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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.