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Southwest Washington Medical Center is adding
339 parking spaces just off 92nd Avenue as work at Mill Plain campus continues.
Medical center offers free valet parking during construction phase. Construction
of an 8-story patient tower follows.
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Interfaith town hall Saturday
bringing diversity together
Christians, Jews and members of the Islamic faith are
being called together for a town hall meeting and open forum at 1 p.m. Saturday,
March 5, in the Luekpe Senior Center, 1009 E McLoughlin Boulevard.
The title of the event sponsored by the Greater Vancouver
Interfaith Association is “Diversity or Adversity: Can We Live Together in Peace
as People of Different Faiths, or Do Our Religious Differences Keep Us and Our
Children Apart?”
For further information, call
Shaaban Naim, Islamic Society of
Southwest Washington, 694-7799,
Sue Meyer, Congregation Kol Ami (Jewish),
574-5169,
Joe M. Berger, Community of Christ,
576-1157, or Rick Jaech, Lutheran,
254-9243.
Jaech and Debbie Nelson
are moderators.
Public Power Council analyst says
customers have stake in fish costs
Citing the half-billion-dollar annual cost to electric
energy users for fish recovery and restoration, Public Power Council senior
policy analyst Shane Scott this week
urged Clark Public Utilities and its owners to become more involved in salmon
and fish recovery activities in the northwest.
Clark Public Utilities, a member of the power council,
supports the organization’s efforts to control costs of regional efforts to
sustain fish, in particular salmon in the federal Columbia River System.
Scott said about one-fourth of the power bill paid by
customers of electric utilities goes toward salmon recovery efforts.
The federal Columbia River System consists of 135 dams,
according to Scott, but only 13 are federal dams.
“Ratepayers and customer-owners, along with the states of
Washington and Oregon and the regional Indian tribes, are the stakeholders,”
Scott said. He added that decisions should not be left only to the regulators
and Bonneville Power Administration.
Greg Kimsey calling for voting
system advisory committee
As the county begins a countdown to obtaining a new
voting system, Clark County auditor Gregg Kimsey
is calling for a nine-member Voting Systems Advisory Committee.
Kimsey and elections supervisor
Tim Likness will be members, as will
representatives of the two major political parties and the general public.
The committee’s public meeting schedule will include
meetings with voting systems vendors.
Persons wishing to represent their political party on the
committee should inform their respective party leaders, Kimsey says. Others
should submit a letter of interest to his office no later than 5 p.m. Friday,
March 11. Kimsey can be reached at P.O. Box 5000, Vancouver, WA 98666-5000, and
by email at
greg.kimsey@clark.wa.gov.
Clark Public Utilities creates
rate stabilization fund
Clark Public Utilities’ commissioners this week put $5
million into a newly created rate stabilization fund, which they say will help
the utility weather bumps in wholesale electric rates. It is the first time in
history the utility has set aside money for a rainy day, or in this case,
because of the lack of rainy days.
The extraordinarily dry winter has put the regional snow
pack in jeopardy. Columbia River system dams are dependent on the snow pack to
provide water for generation throughout the year. Many anticipate rate hikes
from Bonneville Power Administration later in the year unless the region gets
markedly greater precipitation.
News briefs
Candidates for Evergreen Public Schools superintendent,
Steven Hull and
Suzanne Cusick, will be interviewed
during a community forum beginning at 6 p.m. this evening in Cascade Middle
School, 13900 NE 18th Street. g The
City/County Telecommunications Commission is accepting telephone calls during
its 7 p.m. meeting this evening in City Hall as part of its annual review of
Comcast Cable’s performance. In addition to telephone comments, the commission
will accept written comments about the cable television company’s performance
through Friday, March 25.
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MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
