The Reflector

This story was written by Cade Barker with The Reflector newspaper.

A member of the Satanic Temple of Washington delivered the first invocation under a new Battle Ground City Council policy, marking the start of a practice intended to bring opening prayers, statements, or moments of silence to future council meetings.

Bast Sekhmet, representing the Satanic Temple, addressed the council during its Monday, October fifth meeting, offering remarks inspired by the organization's seven tenets or ethical principles.

The resolution says some meetings may not have a scheduled participant.

In those cases, the mayor may ask for a moment of silence at their discretion.

The Reflector submitted a public records request to the City of Battle Ground on Tuesday, October sixth, for communications between the city and the Satanic Temple of Washington to begin tracking if invocation speakers live in or outside of Battle Ground proper.

As of publication, the city had not yet fulfilled the request.

This report was first published by The Reflector newspaper.

This story was written by Kade Barker with The Reflector newspaper.

As Clark County moves toward adopting its two thousand twenty-five comprehensive plan update, Friends of Clark County is warning that approved urban growth area expansions could threaten the future of local agriculture, reduce access to farmland, and weaken the infrastructure needed to sustain the region's food system.

Anne Foster, president of Friends of Clark County, said the county's decisions to expand urban growth areas around Battle Ground, Ridgefield, and La Center reflect a pattern of prioritizing development over agricultural land preservation, despite public testimony urging the Clark County Council to limit outward growth.

"We have been saying for the last three years there is no legal need for Battle Ground, for Ridgefield, and La Center, and Camas for that matter, to expand their urban growth boundary," Foster said in an interview with The Reflector on Thursday, October 8th.

"We've been pretty loud about that with fifty-five comments.

I think that's what the count is now on record over the last few years." The council approved several contested urban growth area expansions on October 5th after three days of public hearings and deliberations on the comprehensive plan update.

The council scheduled consideration of the adopting ordinance for October 13th after press time.

"This step that the cities just took in demanding the use of ag land for sprawl purposes is a slap in the face," Foster said.

This story was written by Marcus McCormick with The Reflector newspaper.

Historical Clark County farm life is on full display this fall at Pomeroy Farm during its Pumpkin Lane seasonal celebration.

The farm was established in 1910 along the East Fork of the Lewis River and has been passed down through five generations to Megan Miller, the director of Pomeroy Living History Farm.

This story was written by Cade Barker with the Reflector Newspaper.

With the November election approaching, candidates for Clark County and state legislative offices faced questions about some of the most pressing issues facing Southwest Washington.

Candidates for Clark County Council District 5, Legislative District 20, Position 2, and Legislative District 18, Position 1 and 2 addressed taxes, growth, transportation, education, healthcare, water, data centers, and other issues during a League of Women Voters of Clark County candidate forum on October 1st at the Ridgefield Community Library.