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T he P ortland O bserver • M ay 31, 1995
Take Over Day
Committee To Examine Transportation Issues
The Vancouver C ity Council
and the Clark County Board o f Com
missioners have agreed to form a
citizen steering committee to exam
ine regional and local transporta
tion issues and report back findings
to the community.
The decision, which came M on
day at a jo in t city-county workshop,
begins the second step o f a commu
nity based process developed to ad
dress future transportation chai leng-
es.
A focus group comprised o f
wide cross-section o f viewpoints
met twice in May to identify trans
portation issues and suggest a com
munity-based approach for evaluat
ing them. The larger citizen steering
group, which w ill be called the Trans
portation Futures Citizen Steering
Committee, w ill pick up where the
focus group left off, thoroughly ex
amining the transportation issues al
ready identified and reporting back
its findings to elected officials by
early 1996.
“ We’ve accomplished a tremen
dous amount during the past few
weeks,” said Vancouver C ity Mayor
Bruce Hagensen. “ An array o f issues
has been identified. Now it's time for
citizens to roll up their sleeves and
really examine all the ideas on the
table.”
Among the issues the focus group
id e n tifie d fo r further study are
telecommuting, staggered work hours,
a third freeway corridor across the
Columbia River, improved bus ser
vice, levels o f transit service to urban
and rural areas, high occupancy vehi
cle lanes and better walkways and
bicycle paths. The Transportation Fu
tures Citizen Steering Committee w ill
evaluate these issues and develop long-
range transportation goals.
Several focus group participants
emphasized the need to keep all op
tions open, including light rail. Con
sequently, the City Counc i I and Coun-
ty Commissioners decided Monday
to continue participating in the re
gional South/North light rail study
to keep all transportation options
open until the steering committee
develops its findings.
The city and county w ill devel
op a mission and scope o f work for
the Transportation Futures Citizen
Steering Committee w ithin the next
few weeks Residents interested in
serving on the steering committee
can request an application by call
ing Monica Welle, Clark County
Public Works, at 699-2375, ext.
4883 or Sara King, C ity o f Vancou
ver, at 696-8005.
S tud en t C icero C u rry shares the classroo m te ach ing duties w ith his
su bstitu te te a ch e r a t W hitaker M iddle School.
County Stop Hunger Warehouse Must Relocate
The Clark County Department
o f Community Services is looking
for warehouse space to house the
Stop Hunger Warehouse. The cur
rent warehouse, which has been lo
cated in a 6,700-square foot build
ing at the Port o f Vancouver, must
vacate in late July o f this year be
cause the Port needs the space.
The Stop Hunger Warehouse
is a distribution center fo r the 11
non-profit food banks in C lark Coun
ty that provide emergency food as
sistance to people in need. Lastyear,
more than 700,000 pounds o f food
was funneled to food banks through
the county-operated warehouse.
“ The Port ofVancouver has been
a good partner in leasing this space to
the county at a nominal cost for the
past 10 years,” said Mike Piper, Com
m unity Services Department Direc
tor. “ W e’ re very thankful for their
assistance. They’ ve more than done
their part in helping the community
in a significant way.”
Piper said the county is actively
look ing for donated or low-cost ware
house space anywhere in the county
at a minimum o f 4,000-square feet.
The space preferably would also have
cold storage for perishables. Piper
said the goal is to keep the cost o f the
space down so that the county can
continue to use funds for direct ser
vices to citizens. He noted that the
Port leased the warehouse for $ I a
year to the county.
A larger warehouse space, Piper
said, would be desirable to allow the
county to continue to use the build
ing for other uses such as storage o f
W alk-n-Knock food each year as well
as toys, bicycles and other gifts for
needy children donated as part o f the
Clark County Employee Children’s
Sharing Project.
Both interim and long-term
space are needed, Piper said. He
added that during the com ing
months the county w ill be lookingj
at the overall food distribution pro
gram and how the public can best
be served. “ We need to develop the
best strategy to stabilize the ware
house function over tim e,” Piper
said.
Anyone with suitable ware
house space available is asked to
contact Hatch at 699-2130.
Clark The County Frog To Jump At Calaveras
There w ill be an e n try from
C la rk C ou nty in th is su m m er’ s
w o rld renow ned fro g ju m p in g
contest in A ngels C am p, C a li
fo rn ia .
C la r k C o u n ty E x e c u tiv e
F a ir D ire c to r Tom M usser an
nounced that the fa ir has en
tered a fro g named C la rk to ju m p
on its b e h a lf in th e 1995
C alaveras C o u n ty F air & Jum p
ing Frog Jubilee. 'W ith a little
lu ck, C la rk co u ld hop o f f w ith a
new w o rld reco rd w ith a top p rize
o f $5,000. The e ve n t’ s theme this
year is “ H o o fin ’ and H o p p in ’ at
F ro g to w n .”
C la rk , w ho w ill be p u lle d
from a large pond on S aturday'
M ay 20, w ill ju m p as part o f the
W estern Fairs A ss o c ia tio n Frog
Jump. F or an entry fee o f $3, the
C alaveras C ounty F air w ill p ro
vide a fro g and ju m p it fo r p a rtic -
Health Club Membership Up
Double-digit increase for second year
The number o f health club
members in the U.S. grew by 10%
for the second consecutive year in
1994, according to prelim inary re-
sultsofthe 1994 IHRSA/American
sports Data study on health club
trends. This translates to an increase
o f 1.8 m illion members, bringing
the total health club population to
20 m illion Americans.
The announcement was made
e a rlie r th is m on th by John
McCarthy, executive director ofthe
International Health, Racquet and
Sportsclub Association (IH R S A ) in
his opening remarks at the associa
tions’s Fourteenth Annual Conven
tion and Trade Show. More than
5000 club owners and managers at
tended this event.
In a separate study conducted
for IHRSA By American Sports Data
(A S A ), it was found that 5% o f non
club members indicated that they
would probably jo in a health club in
the coming year.
“ This is a considerable number
when extrapolated to the population
u niverse ,” com m ented H arvey
Lauer, president o f ASD.
The data o f this second study
also suggests that “ the home exer
cise market is not locked in mortal
combat with the health club indus
try,” according to Lauer. In fact,
67% o f all health club users both
owned and used home exercise
equipment in the past year.
IHRSA is a nonprofit trade as
sociation comprising 2,500 health,
racquet and sportsclubs in 42 coun
tries.
Annual Music Celebration To Kick Off
The second annual Northwest
Black Music Month celebration w ill
k ic k -o ff with a V IP reception on
Wednesday, June 7 at 7 p.m. at the
Red Lion Hotel.
On June 8, Kevin Harewood o f
Kashif, Bobby Duckett o f Mercury
Records and Dwayne W iggins o f
Tony, Tonie and Tone w ill fa cili
tate a music seminar at the Interstate
Firehouse Cultural Center. Several
local musicians w ill be on the panel,
including David Leiken o f Double
Tee Promotions and Angela Jenkins
o fK B M S Radio.
The schedule for Friday, June 9,
includes an autograph signing and
K B O O radio live remote from 3 p.m.
to 6 p.m. with national recording
artists. In addition, that evening at
the Portland Conference Center w ill
feature local artists at 8 p.m.
•
Tw o groups w ill be selected to
open for the national acts on Satur-
day, June 10, w ith Motown record
ing artists BLU , V Y B E and others
to be announced performing in con
cert at the Roseland Theatre
The event is hosted by
UnForgettable Entertainment and
sponsored by KBMS Radio, House
o f Sound Records, KBOO and North
west Entertainment Magazine.
Tickets for the artist showcase
and concert w ill be available at
Fred Meyer Fastixx outlets.
Keep Your Family Safe This Summer
The good weather has arrived
and with it comes a lot o f outdoor
activities - everything from garden
ing to flying a kite.
There are a number o f safety
concerns to take into consideration
which involve power lines and bur
ied power cables.
Portland General E lectric’s Mel
Eldridge, a specialist in energy, safe
ty and efficiency, offers this general
advide: “ Remember that common
sense is your best protection against
accidents when using electricity.
When in doubt, don’ t proceed until
you are sure it’s safe.”
N ow that children are outside
playing in the yard, they should be
aware that clim bing in trees can be
dangerous, especially where power
lines are present.
Avoid these areas.
I f flying a kite with the children
sounds like a fun activity, just be sure
there are no power lines present. It’s
best to find an open field or beach
w ith no power lines in sight. “ As
soon as your child is old enough to
know right from wrong, this is the
time to educate your children about
safety,” says PGE’ s Eldridge.
Gardeners need to take into con-
sidération the location o f power lines
when planning to dig or trim trees or
shrubs. I f you have a major project
underway which involves a lot o f
digging, call the powercompany first
and ask them to come mark the loca
tion ofunderground cables. Be aware
that these can be buried as shallow as
12 inches in the ground.
Avoid all power lines when trim
ming trees or shrubs and be careful
that ladders do not come into contact
with power lines. I f need be, contact
the power company regarding trees
that need trim m ing near power lines,
I-8OO-332-2DIG.
« » *
Laughing is the sensation o f
Love consist« in this that two
feeling good all o v e r, and show
solitudes p ro tect and touch and
W e re it not fo r bunglers in
the m a n n e r o f d oing it, h ard ly
ing it p rin cipally in one spot.
— Josh Billings
greet each o th e r.
— R a in e r M a ria R ilk e
any man would e v e r find out he
was laughed at.
— L o rd H a lifa x
ip a tin g counties w ho cannot a t
tend them selves.
Thé Calaveras County Fairalso
promises to make sure that Clark is
“ fed, bathed and ready for his big
jum p.” I f Clark turns out to be a big
winner, the Calaveras folks also
promise to let us know.
Io \(h c itis c in
¿Tlic t J n i lk u tb (O b s m ic r ,
call 15031 288-0033
or I a \ 288-0015.
Ja nye lle M ille r a t the h e a d o f
the class.
The eighth grade students at
W h ita k e r M id d le School to ok
over the roles o f A d m in is tra to rs
and teachers today. T h is is th e ir
second annual “ T ake-O ver D ay.”
“ T a k e -O v e r D a y” was the
idea o f a group o f eighth grade
students last y e a r,” said Edna
Mae P ittm an, a W h ita k e r C oun
selor. A ll s ta ff p osition s were up
fo r grabs. The students had to
a pply to p articip a te as s ta ff mem
bers. Some o f the s ta ff members
are u tiliz in g the services o f more
than one student by le ttin g one
w o rk in the m ornin g and the o th
er in the afternoon. Some o f the
students d id the jo b fo r a w hole
S tud en t S e e C ha ng takes a
d esk in the W h ita ker M iddle
S ch o o l o ffice fo r “a d a y o n the
jo b .” Photos by Mark Washington
day.
“ The purpose o f this event was
to give the eighth-grade students and
experience that they’ ll remember as
part o f their eighth-grade year.
It also allows the students to
have an opportunity to be on the
other side o f the educational sys
tem” , said Edna Mae Pittman. Ayesha
Coleman took over Pittman’s posi
tion and she had a special treat be
cause Pittman had to attend the A lb i
na Rotary luncheon.
As P ittm a n ’ s rep la ce m e nt,
Ayesha d id in te rve n tio n s, faxed
letters, file cards and gave pizza
c e rtific a te s to students w ho had
th e ir anger cards.