Denny Heck "re-introduced” in Clark County

Vancouver native and Third Congressional District candidate, Denny Heck, will be re-introduced to Clark County voters at an open-door kickoff event beginning at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Clark County Vocational Skills Center, 12200 Northeast 28th Street in Vancouver.

Heck is a Columbia River High School and Evergreen College graduate. He represented the 17th District (Clark, Skamania & Klickitat Counties) in the Washington State Legislature for 5 terms, served as House majority leader and was chief of staff for Governor Booth Gardner’s second term in office.

An entrepreneur, Heck founded the award-winning TVW in 1993, a statewide public affairs network. He was the original investor in Real Networks, a digital entertainment company and co-founded Intrepid Learning Solutions, a Washington State-based worker-training and learning business services company with offices in several states.

Heck is running as a Democrat and is pledging to “fight for economic growth and job creation in southwest Washington.”

RSV begins construction on new Beaches Restaurant at the Portland Airport

Beaches, a long-time favorite restaurant of southwest Washington residents, will soon be opening a new location just across the Columbia River at the Portland International Airport.

The new Beaches Restaurant will take over the space previously occupied by the Rose City Café and Pendleton, which will be completely remodeled to reflect a tropical theme including the use of bamboo, weathered woods, wood pilings, rustic metal and a sandy beach scene complete with a full size hot rod. The 6,800-plus-square-foot space will have seating for 174 guests, dedicated space for take-out orders and a retail sales area for Beaches branded products.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work for Mark Mathias and the strong and respected Beaches brand,” says RSV president, Ron Frederiksen. “For years, Mark and I have worked together on community projects, and now it’s fun to be able to do a project together.”

“Pint for a Pint” blood drive

The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits has partnered with the Southwest Washington Blood Program to host a “Pint for a Pint” community blood drive on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits, 2420 Columbia House Boulevard.

From noon to 6 p.m., registered donors, ages 21 and older, will receive a voucher for a free pint of beer redeemable at The Rock.

Because of the anticipated popularity of this blood drive, pre-registration is recommended; however, walk-ins are welcome. To schedule an appointment, contact 695-ROCK (7625) or therockvancouver@live.com. For additional information about local blood donation, please contact Southwest Washington Blood Program at 567-4800 or visit www.swblood.org.

News Briefs

The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) has announced that it will be hosting its Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction on Friday, March 5, 2010, at the Firstenburg Center in Vancouver, Washington. Tickets are $30 per person, or $200 for a table of eight. Guests may reserve tickets by calling 1-800-880-9837 ext. 4, or visit http://www.NWABA.org. The deadline for ticket registration is Monday, Feb. 22. Those who are unable to attend may make a tax-deductible donation to support blind and visually impaired athletes by visiting the website mentioned above.

Calendar

The Christian Youth Theater presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, and with new songs by Menken and Tim Rice, at 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the Washburn Performing Arts Center at Washougal High School, 1201 39th Street. For tickets or more information, visit http://www.cytvanport.org/. <> The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics PTSA presents the 2010 Dinner Theatre production of Storms & Scoundrels, an original comedic production in the vein of The Commedia dell’ Arte, at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday night, Feb. 19 and 20, in the VSAA Royal Durst Theater, 3101 Main Street. Call 904-8507 for more information. <> Loaves and Fishes will be serving hot meals to senior citizens from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in the La Center Community Center, 1000 E 4th Street. <> Magenta Theater is featuring Crossing Delancey at 7 p.m. tonight, Feb. 19, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at 606 Main Street. Tickets cost $10-$15 and can be purchased online at www.magentatheater.com. Crossing Delancey is mostly set inside a small bookstore. Magenta Theater asks patrons to please bring a new or gently-used book, suitable for children and youth, to the performances. The donated books will be delivered to Open House Ministries in late February. Patrons are asked to provide their name with the donation, so that they can be recognized on its website. Call 635-4358 for more information. <> Clark College and the Clark Student Chapter of the American Welding Society (AWS) will host the next generation of welders at the Regional VICA/SkillsUSA Regional High School Welding Contest at 7 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, in Clark’s AA2-101 welding complex, located on the southeast corner of Clark’s main campus, McLoughlin Blvd., between Fort Vancouver Way and E. Reserve Street. This will be the 33rd consecutive year that the college has hosted the event, which is free and open to the public. <> This Saturday, Feb. 20, Rep. Jamie Herrera will be joined by her 18th District seatmates, Sen. Joe Zarelli and Rep. Ed Orcutt, in Woodland and Battle Ground for two traditional town hall meetings. The Woodland meeting will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Woodland Church of the Nazarene at 2000 Lewis River Road. The Battle Ground meeting will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Battle Ground City Hall at 109 SW First Street. For questions, contact Herrera at 786-7850 or herrera.jaime@leg.wa.gov. <> Jeff Williams, professional organizer, will host "Dare to Downsize," from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 20, in the Rudy Luepke Center Stage area at the Marshall Center, 1009 East McLoughlin Boulevard in Vancouver. This interactive class offers strategies to measure the pain of clutter, blast through emotional and sentimental attachments, and create a personal plan to increase open space. Cost is $15. For more information, directions and registration, call 487-7100 or log on to www.vanclarkparks-rec.org. Request Class # 74118. Walk-ins are welcome. <> Gliere Harp Concerto and Kalinnikov Symphony will highlight the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at Skyview Concert Hall. For more information, visit www.vancouversymphony.org. <> The Vancouver Planning Commission will be at its annual planning commission retreat from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, at the Community Planning Offices in the conference room, 1610 C Street, suite 203. Call 487-7955 for more information. <> Vancouver City Council meets from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, for workshops followed by a full council meeting at 7 p.m. in the Council chambers. <> Washougal City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. for a workshop Monday, Feb. 22, in Council chambers. <> NACCC is hosting a “Neighborhood Cohesion Calculator Workshop” for Clark County neighborhood associations at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in the Clark County Public Works Operations Conference Center, 4700 NE 78th Street. Derek T. Chisholm MPA, AICP, LEED GA, senior planner at Parametrix, will be leading the workshop. This is a free workshop and anyone is welcome to attend.

Friday on the air

 

4th Annual Clark County Tourism Awards (2-18)--4:59 p.m. CVTV
C-TRAN's 20-Year Transit Development Plan (1-5)--5:40 p.m. CVTV
Clark County Animal Control Hearings (2-10)--6:59 p.m. CVTV
Clark County Close Up (2-14)--7:14 p.m. CVTV
Clark County Board of Health Work Session on Health Equity with the Public Health Advisory Council (2-16)--7:59 p.m. CVTV
A Short Course on Local Planning (2-16)--9:59 p.m. CVTV  

       Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber

• City of Vancouver Calendar

 

Friday, February 19, 2010 Headlines

 

Links to news of local & national significance

What happened to Columbia St. pothole fixes?--Columbian, Andrea Damewood

Deeper shipping channel protects economic 'lifeblood,' senator says--Columbian, Erik Robinson

First Indy's Sifton branch to close--Columbian, Libby Tucker

Producer of one wondrous wardrobe--Columbian, Brett Oppegaard

Vancouver-Clark parks may snuff out smoking--Columbian, Michael Andersen

Stock market: Stocks post slight gains to close out strong week--USA Today, Stephan Bernhard and Ieva M. Augstums

No misconduct found in interrogation memos--New York Times, AP

Woods: Sorry for behavior, unsure of return--Columbian, AP