Monday Mailing Quote of the Week: “We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Oregon Fast Fact: Some of the earliest rhinoceros fossils in the world were found in the John Day fossil beds.
Year 21 • Issue 11 17 November 2014 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Wilderness Plan Wins Support Street Signs Get Historic Flair 5 Ways to Overcome Barriers to Youth Engagement Youth Issues, Youth Voices: A Guide for Engaging Youth and Adults in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving Streetmix Tool Helps You Show, Tell, Convince Travel Oregon 101 Novus Pacific to Build Full-Scale Oregon Renewable Energy Plant Car, Freight, Bike and transit Advocates Agree to Back Oregon Gas Tax or Fee Hike in 2015 Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists? Don’t Ask How to Feed the 9 Billion Funding Opportunities
1. Wilderness Plan Wins Support BEND — A proposed federal wilderness area encircling Oregon’s Painted Hills has won the backing of local leaders, but a lot more needs to happen for it to be created. The Wheeler County Court and the city of Mitchell recently voted to support the Sutton Mountain Wilderness. The federal designation of a wilderness, however, requires an act of Congress and approval by the president. The proposed wilderness would cover nearly 60,000 acres around and in the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, The Bend Bulletin reported. “It is an area with amazing views, vistas, it has really important wildlife habitat, (for) mule deer and Rocky Mountain elk, and because of the geology of the area it has some rare plants that aren’t found anywhere else in the world,” said Brent Fenty, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association. To access the full story, click here. 2. Street Signs Get Historic Flair Walking around downtown Astoria, you might notice the fading green and white street signs dating back to the 1980s, with their oversized, aftermarket, off-color toppers with Astoria’s city seal. “How does this represent downtown, because now we’re a national historic district?” asked Pete Gimre, owner of Gimre’s Shoes on 14th Street. Now after a three-year effort, Astoria will soon get signs to match its downtown’s distinction as a National Register Historic District and a Performing Main Street, the highest rung in the state’s Oregon Main Street downtown revitalization program.
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During a recent interview about crosswalks along U.S. Highway 30, City Engineer Jeff Harrington brought out the first examples of downtown’s new street signs. The larger, unibody street signs are brown with white lettering. A built-in, mantle clock-shaped topper encases the designation “National Historic District” and the city seal above the street name. To access the full story, click here. 3. 5 Ways to Overcome Barriers to Youth Engagement The reality today is that most positions of power are held by adults. So this is our challenge to you – adults with any kind of power: take youth engagement to the next level. Many of you are already working to try to engage more young people, and no doubt this is a step in the right direction. But, you may be running across challenges you haven’t found solutions for yet. We’ve compiled a list of five common challenges, along with possible solutions you can implement right away. It’s important to note that young people aren’t the only ones that might face some of these challenges. When you address these barriers, you’re being inclusive of many groups of people. To access the full story, click here. 4. Youth Issues, Youth Voices: A Guide for Engaging Youth and Adults in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving To access this multiple-session discussion guide to help young people and adults address the community issues which involve and impact them, click here. 5. Streetmix Tool Helps You Show, Tell, Convince At APBP’s first virtual Complete Streets Design Practicum, veteran Complete Streets workshop instructors Jeff Riegner, AICP, PE, PTOE (Whitman, Requardt Associates) and Paul Zykofsky (Local Government Commission) showed how to balance the needs of multiple modes and users in three transportation/land use contexts. They envisioned design options using Streetmix (new free tool) and analyzed those plans vis-a-vis current design guides (ITE/CNU, NACTO and AASHTO). See webinar recording of their engaging engineer-planner conversation here (free to APBP members). 6. Travel Oregon 101 What is Travel Oregon 101? This FREE seminar offers an overview of Oregon’s tourism and hospitality industry, designed to help visitor-related organizations and businesses take advantage of the many opportunities offered by Travel Oregon. Find out how to partner with other industry members around the state to maximize your exposure to visitors. Every attendee receives a resource packet brimming with information and contacts for future reference. Register to attend one of these sessions, which occur throughout the year. If you can’t attend in person, sign up for a webinar. WHO SHOULD ATTEND TRAVEL OREGON 101? Convention & visitor bureaus and chambers of commerce staff (DMOs) Owners/managers of lodging properties, restaurants and visitor attractions Organizations producing events that attract visitors Economic development staff of government agencies at all levels Tour operators, visitor services of all types Staff of heritage organizations, museums and interpretive centers
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WHAT WILL YOU LEARN? How to get looped into the tourism industry’s communication system (at the local, regional, statewide, national and international levels) How to let Travel Oregon know you’re out there and ready for visitors Programs and services Travel Oregon offers that help businesses, organizations and communities draw more visitors 2014 SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING SESSIONS December 8, 2014 – Sandy, OR – 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Register Now If you would like to be informed as new details are available, please send your request toPatti@TravelOregon.com. 7. Novus Pacific to Build Full-Scale Oregon Renewable Energy Plant Novus Pacific LLC will soon break ground on an approximately $20 million renewable energy plant at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon, upon finalizing its financial package. About one year after commencement, the plant is expected to produce biogas, organic fertilizer and clean water for sale as valuable commodities derived primarily from onion and potato waste. Novus Energy has been testing its trademarked Novus Bio-Catalytic (NBC) system on a mobile, 50foot semi-trailer-mounted demonstration plant. According to Jeff Zierdt, vice president of process operations with Novus, it was time to move forward with a full-scale plant. “It is really the right time, we’re a leading-edge technology; it’s a sweet spot in terms of the alternative fuels, the low-carbon economy that people are pushing towards, and we’ll have a positive impact on the climate,” Zierdt said. To access the full story, click here. 8. Car, Freight, Bike and transit Advocates Agree to Back Oregon Gas Tax or Fee Hike in 2015 Oregon’s 2015 legislative session is sure to include lots of plot twists for transportation policy. But at least among the key lobbyists, a grand bargain has been struck. A group of advocates for biking, driving, urban density, public health, the gasoline industry, truck freight, rail fright, cities and public transit agencies — Oregon’s broadest-based organization of transportation interest groups — voted unanimously Thursday on the basic terms of a proposed transportation bill. The deal brokered by members of the Oregon Transportation Forum would use a gas tax and/or auto fee hike to raise hundreds of millions of dollars over two years for infrastructure around the state. To access the full story, click here. 9. Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists? EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Page 3 of 5
Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement. I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.” To access the full story, click here. 10. Don’t Ask How to Feed the 9 Billion At dinner with a friend the other night, I mentioned that I was giving a talk this week debunking the idea that we need to grow more food on a large scale so we can “feed the nine billion” — the anticipated global population by 2050. She looked at me, horrified, and said, “But how are you going to produce enough food to feed the hungry?” I suggested she try this exercise: “Put yourself in the poorest place you can think of. Imagine yourself in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example. Now. Are you hungry? Are you going to go hungry? Are you going to have a problem finding food?” To access the full story, click here. 11. Funding Opportunities Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Invites Entries From Creative Teens <http://e.foundationcenter.org/a/hBUXQ93B8ixfdB89ff1AACSSkzJ/rfpb18> - DEADLINE: Various Scholarships of up to $10,000 are available to talented teen artists and writers in the United States and Canada in twenty-eight categories.... GANNETT FOUNDATION is offering Community Action Grants to nonprofit organizations, with funding priority given to programs that focus on education and neighborhood improvement, economic development, youth development, community problem-solving, assistance to disadvantaged people, environmental conservation, and cultural enrichment. Deadline: 2/28/2015. Geographic coverage is limited to certain areas of 35 states and U.S. territories. Click here<http://rurallisc.cmail2.com/t/r-l-cqdruy-jrdkjkiilu-g/> to visit the Foundation’s Website for details. U.S. RURAL INFRASTRUTURAL OPPORTUNITY FUND The Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund is a collaborative effort between USDA, CoBank and Capitol Peak Asset Management. Capitol Peak Asset Management (CPAM) will manage the fund’s operation and recruit other investors. CoBank has pledged up to $10 billion of its balance sheet capacity to make loans inconjunction with the fund. USDA is helping to identify and prioritize projects that improve rural infrastructure. The program explicitly targets broadband projects along with other rural infrastructure programs. All applications are confidential.
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The purpose of the Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund is to serve as a new source of capital for rural infrastructure projects, promoting financing for critical infrastructure projects in rural America and the resulting creation of jobs in rural communities. The Fund is supported entirely by private sector dollars and offers a sustainable platform for new kinds of investors that traditionally have not participated in financing projects in these markets. The Fund is designed to complement existing government loan and grant programs by investing in a wide range of projects in Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rural communities. Its activities will include: * Recruiting new sources of private capital to support rural infrastructure projects, including pension funds, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds; * Serving as a co-lender for borrowers financing projects where government program limits or resource constraints warrant the fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement; and * Promoting private lending in support of projects capable of meeting market terms. Eligible Projects: Loans include a range of vital infrastructure programs to improve rural communities. Target investments will include rural community facilities (especially health care and educational facilities), rural water and wastewater systems, rural energy projects, rural broadband expansion efforts, local and regional food systems, and other rural infrastructure. Loans will only be provided for commercially available technology, with a preference for proven technology (e.g., it will be advantageous to point to other examples of similar projects to demonstrate low risk). While USDA may help identify projects, projects need not be vetted by USDA to secure a loan. The fund was launched in July 2014 and is currently accepting applications. Interested parties can apply through CPAM at http://www.capitol-peak.com look under contact us. Program staff emphasize that this is not a time-limited program. Project funding inquiries may be submitted at any time as the program is designed to operate as a sustainable investment platform.
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