Did you know?
One out of every three C-TRAN riders uses the Fourth Plain Boulevard transit corridor. With over 6,000 trips provided each day it is the highest ridership corridor within C-TRAN's system. In recent years, transit travel within the corridor has suffered with longer and more unpredictable travel times caused by traffic congestion, bus overcrowding and difficulty getting to and from bus stops. C-TRAN is attempting to solve these problems through the Fourth Plain Transit Improvement Project whose planning effort is funded by a Federal Transit Administration grant.
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the community is invited to participate in a design workshop to help craft transit solutions for the Fourth Plain corridor. The Wednesday workshop takes place at Clark College's Gaiser Hall Student Center on Fort Vancouver Way, between Fourth Plain and McLoughlin boulevards in Vancouver; and the Saturday workshop will be held at the C-TRAN's Administrative Office, located at 2425 N.E. 65th Ave., Vancouver.
Breakout sessions will allow participants to choose which part of Fort Vancouver Way and Fourth Plain they would like to help design, while real-time design visuals will be displayed for participants to have an immediate vision of their transit solutions. The workshop also provides participants with a brief overview as to why transit improvements are needed along Fourth Plain Boulevard and a basic understanding of how Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operates.
At their November meeting, the C-TRAN Board of Directors approved lane concepts for BRT and design parameters for Forth Plain Boulevard. As a result, the project is now moving towards the development of both BRT and non-BRT solutions for further evaluation. The transit solutions that result from this workshop will be presented to the project's Corridor Advisory Committee and Project Management Team in early December.
The top two or three options that surface during this planning phase will be evaluated over the next six to eight months, with a final decision on the preferred alternative expected by the C-TRAN Board of Directors in the summer of 2012. C-TRAN will then begin seeking federal funding to design and eventually build the selected transit project. Local funding for construction, operation and maintenance costs for the tr ansit line will be included in a potential ballot measure in the fall of 2012.
Here are a couple of suggestions for buying local this holiday season, from our gift guide in the new North Bank Magazine, out on stands today!
Vancouver-based Suburban Contessa offers three flavors of caramel corn that are available through its website and at stores throughout the region. In addition to the purveyor’s Traditional Caramel Corn, Sweet with Heat is Traditional with added pepper, and Sweet and Salty is Traditional with Hawaiian sea salt, just rolled out in September. The popped corn is available in 6 oz. bags for $5.25, and a variety gift pack featuring a bag of each for $14.95.
A trip to this restaurant is a gift to the whole family. A laid-back atmosphere and kids’ area will make anyone who walks in the door feel comfortable. And the pizza (local, seasonal ingredients plus brilliant pairings) will make you feel like you’ve died and gone to a four-star restaurant in a big ol’ city. As for gifts, I recommend a gift certificate of any size, a T-shirt featuring Solstice’s gorgeous logo, or a quart of the famous Moroccan Beef Stew. Bonus! Among the 50 best pies in the country, according to Food Network Magazine: Solstice’s Country Girl Cherry pizza.
Navidi’s Oils and Vinegars
322 N.E. Cedar St., Camas
www.navidioils.com
360-210-5921 | Facebook
Give salt of the earth for a gift this year. Navidi’s Oils and Vinegars has an impressive selection of just what their name says, but don’t miss the gourmet sea salts, almost two dozen of which are available, including White Truffle, Alaea Red, Cyprus Flake and Northwest Alderwood Smoked. Sea salt is a great alternative to table salt and a fun addition to the holiday feast.
story by jessica swanson | photo by nicholas shannon kulmac
Don’t tell me change is good. I have to taste it for myself.
When Main Street favorite, Je T’aime Bakery, owned by local restaurateur Claire Ghormley, made way for Bleu Door Bakery, my first response was “No! (Followed by dramatic gasp.) But it was time for Ghormley to move on and for Bonnie Gougér to expand her homegrown bakeshop, known for Brownies from Heaven.
On a trip to the bakery soon after it opened in October, I was delighted to see a packed case of French and American-inspired pastries, sandwiches, cookies and a rack full of classic rustic breads. The daily specials, including soup and quiche were listed on a lovely chalkboard.
The coffee selection – much expanded from its predecessor’s – now competes with (nay, trumps) the Starbucks located across the street. A full espresso menu at Bleu Door is available from Café Femenino, a fair trade line of coffees that help women worldwide. The attentive barista asked me if I wanted my cappuccino dry or wet. Dry, of course, but the attention to detail made me smile. In fact, the customer service was quite impeccable. (I can’t help but compare to a similar new business in the area, where I seem to have to repeat every aspect of my order at least once before it is made. “Did you say large? Did you say room for cream? Did you say you wanted that heated? Etc.)
I ordered a huge butter croissant (they only seemed to come in “huge”), a pear Danish (which is really more of a deep pastry dish holding a delectable stash of melty pear compote and light, sweet cheese), a blue cheese and mushroom frittata croissant sandwich, and a coffee chocolate chip scone. I topped it off with a rustic rosemary potato bread.
I brought all of these offerings back to the office to be photographed and to share with my coworkers. But by lunchtime I had eaten the scone and the frittata and had dug all of the pear and cheese out of the Danish in the name of “reviewing” the items.
Well, here’s the review: Yum! Thank you, Bleu Door! The photographer was pleased with his butter croissant, and the potato loaf is going home to family for further “review.”
(Update: Potato loaf was well-received! However, I went back a couple of days later to try a different version of the pear Danish. As I was purchasing it, I was told it was “the biggest pear Danish in the world” and they would be smaller in the future. Also, the traditional French pastry crust was dark and dense/chewy, rather than light and fluffy. So…maybe the kinks are still being worked out. Still, this won’t stop me from going back for the lunchtime Hungarian mushroom soup….)
Attention all volunteer-for-nature types! Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, would like to invite you to come out to help out. A celebration of Public Lands Day is planned for Sept. 24, 2011. Volunteers will clear overgrown vegetation, remove invasive weeds, fix trails, as well as construct and maintain facilities on the north side of the Monument. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. Follow signs along SR 504 to get there.
Come join us ready to get some work done. Bring boots, gloves and sunscreen. All activity levels are welcome. The Mount St. Helens Institute will provide a continental breakfast and coffee. Plan to stick around for a barbeque and raffle after the work-day at 3:30 p.m.
For more information on how to get involved with this and many other events celebrating National Public Lands Day, please go to:
http://www.publiclandsday.org/npld-sites/search?state=Washington.
On Sept. 24, fees will be waived at day use sites operated by the Forest Service only. No fees will be waived at recreation rentals and campgrounds. Johnston Ridge Observatory will also be free to enter this day.
Washington State University Vancouver will screen four movies during its 2011 Diversity Film Festival themed "Diversity and Disabilities: Celebrating the Abilities in Us All." Films will be shown at 4 p.m. Sept 12 – 15 in the Dengerink Administrative building, room 110. Admission is free and this event is open to the public. Each film highlights different disabilities including those considered physical, cognitive, familiar or extraordinary.
"Wretches & Jabberers"
Today, Monday, Sept. 12
In "Wretches & Jabberers" two men with autism embark on a global quest to change attitudes about disability and intelligence. At each stop they dissect public attitudes about autism and issue a hopeful challenge to reconsider competency and the future.
"Blindsight"
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, Blindsight Follows the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers who set out to climb the 23,000-foot Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest. A dangerous journey soon becomes a seemingly impossible challenge made all the more remarkable by the fact that the teenagers are blind.
"Music Within"
Wednesday, Sept. 14
Richard Pimentel was always a great public speaker with a winning personality, but when he tries out for the country's top debate team and is rejected, he takes his shattered dreams to the Army for a tour of duty in Vietnam. When a bomb blast takes his hearing, he returns home to become a groundbreaking speaker and campaigner on behalf of the rights of everyone with a disability including his fellow vets.
"For Once in My Life"
Thursday, Sept. 15
This documentary is about a unique band of singers and musicians and their journey to show the world the greatness-and killer soundtrack-within each of them. The band members have a wide range of mental and physical disabilities-as well as musical abilities that extend into ranges of pure genius. The film's Director, Jim Bigham, will be a special guest at the screening.
WSU Vancouver's Diversity Council sponsors the Diversity Film Festival annually. For more information, visit www.events.vancouver.wsu.edu.
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