A Vancouver massage therapist believed to be on the lam after allegedly having unwanted sexual contact with more than a dozen clients has been arrested and was back in Clark County Superior Court on Wednesday.

Valentin Delgado, 40, appeared in court in April on suspicion of three counts of indecent liberties based on allegations that he had unwanted sexual contact with three clients. Delgado, who was out of custody on supervised release, did not appear for his arraignment later that month, and a felony arrest warrant was issued in Superior Court.

He was found last month in El Centro, Calif., according to court records. Delgado was held in the Imperial County (Calif.) Jail and then extradited Tuesday to Clark County.

Delgado now faces 13 counts of indecent liberties and one count of bail jumping.

While allegedly on the run, about a dozen more massage clients contacted Vancouver police and reported inappropriate touching and conduct from Delgado that occurred in Clark County, according to court records.

Vancouver police said four callers alleged misconduct that occurred in Cowlitz County. That information has been referred to the Longview Police Department.

According to a probable cause affidavit, many of the victims, who are all female, reported having their vaginal areas touched and in some cases their breasts or buttocks massaged during their sessions.

The alleged misconduct ranged from late 2012 to March 2015.

During the investigation, Vancouver Police Department Detective Carole Boswell contacted several massage agencies that Delgado was employed at and discovered a pattern of clients complaining of discomfort. Clients said he failed to cover their bodies in a professional manner, left massage oil in places that were inappropriate to massage and tucked the covering sheet into their underwear, according to court records.

Delgado has worked at several area businesses, including Bridge Chiropractic in Salmon Creek from July 2014 to April 2015; Estetica Day Spa in Longview from September 2013 to August 2014; Elements Therapeutic Massage in Vancouver from June 2013 to December 2013; Spoiled Spa and Salon in Vancouver from October 2011 to September 2013; and Hand & Stone in Vancouver from October 2011 to April 2013.

During his hearing Wednesday, Delgado entered not-guilty pleas to the charges, according to court records. His bail was set at $250,000.

Delgado’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 26.

A man who allegedly caused a fatal crash in April on state Highway 503 near Battle Ground made a first appearance Tuesday afternoon in Clark County Superior Court.

Dean M. Imokawa, 46, of Battle Ground pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving charges related to an April 2 crash.

Imokawa was summoned to court Tuesday after Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu reviewed a probable cause affidavit from the Washington State Patrol dated July 20. WSP had been investigating the incident, which sent three people to the hospital, including Imokawa. A Battle Ground woman, 86-year-old Eleanor Tapani, died the following day from her injuries.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Imokawa was driving north on the highway in a GMC pickup shortly before 9:30 a.m. when he attempted to switch into the left lane near Milepost 5. His pickup struck the passenger side of a Land Rover driven by 29-year-old Nicholas Grier of Battle Ground. The pickup then crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes, where it was struck on the passenger side by a Kia Sorento.

The driver of the Kia, Linda Dallum, 55, of Battle Ground, and her passenger, Tapani, were injured and transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. Imokawa also was treated at PeaceHealth and released. Grier was not injured, court records said.

Dallum suffered multiple fractured ribs and fractures to her right ankle, foot and knee cap. Tapani’s subsequent death was caused by multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the affidavit.

Grier told police that Imokawa was following him too closely and at times was only 1 to 2 feet behind him. Another witness, John Gain, said Imokawa attempted to pass Grier in the right lane and nearly hit the back of the vehicle traveling ahead of him, court documents said. Several witnesses said it did not appear that Imokawa had enough space to make a successful lane change in front of Grier, the affidavit said.

Data from Imokawa’s pickup recorded his speed at 68 mph prior to his airbag deploying. The posted speed limit in that area is 55 mph, according to court records.

Imokawa appeared in court Tuesday with his Vancouver attorney, Jeff Staples. His trial is set to begin Dec. 7.

What started as a chance to get Chelsy Goertler’s daughter, 4-year-old Kinley, a tour of a SWAT vehicle, grew into a full-on recruiting and informational event for women and girls interested in careers in law enforcement.

Goertler was with her daughter shopping for a SWAT officer costume for Halloween, and Kinley was sad to find the packaging indicated it was a boy’s costume. Goertler shared their disappointment in a Facebook post that quickly went viral.

Kinley received photos and messages from female police officers from around the county, including the Vancouver Police Department. The agency invited Kinley for her own tour, then it ballooned into a full-on special event, called Girl Cops Are Awesome, held Wednesday afternoon at the Vancouver Police Department’s East Precinct.

Girls, their parents — and a few boys — came and checked out police vehicles and spoke to female law enforcement officers from the Vancouver department and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Beyond providing a good chance for girls to learn more about law enforcement as a job, Goertler, of Camas, said it was good for all the children to get a chance to meet and interact with police officers.

“It’s really neat that kids at these young ages are learning that police officers can be trusted, and that they’re nice people,” she said. “I think that’s so important with all the negativity that we’re seeing in the media right now.”

Amelia and Natalie Renner, sisters and high school students from La Center, were at the event, and said it was good to have a chance to talk to female officers and see the department’s major crimes vehicle.

“It’s been really cool knowing that it’s not just a man’s job anymore,” Amelia said.

Her sister, Natalie, agreed. Both have family in law enforcement and are interested in criminal justice careers themselves.

“It’s not as scary as I thought it would be, and they seemed a lot nicer than, honestly, I thought,” Natalie said, adding that the experience helped make getting into the field sound a bit less intimidating.

Of the police department’s 184 sworn officers, 23 are women, including two commanders, one lieutenant, three sergeants, one corporal and 16 officers.

Nationwide, about 27 percent of all officers in 2013 were women, according to the FBI, with about 30 percent representation in agencies in metropolitan counties, and roughly 20 percent in rural areas.

People look at law enforcement and see it as a traditionally male-dominated profession, said Lt. Scott Creager, who handles recruitment efforts for the department, which means it’s up to police agencies to be more proactive about recruiting women.

“Some of the women and some of the men I know absolutely shatter those generalized roles we tend to put people in,” he said.

He got interested in police work after meeting and connecting with a police officer, and said events such as Wednesday’s can start sparking interest in law enforcement among women and girls.

Finding a mentor and role model in law enforcement seems common among male officers, said Vancouver police Sgt. Deb Libbey. Unfortunately, when it comes to recruiting, she said, women and people in minority populations frequently don’t have that when they start the process to become a cop.

Sheriff’s Commander Erin Nolan said many of her female peers didn’t have mentors.

“We just dove in not knowing what we didn’t know, and it should be a better experience” she said.

Kayla Rodriguez, a high school student with the Clark County Skills Center’s criminal justice program, thought the event was good for showing people just how many women there are in law enforcement.

“It’s really a great thing because there’s a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, girls aren’t as tough as the guys,’ ” she said. Women go through just as much as men to become police officers, she said. “Maybe even more because they’re expected to do better.”

Mary Jane Long, a Vancouver patrol officer, said her advice for women interested in law enforcement isn’t much different than her advice for men.

“As a woman, like anybody else in this career, you have to be tough, have a thick skin, and be willing to have people yell at you, but be willing to want to talk back to them nicely,” she said.

Creager said he hopes to hold more informational events aimed at women, where people can meet and talk to female officers about the job.

“I can tell you about being a police officer all day long,” he said. “I don’t know anything about being a female police officer.”

For her part, Kinley, who got it all started, expressed general approval and excitement for the event, between fielding multiple interviews and running between the assembled police vehicles and a nearby playground.

Goertler said her daughter is pretty determined to become a cop, but “occasionally, she’ll be like, ‘I want to be a fairy.’”

A Larch Corrections Center inmate who walked off a work crew job site on June 16 and evaded capture for nearly two weeks was sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Clark County Superior Court to 29 additional months in prison, according to court records.

Randall J. Marlow, 46, whose last residence was in Lake Stevens, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to escaping community custody. He was scheduled to be released from prison Dec. 14, 2016, before this latest conviction. Marlow had been incarcerated on five counts of property crimes committed in Snohomish County.

He originally faced a more serious charge of first-degree escape. However, as part of a plea deal, the prosecution agreed to the lesser charge in exchange for a lengthier sentence. First-time community custody escapees usually face a sentence of 0 to 90 days, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff McCarty said.

On June 16, Marlow was doing landscaping work with an inmate work crew at Clark Rifles, 25115 N.E. Rawson Road, when, at about 1:30 p.m., a supervisor noticed that he and another inmate, Donald William McLain, 33, were missing.

The missing prisoners prompted an extensive search of the area. McLain was found and captured eight hours later about 6 miles away, in the 6400 block of Northeast 224th Avenue in Hockinson. McLain had been serving time for five counts of forgery, two counts of second-degree theft and drug violations, all committed in Clark County.

McCarty said McLain received a similar plea deal. McLain was sentenced Aug. 7 to 36 additional months in prison, according to court records. McCarty said McLain received more time than Marlow because his offender score was higher.

Marlow managed to evade capture for nearly two weeks. He was found and taken into custody on June 29 at the intersection of Mill Plain Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue without incident. The arrest was a joint effort between state Department of Corrections officers and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Baltic Crystal, a Latvia-based manufacturer and supplier of monocrystalline sapphire materials used in electronics products, has acquired a former sapphire growing facility in Washougal that will reopen next year under a new Washougal-based corporate entity, the Columbia River Economic Development Council announced on Thursday.

The company has acquired the physical assets of Sapphire Materials Company, including that company’s shuttered 53,600-square-foot sapphire growing facility at the Port of Camas-Washougal, for $3.6 million. A new Washougal-based company named B Crystal, which will operate separately from Baltic Crystal, is being formed to manage U.S. operations. The company will renovate the Sapphire Materials facility, which closed in 2014, and open its manufacturing operation in next year’s first quarter, according to a news release.

B Crystal expects to hire 14 workers initially, including two or three from Latvia, and eventually expand to 70 jobs with a facility expansion. The company says it will spend $15 million on that expansion but has set no timeline for that work.

Industrial synthetic sapphire products can be used in such products as LED lighting and protective coatings as well as in the semiconductor industry. The U.S. market for sapphire products is growing, especially in the electronic and defense industries, and the Washougal site offers good access to technology industry clusters in Washington state, said Andrey Mikhaylov, president of B Crystal.

Clark County specifically was chosen largely due to the suitability of the existing SMC manufacturing facility and the access to low-cost power, which is the largest part of the total industrial sapphire manufacturing cost.

“There has historically been a strong crystal-growing industry here in Clark County,” Mikhaylov said. “We intend to help revive it.”

Mikhaylov said the company would be seeking highly skilled workers with scientific knowledge and that it chose Washougal in part because of the availbility of a highly skilled workforce. The company will seek employees with backgrounds in physical or material science and says it will pay “more than the average salary in the industry.”

Clark County’s low electric power rates also were attractive to the company, allowing it to be competitive on the world market, Mikhaylov added. The Columbia River Economic Development Council noted in a news release that the county’s average industrial electric rates are 56 percent lower than the national average, based on the most recent U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

“Relative to many other domestic and international markets, the low cost of power in Southwest Washington is a huge competitive advantage for businesses, particularly those who are high energy consumers,” said Mike Bomar, the CREDC’s president.

The Sapphire Materials Company facility is located in the Columbia Manufacturing & Technology Center within the Port of Camas-Washougal Industrial Park. Sapphire, a subsidiary of Silicon Chemical Corp., began production in Washougal 2011. The company halted crystal growth at the site in 2013 but continued fabrication of some parts into 2014 before cleasing all operations. Under the deal, it has sold all of its assets, but not the company itself, to Baltic Crystal.

If The Vine wasn’t already a done deal, it is now.

The head of the Federal Transit Administration joined C-Tran leaders and other partners Thursday to celebrate the planned bus rapid transit project and make it official. The day’s agenda included signing the documents that formally give C-Tran a $38.5 million grant from the FTA. That means every bit of the project’s $53 million price tag is now in hand.

During an event at Clark College — which sits along The Vine’s planned route — FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan and C-Tran Executive Director Jeff Hamm both signed a large poster board in front of the cameras for good measure.

“This day has been a long time coming,” Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt said during the event. “Some might say, including me, too long.”

Planning for The Vine began in 2011, evolving through a complex and sometimes turbulent development process. The enhanced bus system will run between the Westfield Vancouver mall and downtown. It will travel primarily along the city’s Fourth Plain corridor, by far ­C-Tran’s busiest, also serving Fort Vancouver Way and Clark College.

C-Tran held a separate kick-off event in downtown last month. Construction starts next week.

“It’s always a huge accomplishment to deliver infrastructure when the need always outstrips the resources you have,” ­McMillan said after Thursday’s event. That’s particularly notable in an era of political acrimony and financial uncertainty, she added.

The Vine will use larger vehicles, raised boarding platforms and other features in an effort to move passengers more efficiently and reliably. Sixty-foot articulated buses will serve 34 new stations along the corridor. The system will be less costly to operate than the service it will replace, according to C-Tran.

McMillan also took a bus tour of the corridor Thursday afternoon. The Vine is expected to open in late 2016, according to C-Tran.

Bus rapid transit is gaining significant traction across the country, McMillan said. Other systems have popped up in many major cities, she said, though The Vine is the first such line in the Portland-Vancouver metro area.

It may not be the last: Planners in Oregon have floated something similar for a major corridor between Portland and Gresham.

“I think people are realizing it’s flexible. It has a lot of the advantages similar to light rail without the price tag,” McMillan said.

Supporters of The Vine hope the system will revitalize Vancouver’s Fourth Plain corridor. Public investment in infrastructure often leads to private investment, Leavitt said.

Officials also noted the importance of the system to Clark College, where many see access and parking as perpetual problems.

“This is a win-win for the community, a win-win for Clark College,” said college President Bob Knight.

McMillan: I-5 project in local hands

In an interview, McMillan also discussed another major transportation project that didn’t fare so well: the Columbia River Crossing. The proposed Interstate 5 Bridge replacement folded for good last year, doomed by eroding political support and, ultimately, no funding.

From the FTA’s standpoint, the CRC is “not in our pipeline,” McMillan said. The FTA could play a role in some future effort, she said, but not until the region is ready.

“It is going to take the local communities and both states to pull together a second proposal,” McMillan said. “That’s not going to come from the federal government.”

What sort of path a future I-5 Bridge project would face depends on what it looks like, McMillan said. Officials have said they could draw from some studies and documents left over from the CRC. But those materials have a finite window of viability, McMillan said.

A monster El Nino churning in the Pacific Ocean appears to be the strongest in nearly two decades, and could have a big impact on the country’s weather this winter, climatologists said Thursday.

For the Northwest, the climate phenomenon often means warmer, drier-than-normal conditions. That could be bad news for a region already reeling from drought conditions. It’s also a recipe for a meager mountain snowpack — one of the major factors that drove this year’s drought in Washington.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 95 percent chance El Nino will linger at least through the winter. But that doesn’t mean the typical weather patterns associated with El Nino are a sure thing, said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

“The climate system is far more complicated than just El Nino,” Halpert said in a conference call with reporters. “Just because something is favored doesn’t guarantee it will happen.”

El Nino is characterized by warmer-than-average water temperatures in much of the Pacific Ocean, among other factors. Its counterpart, La Nina, comes with cooler ocean temperatures. (And in the Northwest, cooler winter conditions.)

The strongest El Nino on record occurred in the winter of 1997-98. That year, the Portland-Vancouver area indeed saw “much warmer” temperatures and drier conditions in the later part of the season, said Dave Elson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. Generally, El Nino has a stronger correlation with warmer temperatures in the Northwest than it does with precipitation, Elson said.

Even with normal precipitation in the region, a mild winter could be enough to cause problems into next spring and summer. That’s exactly what happened this year, when warm temperatures produced a dismal mountain snowpack despite near-normal rainfall. The resulting deficit set the stage for this year’s drought.

Elsewhere in the country, El Nino could actually be good news, Halpert said. The pattern has “without a doubt” contributed to a relatively calm hurricane season in the Atlantic this year, he said. Other places may save on their heating bills this winter due to less harsh conditions, he added.

El Nino often brings more rainfall to the southern United States, which could provide relief to some drought-stricken areas in the West, including Southern California. But it will take more than that for the region to recover entirely, said Kevin Werner, director of NOAA’s western region climate services.

“A single El Nino event is unlikely to erase four years of drought,” Werner said.

Whatever the effects, officials are confident this year’s El Nino will linger for a while, Halpert said. The question is how strong it is. But he cautioned that long-range outlooks are probabilistic in nature. They’re not guarantees.

“We could be surprised,” Halpert said. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

A Vancouver boy made a first appearance in Clark County Juvenile Court on Thursday after allegedly setting a field on fire when he shot Roman candles out the window of a moving vehicle.

The boy, whose name is being withheld, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree arson in connection with the fire.

According to a probable cause affidavit, at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, two witnesses said they saw a teenage boy shooting Roman candles from a van traveling near the intersection of Northeast Delfel Road and Northeast 194th Street. The witnesses said they then noticed that a field between Northeast Delfel Road and Interstate 5 had caught on fire.

Clark County Fire and Rescue responded to fight the blaze, court records said.

The suspect van was followed to an address in the 400 block of Northeast 194th Street, where a Clark County sheriff’s deputy contacted the juvenile.

The boy reportedly told police he shot two Roman candles, a total of six fireballs, from his mother’s passenger seat. He said it was “a very stupid thing to do and he was just trying to have fun even though his mother was yelling at him to stop,” according to the affidavit.

The boy, who appeared to be out of custody Thursday morning, is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 17.

Two brothers who robbed a man of his cellphone, allegedly at gunpoint, were sentenced Thursday afternoon in Clark County Superior Court.

Vadim Vasilchuk, 36, of Vancouver pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted robbery in connection with the July 14 incident. His brother, Yuriy Vasilchuk, 40, also of Vancouver, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery.

The robbery was reported at 10:09 p.m., some time after the incident happened at 5000 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., a business complex.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Ryan Laubach, 37, told police he was walking in the area when a vehicle pulled up next to him. The driver asked to borrow his cellphone. Laubach said he agreed and handed over the phone. The driver, later identified as Yuriy Vasilchuk, then said he would be borrowing it for an hour, court documents said.

When Laubach protested, Vadim Vasilchuk allegedly pointed a gun at him from the passenger’s seat, the affidavit said. Laubach said he backed away from the car in fear and the men took off, court records said.

The brothers later returned to the address and were subsequently arrested.

During the brothers’ sentencing hearings, Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Robinson said police never recovered a handgun.

Vadim Vasilchuk was sentenced to a total of 135 days in jail but will serve the last 30 days of the sentence on a work crew. He was additionally given credit for 58 days in custody, so he should only spend 47 more days in jail.

Yuriy Vasilchuk was sentenced to a total of 90 days in jail, but like his brother, will serve the last 30 days on a work crew. He, too, was given credit for 58 days in custody and will only spend two more days in jail.

Robinson said Yuriy Vasilchuk received less time because he didn’t have prior criminal history.

A Clark County Fire & Rescue engine was on its way back to the station following a trip to the mechanic when it drove into a ditch Thursday near Battle Ground. No one was hurt.

Tim Dawdy, a battalion chief and spokesman for the district, said the district’s contracted mechanic was driving the engine back to its station when he went off the roadway and into a ditch alongside Eaton Boulevard around 2:30 p.m.

Dawdy said the Battle Ground Police Department is investigating the crash, but no citations were issued Thursday.

Any repairs for the engine will be paid for by the mechanic’s insurance, he said, at no cost to the district. Dawdy said the engine looked pretty beat up, but couldn’t estimate a cost figure for damage to the vehicle.

“There’s no way you can put a fire engine in a ditch without damage,” he said.

An Truong lives along Eaton Boulevard, and her family was still waiting early Thursday evening for the power to come back on so they could cook dinner.

“We heard, like, a huge boom,” she said. “The whole house shook and we went out to go look, and we saw the truck in the ditch.”

The truck crashed near a power pole, and utilities workers cut electricity to her home shortly after the crash so they could replace the pole.

She said the right side of the engine had seen better days.

“It looked really rough, and there were hoses all over the ditch,” she said. “There were guys reeling hoses for like an hour.”

The whole incident was a treat for her four boys, though: She said they spent the afternoon sitting outside and watching all the action.

“Not every day you get a fire truck in your front yard,” she said. “They thought that was cool.”

What happened was an honest accident, Dawdy said, and the district plans on retaining the mechanic’s services.

“He’s an old and trusted and very experienced fire engine mechanic,” Dawdy said.

As for not having the engine in service for some time, he said the district’s prepared for that as well: The vehicle was already gone for maintenance, so the district will continue planning staffing schedules accordingly.

'Don't go there'

Expansion threatened?

Two-day window

Vancouver’s observance of Patriot Day was an opportunity to honor almost 3,000 people who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Friday morning ceremony at Vancouver City Hall paid special tribute to 400 first responders who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 — including 343 New York City firefighters who ran toward danger as others fled. Their sacrifice was saluted with three chimes from a fire bell.

State Rep. Jim Moeller, one of the speakers, harkened back to another transformational event more than 50 years ago.

“A question you heard a long time ago was, ‘Where were you when John F. Kennedy was shot?’ I was 7, in a playground not far from here,” Moeller said, recalling Nov. 22, 1963.

That was an event in another century, he said. For this generation, the question is, “Where you when the towers came down?”

Assistant Vancouver Police Chief Chris Sutter was driving to work. Sutter, a precinct commander 14 years ago, heard the news on his vehicle’s radio. When Sutter got to work, “We didn’t know if there would be additional attacks across America,” he said.

“We identified a list of critical infrastructure” and mobilized round-the-clock security.

That day changed his profession, Sutter said. From that point, “It was not just fighting crime, but preparing for terrorist attacks.”

But Friday’s event also provided an opportunity to look forward, to a better future. One way to respond to a tragedy is to “do something — anything — for another person,” Moeller said.

“Every act done for someone else is courageous, and we need courage,” Moeller said.

“Memorials like this one are for the living,” Moeller noted. “Where were you when the towers came down? And what are you going to do about it today?”

The commemoration included a rifle salute from a Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard, the laying of a wreath and a dove release.

Similar observances were scheduled Friday morning by Clark County Fire District 3 in Hockinson and by the Camas-Washougal Fire Department in Camas.

The Vancouver Police Department will be hold a public memorial ceremony for department K-9 Ike, who died following stab wounds he received in pursuit of a suspect earlier this month, at 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Vancouver Hilton, 301 W. 6th St.

Ike was helping apprehend a suspect Sept. 1 in the area of Fruit Valley and Laframbois roads when the man allegedly stabbed the dog, police said. Ike was taken to DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland. He died following complications from surgery to treat stab wounds to his chest, back and head.

At the request of Ike’s handler, Officer Jack Anderson, the dog was laid to rest in a private burial ceremony Sept. 2.

In a news release, the Vancouver Police Department thanked the community for the outpouring of support and donations it has received following Ike’s death. Funds received have been directed into the Vancouver Police K-9 fund, which is used to cover expenses related to the Vancouver Police K-9 unit, including acquiring new dogs and handling the dogs’ medical expenses, equipment needs and training.

No children were hurt when a car T-boned a Camas School District bus Friday morning in east Vancouver.

The bus was picking up students to take to school when a car struck the broad side of the bus just after 8 a.m. at Southeast 169th Avenue and Southeast 34th Street.

Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said the students on board were fine, but the driver of the car that hit the bus was hurt. She was unsure as to how badly.

Gail Gast, executive assistant to the district superintendent, said the district’s transportation and maintenance directors joined police and emergency personnel at the crash.

The police are investigating the crash, Gast said, and the district will follow the investigation.

More information on the crash, or whether any citations were issued, was not available Friday evening.