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City has one sister, not sure it can handle another

Of all the topics presented at Vancouver City Council workshops, a proposal to be a Sister City with Dubrovnik, Croatia, seemed like it would be fairly innocuous. I wrote about the proposal in February when a delegation from Dubrovnik, including the mayor, visited

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Benton backer: Audience packed with “Portland shills”

At Tuesday’s marathon commissioner meeting, it was easy to track the five people who testified in favor of hiring Don Benton to be the county’s director of environmental services. There was Chuck Miller, whose wife was hired by Commissioner David

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Madore changes tune on public comments, revisiting decisions

Clark County Commissioner David Madore wants to move public comment to the end of meetings, saying Wednesday that he wants county business put first. But back when Madore was a regular citizen who routinely attended Vancouver City Council meetings, he had a different

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State of the County

This ad for a survival conference was in the online newsletter for Clark County employees today.    

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Leave your message at the (bleep)

Messages keep flowing into the Board of Clark County Commissioners Office, via phone and email. I’ve written about them here, and here, and now I’ve got another full inbox. But I thought, for now, I’d just post this list of

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Messages for Madore, Mielke keep coming

Last week I wrote that the decision to give state Sen. Don Benton the county’s top environmental job had provoked an outcry – and the emails haven’t stopping coming in. Today, I got to work and was surprised to see

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Damage control over Benton decision?

An email by Republican and anti-Columbia River Crossing activist Mark Engleman was forwarded to me with a question from a recipient: “How often do political parties send out emails defending the actions of their members? Interesting to know.” Since I’m not

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Benton has inspired hilarious headlines before – remember the French chef?

News of Don Benton’s hiring has gone coast-to-coast, as the Associated Press put a story on the national news wire. Closer to home, The Oregonian’s senior political writer, Jeff Mapes, referred to Clark County as “Clarkistan.” As one Seattle website noted, not only

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Tuesday’s meeting could be lively, thanks to Benton

As of noon Friday, a Facebook page by Friends of Clark County, “Speak up against Don Benton’s hire,” had more than 140 people who said they plan to attend the county commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday. The site says: Don Benton has

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But could Benton make the Mosquito Control Board?

Clark County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke are defending their decision to bypass the normal hiring process and hire fellow Republican Don Benton as the Director of Environmental Services, a job that, according to the county’s own job description, he’s not

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