Happy Thursday, Vancouver!

If your phone suddenly blares at 10:16am today, don’t fret: today is Washington’s annual Great ShakeOut event. Consider it your annual reminder to “drop, cover, and hold on for dear life!”

And once the ground stops (theoretically) shaking, it’s time to dive headfirst into the weekend, because this weekend’s fall events calendar is absolutely unhinged…in the most spook-tacular way! We’re talking a vintage toy show, Day of the Dead celebration, gothic markets, and enough spooky happenings to make even your Halloween decorations feel underdressed.

The air is crisp, the vibes are spooky, and there’s more to do than a skeleton at a dance party. Let’s shake, rattle, and roll into another perfectly weird Vancouver weekend.

Anyways, here's what to expect in today's edition of The PNW Report (Vancouver):

📰 Local News
☁️ Weather
🎉 Events & Things To Do
🤔 Lateral Thinking Puzzle

Let’s get started!

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LOCAL NEWS

🛒 The Dollar Tree on Mill Plain is Now Officially Open For Business

The new Dollar Tree at the site of the former Craft Warehouse on Mill Plain is now officially open! Need wrapping paper in October? A plastic pumpkin? A can of beans and some shampoo? Why not buy it all? After all, it’s all only $1.25!

💉 Kaiser Nurses Say “No Scrubs”!

Kaiser Permanente nurses in Vancouver have traded their scrubs for picket signs this week as they strike for better pay and safer staffing. Here’s hoping management gets the message stat…before the nurses decide to flatline their patience completely.

🚍 C-Tran Will Raise Prices Starting in 2026

Starting next year, C-Tran is restoring fares to pre-pandemic levels…which is a nice way of saying: prices are going up, folks! Local bus rides will jump from $1.25 to $1.50, and express trips to Portland will cost $3.25. On the bright side, youth still ride free, so at least someone’s getting a deal.

WEATHER [10/17 - 10/19]

Ah, we truly have it all: some clouds, rain, and sun.

Friday, 10/17: 63/39 AM ⛅️ Clouds/PM Sun
Saturday, 10/18: 64/50 ☁️ Partly Cloudy
Sunday, 10/19: 56/45 🌧️ Rain

EVENTS AND THINGS TO DO [10/17 - 10/19]

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? You’re in the right place! 🎉

Stay tuned for Monday morning’s newsletter, where we’ll give the lowdown on all the cool upcoming weekday events for next week!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17th

🏠 Marshall House Tour @ Officer’s Row | 10AM (FREE)
Step inside the Marshall House, where Queen Anne elegance meets military history. Once home to General George C. Marshall, this turreted treasure features stained glass, intricate woodwork, and a peek into the past with period furnishings and a recreated study. Walk-in tours available Wed–Fri, 10–2, and select Saturdays, 11–3.

🍁 Harvest Parade @ Three Creeks Library | 3PM (FREE)
Come in your costume, get your craft on, and join the library’s harvest parade through the library halls. We’ll make festive fall creations and show off those spooktacular looks…because even the library loves a good boo-kish bash!

🎃 Halloween Make & Craft Workshop @ Camas Public Library | 5PM (FREE)
Join fellow ghouls for a cozy Hocus Pocus watch-and-craft session at the Camas Library. All materials provided…and, most importantly, no virgin required to light the candle.

🫖 Mind Body Spirit Market @ Dandelion Teahouse | 5PM - 8PM (FREE)
Join Dandelion Teahouse for an evening of ultimate self-care (because your aura deserves a spa day too, yes?!) The Mind Body Spirit Market will be an evening packed with local magic-makers ready to recharge your energy, realign your chakras, and maybe even convince your inner skeptic?!

🎉 Grand Opening @ Clay Works Vancouver | 6PM - 8PM (FREE)
Clay all day? Don’t mind if we do. Clay Works Vancouver is celebrating its Grand Opening with live pottery demos, tasty refreshments, and giveaways that are totally kiln it. Come get your hands dirty (in the best way possible)!

🍁 Leaf Plate Workshop @ Kilnfolk Clay Studio | 6:30PM ($55)
Press, mold, and leaf your mark in clay during this 1.5-hour hands-on workshop at Kilnfolk! Bring your own leaves or choose from theirs as you create a one-of-a-kind plate or dish textured by nature itself. Bring a friend and make it a clay-date!

🎹 Piano and Poetry @ Vancouver Innovation Center | 7PM ($15)
If your idea of a perfect night involves piano keys and poetic musings, Piano & Poetry is calling your name! Composer Josiah Austin and poet Scott Poole will weave music and words together into the keys to unlock a perfect evening.

👻 Spirit Tales of The Vancouver Barracks @ The Grant House | 7PM ($15)
Ready to get ghosted (historically speaking)? Join local historian Jefferson Davis (no, not that one) for the Spirit Tales Walking Tour through the eerie corners of the Vancouver Barracks. It’s boo-gie time!

🎥 Cinema of Horrors @ Clark County Event Center | 7PM ($70)
Buckle up, scream queens and kings! The Cinema of Horrors Drive-In returns to the Clark County Event Center tonight, with 18 terrifying (and a few family-friendly) films. There will be monsters, twists, immersive lighting, and Hollywood-level makeup. We hope you have a fang-tastic time!

🎭 Little Shop of Horrors @ Metropolitan Performing Arts | 7PM ($25 - $30)
Feed. Me. Seymour! The cult classic Little Shop of Horrors is taking root at Metropolitan Performing Arts from October 10 - 26. Tonight is opening night, so prepare to have the tunes (and the plants) blow you away!

🎭 I am Frankenstein @ Magenta Theatre | 7:30PM ($28)
Magenta Theater brings I Am Frankenstein to life…literally! Watch Victor’s experiment go shockingly wrong as his creature seeks revenge, and meet Mary Shelley herself in this electrifying retelling of the classic.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18th 

🏁 Felida Cars and Coffee @ Creed Coffee Company | 8AM - 10AM (FREE)
Start your engines and your caffeine buzz at this classy cars + coffee combo! Bonus: if you attend, you get 10% off your coffee order. Wins all around!

🛒 Vancouver Farmers Market @ Esther Short Park | 9AM - 3PM (FREE)
Your weekly reminder that vegetables can be aesthetic and bread is always the answer. Stock up, stroll around, and try not to spend all your money on honey and hot sauce. But, if you do, at least you’re spending local?!

🐝 Mason Bees Unwrapped @ Heritage Farm | 9:30AM (FREE)
Get ready to bee amazed! Join WSU Master Gardener Anne Bulger for a hands-on workshop all about the unsung heroes of your backyard…mason bees! You’ll learn how to house, harvest, and help them thrive…and one lucky attendee will win a fully furnished bee bungalow!

🧸 Washington State Toy Show @ Clark County Event Center | 10AM - 4PM ($5 - $10)
Get ready to play like it’s Saturday morning again, because the Washington State Toy Show is rolling into town! This nostalgic wonderland features vintage and modern toys, comics, collectibles, and all the treasures you swore you’d never part with (and now can finally buy back at like a 3319852% markup).

🦇 Cornhusk Bats @ Vampire Unicorns | 10AM ($50)
Get ready to go batty at Vampire Unicorn’s Cornhusk Bats class! Learn the ancient (and slightly spooky) art of turning humble cornhusks into magical winged creatures.

🍃 Plant Technologies Nature Day @ Columbia Springs | 10AM (FREE)
Get ready to branch out at Nature Days: a free, in-town exploration of the wild world right in your own backyard! October’s theme is Plant Technologies, so come dig into how humans and plants have been teaming up since forever.

🗳️ Families and Politics Workshop @ St. John’s | 10AM - 1PM (FREE)
Dreading Thanksgiving this year because of political differences? This free Braver Angels workshop is here to help you keep your cool and your cousins. Learn why political arguments hit harder with family, how to dodge the usual roles, and pick up strategies to disagree without disowning anyone (harder than it sounds).

🧹 Witchy Swap @ Kindred Vancouver | 10AM - 2PM (FREE)
Double, double, swap and bubble! Trade your gently used crystals, tarot decks, spell jars, and enchanted odds and ends for something that sparks your magic. Oh, and remember: one witch’s clutter is another witch’s coven starter kit!

🎭 Baba Yaga Puppet Show @ Magenta Theater | 11AM or 2PM ($10 - $15) 
Hold on to your broomsticks…Baba’s got beef (and turnips). In this delightfully twisted tale, a witch with killer culinary habits meets a hedgehog prince who’s no prickle pushover and a little girl who’s rooting for turnips. There’s magic a-brewin’, dragons a-drippin’, and a house that’s spellbinding. This puppet show is perfect fo bothr brave kiddos and grown-ups!

🎃 Grimoire Gothic Market @ Clark County Fairgrounds | 11AM - 5PM ($4)
Inspired by Sabrina, Harry Potter, and American Horror Story, this is the trade show where you’ll be able to shop for crystals, witchy couture, candles, and otherworldly curiosities. Witch, please!

🎧 Grand Opening @ Evergreen Vinyl | 11AM - 6PM (FREE)
Spin into something new…literally! Evergreen Vinyl is dropping the needle on its grand opening October 18th, and you’re invited to the party! This brand-new record store at 321 NE 4th Ave in Downtown Camas has everything from vintage vibes to modern beats (plus Audio-Technica turntables to play them on). The ribbon cutting happens at 11 a.m., and the music (and probably your wallet) won’t stop spinning till 6.

🎙️ Poetry Writing Workshop @ Cascade Park Library | 11AM (FREE)
Unleash your inner word wizard with Clark County Poet Laureate Susan Dingle! This workshop is all about turning prompts into punchlines, metaphors into magic, and sentences into spellbinding creations.

🧶 Chunky Blanket Workshop @ Leonardo’s Pizzeria | 11:30AM ($89)
Cozy up at Leonardo’s Pizzeria on October 18 for an afternoon of hand-knitting chunky blankets, carb-loading on pizza. Do pizza and knitting really go together? Who cares?!

📖 The Future of Libraries @ Three Creeks Library | 1PM (FREE)
“Shelf” your archaic assumptions about libraries, because they’re evolving! Join Fort Vancouver Library’s staff to explore the future of libraries. You’ll learn all about the new novel ideas in this hour-long lecture.

🧩 Jigsaw Puzzle Swap @ Three Creeks Library | 2:30PM (FREE)
Get ready to swap ’til you drop at the Jigsaw Puzzle Swap! Bring your old puzzles that have been sitting in storage since the pandemic and swap them out for…somebody else’s puzzles that have been sitting in storage since the pandemic.

😱 Adult Horror Author Night @ Vancouver Community Library | 4PM (FREE)
Come to a Horror Authors Panel featuring Sadie Hartmann (101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered), Caitlin Starling (The Starving Saints), Keith Rosson (Fever House), and Hiron Ennes (Leech).

👻 Spirit Tales of The Vancouver Barracks @ The Grant House | 7PM ($15)
Ready to get ghosted (historically speaking)? Join local historian Jefferson Davis (no, not that one) for the Spirit Tales Walking Tour through the eerie corners of the Vancouver Barracks. It’s boo-gie time!

🎥 Cinema of Horrors @ Clark County Event Center | 7PM ($70)
Buckle up, scream queens and kings! The Cinema of Horrors Drive-In returns to the Clark County Event Center tonight, with 18 terrifying (and a few family-friendly) films. There will be monsters, twists, immersive lighting, and Hollywood-level makeup. We hope you have a fang-tastic time!

🎭 Little Shop of Horrors @ MPA | 7PM ($16 - $30)
Feed. Me. Seymour! The cult classic Little Shop of Horrors is taking root at Metropolitan Performing Arts from October 10 - 26. Tonight is opening night, so prepare to have the tunes (and the plants) blow you away!

🎭 I am Frankenstein @ Magenta Theatre | 7:30PM ($28)
Magenta Theater brings I Am Frankenstein to life…literally! Watch Victor’s experiment go shockingly wrong as his creature seeks revenge, and meet Mary Shelley herself in this electrifying retelling of the classic.