Evergreen Public Schools Transportation Department named to great fleets across America

School Bus Fleet magazine has named Evergreen Public Schools' Transportation Department as one of its 2010 Great Fleets Across America. The annual series profiles five outstanding pupil transportation operations around the country and highlights their safety practices, innovative training programs and open lines of communications.

The article on Evergreen mentioned the district's outstanding inspections over the last 20 years, including the fact that in many of those years the department has had an out-of-service rate of less than one percent.

Evergreen Public Schools has 240 school buses and transports 16,000 students daily.

The other school districts featured include the following: Dare County Schools, Nags Head, North Carolina, with 46 buses transporting 1,910 students each day; Garfield School District, Rifle, Colorado, which transports 2,000 students on 43 buses; Hanover Park Regional High School District, East Hanover, New Jersey, with 40 buses carrying 3,000 students; and Stumbo Transportation, Ogden, Iowa, which each day transports 350 students on 10 buses.

"We are extremely proud of our Transportation Department," says John Deeder, superintendent, Evergreen Public Schools. "Our drivers and mechanics are well aware of the precious cargo being transported each and every school day. They all work hard to keep our students safe, and they deserve this honor and recognition."

Vancouver recognizes community’s tree stewards, announces new award

Gordon and Sylvia MacWilliams' lifelong love of trees received community recognition Thursday, Feb.18, with a Silva Bolds-Whitfield Award, and the announcement of a new annual award to be presented in Gordon's honor.

The Silva Bolds-Whitfield Award is given by the Urban Forestry Commission to honor citizens who have gone to extraordinary lengths to inspire and enrich the quality of life in Vancouver through trees.

The award was given posthumously to Gordon MacWilliams, who passed away in 2009 after a lifetime of community service. An avid volunteer, he joined the Urban Forestry Commission in 2002 and continued to forge new partnerships that led to greater protection for the community's trees. His wife, Sylvia MacWilliams, was recognized for her strong support of her husband's love for trees and her stewardship efforts.

Sylvia and son, Charles MacWilliams, accepted the award at the ceremony, which included Mayor Tim Leavitt, Bruce Fuerstenberg of Vancouver Granite Works, Duane Northrup of Clark Public Utilities and former Urban Forestry Commission chair, and Roxie Bolds, the daughter of Silva Bolds.

To further mark Gordon MacWilliams' lifelong commitment to tree stewardship, a new award program was announced in his honor. The Gordon and Sylvia MacWilliams Evergreen Award--the Mac Award--will recognize individuals, organizations and businesses that have made a significant positive impact on Vancouver's urban forest.

The annual Mac Award will be given by the Urban Forestry Commission at the City of Vancouver's Arbor Day celebration on April 14. Nominations will be accepted through March 8. Nomination forms are available on the Urban Forestry website at www.cityofvancouver.us/urbanforestry or by calling 619-1108.

For more information about Vancouver's Urban Forestry programs, contact Jessica Antoine, Urban Forestry outreach coordinator, at 619-1108 or jessica.antoine@ci.vancouver.wa.us, or visit http://www.cityofvancouver.us/urbanforestry.

Probst invites citizens to join in tele-Town Hall Monday, March 1

A tele-Town Hall meeting will be held with Rep. Tim Probst, (D) 17th District, from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 1. Shortly before 6 that evening thousands of Probst’s district constituents will receive recorded phone calls inviting them to stay on the line to participate in the tele-Town Hall. Participants need simply to press *3 (“star” button and then the “three” button) to ask a question.

Those who do not have a landline won’t receive the call, but they are welcome to dial in directly by calling the toll-free number, 877-229-8493, and entering PIN code No. 15547 when prompted.

The tele-Town Hall is an opportunity for citizens to ask questions, make comments and air concerns about topics related to the Washington State Legislature and other issues on their mind.

People are also encouraged to contact Probst’s office at 786-7818, or visit http://www.housedemocrats.wa.gov/members/probst/ for questions or more information.

Riverview Community Bank raises $75,000 for local food banks

Riverview Community Bank has announced that its annual food drive efforts raised $75,000 in cash and food donations, including a $5,500 matching contribution from the bank. Nearly twenty tons of food and $9,200 in cash donations were collected in Riverview’s 17 branches this winter, benefitting nine food banks throughout Southwest Washington and Oregon.

“Riverview’s Fill-A-Bag program in the Columbia River Gorge exceeded all expectations,” says Ron Wysaske, president of Riverview. “Our customers and our communities are so generous. Working together with the local grocery stores and newspapers, our Stevenson, White Salmon and Goldendale branches were able to collect and distribute over sixteen tons of food and $6,900 in cash donations, an increase of over 12,000 pounds and $2,400 from last year! This is a time of great need for many in our country and, through this effort; we hope we can ease the burden for many families. We’re honored to match the cash donations on behalf of everyone who donated.”

For the eighth year, Riverview also supported the Clark County Walk and Knock as a financial sponsor and collection site. Riverview’s ten Clark County branches collected over 5,600 pounds of food.

Next year, Riverview plans to expand the food drive to the Gresham community.

News Briefs

The public is invited to "Confront Clutter," an interactive class led by Vancouver organizer Jeff Williams, which offers strategies to clear out clutter and more, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 6, at the Firstenburg Community Center in Vancouver. To register, call 487-7001 ext. 0 or visit www.vanclarkparks-rec.org and refer to class # 74117. Walk-ins are welcome. Cost is $15. <> An educational forum to discuss and better understand the mental health and primary care issues facing the elderly in Clark County will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at the Southwest Washington Education Building, 400 NE Mother Joseph Place, Vancouver. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. RSVPs are required. Those interested may register by contacting SW WA Agency on Aging & Disabilities at 694-8144 or (888) 637-6060 or by email at IAClark@dshs.wa.gov.

Calendar

Battle Ground Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. tonight, in City Council chambers, 109 SW 1st Street. For more information, call 342-5044. <> La Center City Council is holding a meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight, in Council chambers, 214 East 4th Street. <> Loaves and Fishes will be serving hot meals to senior citizens from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in the La Center Community Center, 1000 E 4th Street. <> Dream Big is having a fundraising event from 5 to 9 p.m. today, Feb. 24, at Big Al’s, 16615 SE 18th Street. Mention Dream Big and 10% of your bill will be donated to Dream Big Community Center. Win a special prize if you defeat Dream Big's executive director, Nathan Webster, in a game of bowling. To learn more about Dream Big, visit www.dreambigcc.org.

 Wednesday on the air

 

Clark County Board of Health Work Session on Health Equity with the Public Health Advisory Council (2-16)--5:30 p.m. CVTV
Clark County Land Use Hearings (2-11)--7:30 p.m. CVTV
Clark County Board of Commissioners (2-23)--9:15 p.m. CVTV  

       Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber

• City of Vancouver Calendar

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Headlines

 

Links to news of local & national significance

Columbia restoration act introduced in Congress--Columbian, Erik Robinson

Some budget plan would maintain some Larch funding--Columbian, Kathie Durbin

Federal stimulus aid Early Head Start program--Columbian, Howard Buck

In Congress, Toyota chief takes 'Full Responsibility'--New York Times, Micheline Maynard

G.M. to close Hummer after sale collapses--New York Times, Nick Bunkley

Americans want to get back to work: Why won't the government hire them?--Huffington Post, AP