Selected articles from the Concordia News are published on the website, but the entire paper is available for download as well. Here’s the February Edition – hot off the presses (pdf ~5MB).
Monthly Archives: January 2008
Concordia News – January 2008 Edition
Apologies for the late publication – most of the articles have already been posted as articles on the website, but here is the entire January Edition, finally available for download as well (pdf ~6.5MB).
Columbia Slough Awards Celebration, February 1
The Columbia Slough Watershed Council (CSWC) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 Watershed Council Awards. The awards will be presented at the Council’s Ninth Annual Awards Celebration and Silent Auction on Friday, February 1, 2008 from 6:00 until 9:00 P.M. “These community leaders remind us how important the Columbia Slough Watershed is to our region and the health of our ecosystem,” said Jane Van Dyke, CSWC Executive Director. “It is important to take time to recognize their dedication and contribution to improving our community and watershed.”
2007 Leadership Award Winners
The Council’s Leadership Awards recognize “individuals who demonstrate an extraordinary and long-term commitment to the watershed”.
- Erwin Bergman – Council Member – Neighborhood Advocate
- Richard and Gyrid Towle – Columbia Children’s Arboretum Advocates
2007 Achievement Award Winners
The Council’s Achievement Awards recognize “extraordinary projects or project-related efforts”.
- City of Gresham – Keri Handaly and Kris Rein – Fairview Creek-Burnside to Stark Restoration Project
- Multnomah Youth Cooperative – Rose Sandy and Jeff Walker – Youth Watershed Restoration Crew
- Northwest Discoveries – Ken Barker and Jerry Lanz – Canoe Week and Explorando el Columbia Slough Paddle Guides
- New Columbia – Housing Authority of Portland, Steve Fancher and KPFF Consulting Engineers – Green Streets and Stormwater Facilities
This year’s celebration will be held at the Acadian Ballroom at 1829 NE Alberta Street in Portland. The celebration will include dinner, silent auction, entertainment, and presentation of the awards. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased online at www.columbiaslough.org or by calling 503.281.1132. Reservation deadline is January 25th at 4:00 P.M.
To learn more about the event, visit the Columbia Slough Watershed Council.
For more information contact:
Katie Meckes, 503.281.1132, katie.meckes@columbiaslough.org
Faubion PTA Family Night, January 30
In November, our PTA had the privilege to meet with Oregon PTA President Anita Olsen at one of our functions. Anita was apparently impressed with our effort and wrote a complimentary article about Faubion PTA in the December/January 2008 Newsletter. I am pleased to share excerpts from the newsletter with our neighbors here:
“I am privileged to receive invitations to visit from PTAs all over the state – and I try to visit as many as I am able. Last month, I was invited to Faubion PTA in Northeast Portland. Faubion is a PTA with the same challenges many (other PTAs) have: how to get parents and families into the school to see the importance of their involvement while at the same time going on to their jobs during the day and preparing their children for the next school day each evening. And, after two years of struggling, Faubion is finding the answer. I was invited to an old fashioned kaffeeklatch before school one Friday morning. In and among the coffee and doughnuts, I met about a dozen wonderful folks – moms, dads, grandmas, and grandpas. They told me about family nights they organized: a craft night in October, a bingo night in November. Each event was designed to bring families into the school and it did just that – 40 to 50 people – often different families at each event, who heard about the importance of family involvement at their school while enjoying their children’s and one another’s company.”
Thank you, Anita, for your attendance and kind words. Faubion is “living the idea of Family-School Partnerships” and the results are heartening. We had a lot of fun at bingo night and from its reception, there will be more of the same in the future.
Our next Family Night event will be Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 6:30 P.M. We haven’t decided on which type of event yet (our PTA business meeting on December 20 will attend to that) but it will be advertised and it will be – again – family fun. Watch for it and please attend. You don’t have to be a PTA member; you don’t even have to have kids at Faubion. It is an opportunity to see our school and neighborhood, meet some of its members and have a good time.
Faubion PTA and the 350 wonderful kids who attend our neighborhood public school wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.
Master Recyclers Sponsor Free Recycling Roundups (January 26)
Recycle those hard-to-recycle plastics on January 26 and February 9th. Master Recyclers will collect plastic material that cannot be recycled curbside including buckets, food tubs, plastic bags, lawn furniture, nursery pots, and trays.
Agri-Plas, a recycler located in Brooks, Oregon, will process the collected plastic for recycling into new products. Past Master Recyclers plastic roundup events successfully recycled and found reuse options for over 73 tons of plastic.
Collections will take place:
Saturday, January 26, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. at:
- Southeast Portland: Floyd Light Middle School 10800 SE Washington
- North Portland: Hosted by Kaiser Permanente West Interstate 3325 N Interstate (off Fremont and Overlook Park)
Saturday, February 9, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. at:
- Lake Oswego: Hosted by Shorenstein Realty Services LP and Autodesk, Inc.
5400 Meadows Road. - Rock Creek: Westview High School 4200 NW 185th Ave.
Please sort and rinse plastics into the following categories ahead of time:
- Plastic bags (dry cleaning, store sacks, bubble wrap, six-pack rings, zip lock bags, etc.)
- Plant pots and trays (please knock out dirt ahead of time)
- Sort by numbers (bags and pots go in first categories)
- Miscellaneous plastics without numbers: bottle caps, drink lids, DVDs, CDs, CD cases, straws, cereal liners, vinyl, lawn/patio furniture, toys (think slides!), pet igloos, laundry baskets, kiddie pools, and more. (Bring it, we’ll try to take it.)
- Plastic reuse items (good lawn chairs, tables, cat litter buckets, and more)
We are sorry we CANNOT accept:
- Styrofoam blocks, peanuts, food trays, or egg cartons.
- Plastic printed “compostable” or # PLA 7.
- Plastics with a neck (these are accepted in all curbside programs.
- PVC pipe.
- Food-contaminated or dirty plastic.
- Foam or rubber.
- Small toys that have metal in them.
- Plastic with metal or electronics inside (spray bottle nozzles and hand lotion pumps have springs in them; please remove the spring or toss the pump).
Stop Car Idling for Kids, Environment
In cold weather and in school parking lots, we see a lot of car idling. The City of Portland urges you to reduce car idling, which has a negative impact on children’s health and air quality in the Concordia neighborhood.
All of us have idled our vehicles while waiting to pick up kids from school, waiting at the drive-up window, or waiting for a bridge. Part of the reason is that when we were just beginning to drive, the mindset was that it’s better to leave the car running rather than turn it on and off.
Well, maybe that was true then, but it’s certainly not true now. As a matter of fact, it’s actually better for your vehicle to turn it off if it’s going to be idling for more than 10 seconds.
This fact leads to the top ten reasons to turn off your vehicle when you’re not moving:
- Studies have shown a direct link between contaminants in vehicle emissions and significant respiratory health effects.
- Vehicle exhaust is the leading source of toxic air pollution in Oregon.
- Excessive idling can be hard on your engine. Because it isn’t working at peak operating temperature, fuel doesn’t undergo complete combustion, leaving spark plugs dirty, which can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5%. Also, the engine oil becomes contaminated by idling.
- According to Ford and the Auto Alliance, vehicles produced after the mid-‘80s don’t require additional time to heat a “cold engine.” The best way to warm up your vehicle is to drive it, even in cold weather.
- Besides, idling warms only the engine, not the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission, and tires. These parts warm up when the vehicle is driven.
- Frequent restarting has little impact on engine parts such as the battery and starter motor. The wear on components that restarting the engine causes adds about $10 a year to your costs. This is money that you’ll likely recover several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.
- More than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine.
- Toxic air pollutants account for an additional 700 cases of cancer for every million residents.
- Children breathe 50% more air per pound than adults, and their asthma symptoms increase as a result of car exhaust.
- When you idle you get 0 miles per gallon.
For education resources and for any questions, contact Donna Green at the Portland Office of Transportation at 503.823.6114, donna.green@pdxtrans.org.