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Just weeks after being sworn into office, Eileen Quiring needs to be reminded of her role as Clark County chair. As previous Chair Marc Boldt said of the position, “I believe you need to be as nonpolitical as you can be.”
Quiring has violated that ethos by weighing in on candidates to fill an open position for county councilor from District 4. She used a personal email account to message precinct committee officers who will have a say in the nominating process, expressing support for one of the declared candidates.

The Legislature is meeting 300 miles away from Spokane, but it may be easier than ever to keep tabs on what lawmakers are doing for — or to — you, at least for one aspect of the often hard-to-follow process.
The Senate has expanded locations for people to offer remote testimony in some committee hearings through “videoconferencing technology,” a fancy term for connecting you to a session in the shadow of the Capitol dome through a camera, the internet and a projector in the hearing room.

My grandmother Big Mama taught me everything I know about budgeting, and she did it on the back of an envelope.
I’m reminded of Big Mama’s budget brilliance as I hear from readers who work for the federal government or who are contractors affected by the partial shutdown.

There are 364 other days in a year, but we seem to assign a single lonely date, Feb. 14, to an infinitely complex emotion. We even try to squash that emotion down into one simple word: love.
Stories about love say so much more. In honor of Valentine’s Day, The Columbian’s “Everybody has a Story” feature will seize the Sunday Life page and print as many true tales by readers about love, in all its permutations, as space will allow.

The Fort Vancouver boys basketball team trailed almost the entire game, but did just enough to pull off a 54-52 win over Evergreen, its second in in 3A Greater St. Helens League play.
Freshman Sergio Hunt hit two free throws with around 10 seconds left to push the Trappers up four.
Evergreen responded with a jumper to make it a one-possession game, but Fort ran the clock out.
Hunt had 16 of his 22 points in the second half.
“We battled with the size disparity,” Fort coach James Ensley said.

Hudson’s Bay gave Prairie all it had.

The Chieftains used tough defense and hot perimeter shooter to pull away from Washougal.
With Mark Morris’ loss Tuesday, River opened a two-game lead in the 2A Greater St. Helens League.
River led 25-11 at half and then outscored Washougal 24-11 in the third quarter.
The Chieftains were 12 of 19 from 3-point range.
Caden Dezort paced the Chieftains with 17 points, while Nate Snook and Evan Dirksen added 11 each.
COLUMBIA RIVER 60, WASHOUGAL 39

Midway through her senior season at Lewis-Clark State, Jossilyn Blackman has earned a honored place in program history.
On Saturday, the Battle Ground High graduate became the 19th player to score 1,000 career points.
Blackman, a 6-foot post, finished with 13 points in Saturday’s 68-58 loss to Rocky Mountain College. She leads the Warriors in scoring (14.1 points) and rebounding (8.1 rebounds). She also ranks 10th in the NAIA nationally in field goal percentage (.542).

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Columbia-White Salmon at Castle Rock, 7 p.m.
King’s Way Christian at La Center, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mark Morris at Washougal, 7 p.m.
Columbia River at Ridgefield, 7 p.m.
R.A. Long at Hockinson, 7:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Battle Ground at Union, 7 p.m.