Staff
Everything’s coming up bicycles
Far as I’m concerned, the second-greatest invention in the history of humankind is the one that took the greatest invention and made it good clean fun. So it’s totally awesome — yup, that’s the appropriately mature term — to point out that May is both National Bike Month and National Bike Safety Month. It contains […]
Today’s breakups are plugged in
Taxes and romantic bust-ups. It’s April, the “cruelest month.” Based on unimpeachable data like miserable status announcements and no-comment relationship switches on Facebook — or in the hallway between classes — smart statisticians and even smarter high school students have confirmed that partnerships tend to explode between Thanksgiving and Christmas and then early in the […]
Real men get mental health help
Most news organizations, including this one, have a policy that we generally don’t print news and names of suicides. While it’s not universally true — exceptions are when public resources or public people are heavily involved — it’s a well-intentioned policy that seeks to steer around deeply personal, private tragedy. It especially holds for children. […]
Ruminating on my friends’ home renovation
On Sunday, my boyfriend and I helped out our friends who are fixing up their home. They’ve owned it about as long as Alex and I have been dating – almost three years – and are getting around to projects they wanted to do when they moved in. The ranch-style house in Orchards, about 1,200 […]
Just another warm winter Sunday in Vantucky
What’s a family? You know what they say: Love makes a family. (Taking out the trash helps, too.) Here’s a grab bag of lovingly compiled, loosely family-related matters for your sunny Sunday. Boy, am I enjoying this freakishly warm weather. I’m also trying not to think too hard about what it means, big picture and […]
Office Moms bring love to kids in twilight zone
A couple years ago, foster mom Sarah Desjarlais was at a meeting at the downtown Vancouver office of the Department of Social and Health Services where she asked the obvious questions. “Who are all these little kids running around the office? Why are there two- and four-year-olds just wandering around in cubicle land?” Turned out, […]
Strange lights seen from La Center
Terri, a La Center woman, reported seeing some strange lights in the sky at the end of January from her house looking toward Camas and Vancouver. She said one was a white orb, another was more colorful. Below are her photos taken on Jan. 29th. She saw more on Jan. 30th in a second location, […]
The mysterious haunted box
Jay Fredericks, a local magician who collects haunted objects, recently acquired a mysterious box from a Vancouver couple. The couple, Paul and Rhoda, got the box after Paul’s father died. It had been in his father’s possession since Paul was a small boy. The couple didn’t know where Paul’s father got it originally. After looking […]
Stage coach ghosts in Wisconsin
Submitted by Liz Snow, who lives in Salmon Creek: The year was 2001. I had just married my husband and moved into his home in rural Wisconsin. After settling in, I started being awakened by ghosts. I would suddenly wake up in the middle of my slumber and see a ghostly figure standing in the […]
Haunted items at a Vancouver farmhouse
When Jay Fredericks was a boy, his family moved into an old farmhouse on the east side of Vancouver. Fredericks, who today works as a master mentalist (magician), was fascinated at the time by the old building and set off to do some exploring after he, his parents and his siblings arrived. “(The mortgage) was […]
A Mill Plain haunting
More than one person has reported eerie feelings and hearing strange noises at homes across from the Park Hill Cemetery at 5915 E Mill Plain Blvd. One tale submitted to the Ghosts of America website mentions the dangers of playing with a Ouija board: On that site, someone named Brendon submitted this story: A few […]
Post Once & Measure twice
For all you social media/networking types out there, did you know that there is a little piece of information that you can add on to your links to make sure that they are easily tracked back to your website? (This is for all of the Google Analytics users out there, or at least people who […]
Loowit wins two Washington Beer Awards
Vancouver’s Loowit Brewing Company has won two medals in the 2014 Washington Beer Awards. The company won gold for its Two-Sixteen Red Ale in the Irish Red Ale category and bronze for its Shimmergloom Stout in the Irish/British Stout category. In 2013, Loowit also won gold at the same event for Vandalia Summer Ale in […]
Dumber, but nicer? Why we use Facebook comments
Every so often someone contacts us to complain that they do not like having to use Facebook to comment on articles. Exhibit A – A recent email message from a reader: Your own online poll asks readers which social media portal they use/favor; with more than 1100 respondents, 56 % say “none”. Yet, if I want […]
What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
By Phil Chou Dirty Hands Brewery Now that we’ve been open for 6 months, it’s time for some reflection. Number one; please accept my apologies for being a slack blogger. Many other tasks always seemed to push blogging down the priority list. That said, it’s been quite a journey! Many adventures were experienced in all […]
Strange orb reported over Vancouver Lake
Carey Hicks was standing in his driveway in Fruit Valley last night when he saw something odd and scary streak through the sky. It was a helicopter chasing a small craft, possibly an orb, that was highly maneuverable, he said. “It was a smaller craft with a large military helicopter following it,” Hicks said. “It […]
Basecamp anyone?
Basecamp is one of those tools that you’ve probably heard of, but have no clue what it is for. The question you need to ask yourself (if you are a small business), is – why are you not on basecamp yet? Click here to read more about Basecamp, straight from the company. Making projects so […]
Grammar hard-liners
On slow mail days, journalists can often depend on grammar hard-liners to contribute a lecture or two to the newsroom inbox. Grammar isn’t always black and white, but some readers have strong opinions, or pet peeves, about how grammar should be handled. Many of the letters come from English teachers who are on a mission […]
Some readers impart wisdom
For sure, most journalists in the newspaper business get, ah, love notes. They usually fall into two categories: Bad and really bad. Such is life. Nowadays, they come by email, although on occasion they will come from the post office. Then there’s the phone message. Hey, here’s an example. Just another fan. Lou BrancaccioEditor of […]
We’ve got mail
Lots of mail. Yes, as a media organization we receive mountains of mail, or at least you could envision mountains if we hit the Print button every time something popped into our email inboxes or our phone voicemail boxes. Thankfully, we do not do this. We simply hit Reply or possibly, yes, Delete. Some of […]