Snoopy-Red Baron face off
at Pearson Air Museum

Pearson Air Museum is hosting the traveling art exhibit Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace from May 16 through June 19. The exhibit from the Charles M. Schulz Museum celebrates more than forty years of Charlie Brown’s eccentric beagle’s flights of fancy.

A Snoopy kick-off party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16, features, among other fun Snoopy-related activities, free root beer, the Flying Ace’s favorite beverage, an interpreter discussing Germany’s Red Baron and his Fokker DR-1 tri-plane, and Portland cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, whose work includes Dark Horse comics as well as The New Yorker cartoons and teaching a family-friendly cartooning workshop.

The exhibit presents Charles M. Schulz's beagle, Snoopy, as his alter ego, the Flying Ace. Visitors can follow Snoopy on his imaginary adventures--including sparring with the Flying Ace's archenemy, the Red Baron, while Snoopy flies in his doghouse, transformed into a Sopwith Camel airplane. Forty digital prints from the original Peanuts comic strip drawings by Schulz will be on display, along with accompanying photographs of the artist. Pearson Air Museum also has on display a reproduction World War I-era Fokker DR-1 tri-plane, the same type of plane flown by Germany's Red Baron.

Barron says county must make
additional budget cuts

Major financial adjustments must be in place by July 1 to keep the county on a stable financial footing, Clark County administrator Bill Barron said Wednesday during a work session with the Board of Clark County Commissioners.

Barron said the 2009-2010 budget that was adopted in early December, which reflected the recession that spread through the economy in 2008, was very conservative in forecasting difficult business conditions through 2010.

Unfortunately, according to Baron the economic contraction over the last six months has proved to be “beyond difficult, to the point of excruciating. “This means we must move quickly to prevent a deficit that could be as high as $18 million before the end of this budget cycle.”

The most immediate goal is to limit increasing pressure on the general fund, which serves as the county’s primary operating fund, says Barron.

Barron suggests redirecting part of the Real Estate Excise Tax to make payments on bonds sold to finance previous capital investments and to accept delays in some future investments. In addition, he says some road funding should be redirected to the Sheriff’s Office for patrolling county roads. Barron also says some road projects should be delayed.

Other cost savings: reduce the amount employers invest through 2010 to generate earnings to pay for future pensions from the Public Employees’ Retirement System; prepare for a projected increase in employer contributions to the investment funds by 2011;  reduce the budget for fuel, based on recent experience and projections for gas prices.

 Once the county policy decisions are answered, Barron says, the plan calls for departments to meet targets to reduce projected spending from the general fund. The Budget Office would calculate the targets as a percentage of general fund budgets previously set for July 2009 through December 2010.

West 39th Street railroad
bridge construction underway

Construction began this week on the West 39th Street bridge overpass by the state Department of Transportation.  The $11.65 million bridge will improve safety at the congested railroad crossing and enhance connectivity between neighborhoods in the area.

The project, awarded to Vancouver-based Cascade Bridge, LLC, is expected to support approximately 85 jobs. The bridge is expected to be open to traffic in the summer of 2011 and totally completed in the spring of 2012.

All types of traffic–train, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian—will benefit from the enhanced safety and mobility that this project will bring, says WSDOT Southwest Deputy Regional Administrator Bart Gernhart.

In addition to the bridge across the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, new bypass railroad tracks in the Vancouver rail yard are being added. The bridge will span nine sets of railroad tracks.

West 39th Street has been closed since September 2008, so drivers should not notice significant traffic impacts during the early stages of construction. Access to all businesses in the project area will be maintained throughout construction.

The Forum at the Library
to rehash marijuana

“Marijuana : Current Policy & Practice—What’s Happening?” is the title of the Forum at the Library’s forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21, in the Vancouver Community Library, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.

Sub-topics are pros and cons of medical marijuana, current marijuana production and distribution, legalization—the public policy debate, and whether marijuana is a gateway drug.

Panelists are Tony Barnes, Clark County Sheriff's Department, Clark/Skamania Drug Task Force, Glenn Baldwin, planning & policy specialist, Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and Alison Holcomb, drug policy director, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

There is no charge. For further information, call  695.1566.

Local drug court celebrates 10th year
with public graduation in Esther Short Park

The Clark County Drug Court, created ten years ago by Clark County Superior Court judge James Rulli, celebrates its tenth year with a public graduation from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, May 15, in Esther Short Park.

Clark County’s Superior and District Courts are hosts for the public celebration. Today Clark County courts have seven therapeutic courts.

According to Rulli: “The benefits of these programs are exemplified by the hundreds of participants who have succeeded in gaining clean and healthy lives and are no longer burdening the community’s resources in the criminal justice system, medical and social services.”

This year also marks 20 years of evolution of specialty courts nationwide, beginning with a program started in 1989 by former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Calendar

The Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association meets at 7 p.m. this evening in the Community of Christ meeting room, 400 NE 179th Street. <> Magenta Theater’s production of Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias continues with performances at 7 p.m. this evening and tomorrow, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, in the Magenta Theater, 606 Main Street. A matinee is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $14. For tickets and further information, call 635-4358.  

Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber Community 

• City of Vancouver Calendar