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Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay says U.S.
intelligence weak: "We were almost all wrong," in
believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction"--U
SA TODAY, AP
Clark County Democrats getting up a head of steam
for caucuses Saturday, FEB. 7--Oregonian, Foster
Church
Supporters push ahead with plans for a Catholic high
school--Columbian, Amy McFall Prince
County extends ban on building until the comp plan
is updated, but remove the restriction from rural
areas--Columbian, Erin Middlewood
Local backers seek federal money to fix Columbian
River railroad bridge to help eliminate I-5 bridge
hangups--Oregonian, Bill Stewart
Businessman forms Clark County Chamber of Commerce,
no relation to other chambers of commerce in the
community--Columbian, Gretchen Fehrenbacher
Vancouver
is open for business, mayor
says, and tells shoppers to shop at home
Vancouver is
open for business, Mayor
Royce Pollard
declared in his State of the City address this
morning, in the vacant former Consolidated
Freightways headquarters in east Vancouver.
After
offering a litany of last year’s economic
development successes, the mayor declared that the
region must work collectively to strengthen
partnerships and work smarter for continued economic
growth and vitality.
Pollard
praised incentives that have helped bring in new
industry and retain other businesses. He said
incentives in the form of a city-owned parking
garage helped develop the West Coast Bank Building
at the foot of Broadway, increasing the tax base of
the former underutilized land thirty-seven times.
He said that
when the city took another look at Frito Lay’s west
Vancouver plant needs, the council made adjustments
in water rates an incentive, he said, that retained
600 jobs, and got from the company both a commitment
to remain at least ten years and an additional
investment in the snack food plant of $12 million.
Pollard
repeated the city’s message to the state legislature
“to continue tax incentives for high tech expansion,
give our community the ability to form its own
taxing district for transportation improvements. We
need to be able to offer tax-credit programs.”
Vancouver has
the largest inventory of commercial and industrial
lands in the entire Portland-Vancouver metropolitan
region—over 5,000 acres of vacant and underutilized
land in the city and urban growth area.
Pollard
added, “we eagerly await the development of the Port
of Vancouver’s Columbia Gateway project, which will
draw industrial development of 600 acres of farmland
near the port.”
“WiFi is
coming to Vancouver,” Pollard said. “In a
partnership with Hewlett-Packard, Electric Lightwave,
and the FreedomNET Foundation, Vancouver will
implement the first wireless fidelity hotspots in
Esther Short Park and the Vancouver National
Historic Reserve. What this means is you can bring
your laptop to Esther Short Park or the reserve and
access the Internet without wires or cables.”
Pollard
called for stronger partnerships within the
community. “We have a lot of different people and
organizations working on economic development
issues. While we are all effective in our own way,
we need to look at different ways we can focus on
the broad spectrum of our community’s economic
development goals. It’s time to shake things up!”
“But,” he
said, “we will strive to achieve a careful balance
between growth and quality of life. Because of this.
we continue to be a magnet and a destination for
people fleeing congestion, overcrowding, high costs
of living and a deteriorating school system.”
“I want you
to know,” the mayor said, “that all are welcome
here, but I expect all residents, old and new, to
really get to know this community and not just sleep
here and spend their dollars someplace else.”
“Although our
retail sales are rising, Vancouver still loses over
$5 million a year in sales tax revenue,” Pollard
stated. “We are losing $1.6 billion in retail sales
annually. Vancouver is ranked dead last for sales
tax revenue per capita among the state’s 10 largest
cities. This isn’t because we are a poor community.
This is because we are spending too many dollars in
Oregon. This is unacceptable!”
“So I want
you to stop it. Stop wasting your gas, stop wasting
your time and stop wasting your assets where it does
you no long-term good.”
SWMC
Foundation which gave over $100,000 in health care
scholarships in 2003 at it again
The Southwest
Washington Medical Center, which awarded over
$100,000 in health care scholarships last year, is
opening competition for scholarship awards again
this year.
Applicants
may be either graduating high school seniors,
college and nursing students, students pursuing
careers in a healthcare technical field, graduate
students, individuals re-entering the workforce or
medical center employees.
Scholarships
range from $1,000 to $5,000.
Applications
will be available after Monday, Feb. 2, on the
medical center website,
www.swmedicalcenter.com.
News brief
Port of
Ridgefield commissioners meet in regular session at
6 p.m. today to discuss the 269th Avenue-Interstate
5 interchange.
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