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Stories by Doug Flanagan

email icon doug.flanagan@camaspostrecord.com

January 28, 2021
Cape Horn-Skye Elementary School first-grade teacher Nichol Yung leads an in-person class on Jan. 19, 2021. The Washougal School District welcomed students in first through fifth grades back to the district's four elementary schools for limited in-person classes, beginning Jan. 19. (Contributed photo courtesy of Rene Carroll)

Washougal begins hybrid model; elementary students head back to class

As Washougal School District Superintendent Mary Templeton walked from the parking lot to the front entrance of Gause Elementary School shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, a small group of children lined up in front of a physical education teacher near the playground at the back of the building.

January 21, 2021
Local residents play a game of pickleball at Washougal's Hathaway Park in October 2019. (Post-Record file photo)

Sport’s popularity puts players in a pickle

Mike Wolfe has seen more and more new faces during his regular trips to the pickleball courts at Hathaway Park in Washougal as one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States continues to gain popularity in East Clark County.

January 21, 2021
Washougal High library media specialist Hillary Marshall (top row, center) and Washougal library manager Rachael Ries (top row, right) lead a discussion about the novel "All American Boy" in November 2020, as part of the Washougal READS program. (Contributed photos courtesy of Hillary Marshall)

Washougal READS to tackle issues of racism, police brutality

Hillary Marshall was first introduced to the concept of a community-wide book group during her time in Brazil in the mid-to-late 2000s, when the school she worked at invited people from all around the area to participate in a two-day book conversation event.

January 21, 2021
Post-Record file photos 
 Washougal's Gabriel Dinnel powers through the mud during a 2018 cross country meet in Idaho. The 2020 fall high school sports season in Washington was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some low-risk, local high school sports, including cross country, are set to begin practice Feb. 1, 2021. (Post-Record file photo)

Some fall sports resume Feb. 1

Camas and Washougal high school runners, golfers and tennis players will return to competition in February, but the rest of the traditional fall sports athletes will have to wait a bit longer to find out when their seasons will begin.

January 14, 2021
Camas High School soccer player forward Kiya Gramps scores a goal during a game at Doc Harris Stadium in October 2019. (Post-Record file photos)

Athletic directors, coaches mixed on new rules

A litany of logistical questions pop into Washougal High School boys basketball coach AJ LaBree’s mind whenever he thinks about the feasibility of high school sports teams engaging in competitive events during a deadly pandemic.

January 14, 2021
LeAnn Toristoja offers a full array of skin care services at her spa,  Lush Esthetics. (Contributed photo courtesy of LeAnn Toristoja)

Lush Esthetics opens in Washougal

When LeAnn Toristoja was a student at Aesthetics Institute in Portland, she didn’t have much interest in eventually operating her own spa.

January 14, 2021
Washougal resident Brandon Higgins holds a worm in his hand. Higgins started a "worm farm" in 2020 that he hopes to turn into a business. (Contributed photos courtesy of Brandon Higgins)

A wiggly business

Brandon Higgins, of Washougal, spent almost 15 years as a production worker for steel and plastic companies, but after undergoing two back surgeries in 2019, he began to seriously ponder a career change.

January 14, 2021
A fire engine is pictured at the Camas-Washougal Fire Department Station 42 in Camas on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian)

Washougal sets city goals for 2021

City of Washougal leaders are cautiously optimistic that they can achieve most or all of their primary objectives in 2021 as coronavirus vaccines are introduced into the community and restrictions are lifted.

January 7, 2021
Washougal resident Jackie Gollbach builds a wooden sign during the filming of the first video for her new YouTube channel, "Nail Polish and Power Tools." (Contributed photo courtesy of Jackie Gollbach)

‘Nail Polish & Power Tools’

Several years ago, Jackie Gollbach discovered a series of videos on YouTube produced by Texas residents Whitney Gainer and Ashley Turner, two self-taught carpenters who created the successful “Shanty2Chic” do-it-yourself furniture brand.