Jordon Crouch.

The fifth annual Jordan Crouch Memorial 5K Run/Walk is set for Saturday, Sept. 13. This will be the last year of the race, which begins/ends at Marine Park on the Waterfront in Vancouver and offers great river views with no vehicular traffic. Participants will receive goodie bags, snacks, beverages and t-shirts. Door prizes will be offered by Heathman Lodge, Beaches Restaurant, Les Schwab, Cinetopia, Starbucks, as well as gift baskets.

Crouch graduated from Skyview High School and Seattle Pacific University. His aspiration to establish a foundation to help students who need financial assistance was cut short when he unexpectedly passed away in 2010. The Jordan L. Crouch Scholarship Endowment was established to carry on what he started.

Registration is $25 if done online here by Monday, Sept. 1; $35 after Sept. 1 and $40 on race day. Check-in and registration begins at 8 a.m. and the race begins at 9 a.m. The race includes awards, medals, door prizes and refreshments. For more information, call 360-574-6353 or email jordo2010@gmail.com.

Mark Stephan, photo courtesy of WSUV.

Mark Stephan, associate professor of political science at WSU Vancouver is part of a collaborative research team receiving a National Science Foundation grant for a three-year study on state and local climate risk governance. Stephan is co-investigator, along with Dorothy Daley, associate professor of public affairs and environmental studies at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. The principal investigator is Troy D. Abel, associate professor of environmental policy at Western Washington University in Poulsbo.

“In the United States, in contrast with other countries, state and local governments and businesses are taking the lead in developing climate mitigation and adaptation policies, while the federal government has had a limited role until recently,” says Stephan. Only this year did the Obama administration propose greenhouse gas emissions for power plant emissions.

WSU Vancouver’s share of the grant, $99,646, will fund data collection and field work in six states as well as the hiring of a research assistant for the three years of the grant. Western Washington University will receive $218,121, and the University of Kansas, $227,255.

Plein Air is a French tradition where artists paint the landscape in the “open air.” In this case, on Friday, Sept. 5, in historic downtown Camas, several artists will line Fourth Ave. from Adams to Dallas Streets to “paint the town.” The community is invited to stroll along and watch the artists’ craft between 9 a.m. and 4 :30 p.m.

The art will then remain on display from 5 to 8 p.m. for First Friday. The evening will feature street vendors and musicians and after hours shopping. Participating merchants will also have art in their stores that you can enter to win and there will be kid art activities as well. Walking maps are available at most downtown shops.

These works of art will be auctioned off at the Camas in White dinner on Saturday, Sept. 6 to benefit the Camas Washougal Mural Project. For further details about the event, visit www.camasinwhite.com.