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City of Camas Holds Public Hearing on Fireworks Use Tonight

Camas, WA — The public is invited to attend the City of Camas Public Hearing on the use of fireworks in Camas, which is happening Monday, May 14 at 7 pm in the Council Chambers at Camas City Hall.

Options to be discussed at this meeting are:

  • Keep current city code – discharge on July 3rd & 4th and December 31st
  • Modify code to allow discharge on July 4th and New Year’s
  • Only allow discharge of safe and sane fireworks – nothing that projects into the air
  • Ban all fireworks

If you have an opinion or idea to share, the city wants to hear from you. According to city administrators, posts to social media cannot be accepted as official comment.

You can have your voice be heard using the following mediums:

  • EMAIL your written testimony to Deputy City Clerk Bernie Bacon: bbacon@cityofcamas.us
  • SUBMIT written testimony to the Clerk’s Office, located at 616 NE 4th Avenue
  • Hand-delivery or mail.
  • CALL the Clerk’s Office at 360.817.1591 to leave a message or provide testimony by phone. All options may be carried until the hearing’s completion.

Need more info on the budget or the public hearing? Contact Deputy City Clerk Bernie Bacon at 360.817.1591 or bbacon@cityofcamas.us

Fireworks usage has been up for debate the past several years as other nearby cities have banned or limited their use.

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“Say Hello” to Smalltown Poets With Their New Album Release

Camas, WA — The Grammy-nominated band, Smalltown Poets, is back and better than ever with today’s release of their eighth album, “Say Hello.”

Their style of music is comparable to Counting Crows.  It’s a jangly, guitar driven rock, with very catchy melodies — and a lot of time was spent crafting the sound of this record. They’ve had several top 10 hits in the Gospel genre.

One of the signature songs from the album, “Middle of our First Love,” has gotten significant radio time these past few weeks. And, it’s one of Kevin Breuner’s favorites. Breuner is one of the band’s guitarists — and he’s also a Camas resident.

“The story behind this is we had ten songs we recorded and arranged them in priority in what we worked on first, and this was number 10,” said Breuner. “Then it went through this dramatic re-write. It started out as slow jazzy song. There was a lot of honesty with each other, so we knew we had to fix it, and the results exceeded all expectations. That’s one of the storylines with this record. Since we have a few years under our belt there was an open, honest collaboration and it pulled out the best out of all of us.”

The new album is available at all the various music service worldwide including, iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and more. This website is a portal to all the places the music is available: https://smalltown-poets.lnk.to/6KpRmWE

“Say Hello” was produced by the band with Matt Goldman, who’s worked on big projects from Third Day, Under Oath, and Copeland.

“He’s well known in Atlanta, and just really brings a new level of creativity to any project he’s working on,” said Breuner. “The five of us have day jobs across the country, and it took us two years of collaboration to put it all together. We’d each write something, share files over the Internet, and hammered out ideas, which led to recording sessions. Our last album was a Christmas album, which is a whole different animal all together. It’s about timing. We took more time as we did this independently. This gave us freedom to keep doing until it’s right.”

Smalltown Poets used to be assigned to a major label out of Nashville, and sold albums in mid to late 90s, then the band went their separate ways.

Poets

Kevin Bruener on stage with Smalltown Poets.

“We’ve been collaborating across the Internet, releasing records, and pursuing regular careers and getting out on the road when we can. I’ve lived in downtown Camas for past three years, so much of this record was recorded at my house in Camas. We also recorded in Memphis, and Atlanta.”

The band is technically based out of Atlanta, where two of its five members reside, and where a lot of the album’s recording occurred.

One member lives in Charlotte, one in Tampa, and Breuner lives right here in Camas. In their early days, the band lived in Nashville. Smalltown Poets debuted in 1997.

Presently, the band is working on tour dates, with conceptual plans to do a West coast run in the fall, starting in Seattle.  Right now, the main first step is getting the music out there. They average 20-30 shows a year.

Bikes

www.Camasbikes.com

Independence

Breuner is VP of Marketing at CD Baby in Portland.

“CD Baby is a beacon in the independent music industry,” said Breuner. “I left the whole major label thing because we were always the last people to get paid. We sold 200,000 copies of our first album, and we were still scraping by. I thought there’s got to be a better way to get the music out to our fans. If I could sell directly to our fans we could sell less music and make more money.”

“I’m doing exactly what I’m passionate about. So I’ve been working at CD Baby for over 12 years. We educate artists on how to move their careers forward. The fact that I’m still an active artist and out there in the trenches, along with working in the business, I can see what artists need to do to promote their music. We support 650,000 artists. We help so many with a path to success. There’s a lot of learning. It’s been fun to see what artists are doing.”

What drives him?

“I try to give up music, and then I get pulled back,” he said. “I want to make music. Releasing music is something I enjoy. Something inside me that wants to keep creating. Music is a release that’s though to explain. It allows me to express myself. I’m not a lead singer, I’m not someone who gets on stage to sing. I love to write and record with the guitar. It helps me express what I’m feeling. I feel like when I listen back to the tracks, it’s easy to go through the emotions and capture what I’m feeling. It helps me to leave my own finger print.”

His family moved the milltown because his parents moved to the Camas-Washougal area, and they started doing Camas Days, and all the local activities.

”When we outgrew our starter home, we had two daughters, and knew the kind of house we wanted,” he said. “We checked out a house that was exactly what we were looking for. We love the neighborhood. We know most of our neighbors and we do neighborhood BBQs and do a lot of things in downtown Camas. We go to all the Camas football games.”

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100+ Women Who Care Clark County Raise $10,000 in 1 Hour For Senior Citizens

Camas, WA — For their second event, the newly created, and rapidly growing 100+ Women Who Care Clark County raised $10,000 in just one hour for Villages Clark County.

More than 100 women gathered at Salud! Wine Bar, in downtown Camas, and listened to how their previous donations to Children’s Home Society are being used to help kids. Following that presentation, members placed their preferred charity names into buckets, of which three were drawn: 1) Special Olympics Dolphins Swim Team; 2) Villages Clark County, and Fathers in the Field.

Representatives from each charity each spent a few minutes explaining what these charities do and answered questions. Following the presentations, the women voted for their preferred choice. The winner was Villages Clark County, which is part of a national network of “baby boomers” and senior citizens that are coming together to assist other senior citizens, and help them stay in their residences.

Helen Elder, the local chairperson for the organization, said senior needs are growing. She explained that seniors often are forced to leave their homes for the following reasons:

  • Health concerns
  • Mobility
  • Isolation
  • Finances
  • Concerns about burdening children

“One local woman felt she needed to leave her home because she could no longer mow her yard,” said Elder. “We network with local organizations, like churches, and the Boy Scouts, to offer assistance to our seniors.”

The group offers companionship, grocery shopping, housekeeping, pet care, running errands, and more.

To learn more, visit www.villagesclarkcounty.org

“I am so thrilled and humbled at the level of support the community has given our group,” said Christy Ribary, the founder of 100+ Women Who Care Clark County. They all feel empowered that they can make an immediate impact to our community. I am so inspired by all of this.”

To learn how you can join, visit www.100womenclarkcounty.com

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East County U14 Soccer Team Wins State Championship

TUKWILA, WA — After battling into double overtime at Sunday’s President’s Cup State Tournament (Division 1) at the Starfire Complex, the East County-based Washington Timbers Red 2 BO4 team defeated NSC Green in penalty kicks, winning the coveted title 5-4 in PKs.

The tournament, which actually began a week earlier in pool play, continued into semi-finals Saturday culminating in Sunday’s Championship game.  The Timbers beat Crossfire Premier in the semi-finals, 3-0, and over six games, the boys only gave up two goals.

“It’s a very athletic group,” said Head Coach, Dan Youngren. “The championship was a really good game, and the other team had a strong defense. We had 10-12 shots on goal and couldn’t get them in during regulation time. During OT both teams went back and forth, then we went to PK’s. It’s a crazy way to end it. The first four kickers from both teams scored. On the fifth kick, NSC missed. Our last kicker, Jaydon Morgan, a left kicker, buried it in the right side of the net. And, that’s what won the game, we won 5-4 in PK’s.”

Timbers goalie Ryan Doyle worked incredibly hard, and Ethan Hunt and Jeremy Mohn scored the goals against Crossfire Premier during semi-finals.

”We’ve had a solid defense all season,” said Youngren, who’s coached the sport for nine years. Mark Fortin in the team’s assistant coach. “This has been a fun experience, and it’s still sinking in what an achievement it was.”

But, the team has been here before — except in Oregon, where they won State last year.

“It’s pretty cool to be state champions in two different states,” he said.

The Timbers success gives them the opportunity to advance to Regionals, which is in Salt Lake City on June 12.  It’ll be  round robin play, quarter, semi- and finals during that weeklong tournament.

The team’s roster:

Jevon Carr

Ryan Doyle

Kade Drake

Gavin Erickson

Michael Fedoruk

Connor Fortin

Ethan Hundt

Ethan Kay

Jeremy Mohn

Jaydon Morgan

Ethan Ouchi

Jake Penn

Hayden Rouse

Derik Soto

Eli Warne

Samuel Wilson

Cody Youngren

 

 

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Hana Restaurant Owners Suffer Burns; Friends Set Up GoFundMe

Camas, WA — Hana Restaurant owners, Agnes and Phillip Parker, suffered second and third degree burns on their hands and arms last week in a kitchen accident that will require several more weeks of recovery.

“My mother is doing better,” said Phillip. “Unfortunately she and I got burns, and that is putting us both out of commission to work for at least two more weeks while our burn specialist can determine better timeline of healing. We both received second to third degree burns, but we are being strong with the understanding that this is an accident, and we will recover and come out stronger! I am really sitting here kind of still soaking this all in, but day by day I’m sure everything will work out.”

As they are the primary cooks for Hana, the restaurant will be closed until they are healthy enough to return to work.

Carrie Schulstad, of the Downtown Camas Association, started a GoFundMe page today to raise funds for their family while they recover. The restaurant is their primary source of income.

The GoFundMe page states:

“Agnes and Phillip from Hana Korean restaurant in Downtown Camas had a kitchen accident last week and were badly burned, especially Agnes who does a large majority of the cooking of all the delicious food! They will have to be closed for a while and we want to help them! Agnes, Phillip and Eric are some of the most kind, hard-working and generous people you could ever meet. Let’s come together and help cover them during this time!”

To donate, click this link: https://www.gofundme.com/help-hana-in-downtown-camas

Their goal is to raise $20,000 for the family during their recover period.

Hana cooks excellent Korean and Japanese food using family recipes. They are a popular destination on 4th Avenue in Downtown Camas. They’ve been featured several times in Lacamas Magazine.

Hana

Steamed rice topped with assorted vegetables, seaweed, and beef (or your choice of protein).

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100+ Women Who Care Clark County To Hold Second Event May 9

Camas, WA — 100+ Women Who Care Clark County is holding their organization’s second event on Wednesday, May 9 at Salud Wine Bar in downtown Camas.

The social hour is from 5-6 pm, with the event officially beginning at 6 pm. The event’s guest speaker will be Andy Tucker, who is the Director of Washington Children’s Home Society — the recipient of the local organization’s first donation. He will be sharing with 100+ Women Clark County about how their previous quarter’s contributions impacted the organization, and how the funds were used in the community.

The group will also celebrate having 100 members with a champagne toast hosted by Arktana Shoes. This makes it one of the fastest growing chapters in the organization’s history. During the social hour, Salud is offering all glasses of wine for $5 and there will be free appetizers for everyone courtesy of Thrivent (one of the organization’s sponsors).

During the event, each member writes the name of a charitable organization on a piece of paper, and places that information into a bucket. Three names are drawn, and each organization is discussed. By ballot, the members vote on which charitable group they would like to donate to,  and the votes are tallied. By the end of the hour, the goal is to raise $10,000 ($100 from each member).

The group welcomes all women in Clark County to come and see what they’re all about — you do not need to be a member to attend the event. Come and learn about what their special group of women is doing to make immediate and powerful change in the community!

To learn more, visit 100womenclarkcounty.com

Women

www.Greshamroofing.com

 

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Washougal School District Announces New Superintendent – Mary Templeton

Washougal, WA — At a special meeting of the Washougal School District Board of Directors on April 27, 2018, the school board unanimously passed a motion to hire Dr. Mary Templeton as the next Superintendent of the district. Templeton and three other final candidates interviewed with the Board, district administrators, and representatives of the staff and community on April 25. She will begin her new job on July 1, 2018.

“The district started this process several months ago, gathering feedback from community, staff, and district parents, in an open and transparent process,” said Cory Chase, Washougal School Board President. “The board felt Dr. Templeton’s experience and background are best suited to the current initiatives and opportunities in our district. The board would like to thank all of the community members, staff, and others who participated in the process and provided feedback to help with this process. We are excited to welcome Mary to the Washougal community.” The board worked with Northwest Leadership Associates on the search process.

“I am so excited to be joining the Washougal School District as the new superintendent of schools,” said Templeton. “After spending time in the district this week, it was clear that there are great things happening here and that the community, staff, school board, and parents are committed to excellence for all of our students. I look forward to leading the Washougal School District with this vision for excellence into the future.”

 

Templeton is currently the Human Resources Director for Certificated Personnel for Spokane Public Schools, a role she has held for four years. She began her education career in the classroom, teaching German, English, and Drama for 15 years. She later served as a dean of students, principal assistant, and then worked as an assistant principal for four years.

Templeton recently received a doctorate in Education from Washington State University and has held a superintendent credential since 2015. She serves on a task force for the Public Educator Standards Board (PESB).

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Ernie Suggs Appointed to Replace Coursey on Washougal City Council

Washougal, WA — When Washougal City Coucilman, Dan Coursey, resigned his seat effective March 31, it set in motion an open process to fill the vacancy. That process ended Monday night with the appointment of longtime Washougal resident, Ernie Suggs, who was sworn in by Mayor Molly Coston.

A total of eight candidates applied for the open seat, and all appeared before the council Monday night to present themselves to the councilors. In a final 4-2 open vote, Suggs won.

“To be honest, it surprised me that I was sworn in at the end of the session,” Suggs said. “I applied two days ahead of the deadline, and we all presented ourselves to the council. I was fourth in line, and we all waited in a small room until it was our time. After that first round was done, the council voted on the top two candidates. Two other were tied for number two, then we talked again to the council, and answered one question from each council member. They voted agin, and it was 4-2 that they chose me.”

Suggs was encouraged to apply by several Camas and Washougal City Councilors.

“So, I thought, OK, I’ll give it a shot,” said Suggs. “To be candid, I was humbled and excited they chose me.”

Suggs is concerned about growth control and wants Washougal to build an adequate infrastructure to avoid major traffic congestion. He’s also a big proponent of inter-agency cooperation, local schools, and small business.

”I’m all about small business empowerment, and finding ways to help off-set the cost of running the city with a stronger tax base,” said Suggs. “We don’t have a lot of ways to bring in funds for the city.”

Suggs has lived in Washougal for 42 years, with his wife, Pat, who are the parents of six daughters, and grandparents of 13 grandsons. He worked for the Camas School District for 32 years as the Camas Community Education Director. He retired 10 years ago.

The council will get to fill another open seat when Washougal City Councilor, Joyce Lindsay, retires from public service effective May 31. The applicant process will begin anew. The city attorney said each council member could nominate for the next vacancy on the Washougal City Council.

Suggs

Ernie Suggs takes his City Council seat.

 

 

 

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Drug Take Back Event Coming to Washougal This Weekend

Washougal, WA — The Washougal Police Department is partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Unite! Washougal to bring a Drug Take Back event to Washougal. The four-hour event will be held from Saturday, April 28, from 10 am to 2 pm at Silver Star Search and Rescue, 1220 A Street, Washougal.

The drug take back held last fall helped nearly 160 Washougal residents safely dispose of 595.25 pounds of unused and unwanted medications with local law enforcement officers and Unite! volunteers.

The drug disposal event will be held at four locations throughout Clark County. All pills will be transported for incineration by the DEA.

The Washougal Drug Take Back event will be sponsored by Unite! Washougal Community Coalition, Prevent, Vancouver Clinic, Downtown Washougal Association, and the City of Washougal. Other partners included: D Studio 21, Prevent Coalition, Orchard Hills Dental, Vancouver Clinic, St. Matt’s Lutheran, and Bethel Community Church.

Unwanted medications can be disposed of year-round at several collection sites across Clark County. Controlled substances, such as pain killers and tranquilizers, can be taken to participating law enforcement agencies. Non-controlled substances, such as over-the-counter medications, can be taken to local participating pharmacies and sharps can be taken to local participating transfer stations. For more information on both types of disposal, visit www.ClarkGreenNeighbors.org/meds

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Local Women’s Club Issues Challenge: ‘Reach for the Stars with Books’

Washougal, WA – Pre-kindergarten children and their families in Washougal are being challenged by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Camas-Washougal to “Reach for the Stars with Books.”

“The goal of our program is to enrich the lives of young children through growth and learning skills prior to entering kindergarten and pursuing their academic journey,” said GFWC incumbent Vice President, Susan Bennett. “We received a grant from the Camas-Washougal Community Chest to purchase age-appropriate books, backpacks and other educational tools for children ages birth to five years old.”

GFWC members have now begun distribution of the educational materials. The group was on hand April 11th at Hathaway Elementary School to reward students and parents who have attended six visits to “1-2-3 Grow & Learn Program,” a free, drop-in, interactive and educational program for families with pre-kindergarten children. In addition to the educational materials, students receive a light blue T-shirt after attending their sixth session.

1-2-3 Grow and Learn is offered through ESD 112 for parents and children from birth to 5 years and teaches school readiness activities and gives parents a fun way to play and learn with their child. The program is located at several Clark County schools. GFWC Camas-Washougal is assisting with the program at Hathaway Elementary, 630 24 St., Washougal. The Hathaway program, under the leadership of Julie Jacobson, EDS 112, meets each Wednesday morning from 9:00-10:30 a.m. through June 6. The 1-2-3 Grow & Learn Program will resume at the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

The Community Chest grant received by the women’s club compliments the ESD 112 program well. “Reach for the Stars with Books” focuses on parent-child time,” Bennett explained. “These gifts for learning are a reward to help reinforce to both the parent and child the importance of attendance and structure at an early age.

“By putting books into the hands of children they will grow their school readiness skills and strengthen their social skills through interaction with other parents and children,” she said. “We believe these gifts will spark the children and parents’ imagination and take them on a journey of a lifetime!”

 

Books

Left to right – GFWC President Carol Styles, Bonnie Walden, Susan Bennett, GFWC Vice President Pat Suggs, Washington State GFWC President Tina Bair and Michelle Aguilar (Child Care Aware Manager Early Care & Education, ESD 112) with active 1-2-3 Grow and Learn participants in their new t-shirts.

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