Call Center Company in Vancouver, WA

Stantec announced on April 30, 2025, it has been selected by the city of Vancouver, Washington, to design a treatment system to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a high-volume water station.

The company will also provide engineering services during construction for the treatment facility at Vancouver’s Water Station 4, one of the first stations in the city’s water supply that will treat water for PFAS, according to a press release.

When complete, this PFAS filter system will treat up to 12.2 MGD.

“Water and wastewater utilities across the US are taking important action to treat PFAS in their water supply,” said Matt Travers, Stantec executive vice president and business operating unit leader, water, in a press release. “For the City of Vancouver, we’re leveraging the strengths of our regional team along with national practitioners to address this challenge, meet regulatory standards, and provide long-term safety and reliability in the community’s drinking water supply.”

On average, the City of Vancouver delivers 10.1 billion gallons per year of drinking water to more than 270,000 people in a 72-square mile service area. In 2023, the city started a program to test for and report PFAS in drinking water, discovering that upgrades were necessary to properly treat and reduce PFAS contaminants to meet anticipated state and federal regulations.

The company’s design will integrate the treatment system into the Water Station 4 site while keeping it functional and maintaining water supply for the city during construction. Treatment facility construction is expected to begin October 2025 and be completed in early 2028, over a year ahead of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compliance deadline for public water systems.

New Habit Restaurant To Open Doors On April 30;Hold Pre-Opening VIP Events on April 26, 28-29

IRVINE, Calif., April 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Habit Burger & Grill, the California-based restaurant company renowned for its award-winning Charburgers grilled over an open flame, signature sandwiches, fresh salads, and more, announces today the launch of their latest restaurant opening in Vancouver, Washington. The Vancouver restaurant with Mobile Pickup Lane is located at 8320 NE Vancouver Plaza Dr., Vancouver, WA 98662. Their famous “Habit Hospitality” will be served to the public starting Wednesday, April 30, 2025.

In honor of their grand opening, Habit Burger & Grill will host exclusive pre-opening VIP events for their CharClub and mobile app members. Guests can receive an invite to this exclusive sneak-peek by signing up at http://habitburger.com/vancouver.

VIP Event Details:

"Habit Burger & Grill is opening its 15^th restaurant in the beautiful Evergreen state, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to begin feeding the citizens of Vancouver,” said Chef Jason Triail, Executive Chef at Habit Burger & Grill. "Vancouver’s the oldest city in Washington, and man—it’s got everything. Waterfront views, great food, real community vibes. We’re fired up to bring our chargrilled burgers, stacked sandwiches, and all the flavor-packed sides you can handle to the good people of Vancouver. Let’s eat!"

The Vancouver restaurant debuts one of Habit’s newer features—the Mobile Pickup Lane, designed to enhance convenience for both guests and third-party delivery drivers. This innovative lane brings a more seamless, on-demand experience than a drive-thru.

Guests can order ahead through Habit’s mobile app. Once notified that their order is ready, they simply pull into the Mobile Pickup Lane for a fast, hassle-free pickup—think of it as a “fast track” lane for food where guests can effectively “skip the line.”

The 2,570-square-foot Vancouver restaurant will offer Mobile Pickup Lane, dine-in, takeout; and delivery will be available via the Habit Mobile App and online at order.habitburger.com. Guests also have additional convenient ordering options including state-of-the-art indoor self-serve kiosks and delivery through Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats.

Habit Burger & Grill was named in Thrillist’s list of “Underrated Burger Chains that Need to be in Every State!” With its cooked-to-order mantra, Habit Burger & Grill’s open flame sears a distinctive smoky flavor into their famous Charburgers, fresh marinated chicken, and sushi-grade ahi tuna. Guests at Habit Burger & Grill can always count on freshly-made, handcrafted quality served up with genuine hospitality.

This Habit Burger & Grill restaurant will be open 10:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. Daily

Connect with Habit Burger & Grill on social media at:

About The Habit Restaurants, Inc.

Born in sunny Southern California in 1969, Habit Burger & Grill is known for Charburgers cooked-to-order over an open flame. But the menu extends far beyond burgers—it’s a celebration of Californian-inspired flavors. Alongside the brand's signature Charburgers is a meaningful array of handcrafted sandwiches, crisp salads, and creamy shakes, ensuring there's something for everyone. Habit Burger & Grill has earned notable recognition, with its Double Char ranked #1 by USA Today 10Best*, its Tempura Green Beans named the #1 side by USA Today 10Best, and its Chicken Club recognized as the best grilled chicken sandwich by The Daily Meal. The brand was also featured in Newsweek’s America’s Favorite Restaurant Chains 2023 and included in Thrillist’s roundup of Underrated Burger Chains that Need to be in Every State! Habit Burger & Grill has since grown to over 385 restaurants across 14 states and internationally—continuing to serve up bold fresh flavors, made-to-order. Learn more at www.habitburger.com.

Sources: Sources: USA Today 10Best, USA Today 10Best, The Daily Meal, Newsweek, The Daily Meal, Thrillist

Habit Burger & Grill Press Contact: HBGMedia@yum.com

May 5, 2025

The City of Vancouver is preparing to pave and preserve streets across 20 neighborhoods this summer. Vancouver has more than 1,900 lane miles of paved streets. Each year, surface conditions are evaluated to select streets for the City’s Pavement Management Program, find cost-effective methods to extend pavement life and provide better traveling conditions. The program will invest approximately $13.4 million in planning, design and construction to improve pavement conditions throughout the community. The City’s Street Fund, General Fund and license fees collected through the City’s Transportation Benefit District, provide the main source of funding for this annual program.

This year’s program will pave or preserve several major corridors including portions of Main Street as part of the Main Street Promise project, Northeast Andresen Road, Southeast Evergreen Highway and sections on both West and Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard. About 16 lane miles of street surfaces will be paved and over 60 lane miles will be preserved.

Resurfacing rehabilitation focuses on residential streets with poor pavement conditions. Rehabilitation paving is planned for streets within the Rose Village, Vancouver Heights and Oakbrook neighborhoods.

Pavement preservation work to extend the life of streets alternates between the east and west sides of the city each year. These preservation treatments help keep good streets in good condition at a much lower cost than resurfacing. For 2025, west Vancouver will see work along East McLoughlin Boulevard, East 29th Street, East 33rd Street, Northeast Andresen Road, Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast 104th Avenue. Crews will also return to the Airport Green neighborhood to complete preservation treatment postponed from last year. Various neighborhood streets within the Hudson’s Bay, Edgewood Park, Harney Heights (East 13th Street), West Minnehaha (Northeast 41st Circle), Meadow Homes (Carlson Road), Green Meadows, Ogden, Burton Ridge and Marrion neighborhoods will receive preservation treatment.

Curb ramps at approximately 125 locations along the project routes will be upgraded to current standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve mobility for all. Federal requirements mandate that curb ramps be upgraded along streets receiving treatments that are considered an alteration, such as paving, microsurfacing or cape sealing. Fifty curb ramps in the Rose Village neighborhood will be upgraded to enhance pedestrian access, along with improvements to curb entrances at 26 alleys.

Several steps can be expected before pavement work begins on the street. In preparation for the coming work, street tree and vegetation pruning along identified streets has begun and will continue through June to help clear the way for construction equipment. Construction of ADA-compliant curb ramps, pavement repairs and sealing of street cracks also take place before paving and preservation work.

Throughout the process, residents and businesses along the project corridors will receive notices with details about work hours, parking restrictions, closures and more. Community members are encouraged to watch for signage and flaggers during construction, alerting travelers to slow down and be prepared for brief delays. Community members are encouraged to watch for signage and flaggers during construction, alerting travelers to slow down and be prepared for brief delays.

More information about the 2025 Pavement Management Program is available online at cityofvancouver.us/pavement. Questions can be emailed to the program team at pwpavementmanagement@cityofvancouver.us. Tentative schedules will be posted in advance of street work. Pavement work is weather-dependent and schedules are subject to change.

Media contact: Nicole Walters, Strategic Communications Manager, 360-852-1484, nicole.walters@cityofvancouver.us

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Select Oregon markets are the first in the Pacific Northwest to get a sneak peek at Sierra Nevada’s premium PILS

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Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report and Top 50 Producing Craft Brewing Companies

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The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers1 —today released its annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry2, highlighting the new realities of a maturing market in a rapidly evolving environment.

Craft brewers produced 23.1 million barrels of beer in 2024, a 4.0% decrease from 20233. However, craft’s market share by volume remained essentially flat at 13.3%, the same share as in 2023, as the overall U.S. beer market* declined by 1.2% in volume.

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The Mental Health Project is a Seattle Times initiative focused on covering mental and behavioral health issues. It is funded by Ballmer Group, a national organization focused on economic mobility for children and families. The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over work produced by this team.

VANCOUVER, Wash. — A brand-new behavioral health campus in Vancouver is nearly ready to open — with landscaping and signage in place — but will sit empty for the foreseeable future after lawmakers cut funding for the facility in the state budget.

The Brockmann Residential Treatment Facility is currently under construction and was supposed to serve 48 patients across three 16-bed facilities on the campus.

But the $42 million facility, which is scheduled to be completed in June, has no opening date. The Washington Legislature instead opted to fund a “warm closure,” paying staff to maintain the facility and property but not to open for patients.

It’s the latest in a series of brand-new Washington behavioral health facilities that haven’t been able to fully open in recent months, despite millions invested in their construction. While state lawmakers have spoken about the importance of building smaller behavioral health treatment centers around Washington, bureaucratic hurdles and funding shortages frequently have forced them to delay or indefinitely halt admissions.

The cuts that led the state to halt admissions at the Brockmann facility stemmed from the state’s $16 billion budget shortfall, although lawmakers did not announce plans to remove funding for the treatment center until the budget was finalized last month.

Cynthia Shipley, a spokesperson from the Department of Social and Health Services, which would have operated the facility, said the agency did not know in advance about plans to cut the operating budget for the behavioral health campus.

Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, who is heavily involved in behavioral health issues, said the cut shouldn’t have any immediate effect, as projections from DSHS show that the state has enough beds for the next year or two.

“This was one of many difficult calls our budget writing team had to make,” Dhingra said in an email. “But delaying the project rather than cutting it will allow it to be completed when we are on stronger financial footing. Meanwhile, the available beds should provide some assurance for patients and the staff who do this important work.”

Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Vancouver, said that he and other lawmakers plan to revisit the issue in a year or two to see if they can fund the center’s opening.

Cortes said his constituents were excited to have the facility open, as it “addressed a need in the district and beyond.”

He said he’s not worried that the delays will cause the state to lose momentum with its behavioral health goals.

“Mental health and all the components that touch it are such in need,” he said. “I think restarting (the funding process) would be a priority on any legislator’s plate, or at least it should be. It is certainly on mine.”

How an old federal rule limits inpatient mental health beds in Washington

But the cuts illustrate the bigger challenges with trying to build out the state’s behavioral health system, particularly as it tries to shift the role of Washington’s largest psychiatric facility, Western State Hospital, and find placements for patients no longer served there.

In 2018, then-Gov. Jay Inslee announced a plan to revamp the state’s behavioral health system. Part of the plan included shifting patients committed through the civil court system — those not charged with crimes but found by a court to be ill enough to need long-term hospitalization and treatment — out of Western State Hospital and into smaller community treatment centers around the state.

But as the state has slowly constructed new buildings, and as local governments and other operators also build elements of the system, they’ve run into a few consistent challenges — most related to funding and staffing.

The Brockmann facility is set back off a rural Vancouver road, in a field now blooming with spring flowers. A high school and some homes sit nearby.

It was supposed to take civil commitment patients from Western State Hospital, said Shipley.

But when the Legislature passed the budget last month, it included funds for a “warm closure” of the campus — $595,000 over the next two years to pay a few staff to maintain the facility and property. It also included cuts of more than $74.4 million in state funding for the facility.

Shipley said that means DSHS will be unable to hire staff or accept patients into the facility “for the foreseeable future, until operational funding is provided.”

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Community leaders and lawmakers haven’t hidden their frustration in recent months about new behavioral health facilities sitting empty or largely empty.

Crisis centers around the state, meant to be walk-in facilities for people in need of immediate behavioral health care, are among those that have faced obstacles. Some centers, like one in Lynnwood, have not been able to open because local officials can’t find an operator that can make its financial model work.

“I have a finished, beautiful, done, painted, furnished behavioral health facility for crisis services in my district, and a behavioral health crisis raging outside, and it’s empty,” state Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, said in February about the Lynnwood center.

One of the biggest new projects in the state also faced obstacles. In January, UW Medicine announced it had temporarily halted admissions to its Center for Behavioral Health and Learning.

Patients being considered for civil commitment can initially be detained for up to five days, but they are entitled to a court hearing to determine whether they should be institutionalized beyond that.

The university said it was unable to bring new patients in because it couldn’t find adequate legal representation for patients held in court. The King County Department of Public Defense said it was overwhelmed with cases and didn’t have enough funding to take on new ones.

New UW behavioral health hospital limits admissions amid defense dispute

Gov. Bob Ferguson stepped in and directed the state Office of Public Defense to begin assisting with cases immediately, and a bill sponsored by Dhingra passed this legislative session to offer more options to county public defenders.

But in April, UW Medicine said it was laying off one-tenth of its staff at the new facility, due to low numbers of patients coming in.

Jayati Ramakrishnan: jramakrishnan@seattletimes.com.