PORTLAND, OR — Aaron “Jay” Danielson, aka Jay Bishop, a Patriot Prayer supporter, was fatally shot Saturday night in Portland following a pro-Trump caravan.
Bishop attended Friday’s dueling Camas pro-police and #BLM rallies and was seen riding around and talking with supporters and protestors on both sides.
Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson, a controversial local public figure, who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting, issued the following statement today:
“1st- We love Jay and he had such a huge heart. God bless him and the life he lived.
“2nd-I am going to wait to make any public statements until after the family can.
“3rd- If you planned on going to the boat cruise, please go! I know that Jay would love to look down from heaven and see tons of American flags on the Columbia river today. I will not be attending but I hope all of you enjoy yourselves out there. Fly them high for Jay.
“God Bless all of you.”
Matt Robins, a protest medic near the shooting scene, said he heard two pops.
“We thought someone had lit fireworks off or something, and when we looked, we saw a guy run for like two seconds and then plop on the ground,” Robins said.
Robbins said he and his partner help treat people injured at protests.
“There’s a guy standing over top of him saying this is my friend, help him please,” Robbins said.
Robbins said once Portland police arrived he and his partner were told to leave.
“We were forcibly pushed down,” Robbins said. “My partner, a field medic, tried to get her gear, because like I said, they rushed us so fast that some of our gear had fallen down.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the shooting is under investigation, however, and a 48-year-old man who was accused of carrying a loaded gun at an earlier Portland protest is under investigation in the fatal shooting of Bishop.
Michael Forest Reinoehl refers to himself as an anti-fascist and has posted videos and photos of demonstrations he attended since late June, accompanied by the hashtags #blacklivesmatter, #anewnation and #breonnataylor.
More than 300 Camas Rally For The Blue supporters, and approximately 150 Black Lives Matters (BLM) squared off Friday night mostly at 3rd Avenue and Dallas Street to express their beliefs.
The BLM rally started off at Camas Public Library at 4 pm and within about 20 minutes the group migrated to the ARCO station where they stayed for the duration — until just past 10 pm. The pro-police rally was scheduled as a stand-alone event, but Tuesday night local students organized a counter BLM protest.
The Camas Rally For The Blue began a little before 5 pm at two locations — between Camas Safeway and Dairy Queen — but eventually migrated to occupy three of the four corners at 3rd and Dallas.
”We just want to stand up and say Black Lives Matter,” said Cindy Graham, a Camas resident who rallied with the BLM team. “Middle class white people care about black lives and I don’t want to say anything negative about the police because I know a lot of Camas cops are good friends of mine and they are great guys. But that doesn’t negate the fact that we need to stand up and do something to help African Americans. In my opinion the BLM movement doesn’t stand for socialism like some of these people are saying, it just stands for black people have been oppressed and we often don’t understand how oppressed they are so we need to make more of an effort. All lives matter, but black lives matter needs to be said when this is happening in our country.”
She said this is a vote for Black Lives Matter.
“We need more white middle class people to stop screaming at their televisions and get out here and stand peacefully on the corner and say that,” Graham added. “Actually all classes of white people need to do this.”
The interview was interrupted by a BLM supporter in blue hair who told this reporter to “get out of my face.”
BLM supporters at ARCO station.
”I just wanted a rally to support our police,” said Blue Rally organizer, Helen Sudbeck. “It’s a fabulous town and we have a great police department. They need to know how much we care about them and appreciate them. It’s been a rough couple months for police across the country and I think there are a lot of people in Camas who really care about our police. That’s it. We are just here to support the police. I realize there’s a counter demonstration and that’s fine. It’s a group of kids and that’s their First Amendment right, and that’s fine. They chose to have the rally at the exact same location, and that is their right, as well.”
Was it a bad idea to have this Blue rally today given the historic anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream Speech”?
“I just picked a Friday night after work hours to show the police we care. I didn’t have any grand plan. We know police morale is low these days. Most cops are good people who have families,” she said. “We know reforms need to take place, and I encourage people to learn more about Project 21.”
It was a lively night, tensions were high, and it wasn’t entirely peaceful.
Blue Rally supporters filled trucks and cars chanting “Blue Lives Matter” while circling city streets for hours. BLM supporters chanted “All cops are bastards,” “I see racists,” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Police supporters.
Here are some of the things this reporter witnessed:
One man was carrying an assault rifle, which was intimidating to many. Police stayed close to him throughout the evening.
One Blue Rally supporter went over to speak with BLM supporters to simply express admiration they were being vocal in their beliefs. He knew the teens there and while addressing them, a professional BLM organizer got in his face with a camera demanding he wear a face mask. Another BLM supporter challenged him, as well. The video will be posted on Saturday.
A Trump supporter threw coffee at an elderly lady while driving by. It stained her jeans.
Joey Gibson, of Patriot Prayer, had a very nice conversation with a BLM supporter about religion and removing hate from our lives. There was a lot of good dialogue between the two individuals. But, his presence also intimidated protestors.
Several BLM supporters didn’t want this reporter to conduct interviews and chanted “racist” to my face multiple times.
Police broke up a couple altercations before they escalated.
Confederate flags were brought in, which disturbed a lot of people.
Some of the BLM teens felt intimidated by Blue Rally supporters.
Camas Police asked everyone to break up the events shortly after 9 pm. The Blue Rally crowd quickly dispersed, while the BLM group lingered past 10 pm with about 30 people.
The evening ended with a very positive conversation between a BLM/Joe Biden supporter, who is a teacher in the Evergreen School District, and a Blue Rally/Donald Trump supporter, who had a 7-minute conversation about how to make things better. They found common ground. Initially, both sides agreed to be recorded, but after it ended, the teacher withdrew her permission for us to post it.
“I just want our cops to know we do appreciate them, but we also need to help our black people right now,” she said. “They need a voice to know that we don’t want them to be oppressed.”
The Trump supporter agreed, and then the night ended.
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/28232413/AF619BCB-8E2D-4408-9A3C-19998C2DCDF8.jpeg6711280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-28 23:32:212020-08-29 23:57:41Camas Rally For The Blue Supporters Square Off With Black Lives Matter
New flavors are coming to Downtown Camas! To bring some extra culinary excitement to the community in September, participating downtown restaurants will be offering Fair Food Week from September 4th – 11th and The Secret Menu Event from September 15th – 30th.
Fair Food Week:
Since Camas Days and the Clark County Fair couldn’t happen this year, Downtown Camas restaurants are offering nostalgic and much-missed fair foods and treats on their menus for a full week starting on First Friday, 9/4. Funnel cakes, mini corn dogs, ice cream, caramel apples, cannolis just to name a few. There will even be cotton candy margaritas and Smoked BBQ ice cream to add unique twists to traditional fair options.
“We’re wanting to bring some fun and unique dining options to downtown and add a little extra zest to late summer,” says Carrie Schulstad, Executive Director of the Downtown Camas Association. “We have amazing restaurants and coffee houses that are working so hard to serve the community during these challenging times. We want to take advantage of the good dining weather and we truly hope people enjoy all the food options and have fun with it. You can have something new to try every day in September!”
The Liberty Theatre will also be serving their famous popcorn on First Friday and Saturday (9/4 – 9/5) from 5-8pm and Caps N’ Taps will kick off the Fair Food Week with free fair games out front of their taproom during the evening. Cedar Street Bagel Co will be selling “Clark County Fair” scent candle wax melts with notes of cotton candy, funnel cakes and deep fried twinkies.
Fair Food Week participating restaurants and offerings:
A Beer At A Time – Giant pizza by the slice and giant pretzels with beer cheese and stone ground mustard
Adams Street Bar & Grill – Ribs with beans and Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese
Caffe Piccolo – Nachos (with jalapenos or salsa)
Cake Happy – Cake in a Jar, ice cream sandwiches, caramel apples
Cedar Street Bagel Co. – Peach hand pies and organic lemonade made with lemonade-ice cubes (add mango or blackberry as desired!)
Hidden River Roasters – Cold brew floats, root beer floats
Liberty Theatre – Popcorn served First Friday and Saturday (9/4 – 9/5) from 5-8pm
Mesa – Churro fried ice cream with chile infused caramel and Mexican spiced chocolate topping options
Mill City Brew Werks – Mini corn dogs, funnel cakes, churro-doughnuts
Natalia’s Cafe – Candied bacon on a stick
Salud Wine Bar & Italian Restaurant – Mini cannolis, zeppole (filled Italian donuts)
Squeeze and Grind – Chocolate malt milk and Oreo cookie shakes
Tommy O’s at the Camas Hotel – 2 offerings: Kalua pork loaded fries all week and Malasadas (Hawaiian donuts similar to elephant ear flavors) on Saturday 9/5 from 10am-2pm
For two weeks starting 9/15, participating Downtown Camas restaurants will offer secret menu items. Just ask for the secret menu offering and it will be a surprise until it is brought to your table. Items will be available for takeout as well. The goal is to bring new flavors, fun engagement for customers and some culinary adventure to the community.
Wednesday afternoons in Camas are special during the warmer summer months because of our Camas Farmer’s Market. It’s a weekly event booked on my iPhone calendar as I look forward to greeting local farmers, florists, and vendors because everyone is so friendly, the fresh produce and products are treated with care, and its organizers work so hard to make it all happen.
The farmer’s market is a non-profit that has grown over the years to a successful seasonal enterprise that is typically filled with live music, food vendors, farmers, and other merchants who are dedicated to serving fresh food and a fun time. For years, typically, the market has fun events to entertain kids and tables to sit and relax. For years, it’s typically been a well-attended activity.
Then the virus hit.
At first, the City of Camas was reluctant to issue a permit for the market to event start in 2020 given the corona virus. But, after much lobbying and demonstrating they could do this safely, farmer’s market organizers made it work, and they opened in June, about a month later than planned.
Does the market resemble what it typically looks like? Kinda.
The booths are physically spaced, the traffic is re-routed to maintain personal space. Face masks are required, and there are just 15 vendors.
The hard-working farmers, bee keepers, florists, picante sauce makers, and sweet treat specialists are there each week ready to serve you quality food. And, even though attendance is lower, the market organizers say the vendors are making more money this year than in years past.
The typical food vendors aren’t there out of respect to the existing downtown Camas restaurants who hav
It’s an event I enjoy. I love greeting farmers and buying up strawberries, blueberries, zucchini, cauliflower, beets, carrots, applies, and peaches. It’s a weekly bounty for which I am very grateful.
The Camas Farmer’s Market is open each Wednesday from 3-7 pm on 4th Avenue in front of the Camas Public Library. Pay them a visit, buy some fresh produce, flowers or treats, and tell them THANK YOU.
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25200150/CDD95C67-C1DF-491E-B068-84375B250BDE.jpeg6541280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-25 20:49:252020-08-25 20:49:35An Op-Ed — Camas Farmer’s Market In a Pandemic: Less Is More
Tommy O’s at the Camas Hotel is offering a new Happy Hour menu now, and it includes some fan favorites like the Kalua Pork Quesadilla.
Tommy O’s, which has stayed open throughout the pandemic with takeout and delivery services, has resumed dine-in service while meeting all COVID-19 state-mandated safety guidelines. They also offer outdoor seating.
Happy Hour is from 2-5 pm Monday through Saturday, and the HH menu comprises the following:
Kalua Pork Quesadilla: $5
Coconut Crunchy Shrimp: $6
Meatballs: $5
Kalua Pork Sliders: $5
Caesar Salad: $5
French Fries: $4
Happy Hour drinks:
HH White Wine: $5
HH Red Wine: $5
HH Tap Beer: $5
HH Cocktail: $5
Tommy O’s at the Camas Hotel is located at 401 NE 4th Avenue, Camas, WA 98607.
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24164748/C379A523-AC5B-4592-AF3E-90B889531C1A.jpeg6061280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-24 17:46:582020-08-24 17:47:09Tommy O’s At The Camas Hotel Offers New Happy Hour Menu
To address student learning gaps happening during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to sharpen minds during summer vacation, several local teens have created a non-profit learning and tutoring organization called Youth Hand in Hand, which offers free online classes and tutorials on a wide range of topics.
The organization, which is comprised of talented student teachers, hosts weekly 40-minute ZOOM class sessions, teaching topics that include Coding (Scratch and Python), SAT tutoring, Chemistry, Biology, Math, National History Day, Creative Writing and Cartooning.
“A lot of these classes are things we are passionate about,” said Ares Zhang, a Camas High School senior, and one of the group’s student teachers. “We know a lot of people who have missed out on opportunities over the summer. This all started out as friends trying to help each other, but it’s turned into something bigger. There’s no cost! All of it’s free. All you have to do is sign up.”
As a non-profit, Youth Hand in Hand is able to procure funding to purchase full ZOOM subscriptions for all teachers, and they are accepting old routers to help students to have better WiFi access.
“Technically, we started in April during the pandemic, and my sister wanted to learn scratch coding, and several neighbors were interested,” said Spencer Chang, a junior at Mountain View High School, and the organization’s founder. “I asked if anyone would also want to do it, and other four kids helped us.”
After initial setup, Youth Hand in Hand now has 18 student teachers and offers 15 classes. Most classes have two teachers and typically 15 kids are in each session.
“Last month, we had 250 people sign up,” said Chang. “It’s a month-to-month program. Most classes are 4 weeks long. We provide resources to help kids get through online learning.”
Zhang said they are adapting the curriculum to help kids through the school season, and they will shift toward tutoring.
“We can help them learn concepts since they’re not in regular school,” said Chang. “Our goal for September is to expand curriculum and get ZOOM subscriptions for all our teachers. All teachers are teens. The youngest one will be a freshman this year. We are mostly juniors and seniors.”
Youth Hand in Hand plans to do face-to-face classes and tutoring sessions when life returns to pre-pandemic normal.
“It’s mostly so people can keep on learning throughout the pandemic,” said Chang. “Some people don’t learn as well online, and we’re hoping we can make an impact, to provide people opportunities to learn.”
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/19141514/C67D9411-C2D5-477C-BC25-0DD0753117AE-e1597872481377.jpeg6561280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-19 14:39:012020-08-19 14:39:11Local Teens Organize Online Learning Resource to Help Fellow Students
There’s a new card game in town, and it’s called “Cows In My Pants.”
“Based off a joke, it’s a card game,” said creator, Kathi Sjostrom, a Camas, WA resident. “It can be a quick pickup game. You should be able to pick it up easy, but there is a strategy. In 20 minutes, you can sit around the table and play it.”
It’s a game that Sjostrom says you can play with kids seven years and older. You need to understand numbers to be able to play. There’s a memory element in it that makes it more complicated. It’s designed to be a family and friendly pick-up-and-go game.
“I came up with the idea,” said Sjostrom. “I’ve always wanted to create board games, and we got to playing games regularly, and one night we had a funny, crazy game night and we decided to name our first game ‘Cows in My Pants’ and we sketched out a game.”
“Cows In My Pants” is a game about a bunch of cows that are dressed up, and you have to put them all back together.
The goal is to be the first player to create four of a kind, a flush, a run, or two pairs in your secret corral. Score points according to what you and everyone else has in their hand when “Cows in my Pants” is declared.
“From there, we played it with our friends, and we decided to make a game company called Paodle Games,” said Sjostrom. “We did this before the virus outbreak. We thought about holding off, and thought we needed laughter and friends. I have multiple games we’re planning to release this year. 2020 will all be light pick up and go games, and I have heavier games, which will be released later.”
To learn more about the game, or purchase it, visit www.paodlegames.com — go the Kickstarter link.
“We are local, we love local business, but the game world is a global platform so we’re putting it on Kickstarter, which allows us to produce it,” Sjostrom. “Our game can be pre-ordered through Kickstarter. After it’s funded, it can be purchase through the website. Once everything calms down we will also have local vendors that will have it.”
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/18194715/39628530-32DE-4503-BC35-2E8D34610270.jpeg7271280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-18 19:59:022020-08-18 19:59:11Camas Resident Creates New Card Game ‘Cows In My Pants’
The Camas Public Library is pleased to announce racial equity as its first annual ‘Read for Change’ theme. Launching next week, the community reads initiative will feature speakers, exclusive access to a local documentary, discussion groups, a book giveaway, and racial equity community lending library—all at a safe social distance.
Starting Monday, August 17th, patrons can contact the Library to request a free copy ofHow to be an Antiracist and/or Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, both by Ibram X. Kendi (the latter coauthored for young readers by Jason Reynolds). There is a limit of one of each title per household, while supplies last. Library staff will treat the items like a curbside pickup request and place the book(s) at the 4th Ave entrance at an appointed time. When the recipient is finished with the book, the Library suggests they pass it along to a neighbor or friend. All books have been purchased and donated by the Friends and Foundation of the Camas Library (FFCL).
Read for Change will feature two keynote speakers to bookend the 12-week program. Portland-based equity speaker Alexis Braly James hosts Building Bridges: Race as a Social Constructon Tuesday, August 25th at 5:30pm. At 6pm on Thursday, November 12th in partnership with Humanities Washington, the Library will host Timothy Golden for Equality on Trial: Race, Fairness, and the US Supreme Court. Both speakers will present via Zoom.
Between the two keynote speakers, the Library will offer exclusive online access to local filmmaker Melissa Lowery’s documentary Black Girl in Suburbia. In addition, community facilitators are teaming up with Library staff to host book discussion groups for both titles, and the Library is also adapting several of their regular programs to tackle racial equity. Finally, a small “take-one-leave-one” type lending library at the Library’s curbside pickup with racial equity themed books donated by the community will round out the offerings. All details can be found on the Library’s website at www.camaslibrary.org.
“We are thrilled to kick off the inaugural Read for Change program with such an important theme. We have already had incredible community support, just in the planning stages. We knew we had to adapt and make this work in a virtual environment because the timing is so crucial. Providing a place for community conversations around race is key,” said Connie Urquhart, Library Director.
https://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/12194045/84F84B24-D74C-4F19-9D36-D42E60AD8D92.jpeg6581280Ernest Geigenmillerhttps://cdn.lacamasmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07074147/lacamas_white_2-300x300.pngErnest Geigenmiller2020-08-12 19:46:562020-08-12 19:47:03Camas Public Library Selects Racial Equality as First ‘Read For Change’ Theme
Camas Superintendent, Dr, Jeff Snell provides to frequently asked questions regarding school reopening for the 2020-21 school season. He said this week there will be an opportunity to engage in a question and answer session about Camas Connect Academy, the Camas School District (CSD) full online option. CSD recommends the Camas Connect Academy only for families that do not have a desire to return to on-campus learning at any point during the school year. For all others, CSD recommends starting the school year remotely and then transitioning towards more on-campus learning during the year.
So how do we start school? During remote learning, we will keep the same school hours. This provides a consistent structure for students and families and defines the workday for staff. Schools will be providing orientations to help staff and families partner together in support of students.
Does full remote learning mean my student will be on Zoom for more than six hours per day? No, the State Board of Education has provided some flexibility in how we meet our yearly instructional hour requirements, and sitting in front of a screen all day long is not a best practice for students.
We designed our scheduling framework to have a combination of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (recorded) learning with brain/movement breaks for students. Our remote learning schedule is aligned to our full hybrid schedule to help transition to more on-campus time when community health indicators improve. In our full, hybrid learning delivery model, students will receive at least two days of on-campus, live instruction. We’ve included a similar expectation in our remote learning schedule. The equivalent of at least 2 days of “live”, synchronous instruction will be distributed across the week. Other learning time will be asynchronous instruction from our teachers with specific learning tasks for students to complete with support. This allows for some flexibility for students and families when they access this instruction. Each school will develop a schedule that supports students and helps families at home. Prior to each week, teachers will post the week-ahead schedule that includes opportunities for student support and communication with families.
Will daily student attendance be taken? Yes, attendance will be taken for both synchronous and asynchronous learning sessions.
Will this look different than it did in the spring? Yes, our staff are committed to our students and have been planning based on the experiences from the spring. Staff training this summer includes social and emotional learning/wellness, design for remote learning, learning management and communication tools, video creation, synchronous interaction, and priority learning standards. As you know, we have an amazing staff who were put into a very challenging situation last spring. They want to create an engaging learning experience for your student this fall!
What if I need emergency childcare as we transition back to on-campus learning? We recognize that each family is in a unique situation and may need support. We are trying to develop options for families in these situations. Please contact us using this LINK.
What if my family relies on school breakfast and/or lunch services? We will develop a similar process to how we provided these meals in the spring during remote learning.
When will we start phasing into on-campus instruction? Decision Tree K12 Schools provides a framework that puts regions into COVID-19 activity levels using several indicators. One of those indicators is the rate of cases per 100,000 people. The rate divides COVID-19 activity into three levels: HIGH >75, MODERATE between 25-75, and LOW <25. The most recent rate of cases per 100,000 in Clark County was 74.3. Even though we are on the upper limit of MODERATE we are trending in a better direction considering our previous two rates were 99.7 and 96.4 (The Columbian, 8/5/2020, Clark County at ‘moderate risk’ for school reopenings). Your effort and the efforts of our community of following the Safe Start Washington guidelines are starting to pay off so thank you! Please help keep lowering the rate by socially distancing, wearing your mask, and washing your hands.
As our rate per 100,000 lowers, we will bring students on campus in small groups starting with our youngest students and those with specific support needs. We will then add more small groups of students easing our way towards a full hybrid model of at least two days of on-campus learning for each student.
I have greatly appreciated your feedback and patience during this journey to our first day of school.
Vancouver, WA — The Clark County Elections Office provided an update to the August 4, 2020 Primary and Special Elections Results. Here’s a breakdown of many of the races, which provides a preview of the Fall campaign.
Number of precincts (county wide): 314
Number of registered voters: 303,702
Total ballots counted: 112,549
Estimated ballots left to count: 37,000
Voter turnout: 37.06%
Congressional District 3 U.S. Representative Race (full district tally)
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