Craig Pridemore gets environmental
legislator of the year designation

First-term State Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-49th) has been named Environmental Legislator of the Year by the Washington Conservation Voters.

According to the statewide environmental organization, which just released its legislative report card: “Senator Craig Pridemore is not your typical first-term legislator, and he is anything but ordinary when it comes to championing the environment. As a former Clark County commissioner, Senator Pridemore brought with him many years of experience on environmental issues, including growth management and transportation. In just his second year in Olympia, he has used that experience to chalk up numerous victories on environmental community priorities.”

Pridemore’s biggest success in 2006 was groundbreaking legislation to establish an electronics waste recycling program. He served as prime sponsor of, and a key driving force, behind this bill, which will keep the toxic waste from old computer monitors and television sets out of our landfills.

Pridemore is a member of the Water, Energy & Environment Committee and the Ways & Means Committee.

Pridemore was given a 100 on his report card. State Rep. Deb Wallace (D-17th) who received a Good Green Deeds award from the conservation voters organization, was given a 92 on her report card. State Rep. Jim Moeller (D-49th) earned a perfect 100. State Rep. Bill Fromhold (D-49th) was given a report card score of 92.

Clark College weekend concerts
include Matt Doran world premier

Clark College music organizations present two concerts this weekend, the second of which introduces the world premier of Variations for Orchestra, composed by Vancouver’s Matt Doran.

Doran’s work, commissioned for the Clark College Orchestra, will be presented by the orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 11, in the Royal Durst Theatre in the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, 3201 Main Street.

Doran, who lives in Vancouver with his wife, Therese, teaches piano and flute to private students. Doran, who was the first person to earn a doctorate of musical arts (composition) from the University of Southern California, has composed 217 works, including 10 operas and six symphonies.

The Sunday concert, directed by Donald Appert, includes Berloiz’s Roman Carnival Overture and Franck’s The Accursed Huntsman.

At 7:30 p.m. this evening, also in the Royal Durst Theatre, the Clark College Concert Choir, directed by Gordon Trousdale, and the college Concert Band, directed by Charles Ramsey, present the college music department’s annual spring concert.

With a “loose connection between love and death,” the program previews the works that the choir and concert band will present on tour later this month in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

There is no charge for either concert, but donations to the college music scholarship fund will be accepted.

Support group formed
to push casino project

An estimated 250 supporters of the proposed Cowlitz Casino Resort met for breakfast yesterday to form Friends of the Cowlitz Tribe, in support of the tribal proposal to build a casino, hotel and tribal offices on 152 acres near La Center.

According to one of the local spokespersons for the group, Kathy Frazier, there are an estimated 3,000 persons who have expressed support for the casino project.

Frazier said that another meeting of the group is expected to be held prior to the two days of public meetings being held at Skyview High School June 14 and 15, to discuss the completed draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Vancouver longshoreman Cager Clabaugh, representing the Clark Skamania and West Klickitat Labor Council, said today that “a chance to create a powerful and competitive economy, and bring thousands of good paying jobs with full health benefits to Clark County, is a-once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”

The Cowlitz have signed several memorandums of agreement with county organizations, including one with the labor council, that assures organized labor involvement in construction of the huge casino and resort.

Spokesman for the tribe, Philip Harju, said that the tribe will be paying its fair share to the county by financing road improvements, mitigating traffic safety issues, offsetting tax revenues on the land and paying for government services like police, fire and schools, all the while helping to make the tribe become self-sufficient.

The new group has a website at www.friendsofthecowlitztribe.com. The Cowlitz Casino website is www.cowlitzcasino.com. The Cowlitz Tribal website is www.cowlitz.org.

Museum remodeling
set to begin Monday

Groundbreaking for a remodeling project at the 98-year-old Carnegie Library building at 1511 Main Street, that has been the Clark County Historical Museum since 1964, is set for 10 a.m. Monday, June 12.

The remodeling of the building, said to have been the first electrified building in Vancouver, will provide ready access to all of the public, according to museum executive director Susan Tissot. Work, which includes addition of an outdoor brick elevator shaft and elevator, as well as a new walkway, will be completed in about five months.

News brief

Azumano Travel has been rated the top travel agency on the west coast and is largest minority-owned travel agency in the nation, according to sales data compiled by the Airlines Reporting Corporation. The Portland-based organization, which has an office in Vancouver, did over $162 million in sales last year, making it the 12th largest travel agency in the U.S.

Calendar

A kids’ health and safety fair is being held at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, 2211 NE 139th Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 10. A wide range of events and activities are planned, including the sale and fitting of bicycle and skateboard helmets for $5, and an exchange of mercury thermometers for digital thermometers. For further information, call 487-1020. n Fort Vancouver Television crews will be taping Father’s Day greetings at the Vancouver Farmers market between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 10, reports FVTV volunteer Ken McCoy. Three-minute digital greetings will be aired on FVTV, Channel 11, throughout the following week. For further information, call McCoy at 696-4699. n The West Columbia Gorge Humane Society is conducting a $20 pet microchipping clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 10, in the Cascade Park PETCO, 305 SE Chkalov Drive. A licensed veterinarian is in attendance. No appointment is required. Call 835-3464 for further information.

Headlines at home and from around the world: (Click on the headlines below for the rest of the story)

Friday on the air            T.O.D.A.Y. Foundation Award Banquet (6/6)—4 p.m. CVTV    Residential design Standards (6/6)—5:30 p.m. CVTV    Animal Control Hearings (5/25)—7 p.m. CVTV    Portland Beavers at Sacramento (live)—7 p.m. KKAD    Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles (live)—7 p.m. FSN, KFXX    Hazel Dell Parade of Bands (5/20)—11 p.m. CVTV

Town Tabloids and the weather Hal Dengerink doing very well indeed. n Troy Van Dinter taking care of details. n Wally Horenberger recognizing peers. n Kim Pittman-Schultz saying hello. n Gail Spolar reciting all good news. n Roxane Sutherland stepping down with aplomb. n Jo England making new friends. n Jada Rupley upbeat, as usual. n Friday, some sun, possible sprinkles, 69. Saturday, buttermilk sky, 73. Sunday, mostly sunny, 80.

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