Chess tournament takes over Fairgrounds
Over 1,300 elementary-age chess players took part in the 2007 Washington State Chess Championships April 21, held at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield.
When the day-long event concluded, some area players emerged as co-champions, and three area teams finished in the top 25.
The event was organized by Norm May, who coaches chess at Cornerstone Christian School in Vancouver.
May said 1,231 players in kindergarten through sixth grade--mostly boys--competed in the tournament. They qualified to enter by earning points at recognized tournaments earlier in the school year. Another 73 players who did not qualify for the state championships competed in the “I Love Chess, Too” category.
May said the chess tournament was the largest scholastic chess event ever held in Washington.
The tournament kicked off with a “bughouse” event Friday evening which is a team event where students are matched up in teams of two and play against other teams of two. Captured pieces can be passed to their partner and placed strategically on the board. The game does not follow standard chess rules.
Three giant chess sets with pieces some 32-inches tall were available on the fairgrounds for between-rounds play.
A grandmaster played several games at once in a demonstration of chess skill.
Play in the championship tournament began about 9:20 a.m. Saturday and concluded about 4 p.m.
All players in the championship tournament played five games. Those who won all five were named champions or co-champions of their grade levels.
Co-champions at the second grade level included Bryson Threlkeld of Home Choice Academy in Camas; co-champions among fourth graders included Yun Teng of Illahee Elementary School in the Evergreen School District; Ryan Scott of Kings Way Christian School was among four co-champions at the fifth grade level; and Daniel Ho, also of Kings Way, was one of three sixth grade co-champions.
Cornerstone Christian School finished in seventh place in the K-3 category. Kings Way won fifth place among 4-6 grade schools, with Cornerstone in seventh place and Illahee in eighth.
May said commemorative chess boards were made for the tournament, and over 200 were sold after the tournament at $5 each. Some chess boards will be given away to schools, he said, to encourage chess.
The state middle school and high school chess tournaments were held earlier in the year in Seattle. Andy May, son of tournament organizer Norm May, won the high school tournament. Andy May is homeschooled.
Norm May said area players compete in event sponsored by the Portland Chess Club, and congregate at Coffee Time in Portland.

Medical Center sets record for twins
Four Clark County families welcomed twins during a single 32-hour period last week, all at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver. The five girls and three boys were all reportedly doing well.
The deliveries began April 11 when Jason and Kristine McKinney of La Center welcomed son Parker at 9:06 a.m. and then daughter Peyton about an hour later. Parker weighed in at 6-pounds, 13-ounces, and Peyton at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. They were about five weeks early.
Parker and Peyton joined older sister, Skyler, 2, in the McKinney home.
The other three sets of twins all arrived April 12.
Jeff and Krista Toffelfsen of Vancouver greeted Aiden at 10:58 a.m. and Avery just eight minutes later.
Baker Olson arrived at 12:14 p.m. and brother Dylan two minutes later, the children of Dave and Wendy Olson of Vancouver.
And Robert and Amanda Nunn of Vancouver welcomed Katelyn at 5:25 p.m. and Nolan at 5:29 p.m.
“This is a new record of us,” said Barbara James, manager of the Family Birth Center at the Medical Center. “We typically see 24 twin births a year, so four twin births within hours of each other is just amazing and very special.”
Twin births are often considered to be higher risk because twin babies routinely deliver early and tend to weigh less than individual babies, said James. The smaller babies often require extended stays in the hospital.
Southwest Washington Medical Center is designed to treat some of the sickest newborns, including babies struggline with janidice, infections and low birth weight, as well as babies that need help breathing for short periods.
The 5,389 square foot Special Care Nursery has private patient rooms with overnight accommodations for parents and family members.
County opens door to new development
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
The Clark County decision to open about 1,900 acres between 72nd Street and Ward Road to commercial and residential development is expected to result in a “rush of applications,” according to an attorney for developers.
The commissioners’ decision on April 17 establishes an agreement between private developers and the county to provide funds for improved roads and intersections, and a new school in the Battle Ground District.
Vancouver lawyer James Howsley, spokesman for some of the developers, said he expects a “rush of applications” on Thurs., April 26, when the urban holding zoning is lifted between NE 119th and 99th streets.
“I think you’ll see a majority of the applicants file preliminary applications,” Howsley said. “The actual building will be a market call.”
Several thousand new residences are expected to be built in at least 10 subdivisions, but the exact number of homes has not been announced.
Transportation has been a major issue for the commissioners as they wrestled with a decision to open up the area. An informal group of developers has agreed to pay $384 per average daily trip to establish an economic base that will allow the county to widen NE 119th Street to five lanes and build overpasses along Padden Parkway at Andresen Road, 72nd Ave. and SR-503.
Under the agreement, the county will receive $2 million for roads before final plats are recorded.
“Once we get the $2 million, road projects can begin,” said Steve Stuart, chairman of the commissioners. “The road projects will be done by the time the need is created. We need the development fees and surcharges to repay the bond.”
The area lies within the Battle Ground School District. Under the agreement, the county requires developers to pay school impact fees of $8,290 per single family home, and $2,471 per unit for multi-family homes. Developers must prepay 16 percent of the total required school impact fees.
The school district and the county are working together to find county-owned property near the proposed development.
“We’ve found a site that shows great promise,” Stuart said. “We’re looking into partnering with the school district. They will purchase the footprint (of the school building) and we’ll co-locate parks and places for kids.”
Battle Ground District spokeswoman Kelly O’Brien said the district is “excited” about the opportunity to work cooperatively with the county.
“We’re excited and thrilled that the county is taking seriously our growth needs,” O’Brien said.
A voter-approved bond would be required for the district to build a new school, O’Brien said, but the district has discussed the possibility of placing modular units on property as the population of the area increases.
Attorney Howsley said 13 developers are involved in the informal consortium. Two of those plan to develop commercial property.
“All in all, this is a good compromise,” Howsley said. “We didn’t get all we wanted, but it’s a fair deal for all concerned.”
Negotiations surrounding the opening of the area to development have continued for two years, Stuart said.
“The agreement is not only for this situation but for other situations in the future,” Stuart said. “We can apply the plan to other areas in the county. We can make sure the roads are in place and we can push developers to help find school property.
“It’s been complicated, but we’re happy with the innovative solutions.”

Statesman has own views of political parties
Dan Ogden--scholar, politician, government official, and now elder statesman in the Democratic Party–reviewed his political and academic career during a “Retrospective of 60 years of Political Activity” held April 20 at Washington State University Vancouver.
The event was conducted as a conversation with Mark Stephan, assistant professor of political science at the university.
A resident of Vancouver since 1984, Ogden began his academic career teaching at Washington State University Pullman, went to Washington, D.C. in an academic Faculty Fellow program with the Democratic National Committee, and worked on the campaign of Pres. John F. Kennedy.
Ogden mixed his next 25 years with stints in government service, politics and academics, including an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Congress from Colorado. He came to know high-ranking people in American government including governors, senators and members of presidential cabinets. He headed the Clark County Democratic Party from 1994 until 2000.
In 1990, Ogden switched roles with his wife, Val, who served in the Washington House of Representatives until 2002.
Ogden offered insights into American politics during his one hour remembrance April 20, stressing realism in the political system.
“People who understand how the system works are successful,” said Ogden. “People vote for the individual, not the party. People vote for candidates who have integrity, are honest and able to do the job.”
Ogden offered advice for would-be politicians: don’t expect to make a living, although politics may provide a job. Instead, politics costs money, he said. Ogden said he always believed he could teach if his political appointments came to an end.
Central political thesis
Ogden graduated from Washington State University in 1944, receiving his degree while serving in the U.S. Army. He earned a master’s degree in 1946 at the University of Chicago, and a doctorate from the same school in 1949. His master’s thesis dealt with the Washington blanket primary election system which he still endorses today even though the system has been discarded at the urging of both major political parties. “They’re wrong,” he said.
Ogden said there has been only one occasion in American history when the blanket primary system, which allows voters to cross-over and vote for people in other parties, changed the outcome of an election, and that happened in 1936.
Despite the theory that political parties should be associations of like-minded people who join together to advance their views and beliefs, that’s not the way the American political party system works, said Ogden.
Instead, he said, parties are groups of people united to win office with no unifying set of beliefs. And parties are decentralized, he said. The Democratic Party, said Ogden, includes labor, civil rights activists, environmentalists, farm workers, and advocates for women’s rights. Once a candidate is elected, these various groups expect things to go their way, he said.
“There is no such thing as party membership in the United States,” said Ogden. “You just affiliate with a party.”
While teaching at Pullman, Ogden was elected as precinct committeeman in the Democratic Party in the Pullman area. He took leave from the University in 1956 to serve on Sen. Warren Magnuson’s Commerce and Appropriations committee in Washington, D.C.
While a Faculty Fellow in Washington DC in 1960, Ogden worked as an “advance man” in the Kennedy campaign, making campaign arrangements for Kennedy in various cities before the campaign group arrived. He returned to teaching in 1961.
Ogden resigned from Washington State to serve on the staff of the Secretary of the Interior in 1961. His office prepared several conservation bills, and he takes pride in the “conservation grand slam” when Pres. Johnson signed four conservation bills on one day: The National Trails System Act, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Redwood National Park and North Cascades National Park. “That was one of the highlights of my career,” said Ogden.
Ogden was budget director in the Department of Interior 1967-68.
He left government in 1968 to become dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science at Colorado State University, a position he held until 1976.
“I always hoped I could go to Congress,” said Ogden.
His chance came in 1976 when, at age 54, he resigned from Colorado State and filed against an incumbent in a race for Congress that included a third party candidate. He got support from high-powered politicians, including senators and governors. But he lost. Jimmy Carter won the presidency that year, but Gerald Ford carried Colorado.
Ogden then taught at Lewis and Clark College in Portland for a year. In 1978, he returned to Washington, D.C., to become Power Marketing Coordinator in the new Department of Energy, overseeing the five power administrations in the country. In 1984, he moved to Vancouver to manage the Public Power Council, an interest group of public utilities and rural electrical cooperatives. He retired in 1988.
Ogden chaired the 49th District legislative committee in 1990, then served as county party chair until 2000.
“I enjoyed it,” said Ogden of his multi-faceted career. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve made a lot of friends.”
Several of Ogden’s students went into politics, including former Washington governor Mike Lowry. “You told the truth in class,” Lowry once said to Ogden , a statement which Ogden considers one his greatest compliments. Five or six of Ogden’s former students served in the state legislature, he said, both as Republicans and Democrats.
Now suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and recovering from a broken hip, Ogden proudly recalls casting his first-ever vote for Pres. Franklin Roosevelt. His April 20 talk was filled with humorous anecdotes from his career, along with lessons for others. Ogden said those in political power should not become complacent. That happened to the Republicans, he said, and could happen to the Democrats unless they bring in new people.
Ogden will celebrate his 85th birthday April 28, 2007.