I was astonished this week to realize the first quarter of the 21st century has come and gone. It is interesting to recall Clark County and the world in January 2000, and compare what we thought the new century might be like with what actually happened.

Back then, we saw the county’s population growth, but we didn’t predict a new virus would kill more than 1,000 of us in a life-altering pandemic. We saw downtown Vancouver on the verge of redevelopment but didn’t see that a vibrant Waterfront Vancouver project also was on the horizon.

On Jan. 1, 2000, The Columbian’s staff produced a commemorative issue that addressed the coming century and new millennium. Because it was meant to be saved, we have a few old copies lying around, so I looked back to see what we had predicted about Clark County’s 21st century.

The front page of that Saturday edition was given over to a giant photo of a sunrise, with an optimistic message from third-generation Columbian publisher Scott Campbell: “Happy New Year from The Columbian, and welcome to the year 2000. With countless bright dawns ahead, may we respect the lessons learned from the past while living, working and playing with a zeal for the future.”

The news, which started on A2 that, day, was a little more frenzied. “Hour by frantic, expectant hour, a new millennium swept across the planet today, uniting billions of human beings from Earth’s every corner in a satellite-linked pageant that greeted 2000 in celebration, contemplation and wonder,” The Associated Press reported.

Thankfully, the first prediction for the new century never came true. Preparedness defeated the so-called Y2K bug. Fears were that computer crashes would disrupt vital systems worldwide because they wouldn’t recognize dates beyond Dec. 31, 1999. Computer scientists and data programmers kept it from happening.

To be honest, a lot of our Jan. 1, 2000, newspaper was given over to predictions for the year 3000. With only 2.5 percent of that time elapsed, it’s too early to evaluate those predictions. But by looking through the newspaper’s 58 (!) pages, I was able to find the seeds of what we saw as our 21st-century future.

Downtown Vancouver’s revitalization was predicted, with projects including a redevelopment of the Lucky Lager brewery east of Esther Short Park topping the list. Today, that large development is known as Vancouvercenter. There also was a correct prediction that an amphitheater would be built at the Clark County Fairgrounds; at that time, the proposal was being contested in court by angry neighbors.

One prediction that didn’t come to pass was a $75 million sports arena-convention center-hotel complex south of Esther Short Park. That complex, The Columbian predicted, eventually would become home to the Portland Winterhawks or another junior hockey team. A smaller project, the Hilton Vancouver Washington, was built instead.

Also predicted in Sports: The Seattle Seahawks will play in a Super Bowl, or at least get close, in the next five years under the coaching of Mike Holmgren. (That prediction came true; the Seahawks won the 2005 NFC Championship, then lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers.) The Sports staff mistakenly foresaw Portland getting a National Hockey League franchise but correctly predicted that Major League Baseball would continue to bypass the Rose City. Finally, we said Camas native Greg Biffle was on the cusp of a promising NASCAR career. Correct!

In Business, I wrote a long story about how Clark County was poised for a third economic wave, led by semiconductor manufacturing and other technology businesses. The prediction was sort of correct; companies such as WaferTech and HP are still important employers, but mobile phones and the internet turned out to be the driving force in the economy so far in this century.

Now, it’s artificial intelligence that allegedly will drive future growth. Let’s check back in 25 years.