Morning Press: Community mourns death of educator; Ridgefield bond; Panic defense bill

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In case you missed them, here are some of the top stories from the week:

Community mourns death of school administrator in Hazel Dell crash

A Stevenson-Carson School District administrator who died in a Hazel Dell car wreck Tuesday night was remembered as “larger than life” and always focused on doing “what’s best for our kids.”

Washougal resident Carolyn “Suz” Clark-Bennett, 54, was killed and four others were injured Tuesday evening in a two-vehicle collision on Northeast 78th Street in Hazel Dell, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Clark-Bennett was an associate principal at Wind River Middle School and Stevenson High School, as well as community coordinator for One Prevention Alliance.

Ridgefield school bond failure paints picture of stark divide

Look at the Ridgefield School District as a whole, and you’ll see a squeaker of a failing bond election, with 59.15 percent of voters backing the measure. Drill deeper into the results, however, and the division in the district is more stark.

The latest results in the school’s $107 million bond proposal were released Tuesday. The election will be certified Friday. Had about 65 “no” voters changed their minds, the bond would have passed.

Latest results show bond narrowly defeated

Suspected burglar fatally shot by homeowner ID’d as Vancouver man, 19

The Clark County medical examiner has identified the person who reportedly broke into a house and was fatally shot by the homeowner Thursday night as a 19-year-old Vancouver man.

Franson J. Take was killed by a gunshot wound to the torso, according to the medical examiner’s office, which listed the manner of death as homicide, meaning it resulted from another person’s deliberate action. The ruling does not make any judgments about criminal culpability.

The homeowner and his family were uninjured

Bill named after slain transgender Vancouver teen seeks to limit panic defenses

Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, evoked the memory of slain transgender teen Nikki Kuhnhausen before her colleagues last week approved a bill limiting so-called panic defenses.

Kuhnhausen, 17, disappeared in early June. Her remains were discovered Dec. 7 after a human skull was found in the woods at Larch Mountain, southeast of Battle Ground.