Building permits are up in Douglas County, giving the construction industry a little encouragement. Between July and January, 491 permits were issued for residential and commercial projects. In the seven-month period the year before, 456 permits were approved, the lowest total in the past eight years, according to the Douglas County Building Department. Building activity remains far below pre-recession levels. Between July 2007 and January 2008, 841 permits were issued. “We’re still in a comparative slump to what we had four and five years ago, but it is a little bit better than last year,” the county’s building director, Aaron …