Eight years of traffic fatalities

http://map.itoworld.com/road-casualties-usa#fullscreen&lat=45.42346983501714&lon=-122.6209244045051&zoom=13 shows 2001-2009 traffic fatalities in our area. Half are pedestrians.

Reliable cars

http://www.gizmag.com/the-100-most-reliable-cars-of-the-last-decade-in-order/5657/ lists the hundred most reliable cars, per a third-party warranty company.

CA and NY drop out of bad deal to let banksters off the hook

Is Oregon still participating in the proposed '50-state' settlement regarding abuses of the law by banks in mortgage securitization?  Rolling Stone reports that it's a bad deal for Florida since the Sunshine State is estimated to have lost 62 billion, and since the entire 50-state settlement is now set to 20 billion total, I am very curious as to what Oregon's estimated losses are due to this particular kind of bank fraud.

Especially of interest is the use of the commercial firm MERS instead of properly registering transactions locally. How much did Oregon's counties lose in taxes through bypassing Oregon law regarding transaction reporting?

Now that New York and California have pulled out, I hope the state of Oregon will also consider how paltry our slice of that 20 billion might be.

Sincerely yours,

Clackablog


(Any answer from the Oregon Attorney General's office, to whom this message was sent today, will be posted here).

Register with the County for disaster alerts

http://clackamas.us/emergency/ccens.jsp lets you register for SMS text and voice notifications of emergencies. Hope it works better than Portland's system...

Park Ave Forum on Wednesday

Dear Members and Friends of the Oak Lodge Community Council,

A reminder that the Park Ave Forum will meet this coming Wednesday evening, from 6:00 to 6:45 pm at Rose Villa's Fellowship Hall located at 13505 SE River Road.

The purpose of the Forum is to provide those with interests in the area near the intersection of Park Ave and McLoughlin Blvd with current, accurate information on the variety of happenings taking place, as well as providing a place for neighbors to meet with neighbors.  All community members are welcome.

The regular monthly meeting of the Oak Lodge Community Council will take place immediately afterwards, in the same location, from 7 to 9 pm, and again, all are welcome. 

Free Haircuts, Again, at Supercuts in Jennings Lodge

18030 SE McLoughlin Blvd. Wednesday July 13th. 2 to 4. Thursday 9 to 4. Friday 9 to 3:45. If you have any questions call Laure' at 503-654-5534.

Thursday night the 21st, discuss your tax dollars at work

07-07-11

Media and Interested Parties

Open House on projects for regional transportation funding set for July 21

Clackamas County and the cities of Happy Valley, Milwaukie, West Linn and Lake Oswego are proposing six potential transportation improvement projects to be considered for funding with flexible federal funds administered by Metro. 

The limited amount of funds – approximately $3 million for Clackamas County – must be spent on projects that benefit pedestrian, bicycle and freight movement.  The money will be available in 2014-15.  More information about the program is available from Metro and by clicking here.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” said County Commission Chair Charlotte Lehan, “to improve travel options for our residents that promote sustainable communities and a healthy lifestyle.  I’m also pleased that we are keeping freight movement, which is so important to our business community, at the top of our priority list.”

Proposed projects for Clackamas County and its urban cities will be available for review and comment at a public open house set for 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, July 21, at the County’s Development Services Building, 150 Beavercreek Road, Oregon City, OR 97045.  

People are also welcome to comment by email or regular mail to Transportation Planning Supervisor Karen Buehrig atkarenb@co.clackamas.or.us or at the Development Services Building in Oregon City.  Comments will be accepted through Thursday, July 21.

The six proposed projects (listed in alphabetical order) are:

·        82^nd Avenue Boulevard between Monterey and Sunnyside; sponsored by Oregon Department of Transportation and Clackamas County -- Add median treatments, sidewalks, bike lanes, street lighting and bus shelters.  Request:  $2.969 million of the estimated $6 million of improvements

·        Boones Ferry Road/Lake Grove Town Center Multi-Modal Improvements; sponsored by City of Lake Oswego – Reconstruct cross-section of Boones Ferry Road from Kruse Way to Madrona, adding bike lanes, sidewalks, planting strips, mid-block pedestrian crossings and a greenstreet median to treat stormwater.  Request:  $1.5 million for preliminary engineering.

·        I-205 Multi-Use Trail; sponsored by City of West Linn – Improve pedestrian and bicycle mobility from 10^th St/Salamo Rd in West Linn to 11^th St/Main St in Oregon City.  Request:  $1.55 million for project development and construction.

·        Mt. Scott Creek Trail Extension; sponsored by City of Happy Valley and North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District – Create a safe, alternate pedestrian route from the trail/footbridge west of 122^nd/129^th Ave, west to Southern Lites Park, south under Sunnyside Rd to Mt. Talbert Nature Park.  Request:  $180,000 for project development and design.

·        Regional Freight Intelligent Transportation System Project; sponsored by Clackamas County – Improve freight mobility in congested subareas of the Clackamas Industrial Area with improved signal equipment, signal timing and minor roadway improvements.  Request:  $790,000 for development and construction.

·        SE 17^th Avenue Multi-Use Regional Trail Connection; sponsored by City of Milwaukie, North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District, Metro – Construct a trail on the west side of SE 17^th Ave to connect the Trolley Trail and Springwater Corridor.  Request:  $3 million, to complete the $3.4 million project.

The projects, which are in various stages of planning, were proposed by individual jurisdictions, and reviewed and moved forward by the Clackamas Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC), with input from the Regional Freight Advisory Committee and the Clackamas County Pedestrian/Bicycle Advisory Committee.  Recommendations on which projects to fund will be made by the County and cities. The final decision will be made at the regional level.

More information is available here or by contacting Clackamas County Transportation Planning Supervisor Karen Buehrig atkarenb@co.clackamas.or.us or 503-742-4683.

Free Haircuts in Jennings Lodge, tomorrow and Friday

The Supercuts on SE McLoughlin across from Roake's and Buster's offers free haircuts to men and women. They have 6 stylists that need to be trained.  Thursday 9 to 4. Friday 9 to 3:45. If you have any questions call at 503-654-5534.

The Mystery in Mist

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/06/15-high-profile-sites-that-google-doesnt-want-you-to-see/240766/#slide11  shows a blank spot in Google Maps over in Mist. Any ideas? Neal Goldschmidt's secret love pad?

Your Lives Were At Risk, He Was Asleep At The Switch

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/05/post_86.html reveals the supervisor at Portland's Bureau of Emergency Communications did not know how to activate a reverse 9-1-1 phone system that could have warned nearby residents last week of chemical fumes escaping from Precision Castparts, according to a city review of what went wrong.

The BOEC supervisor on duty contacted the wrong bureau to activate the system. The supervisor contacted the Portland Police Bureau to put in place its Portland Emergency Notification System, but that system became defunct in July 2009, the city analysis showed.

The BOEC supervisor was not aware that Portland's new FirstCall system was activated in December 2010, under the oversight of Portland's Office of Emergency Management.

The incident started Wednesday with a power outage at Precision Castparts, located where boundaries for Milwaukie, Portland and unincorporated Clackamas County converge on Southeast Johnson Creek Boulevard.

After the electricity went out, the company switched to a backup generator but was unable to power up the pollution-control equipment, resulting in release of a cloud that consisted of hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid fumes and nitrogen dioxide, according to incident reports and DEQ officials.

"During the incident there was a lack of adequate and clear communication between the multiple agencies as it related to the community notification system,'' the city's analysis said. 

Further, BOEC and Portland's Office of Emergency Management lacked clear written protocols for activating the new FirstCall system. The system is managed by POEM and the Portland Water Bureau. When activated, it can notify residents in a geographic area through published land line phone numbers, unpublished numbers, cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses that residents allow into the system.

The emergency management bureau tested the system in the Johnson Creek area of Southeast Portland on April 27. But the final approval of the warning system is not scheduled to be adopted by the City Council until the end of June, city reports show.

The analysis found that additional training is needed on the new system and the steps to activate it. Training will be provided to BOEC and Portland's public safety and emergency response bureaus. 

In the wake of last week's incident, city policy has been updated to clarify procedures for activating the reverse 9-1-1 system. Requests for activation must now be coordinated through POEM, via the POEM duty officer or POEM director. BOEC will also now come up with internal protocols for its use and activation, according to the city analysis.

The city also tonight released a time line of what occurred last Wednesday night, showing that by the time officials figured out who was responsible for activating the system, it was too late.