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Monday Mailing Quote of the Week: "Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better." ~Martin Luther King Jr. Oregon Fast Fact: At 11,239 feet Mount Hood stands as the tallest peak in Oregon. Mount Hood is a dormant volcano.

Year 20 • Issue 34 19 May 2014 1. I Went to the Nutritionists' Annual Confab. It Was Catered by McDonald's.

2. UVa Scientists to Study Impact of Land Use on Climate Change 3. Timber Project Derailed, For Now 4. Hazards Related Web Resources 5. These Solar Roads Could Power The Entire Country 6. Portland Is First U.S. City to Divest Funds from Walmart 7. Rural Oregon Stakeholder Listening Sessions 8. Summertime in the School Garden: Exploring Opportunities to Support and Share Your School Garden-Webinar 9. Integrated Local Food System can Grow the Market 10. An Economic Defense of Old Buildings 11. Biking to Work Increases 60 Percent Over Last Decade, Census Bureau Reports 1. I Went to the Nutritionists' Annual Confab. It Was Catered by McDonald's.

One recent Friday afternoon, in a Mariott Hotel ballroom in Pomona, California, I watched two women skeptically evaluate their McDonald's lunches. One peered into a plastic bowl containing a salad of lettuce, bacon, chicken, cheese, and ranch dressing. The other arranged two chocolate chip cookies and a yogurt parfait on a napkin. "Eww," she said, gingerly stirring the layers of yogurt and pink strawberry goop.

The woman with the salad nodded in agreement, poking at a wan chicken strip with her plastic fork.

When I asked how they were liking their lunches, both women grimaced and assured me that they "never" go to McDonald's. So why were they eating it today? Well, they didn't really have a choice. The women were registered dietitians halfway through day two of the annual conference of the California Dietetic Association (CDA). They were hoping to rack up some of the continuing education credits they needed to maintain their certification. McDonald's, the conference's featured sponsor, was the sole provider of lunch. "I guess it's good to know that they have healthier options now," said the woman with the salad.

To access the full story, click here.

2. UVa Scientists to Study Impact of Land Use on Climate Change University of Virginia scientists will lead a mapping and modeling project that could help answer an important question in climate change research: How does land use affect the planet’s climate?

“There are global implications for every land use decision,” said Deborah Lawrence, an environmental scientist at UVa. Most of these decisions are made in terms of economics; Lawrence said she wants to get the international community talking about the way those decisions

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— clearing forest to make way for agriculture or urban areas, for example — fit into the context of climate change.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Timber Project Derailed, For Now The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a timber project in Northeast Oregon must be enjoined, but the scope of the injunction has yet to be determined.

A major timber project in a Northeast Oregon national forest will be enjoined, but the impact on logging remains unclear.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service unlawfully approved the 29,000-acre project in Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that the Snow Basin thinning and fuels treatment project should be enjoined, but has not specified the scope of the injunction.

To access the full story, click here.

4. Hazards Related Web Resources 2014 America’s Most Endangered Rivers The San Joaquin, the upper Colorado, and the middle Mississippi have been granted the dubious distinction by the nonprofit American Rivers of being this year’s three most endangered rivers in the United States. The conservation organization has monitored and reported on the state of U.S. rivers for 30 years. The report considers the significance of the rivers to humans, the magnitude of the threat, and the ability of the public to effect change in the coming year. Check out the report for a full list of rivers that are threatened—and what to do about it.

The CDC Climate Ready States and Cities Initiative Experts have predicted the impacts of climate change will take a toll on human health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing something about it. This initiative, currently active in 16 states and 2 cities, uses atmospheric and epidemiological models to predict health impacts in an area, assess vulnerability, and then prepare for and respond to the effects of climate change. Visit the site for more on the CDC framework used in the initiative and to see the efforts of the cities and states currently participating in the program.

Directory of FEMA Earthquake Partners If earthquakes are on your mind, you’ll want to tap into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s extensive network of partners working and providing resources in the field. This freshly updated directory lists more than 300 organizations that can be of help in various ways, including providing information and helping promote awareness efforts.

Connecting America: Building Resilience with Social Media

This report is the result of efforts by the Center for National Policy to understand how to better promote resilience and what tools work best for helping Americans respond and adapt to natural disaster. The report finds that the values of resilience are easily communicated using social media and are closely aligned with group values of social media users. Authors recommend updating the Emergency Broadcast System, maintaining Social Media Emergency Operations Centers, and developing critical network notifications as ways to more fully envelop social media into emergency preparedness and response.

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5. These Solar Roads Could Power The Entire Country There are nearly 18,000 square miles of roads in the U.S., an area that’s bigger than the entire states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined. By some estimates, there are also as many as 2 billion parking spaces. Since most of that pavement is soaking up sun all day long, a couple of entrepreneurs had an idea: Why not put it to use generating solar power?

The Solar Roadways project, now crowdfunding on Indiegogo, hopes to re-pave the country in custom, glass-covered solar panels that are strong enough to drive on while generating enough power to light the road, melt ice and snow, and send extra energy to cities. Eventually, if every paved surface was covered in the product, the panels would produce more power than the nation uses.

The project began eight years ago, when founders Scott and Julie Brusaw decided to take a chance on developing an idea that no one thought would work. "Driving on glass had never been done," says Scott Brusaw. "We had a few big hurdles in the beginning. How do you put a traction surface on glass so the first time it rains everybody doesn’t slide off the road? How do you make glass tough enough to withstand the weight of 18-wheelers? What happens if someone’s walking out of Home Depot and drops an eight-pound sledgehammer?"

To access the full story, click here.

6. Portland Is First U.S. City to Divest Funds from Walmart On Thursday, May 15, the city of Portland, Oregon got rid of $9 million, or 25 percent of its investments in Walmart. This marks the beginning of a divestment program that will purge Portland's investment portfolio of $36 million in Walmart bonds by 2016, according to a press release. The divestment plan is part of the city's responsible investment initiative, introduced by City Commissioner Steve Novick, and adopted in October 2013. The initiative also prohibits the city from purchasing Walmart bonds in the future.

Portland is not only discontinuing its investments in Walmart, but has set up a committee to advise it on making socially responsible investments in the future. The committee will address issues like abusive labor practices, corruption, and health concerns, among other things.

To access the full story, click here.

7. Rural Oregon Stakeholder Listening Sessions Leaders from Oregon Health & Science University and across the state have begun to develop an inter-professional campus that will impact rural communities throughout Oregon. A listening tour will guide the process and engage stakeholders involved in workforce development, community health outcomes, health professional education and health care delivery systems.

We have heard from many communities that we weren’t able to reach on this first round of listening tours. Please let us know if we can add you to our stakeholder regional lists so that we can update you on our progress. We hope to schedule additional listening tours later this summer or early fall.

You are invited to participate in the listening tour. Detailed information about the venues will be available soon. Mark your calendar now and RSVP for this important session now. Email your RSVP to Meredith Lair, neoahec@eou.edu. For additional information call 541.962.3422.

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Listening Session dates & Locations 5/19 6:00PM Clatsop Community College - Columbia Hall Room 219 1651 Lexington Avenue, Astoria 5/20 6:00PM Community Health Education Building 3950 Sherman, North Bend 5/21 6:00PM Crook County Open Campus 510 SE Lynn Blvd, Prineville 5/22 7:30AM Blue Mountain Hospital 170 Ford Road, John Day 5/28 7:30AM Eastern Oregon Medical Associates 3950 17th Street, Baker City 5/28 6:00PM Blue Mountain Community College – Science & Technology Building Room 200 2411 NW Carden Avenue, Pendleton 5/29 6:00PM Mercy Medical Center Education Building 2460 NW Stewart Parkway, Roseburg 5/30 7:30AM Grants Pass Public Library 200 NW C Street, Grants Pass 8. Summertime in the School Garden: Exploring Opportunities to Support and Share Your School Garden-Webinar Wednesday, May 28, 2014/1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (Pacific Time) Summertime presents both unique challenges and important opportunities when it comes to school gardens. Who takes care of the garden when school is out? How can the school garden be connected to summer learning and healthy food access opportunities? In our community’s next webinar, Mary Stein, Associate Director of the National Farm to School Network, hosts two partners from the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and the USDA-FNS for a discussion of various aspects of school gardens in summer. You will hear examples of how school gardens across the country are connecting to important summer feeding program sites and other out-of-school Page 4 of 6

educational opportunities. Then, learn about how Cooperative Extension, Master Gardeners, YMCAs, universities, parent coalitions and more can connect your school garden to the community during the summer break. Join us on May 28th for ideas and steps to take to connect with community partners to make the most of your school garden during the summer months.

For more information, click here.

9. Integrated Local Food System can Grow the Market The smell of baking dinner rolls fills the kitchen at Decorah High School in northeast Iowa. As two kitchen workers mix a fresh broccoli salad, another, Chad Elliott, ladles tomato soup from a large metal pot on the stove into white plastic buckets for delivery to the town’s elementary schools.

Elliott says most of the food served in the district is made from scratch and many ingredients come from local farms and dairies.

“We’re getting local yogurt now, local beef, locally processed pork,” Elliott said. “We can get anything: tomatoes, cabbage, squash, watermelons, cantaloupe.”

He starts working with area farmers well in advance so they can plant with the school market in mind. And now, a regional food hub that acts as a matchmaker between farmers and buyers makes the connection even easier.

“We can call the food hub and they’ll take care of it for us,” Elliott said, “so it’s really easy to get ahold of locally grown stuff now.”

From the launch of the local food effort in northeast Iowa nine years ago, producers have worked alongside buyers to push for a robust system that integrates local food into everyday life. It takes a lot of work from many different partners to establish and maintain a local food system, but the sixcounty region in rural Iowa has brought together producers, consumers, schools, businesses and area non-profits to create a strong one that may ultimately serve as a model for other communities.

To access the full story, click here.

10. An Economic Defense of Old Buildings Jane Jacobs, a woman akin to the patron saint of urban planners, first argued 50 years ago that healthy neighborhoods need old buildings. Aging, creaky, faded, "charming" buildings. Retired couples and young families need the cheap rent they promise. Small businesses need the cramped offices they contain. Streets need the diversity created not just when different people coexist, but when buildings of varying vintage do, too.

"Cities need old buildings so badly," Jacobs wrote in her classic "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," "it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.”

Ever since, this idea -- based on the intuition of a woman who was surveying her own New York Greenwich Village neighborhood -- has been received wisdom among planners and urban theorists.

But what happens when we look at the data?

To access the full story, click here.

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11. Biking to Work Increases 60 Percent Over Last Decade, Census Bureau Reports Many U.S. cities are seeing an increase in bicycle commuters, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. Nationwide, the number of people who traveled to work by bike increased roughly 60 percent over the last decade, from about 488,000 in 2000 to about 786,000 during the 2008-2012 period. This is the largest percentage increase of all commuting modes tracked by the 2000 Census and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey.

Today the Census Bureau also released a new commuting edition of the interactive map Census Explorer, which gives Web visitors easy click-and-zoom access to commuting statistics for every neighborhood in the U.S. It also shows how commuting has changed since 1990 at the neighborhood, county and state level — including how long it takes to get to work, commutes longer than an hour, and number of bikers. This edition of Census Explorer uses statistics from the American Community Survey, the best national source of commuting statistics down to the neighborhood level.

"In recent years, many communities have taken steps to support more transportation options, such as bicycling and walking," said Brian McKenzie, a Census Bureau sociologist and the report's author.

"For example, many cities have invested in bike share programs, bike lanes and more pedestrianfriendly streets."

While bicyclists still account for just 0.6 percent of all commuters, some of the nation's largest cities have more than doubled their rates since 2000. Portland, Ore., had the highest bicycle-commuting rate at 6.1 percent, up from 1.8 percent in 2000. In Minneapolis, the rate increased from 1.9 percent to 4.1 percent.

The report also looks at the number of people who walk to work. After steadily decreasing since 1980, the percent of people who walk to work has stabilized since 2000. In 1980, 5.6 percent of workers walked to work, and that rate declined to 2.9 percent by 2000. However, in the 2008-2012 period, the rate of walkers remained statistically unchanged from 2000. Among larger cities, Boston had the highest rate of walking to work at 15.1 percent.

The report, "Modes Less Traveled — Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 20082012," highlights the trends and socio-economic and geographic differences between motorized and nonmotorized commutes. This report — the Census Bureau's first focusing only on biking and walking to work — is one of many that examines specific aspects of commuting, including workplace location, working from home, long commutes and specific travel modes.

To access the full story, click here.

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