, who lives near the Clark County Fairgrounds, said his January rainfall was about 38 percent of average, and his total for December and January was about 44 percent of average.

In Ariel, Jerry Olson reported October-January rainfall of 41.73 inches, well below his average of 61.46 inches and second to the lowest amount for the period in his records.

MORRIS GIVE PREDICTIONS, DESCRIPTIONS AT STATE OF COUNTY

Marcus Brotherton, staff reporter

Clark County commissioner Betty Sue Morris addressed area growth issues and more at the annual State of the County address Feb. 4 at the Red Lion Hotel in Vancouver.

In the weeks before the speech, Morris asked members of the public for input about what themes they wanted addressed. Responses varied from the future of neighborhood associations to the war in Iraq.

The three topics raised most often by the public were the future of the C-Tran bus system, the proposed Cowlitz/ Mohegan casino complex in La Center, and the makeup of the new board of commissioners.

Regarding C-Tran, Morris said financial challenges of running the system were compounded by last November's ballot measure failure.

She encouraged support for the system and described the need for quality mass transit as integral to a successful quality of life.

"There is no way around the tough decision to reduce service if there's no money," Morris said. "If and when [reductions] happens, we will make reductions for the greatest efficiency and savings [while] maintaining the greatest level of service possible."

Regarding the proposed casino at the La Center/I-5 junction, Morris walked audience members through specifics of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed last year by the County and the Cowlitz tribe.

She expected that both the new commissioners and tribe will uphold the MOU despite the Cowlitz's partnering with the Mohegan tribe to build a larger complex than originally envisioned.

Morris clarified the County's role in the agreement: that the federal government (via the Bureau of Indian Affairs) is the decisionmaker on whether or not the casino moves ahead. The County's role applies primarily to the land and any development that occurs on it.

In the MOU, the Cowlitz tribe is obligated to pay the equivalent amount of property taxes that a private sector developer would pay. The biggest beneficiary would be Ridgefield schools.

The MOU further obligates the tribe to collect and remit sales tax for all purchases made by non-Indians who are anticipated to comprise the bulk of patrons. Payment of development fees, as well as the following of environmental rules and building codes, will be the same as any area development.

The MOU also obligates the tribe to pay for police and fire services, to pay a motel/hotel tax, to contribute $50,000 annually to a County program for compulsive gamblers, and to pay 2 percent of net revenues for an arts and education fund.

"In short," Morris said, in a statement which drew applause at the end, "the tribe has agreed to act like any other responsible property owner, and the County will hold them to it."

Regarding the new commissioners, Steve Stuart and Marc Boldt, Morris asked for time and public consideration to "form up" as a new board.

She believes the new board has more similarities than differences, and in areas of public policy where divergent opinions are present, board members will still be able to debate and be friends.

Predictions offered

Regarding the coming year, Morris believes commissioners will help bring "unprecedented corporate and personal energy to [area] economic development."

Some of the projects currently on the table involved streamlining the County's environmental permitting process and re-assessing the County's storm water fee program.

Development of a commercial freight service and dinner train is in the works with the Columbia Basin Railroad. Discussions continue on possibilities of building a new I-5 bridge across the Columbia River, but light-rail will only happen in the County with voter approval, Morris said.

Fighting methamphetamine production and use continues to be a significant problem in the area, Morris said.

Fighting the drug now consumes some 50 percent of the County's criminal justice budget. County drug treatment programs have seen a 700 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment. Only continued community-wide efforts will halt the drug's pervasiveness, Morris said.

Regarding land use plans, Morris advocated continued measures to welcome growth to the area.

She highlighted several benefits from area growth, including the launch of a new four-year university program, a new state-of-the-art hospital, better stores and restaurants, a burgeoning area arts movement, and more leadership brought to the area.

She chastised policy makers who equate growth management with growth control, and recommended continued public sector partnership with private businesses to help build infrastructure.

"The truth is, growth subsidizes us," Morris said. Counties and cities across this state that aren't growing are coming precariously near to closing up shop and going broke. We aren't. And that's because of growth."

At the end of her speech, Morris invited Boldt and Stuart on stage to share audience applause.

EDITORIAL:

COMMISSIONERS SEND STOREDAHL DECISION BACK TO EXAMINER

Marcus Brotherton, staff reporter

The Clark County commissioners have returned a decision to expand mining efforts near the East Fork Lewis River to county land use hearings examiner Daniel Kearns for further review.

The commissioners' action means new surface mining operations will be delayed or potentially prohibited at a site north of Daybreak Park owned by the applicant, J.L. Storedahl & Sons, Inc.

Kearns is expected to review the matter at a public hearing about 60 days from now, said County planner Josh Warner. Under law, appeals will be allowed for portions of Kearns' new decision.

Kearns approved Storedahl's plan last November after about six years of legal battles.

Three appeals to Kearns' decision were filed in December--one by Storedahl representatives who contested a prohibition to wet mine aggregate on site, one by neighbors of the mine because of noise issues, and one by Fish First and Friends of the East Fork, two environmental groups who alleged portions of Kearns' decision were illegal and harmful to fish stock and the river.

The commissioners' task was to review several years of records to see if Kearns had made any errors in his report pertinent to the appeals.

Officials say Storedahl documents now comprise about 150 pounds of carrying weight, with 18 notebooks and 600 exhibits.

No easy answer

Commissioner Betty Sue Morris described the Storedahl case as "difficult and significant."

Proponents of the mine believe the site will become a crucial gravel provider for state and area roads and concrete projects as well as provide additional family-wage jobs in the area. Projections show about 40 jobs would come from the mining operation.

Opponents believe the mine would irreparably damage fish habitat in the East Fork as well as harm groundwater resources in the area.

Morris pointed to various colleagues and political supporters she had on both sides of the issue and joked that she had "friends for it and friends against it, and [she would] stick by her friends."

Commissioners agreed with Kearns regarding several appeal-related issues, including his findings on noise, the ability to mitigate potential effects on ground water quality, and to keep a ban on wet washing on site.

Regarding the wet washing prohibition, commissioner Marc Boldt described both "good arguments for and against it."

"But our job is to find sufficient evidence that the hearings examiner erred in his decision," Boldt said, "and there's not enough to change it."

Commissioners also declined to honor 57 specific changes in wording to Kearns' document that Storedahl attorneys had asked for.

Commissioners based their Feb. 3 decision to overturn Kearns' decision on two primary issues: flood plain definitions and legalities surrounding historic uses of the site.

Flood plain issues involve one of the surface mine pits that is not mapped in a flood plane, but is surrounded by a flood plane, thus creating a type of "island" in prohibited mining territory.

Commissioners doubted whether the "island" could not be mined without posing significant risks to the river if avulsion occurred.

Regarding historic uses, documents show that Kearns based much of his decision to allow mining on his interpretation of two legal cases: a 1996 Washington Supreme Court ruling called University Place versus McGuire, and a 1998 case called Zalea Versus Snohomish County.

Because of the University Place ruling, Kearns' conclusion was that, because mining had historically been permitted on site, Storedahl has a legal right to continue and even expand mining on site.

Because of the Zalea ruling, Kearns concluded that because of the site's historic use, planners cannot set a "baseline" of zero activity on the site in order to measure potential effects an expanded mining operations would have on the area.

Storedahl representatives have long contended that the area will actually be worse off if they are forced to closed down and leave the area, a logic which stems in part from the Zalea ruling.

Storedahl representatives have also agreed to replant the area once mining is finished as part of a Habitat Conservation Plan.

Commissioner Steve Stuart described this historical use issue as "incredibly important" and "foundational" to the entire proposal.

Morris said she did not give the issue the same weight Stuart did, but was willing to concede the point and send it back to Kearns for additional review.

RIDGEFIELD INTERSECTION TO GET ROUND-ABOUT

Alice Perry Linker, staff reporter

The intersection of 45th Avenue and Pioneer Street in Ridgefield is a dangerous place.

Just ask Ridgefield police officers. Sgt. Randy Ostrander who said the department has recorded at least 13 accidents with six injuries, some serious, at that intersection since 2001.

Motorists going to and from Ridgefield High School travel along 45th Avenue, and Pioneer Street is the road connecting the downtown city center with I-5.

The Ridgefield City Council has decided to make the intersection safer by installing a round-about--traffic circle--where the two streets meet.

"We prefer a round-about over a traffic signal," said Ridgefield Public Works Director Justin Clary. "It's safer than a signal. Drivers can run a red light and t-bone another vehicle. A round-about is more calming."

To enter a round-about drivers must decrease their speed and yield the right-of-way to those already within the circle.

Clary said accidents within the circle are more likely to be low-speed sideswipes than t-bone crashes.

In addition to the safety concerns, interim city manager George Fox said a traffic round-about is esthetically pleasing and will make a good transition from the commercial-industrial activities east of 45th Street to the residential development to the west.

Although the Council has approved the round-about concept, city officials said they don't know when construction will take place.

First, property at the intersection must be purchased to create the circle. Fox said the city has had some preliminary discussions with some of the affected property owners.

"The ones we've talked to seem to be okay with it," he said. "I don't think it's going to be a problem."

Pioneer Street is also State Route 501, and the Washington Department of Transportation must be involved in the process, Fox said.

Funding is expected to come from private developers who pay a systems development charge for infrastructure, as well as from the city and the state.

Because the amount of land needed to build the circle has not been determined, the cost of construction is not yet known.

Clary said that the initial cost of building a round-about, including the cost of land, is probably greater than installing a traffic signal, but maintenance over the years is less.

City officials have said on several occasions that they hope to see one speed limit along Pioneer Street from I-5 to the downtown area instead of the four speed zones that now exist.

APPEALS COURT REVERSES MURDER CONVICTION

Judges cite flaws in jury process, order new trial

Bill Myers, staff reporter

A Washington Court of Appeals ruling Jan. 25 reversed the 2003 felony murder conviction of Sophia Johnson.

Johnson, 29, of Vancouver, was found guilty by a Clark County jury in 2003 of bludgeoning Marlyne Johnson, her mother-in-law, to death with fireplace tongs at the victim's Brush Prairie home.

In reversing the murder conviction, appellate judges C.C. Bridgewater, Christine Quinn-Brintnall and Elaine Houghton ordered a new trial.

Following the 2003 jury decision, Johnson was sentenced to 43 years in prison by Superior Court judge Diane Woolard.

Johnson's brother, Sean Correia, was a key witness at the trial. He testified that on Jan. 10, 2002, he and Johnson went to the home of Richard and Marlyne Johnson to look for money.

Correia said his sister attacked Marlyne Johnson when she came home.

Johnson was arrested and tried for felony murder first degree.

While in jail awaiting the murder trial, Johnson was sentenced in September 2002 to 3 years in prison, with credit for time served, for theft and forgeries that cost a former employer more than $60,000 during 2000 and 2001.

A written opinion by appellate court judge Bridgewater explained the ruling for reversing Johnson's murder conviction.

Bridgewater said conversations between a bailiff and jury members could have prejudiced the jury.

During deliberations, a bailiff reportedly asked members of the jury how deliberations were going. She allegedly told a juror that a deadlock would not be allowed.

A bailiff is forbidden to communicate with a jury during deliberations except to inquire if a jury has reached a verdict or to make innocuous or neutral statements, said Bridgewater.

Bridgewater's written opinion said a ruling by Woolard to replace an emotional juror violated the rights of the defendant to a fair trial.

According to court records, Woolard removed a