Who’da thought? INTERNATIONAL / EUROPE   |  Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL The Irish have embraced the use of cloth bags to carry groceries, encouraged by a 33-cent tax on plastic ones. Maybe we need such a tax in Oregon. I was stunned by another story about the garbage dump in the Pacific that now reaches from Hawaii almost to Japan. It’s in an area that does not have much current so it just sits there, a big ugly in the ocean that consists largely of plastic in one form or another. Shopping at several grocery stores here, I have noticed that plastic is now banned in New Seasons (although there are still bags in produce) and Whole Foods, Fred Meyers is not far behind.  We got “points” with the checkout folks when we pulled out our cloth bags. And while we are at it, why do we have to have bottled water? That is another huge contribution to the Pacific dump. All that stuff we are throwing away has to go somewhere and plastic just moves to another part of the world.  Those bags can be recycled; collect them and take them to a recycle bin near you.

Save the date and support Neighborhood House by attending their annual fund raiser. This is the adopted charity for South Waterfront and so we invite you to be part of their excitement and use this opportunity to support their amazing programs.nh-animation-2008-save-the-date.pdf

Our own Linda K. Johnson and this month’s guest artisit, Adam Kuby, had a great interview in the Willamette Week this week regarding the Acupuncture Project.  Please read it here: http://wweek.com/editorial/3419/10668/

Visitors to South Waterfront and residents alike have a ringside seat from which to watch nesting Great Blue Herons at the South Waterfront. Join Mike Houck, Director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute and Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland’s Conservation Director, who will have spotting scopes on hand for close-up views of herons in their nests. Please bring your own binoculars and spotting scopes if you have one. The herons start their courtship and nest building in mid to late February, lay eggs in early April and the young are ready to leave their nests in early to mid-June. These spring and early summer nest viewing sessions will provide a great opportunity to track the Ross Island herons from egg laying, feeding young, and young trying out their wings, and finally observing first flight from their nesting colony. All heron nest watches are free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required. Nest watches will go on rain or shine.

The viewing area is just east of the Meriwether Condominiums on the temporary greenway path. The following is the schedule for the Heron viewings, which are also listed on the Community Events page of this website.

Saturday, March 22nd, 2 pm to 4 pm
Saturday, March 29th, noon to 2 pm
Friday, April 4th, 4 pm to 6 pm
Saturday, April 5th, 9 am to 11 am
Saturday, May 10th, 1 pm to 3 pm
Wednesday, May 14th, 5 pm to 7 pm
Wednesday, May 21st, 5 to 7 pm
Monday, June 2nd, 5 pm to 7 pm
Saturday, June 7th, Noon to 3 pm

Just a little FYI, the Portland Streetcar service south of Market St. will be interrupted from March 28th through March 30th 2008.  They will be laying the tracks for the MAX line that runs along SW 6th Ave., which will intersect with the Streetcar track.  Therefore the Streetcar will not run any further South during that weekend.  However there will be shuttle buses that will service the streetcar line.

Here are a couple of fliers provided by Portland Streetcar to help you navigate during that particular weekend.

streetcar-service-interruption-poster-2008.pdf

streetcar-with-lowell-ext-bus-bridge-2008.pdf

Below are upcoming open houses that will provide residents with the opportunity to give feedback and learn more about current transportation proposals. We hope to see many of you at these meetings.

• Portland - Milwaukie Light Rail Project

o Thursday, March 27th: 6 - 7:30 PM
o Umpqua Bank, 3606 SW Bond Ave.
o For the Flier and contact information, please click here.

• PDOT Survey on SWF Transportation Issues

o The City of Portland wants to learn more about transportation issues facing residents and employees of the South Waterfront district. Your feedback will help the city plan for and address transportation issues that are unique to the South Waterfront. This survey takes about 5 minutes, is completely confidential and should be taken by April 1st, 2008.
o If you have any questions, please contact Dan Bower with the Portland Office of Transportation - dan.bower@pdxtrans.org or 503.823.5667
o Please click here to take the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB227C7KHMQ9X

Thank you in advance for taking the time to help make our community better.