Ryan Hart

By Ryan Hart
Chairman, Clark County Republican Party

Dear Voters:

The 2010 election is one of the most important mid-term elections in our nation’s history. Two years ago, Democrats promised voters hope and change. Unfortunately the economy, unemployment, and our national debt have all grown much worse. Our County government has for decades been run by Democrats.  We have a set of candidates running for County office that will not be the status quo and when elected will look out for the public and not the interests of the courthouse insiders.

We have four candidates running to take Democrat-held State House seats.  If they win, they will tip control of the House to Republicans and be key to restoring fiscal responsibility to the state.

We have excellent candidates running for federal office who could be part of a new Republican majority, which will be a check on the excesses of the national administration.

Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C.,  have both been guilty of overspending over the years. That is not the case with our local Republicans. Our local elected Republicans in the State Senate and House, and those serving in County offices have demonstrated a strong record of fiscal responsibility. From Dino Rossi and Jaime Herrera, to our candidates running for legislative and County offices, Republicans on the 2010 ballot are committed to lower taxes, reduced government spending, balanced budgets, and real job creation and growth from the private sector.

Democrats have held the majority of county offices for decades and have held both the House and Senate here in Washington for years. It hasn’t worked. We can do better. We will do better. Please vote Republican on November 2.

The deadline for receiving election ballots is tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 2. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 2. Ballots can be delivered in person until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2, to the Elections Office, 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver, or placed in the “drive up” ballot collection box located in downtown Vancouver, one block east of Franklin in the center of 14th Street, approximately one block from the Elections Department.

A list of the deposit locations can be found on the instructions included with your ballot, in the voters’ pamphlet and on the Elections Office web site at www.clarkvotes.org. For more information, call 360-397-2345, or e-mail elections@clark.wa.gov.

Dena Horton

Vote for Democrats – by Dena Horton, Chair of the Clark County Democratic Central Committee

Why vote for Democrats? Because there is work to be done and Republicans will not do it. Republicans believe government is too big. Their answers are always the same: just cut spending. Will they cut Social Security? Pell Grants? National Parks? Funding for enforcement of clean water standards or oversight of Wall Street? What government function will they cut and what impact will it have on you, your family, and our community? There are always ways to be more efficient and to streamline regulatory processes. But simply cutting all spending will throw the baby out with the bath water and cause harm to our most vulnerable citizens. Democrats value our seniors, veterans, students, children, workers, and all cultures that contribute to making America rich in experience and dreams.

In 2008, people had a choice to buy into negativity and fear. Instead they dared to hope and believe that our country can be strong, prosperous, responsible and honorable.

In just two years, Democrats haven’t been able to repair all the damage done by eight years under the Bush Administration and by irresponsible actions of Wall Street executives. It takes time and continued commitment to do what is right. Democrats are prepared to keep fighting for economic prosperity and job creation, promoting equality, fairness, and transparency, protecting our natural resources, keeping our promise to seniors and veterans, educating our citizens for jobs in the global economy, investing in our national infrastructure, and ensuring the American Dream is a possibility for all our citizens.

The Clark County Democratic Central Committee (CCDCC) meets the 2nd Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Longshore (ILWU) Hall at 1205 Ingalls Street in downtown Vancouver. Please join us!

WhoCanHelp.com, a business listing service, has been launched in Vancouver.

Whether one is  looking for a landscaper, wedding photographer, accountant or carpenter, WhoCanHelp.com is free to consumers.

The user indicates the title and description of the service needed and identifies a category, subcategory, date needed by and Zip code. Businesses learn instantaneously that someone is in need of their services via SMS text or e-mail and can immediately post an offer. The consumer then selects the service provider of his or her choice and has the opportunity to write a review following the completion of the work.

WhoCanHelp.com has partnered with the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, offering chamber members business accounts free of charge. Other area service providers can create an account, starting at $19.95 per month.

For more information, visit www.WhoCanHelp.com.

Mary Kaminski

Mary Kaminski, 91, is retiring after 20 years of volunteering at the Vancouver Farmers Market’s Information Booth. Kaminski has received  two U.S. Presidential Awards for more than 1,000 hours of volunteer work at the market. Kaminski, a widow with one son, lives in Washougal, Washington, where she will continue doing volunteer work at the Senior Center and the Treasure House, where she has volunteered for 35 years.

Barbara Kerr (Clark College), Ginger Metcalf (Identity Clark County), and Alisa Pyszka (City of Vancouver) congratulate Ron Arp of Amplify Group for receiving the 2010 Ron Schmidt Community Involvement Award from the Portland Metro Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Ron Arp of Amplify Group was honored Thursday night by the Portland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Arp was recognized for the “Land Here, Live Here” campaign created to promote tourism in the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area. Arp received the Ron Schmidt Award for Community Involvement. It is named for the late Ron Schmidt.

Prior to opening his current business, Amplify Group, Arp was senior vice president of the fitness company Nautilus Inc. and,before that, was general manager and senior partner at the Portland office of Fleishman Hillard. For 25 years, he has been involved in broadcasting, corporate communications, and agency management. For more information about his business, visit http://www.amplifygroup.com.

Clark College also received awards at the event, earning two Spotlight Awards:  one for the opening of Clark College at Columbia Tech Center and one for the community open house for that facility. Lower Columbia College earned a Spotlight Award for their 75th Anniversary Celebration.

The awards were presented at the 2010 Spotlights and Awards of Distinction ceremony at the Leftbank Annex in Northeast Portland. The Portland Metro Chapter is one of more than 100 PRSA chapters across the country.  The chapter serves more than 200 members from Oregon and Southwest Washington. For more information, visit https://www.prsa-portland.org.

Dr. Rocky Termanini, a certified information technology security professional and member of the American College of Forensic Examiners, will speak about online crime from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, in the Foster Hall Auditorium at Clark College. There is no admission charge. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

The music of Brahms, Liszt and Poulenc will be featured at Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concerts on Saturday, Nov. 6, and Sunday, Nov. 7.

Performances are at the Skyview Concert Hall at 1300 NW 139th St. in Vancouver. Tickets are: Reserved, $42, General, $29, Senior $24 and Student, $9. Visit www.VancouverSymphony.org for more information.

Ira Nies

Ira Nies has joined Martel Wealth Advisors, Inc. in Vancouver as an Investment Advisor.  He has practiced financial planning for over 35 years and specializes in small business retirement plans.  He was the founder and past president of Nies Insurance Agency, Inc. of Clark County and has been a Vancouver resident for more than 50 years.

Founded in 1982, Martel Wealth Advisors, Inc. is a locally owned firm working with clients since 1982. The office is located at 2001 S.E. Columbia River Dr., Suite 100 on Vancouver’s waterfront.

The music of Brahms, Liszt and Poulenc will be featured at Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concerts on Saturday, Nov. 6, and Sunday, Nov. 7.

The second concert of the season will feature pianists Yukiko Akagi and Alex Alguacil. Performances are at the Skyview Concert Hall at 1300 NW 139th St. in Vancouver.

Tickets are: Reserved, $42, General, $29, Senior $24 and Student, $9. Visit www.VancouverSymphony.org for more information.

All veterans are invited to the annual Pleasant Valley Middle School Veterans Day assembly at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10. The school is at 14320 N.E. 50th Ave.

This year’s program, directed by sixth-grade teacher Amy Pace, is titled “The Long Brave Line” and will honor veterans of wars throughout U.S. history.

For the eighth year in a row, the Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO) program will provide nighttime emergency shelter at two local churches in Clark County as the weather turns cold and rainy.

To volunteer or make a donation to WHO, contact Matt Finck, AmeriCorps*VISTA WHO Coordinator, at 360-699-5106, or by e-mail at who.vista@icfth.com.  For more information on the WHO program, visit www.whoprogram.org.

Those in need of shelter access WHO beds by calling the Emergency Shelter Clearinghouse at 360-695-9677. Families, couples and single women can call between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Single men can call between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The School of Piano Technology for the Blind has planned a benefit concert, “Harmony for the Holidays,” featuring the Misty River Band, at the Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., Portland, on Sunday, Dec. 5, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, 1-866-448-7849, all Ticketmaster outlets and at the Aladdin Box Office, 503-234-9694. General admission is $20, or $22.50 at door. VIP admission (including a reserved seat, autographed CD and Meet the Band) is $50, or $55 at door.

Dr. Rocky Termanini

Dr. Rocky Termanini, a certified information technology security professional and member of the American College of Forensic Examiners will speak about online crime from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, in the Foster Hall Auditorium at Clark College. There is no admission charge.

Clark College has recently added a cybersecurity class to its Data Technology and Telecommunications Technology (DNET) program.

Termanini is the vice president of technology at M.E.R.I.T, Inc., an international security consulting firm headquartered in Newark, N.J. He brings 45 years of multi-industry real-world experience to business clients and his students. He has served as a senior advisor to law enforcement agencies who are dealing with cyberterrorism.

Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

A landslide along Highway 99 near Northeast Parkview Drive has required closing one lane on Highway 99 southbound as county crews shore up the slope.

Preliminary estimates indicate repairs will stretch well into next week. The repair could cost about $150,000.

When paving and other road repairs are being done, traffic on Highway 99 may be restricted to one lane in each direction. No entrances or exits to businesses have been blocked by the lane closure. Temporary traffic control signs are alerting motorists.

County officials suspect runoff from last weekend’s rain flowed through old guardrail post holes, triggering the slide.

The final date and time to return voted ballots for the November 2 General Election is rapidly approaching. The Elections Office will also be open on Saturday, Oct. 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to accept voted ballots and issue replacement ballots. On Election Day only, an additional 33 ballot deposit locations throughout Clark County will be open from 7  a.m. until 8 p.m. to accept ballots. A list of the deposit locations can be found on the instructions included with your ballot, in the voters’ pamphlet and on the Elections Office web site at www.clarkvotes.org.

Ballots being returned by mail must be postmarked by Tuesday,  Nov. 2 or earlier. Ballots being returned in person before election day need to be delivered to the County Elections Office at 1408 Franklin Street, Vancouver or deposited in the large red ballot drop box located one half block east of the Elections Office, on W. 14th Street. Normal business hours for the Elections Office are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call the Elections Office at 360-397-2345.

All veterans are invited to the annual Pleasant Valley Middle School Veterans Day assembly at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10. The school is at 14320 N.E. 50th Ave.

This year’s program, directed by sixth-grade teacher Amy Pace, is titled “The Long Brave Line” and will honor veterans of wars throughout U.S. history.

The Prairie High School Air Force Junior ROTC color guard will present the flag, and the award-winning Pleasant Valley Middle School Band, directed by Evan Irwin, will perform. Pleasant Valley eighth grade classes will make presentations. Initially called Armistice Day, it was a day to honor the fallen soldiers in World War I. The date, Nov. 11, 1918, marked the end of hostilities between Germany and the Allies, including the United States, France and Britain.

The formal peace treaty was signed in Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919, five years after the war began. In 1938 Congress made Nov. 11 a national holiday; in 1954 the name was changed by Congress to Veterans Day to honor U.S. veterans of all wars.

For the eighth year in a row, the Winter Hospitality Overflow (WHO) program will provide nighttime emergency shelter at two local churches in Clark County as the weather turns cold and rainy.  Volunteers expect a full house.

During the winter months, demand increases for shelter when weather conditions deteriorate. Many of those in need of shelter are families with children.

WHO is a collaborative effort among the Council for the Homeless, Share, St. Paul Lutheran, St. Andrew Lutheran, and many volunteers from faith-based and community organizations.

St. Paul, in downtown Vancouver, will provide shelter for up to 24 single men each night, while St. Andrew in Orchards will accommodate up to 50 people, including single women, couples and families, each night, with 8 beds reserved specifically for families. The program will operate from Nov. 1 to March 31.

To volunteer or make a donation to WHO, contact Matt Finck, AmeriCorps*VISTA WHO Coordinator, at 360-699-5106 or by email at who.vista@icfth.com.  For more information on the WHO program, visit www.whoprogram.org.

Those in need of shelter access WHO beds by calling the Emergency Shelter Clearinghouse at 360-695-9677. Families, couples and single women can call between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Single men can call between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The Council for the Homeless is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization created in 1989 by local government and the Vancouver Housing Authority.  Its charge is to mobilize our community to end homelessness.

Democratic candidates Rep. Jim Jacks, Rep. Jim Moeller and Janet Seekins plan an Election Night watch party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at the Atrium Lounge, 606 Broadway in downtown Vancouver.

With a heavy snowfall forecast for the mountain passes this week, drivers can start using studded tires and truck drivers should make sure they have chains, Washington State Department of Transportation officials said this week.

Weather forecasts call for warmer and dry conditions. Because of the challenging conditions ahead in the mountains, WSDOT officials decided to allow drivers to install studded tires  prior to the Tuesday, Nov. 1, seasonal tire restriction lift.