News

• Public Health

Vancouver, WA – Would your holiday kitchen pass a food safety inspection? Proper food storage, preparation and serving are important. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly one in six Americans gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases each year.

Don’t take any chances with the health of your family and friends this holiday season. Follow these food safety tips:

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• Public Health

Vancouver, WA ‒ The Youth Now video and graphics contest running through Nov. 30 provides a forum for youth 12 to 20 to document why they choose not to use marijuana. The contest encourages youth to enter creative, high-impact messages to win cash and other prizes. Posters, hand-drawn or digital, and 30-second to two-minute videos must illustrate the theme, Why do you choose not to use?

Entry instructions are available at www.youthnow.us.


• Community Development

Since 1983, the state agency has awarded Clark County nearly $100 million in grants

Vancouver, WA – Community Development Director Marty Snell has been named to the board of directors of an agency that awards transportation grants to communities across Washington.

The Washington State Transportation Improvement Board distributes transportation construction and maintenance grants generated by 3 cents of the state’s 49.4 cents per gallon gas tax.


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA ‒Taking antibiotics for viral infections such as a cold, the flu or most bronchitis strains will not cure the infection or help you feel better. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses.

Clark County Public Health is urging people with colds and flu not to seek treatment with antibiotics.

“Taking antibiotics when you have a virus may do more harm than good,” said Clark County Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick. “Taking antibiotics when they are not needed increases your risk of later getting an infection that resists antibiotic treatment.”


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA – Clark County’s Green Business program will host a free Morning Blend networking event from 8-9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in the first-floor community room at LSW Architects, 610 Esther St.

This month, Morning Blend participants have the opportunity to learn how LSW Architects is incorporating sustainability into its design projects and day-to-day practices.  

Staff from LSW, which designed the newly completed STEM building at Clark College, will lead the Morning Blend and answer questions.  


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA – Vancouver resident Susan Wilson is the proud owner of a new iPad mini. Selected at random, Wilson was one of 1,500 people who successfully completed an online quiz about recycling in Clark County.

The quiz is part of Public Health’s Recycling Done Right project, a community effort to reduce the amount of non-recyclables in blue residential recycling carts.


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA – The Board of County Councilors is seeking applicants to fill volunteer positions representing southwest Clark County and agricultural interests on the Solid Waste Advisory Commission.

Commission members provide recommendations to the county about issues such as recycling, garbage collection, landfills, transfer stations and waste reduction.

Members meet quarterly at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of February, May, August and November at the Center for Community Health, 1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd.


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA – Residents now can recycle unused or leftover paint at all Miller Paint and Parkrose Hardware stores in Clark County.

Miller Paint, 111 N.E. 164th Ave., and Parkrose Hardware, 8000 E. Mill Plain Blvd., have joined the county’s Paint Take-Back program, and are accepting latex and oil-based paint for proper disposal at no cost.

Nine paint stores in Clark County now accept paint during business hours:


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA ‒ The local premiere of Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope will be 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, at Firm Foundations School, 1919 S.W. 25th Ave., Battle Ground. The screening is free and open to the community.


• Public Health

Vancouver, WA ‒ Public Health Program Manager Joe Laxson has been named the 2016 Washington State Environmental Health Director of the Year. Each year, the Washington State Environmental Health Directors presents the award to someone who has demonstrated leadership in the profession at the local and state levels.