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The Columbian

@thecolumbian

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Clark County’s independent, family-owned newsroom.
Trusted reporting since 1890.

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Since 1890, The Columbian has been your neighbor—sharing stories that matter, told by people who care.

As the news landscape evolves, we remain committed to being on the ground, covering both breaking news and the moments that define life in Southwest Washington.

Family-owned. Independent. Deeply connected to our community. This is The Columbian. by @thecolumbian

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Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah has spent years learning how to push himself past the point when his legs want to quit.

As a distance runner at Battle Ground High School, the senior knows the feeling of reaching the final stretch of a grueling race. But this summer, Nana-Badu-Weah learned to push himself in an entirely different environment.

At Purdue University in Indiana, he spent eight weeks studying aviation, practicing in a flight simulator and taking to the skies in a single-engine aircraft. He emerged from the Air Force-sponsored Chief of Staff Flight Academy program with his private pilot certificate at age 17.

The opportunity was part of an Air Force initiative that gives high school students the chance to earn their private pilot certificates without an obligation to enlist afterward. The program is designed to introduce young people to aviation and potentially encourage them to pursue flying as a career, said retired Lt. Col. Andrew Woodrow, Battle Ground’s senior aerospace
science instructor.

To read the full story, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Even as growth and development have raced ahead all around their family farm, the only racing brothers Dan and Joe Cherington ever did was lapping tracks and winning championships at Portland International Raceway and River City Speedway in St. Helens, Ore. Meanwhile, their agricultural island in the heart of Hazel Dell bears the signs of earlier, easier times.

How many signs? Dan Cherington, 61, won’t hazard a guess as to how many advertising signs he’s got posted on the family barn and an adjacent metal shed on Northeast 78th Street, directly across from the Clark County Heritage Farm, but there appear to be dozens.

“People always stop by,” Joe Cherington said. “They stop by to ask about it and they stop by to drop signs off.”

Among the many colorful signs displayed around the place there are couple of muted ones that note: “Cherington Family Farm, founded 1947.”

Development proposals for the Cherington farm land come and go, but the Cherington brothers appear rooted to this spot.

To learn more about the Cherington family barn and its abundance of signs, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Finishing the East Fork Lewis River Reconnection Project on time and within budget wasn’t easy. On Thursday, staff from Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership joined elected officials, state agencies and project partners to celebrate the end of a two-year construction project that returned a 3-mile stretch of the river to its pre-European settlement condition.

Seeing the river restored to a more natural state was especially meaningful for Dean Reynolds, general council vice chair for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Reynolds said the Cowlitz have lived along the Columbia and its tributaries for generations, caring for the land, water and natural resources that sustain them.

“For countless generations, the resources of the Lower Columbia River basin, from salmon and steelhead to our traditional first foods and medicines, have provided the foundation for our way of life,” he said. “To see 3 miles of this river restored with improved habitat for salmon and steelhead, a healthier floodplain and greater protections for surrounding communities is truly something worth celebrating.”

To learn more about the East Fork Lewis-River Reconnection Project, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Proponents of Battle Ground Public Schools’ educational programs and operations levy believe the stakes are higher this election cycle.

Proposition 11, which will appear before voters on the Nov. 3 ballot, is the district’s latest attempt to pass a levy after three failed tries, the most recent in February.

The levy on the Nov. 3 ballot would go toward student safety, smaller classes, special education, reading and math support, curriculum, sports and extracurricular activities, and career readiness.

“There’s so many reasons why districts are struggling right now and all of them are valid reasons, all of them are real. But districts don’t survive without levies. That’s the reality,” Superintendent Shelly Whitten said on the district’s podcast, BG Cast.

To read the full story, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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This week at The Columbian, our journalists covered protests over transgender athletes and explored how the debate connects to Initiative 638, a controversial ad campaign in support of Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the solving of Clark County's oldest cold case and more.

These are the top stories of the week.

To read our top stories in full, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to retain the two-term Democratic incumbent, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, or send Republican state Senate Minority Leader John Braun to Washington, D.C.

In recent months, both candidates have tried hard to appeal to the middle and avoid being pigeonholed into one partisan set of political beliefs.

Despite their show of bipartisanship, the 3rd District candidates have traded quite a few barbs in television ads, mailers, a KOIN TV debate and an Oct. 5 meeting with The Columbian’s editorial board. Braun insists that Perez has exaggerated her blue-collar skills and “plays working class on TV.” Perez, meanwhile, argues Braun will be yet another “yes man” for Trump.

To learn more about both candidates, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Is the cost of healthcare shaping your priorities this election? If so, reporter Kimberly Cortez wants to hear from you by 5 p.m. Sunday.

To share your thoughts, contact Kimberly at 360-735-4522 or kimberly.cortez@columbian.com. by @thecolumbian

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The Clark County Sheriff’s Office cracked the oldest cold case in the county’s history, the 64-year-old homicide of two Battle Ground men.

Charles Hale, 72, and Lester McCollum, 67, brothers-in-law and longtime friends, were found dead June 24, 1962, at their home on Northeast 199th Street.

Deputies found McCollum lying dead on the floor. Investigators then found Hale in the camp trailer parked in the yard. McCollum died from suffocation due to strangulation, while Hale died from a gunshot wound to the head.

The case went cold for six decades, until modern technology stepped in when Sheriff John Horch reestablished Clark County’s cold case team in 2024.

For the full story, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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Eric Gallanter and his wife, Kim Sinclair, moved to Southwest Washington in 2018. Sinclair, a former pediatric oncology nurse, took a position as system director at PeaceHealth. Gallanter sought opportunities to share his decades of experience as a chef — either teaching or opening a restaurant.

When a brow bar on Main Street closed, Gallanter knew he’d found the spot for the restaurant he called Kismet. The space dictated his restaurant concept and his good fortune in finding the right spot inspired the name.

Gallanter’s goal is to provide frictionless, fine dining. The only real struggle here is paring down your choices to three items from the extensive and enticing menu. Yes, Kismet is a splurge and a three-course fine dining experience might not fit the current zeitgeist, but go anyway. The meal takes about an hour and feels like a visit to some serene otherworld minus the cost and hassle of booking a plane ticket and hotel room.

For the full review of Kismet, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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It’s time to gather ’round the kitchen table with pumpkins, grand artistic ambitions and more than a little trepidation. Maybe you want to make your front porch look extra spooky or maybe your child or grandchild, the darling little monster, is demanding a homemade jack-o’-lantern. Either way, it’s helpful to be prepared with a few tips to minimize frustration and tears from your child (or you).

And what to do with leftover pumpkins? The answer matters. According to a 2024 article in The Washington Post, we toss a very scary 7,500 tons of pumpkins into landfills every year. The methane produced by rotting pumpkins equals the emissions of 45,000 cars.

Clark County recommends composting pumpkins by taking them to a We Compost Community Hub for free composting. There are locations all over the county. They’re open year-round and accept all kind of food scraps, not just pumpkins.

To get the full list of pumpkin tips, click the link in our bio or comment “deliver” to get this story sent directly to your inbox. by @thecolumbian

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