Tag Archives: COVID-19
Herrera Beutler is on board with bigger relief checks
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is on board with increasing direct payments to individuals as part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, joining the unlikely alliance of House Democrats and President Donald Trump calling for $2,000 relief checks. The Republican congresswoman from Battle Ground was among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who negotiated the $900 billion package […]
Sen. Rivers elected Republican caucus chair
Sen. Ann Rivers was unanimously elected as the new caucus chair of the Washington Senate Republicans Wednesday. Rivers, serving a third 4-year term as senator of the state’s 18th Legislative District, will hold the caucus chair position through the 2021-22 legislative term. She’ll guide the caucus alongside fellow southwest Washington Republican Sen. John Braun, from […]
State senator drafts legislation for in-person schooling
Sen. John Braun, a Republican from Centralia, is drafting legislation that would require Washington’s counties to offer full-time, in-person schooling if their COVID-19 positivity rate is below 5 percent. In a media release, Braun said it was “time for us to provide a thoughtful path that returns our schools to in-person instruction.” “As a matter […]
Herrera Beutler to try and force vote on paycheck aid
A legislative maneuver that could force one portion of a COVID-19 relief package to the House floor is being spearheaded by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler. This week, the Republican congresswoman from Battle Ground started the process of filing a discharge petition that would force a standalone vote on extending the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP […]
Masks, social distancing disregarded at candidate meetup
A Camas forum for Republican candidates is drawing some ire over its attendees’ flouting of masking and social distancing rules. President Liz Pike of the Clark County Republican Women hosted the forum at her Shangri-La Farm. Guests included John Ley and Rey Reynolds, both running for the state Senate, as well as Tim Eyman, Phil […]
Gubernatorial candidate calls for October lockdown
A candidate for governor is going all-in on preparing for the next wave of COVID-19, proposing a weekslong, statewide lockdown in October. Nate Herzog, a Lake Forest Park resident running for governor, is calling for a 16-day hiatus on all travel, save for press, medical personnel, first responders and infrastructure workers. He’s calling it a […]
Diversity delayed for Vancouver City Council
Vancouver’s push toward creating a more diverse city council has fizzled, at least for now. Like so many other long-term projects, the suspension of the city’s Community Task Force on Council Representation is a casualty of COVID-19. The group, tasked with making the (all white, all home-owning) city council more reflective of the people they […]
Have you filled out your census? Your neighbor probably has.
Not too shabby, Clark County. According to the United States Census Bureau, our corner of southwest Washington has one of the best self-response rates to the decennial census in the state. As of Monday, 57.8 percent of households in Clark County had responded to the census online. We’re beat out only by King County (58.4 […]
Want to participate in the next city council meeting?
The Vancouver city council meeting on Monday looked very different from the norm. Only one person was sitting in the council chambers at City Hall, to start. The rest of the participants — all six members of the council plus the mayor, the city manager and the city attorney — all called in to conduct […]
Yes, the Vancouver Farmers Market is reopening. Here’s what that means.
On Friday, Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes issued an emergency declaration that reopened the Vancouver Famers Market. Shortly afterward, my email inbox blew up with readers wanting to know how that could possibly be a good idea during the COVID-19 outbreak. So I reached out to city spokesperson Carol Bua on Monday about the reasoning […]