League of Women Voters presenting
candidates live on CVTV this evening

Non-partisan candidates will present their points of view at a League of Women Voters of Clark County candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. this evening in the 6th floor hearing room in the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street.

The major issue before voters in this August’s primary election, a $78 million Port of Vancouver six-year industrial development levy will also be debated.

The forum will be telecast live beginning at 6:30 p.m. this evening on CVTV Channel 23.

Demos back Port of Vancouver levy

The Clark County Democratic Party has endorsed the Port of Vancouver’s $78 million industrial development levy, which appears on county ballots being mailed out Wednesday, Aug. 1.

About $48 million of the six-year levy would be used to buy the 228-acre former Alcoa aluminum smelter waterfront property. The remainder would be used primarily for rail improvements that would reduce mainline waiting times and would better serve existing and future Columbia Gateway port tenants.

The levy is also backed by organized labor organizations in the port district.

Vancouver hosting national I Have
A Dream coordinators this week

More than 60 project coordinators, program directors and executive directors from I Have A Dream programs across the country are meeting at the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay Thursday, Aug. 2, through Sunday, Aug. 5.

The group represents 40 projects in 26 U.S. cities and Auckland, N.Z. Since the time the program was founded in 1981 in East Harlem, the effort has sponsored 196 programs across the country and served 15,000 children.

National president and CEO for the I Have A Dream Foundation Iris Chen will make a presentation. Keynote speaker is radio host and best-selling teen author Mike Miller. Vancouver sponsors have adopted four classes of students, reaching over 300 at-risk children . The First two I Have A Dream classes in Vancouver are now college age.

I Have A Dream programs typically have graduation rates double that of non-supported classes.

The results are achieved by providing long-term mentoring, after-school programming and tuition assistance for higher education and vocational schools.

For further information, call conference chair Sheila Peraza, 521-0954.

Season tickets to 2007-2008 Vancouver
Symphony concert series now available

Season tickets for the Vancouver Symphony 2007-2008 seven-concert series in Skyview High School’s concert hall are on sale.

The series opens with music director Salvador Brotons conducting Schubert, Haydn and Mendelssohn at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16.

Season tickets for the seven concerts are as follows: General admission, $189, reserved seating, $252, and seniors $154. Students are admitted for $7 at all concerts.

The season continues with Brotons conducting Vaughn Williams, Menotti and Barber on Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday, Oct. 14. The Saturday, Nov. 10, and Sunday, Nov. 11, concerts, also conducted by Brotons, features works by Borodin, Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov. Guest conductor Yaron Gottfried presents Brahms Symphony No. 4 and Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess for concerts on Saturday, Jan. 12, and Sunday, Jan. 13. Brotons conducts an all-Beethoven concert Saturday, Feb. 16, and Sunday, Feb. 17. The Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, concerts feature Young Artists Competition winners and the Vancouver U.S.A. Singers. The concluding concert, conducted by Brotons, is Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, featuring Strauss and Rachmaninoff.

The Vancouver Symphony offers one more free outdoor concert this summer, Tuesday, August 14, in Esther Short Park.

Accompanying the Saturday, Sept. 15, opener is a season’s opening celebration, and evening of dinner and jazz headlining pianist Tom Grant and vocalist Shelly Rudolf. This fundraising event is at 6:15 p.m. in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. Tickets are $75 each for season ticket holders; otherwise $85.

For further information, call 735-7278, or go to www.vancouversymphony.org.

People

Rainy Atkins, Marilyn Darr, Dawn Doutrich and  John Williams have been reappointed to the Clark County Public Health Advisory Council.

News brief

Today is the final day to apply for admittance to the Northwest Oboe Seminar, reports Victoria Racz, seminar director. The seminar will be Saturday, Aug. 18, in All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Portland. The fee for the day-long seminar is $75. Call Racz at 696-4084 for further information.

Calendar

An open House from 4 to 7 p.m. this evening in City Hall will present city plans for converting Broadway from one-way to a two-way street, modification of traffic islands and traffic signals and the addition of bus stops. The conversion of Broadway is expected to be linked to C-TRAN system wide service changes and a new retail strategy being developed for Main Street. <> Colorfield, a local guitar-based rock group, performs at the noon concert in Esther Short Park, Wednesday, Aug. 1. The concert is free. Food and non-alcoholic beverage vendors are on hand. <> Clark County commissioners meet in an informal session at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, in conference room B in the Public Service Center.  

Headlines Tuesday, July 31

Scope of I-5 interchange at Highway 500 becoming clear--Columbian, Jose Paul Corona

Cowboys corral cattle in Ridgefield refuge--Columbian, Erik Robinson

Wal-Mart foes likely to appeal decision--Columbian, Michael Andersen

Growth key to Ridgefield council races--Columbian, Jose Paul Corona

Proposed closure of part of D street for redevelopment project draws neighborhood fire--Columbian, Cami Joner

237 reasons--Seattle P-I, AP, Seth Borenstein

Bancroft family to support Murdroch bid for Dow Jones--Washington Post, Frank Ahrens

U.S. stocks plunge at close on fresh credit worries, Dow down nearly 150 points--USA TODAY, Kate Gibson

Iraq Coalition Casualties