After more than a year of work on the Clackamas County Transportation System Plan (TSP) update, County residents, the TSP Public Advisory Committee and transportation experts identified more than 300 projects for roads, bridges, sidewalks and bikeways that will be needed by 2035 throughout unincorporated Clackamas County.

The objective of these projects is to help residents, business people and tourists travel safely, smoothly and reliably throughout the County.

Since funds will only be available for a small proportion of these projects, each project was evaluated and ranked based on vision, goals, objectives and evaluation criteria set last year by the Public Advisory Committee. On the basis of that evaluation, projects were prioritized into the following tiers:

• Tier 1: 20-Year Capital Projects –Those that can reasonably be undertaken within current estimates of available funding (approximately $444 million over 20 years).

• Tier 2: Preferred Capital Projects –Additional recommended projects the County hopes to undertake if additional funds become available (approximately $444 million over 20 years).

• Tier 3: Long-Term Capital Projects –Almost all other projects identified during this process. Although funds are not expected to be available for these projects during the next 20 years, these projects are still needed to meet the County’s projected transportation demands.

There are also a few projects recommended to be removed from the project list.

Maps and lists of the proposed projects and project priorities are available at the online open house, which is open through June 15.  Additional information about the TSP update process is available on the project website at www.clackamascountytsp.com.

For more information, contact Transportation Planning Supervisor Karen Buehrig at karenb@co.clackamas.or.us or 503.742.4683.

June 1 – Saturday from 1:00-2:30pm: Read to an elephant!  Read aloud to a friendly and furry elephant named Norman and improve your reading at the same time.  Call to sign up for a 15 minute session: 503.786.7588.

June 1 – Saturday at 2pm:  Mermaid craft.  Ages 5 & up

June 8 – Saturday from 10:30-11:45am:  Puppy Tales!  Read aloud to a therapy dog named Tempo and improve your reading at the same time. Call to sign up for a 15 minute session: 503.786.7588.

June 8 – Saturday at 2pm:  Postcards to decorate and mail.  Ages 5 & up

June 10 – Monday at 6:30pm:  Russian storytime.    Программа детского чтения на русском языке будет проходить один раз в месяц в библиотеке Milwaukie Ledding.  All ages.

June 15 – Saturday from 1:00-2:30pm: Read to an elephant!  Read aloud to a friendly and furry elephant named Norman and improve your reading at the same time.  Call to sign up for a 15 minute session: 503.786.7588.

June 15 – Sábado a las 2pm:  Hora de cuentos en español para los niños de todas las edades.

June 18 – Tuesday at 2pm:  Meet the Chief!  Milwaukie’s Police Chief Bob Jordan will answer kids questions about police work.  Ages 4 & up

June 19 – Wednesday at 2pm:  Great summer reads!  Booktalks for ages 8-11.

June 20 – Thursday at 2pm: Zampoña panflute performance by Gerardo Calderon. Ages 5 & up

June 22 – Saturday from 10:30-11:45am:  Puppy Tales!  Read aloud to a therapy dog named Tempo and improve your reading at the same time. Call to sign up for a 15 minute session: 503.786.7588.

June 25 – Tuesday at 2pm: X marks the spot!  Pirate scavenger hunt and craft. Ages 5 & up

June 25 – Tuesday at 4pm:  Book group with snacks.  Join us!  Ages 10 & up

June 27 – Thursday at 2pm:  Tears of Joy Theatre presents “Clever Quwi: the underground adventures of a trickster guinea pig,” a South American folktale.  Ages 4 & up

WEEKLY STORYTIMES & CRAFTS

Mondays at 1pm:  Book babies.  Ages 0-18 mths.

Tuesdays & Thursdays at 10:30am: Preschool storytime.  Ages 3-5.

Tuesdays from 6:00-7:00pm:  Drop-in arts & crafts.  All ages.

Wednesdays at 10:30am:  Toddler storytime.  Ages 1-3.

Wednesdays at 6:30pm:  Family storytime.  All ages.

The summer reading program “Dig into reading” begins on June 1.  Kids and teens of all ages are welcome to sign up and earn prizes for reading.  Simply come to the library to pick up a reading log.  The last day to sign up is August 8.

Cooperative Work Experience (CWE) at Clackamas Community College (CCC) connects students with area employers to gain valuable experience in their area of study. CCC will host an Employer Recognition event for employers involved with CWE students on Tuesday, June 11, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm in the Gregory Forum.

CWE is an internship program that enables students to earn college credit by working in a job directly related to their field of study. The experience links students, area employers and faculty advisers in valuable on-the-job learning.

The CWE experience offers expanding learning experiences through exposure to actual work situations, organizational relationships, equipment and techniques that can’t be replicated in the classroom. The program creates a vital bridge between college studies and workplace success.

The college also plans to survey employers working with CWE to gather information to improve the internship experience for both employers and students.

The June 11 event will include refreshments, a brief presentation on CWE and recognition of employers that work with the program. For information, please contact Pam Allen at pama@clackamas.edu.

Festival Latino activities include folk dancing, music, college tours, face painting, guest speakers and information from local agencies and vendors. This event is free to attend and open to the public.

CCC offers many opportunities for Spanish speakers to complete high school, improve English language skills and gain computer skills. CCC offers lower division collegiate courses, career and technical education leading to a job or job advancement, and workforce and business services.

CCC has campuses in Oregon City, Wilsonville and North Clackamas near Clackamas Town Center. ESL classes are also offered at community sites in Canby and Molalla.

For information, please contact instructor Camilo Sanchez at 503-594-3029 or camilos@clackamas.edu .

Both ceremonies begin at 7 p.m. in the Randall Hall gym. Seating at the graduation ceremonies is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors to graduation open at 6:15 p.m. both nights and will close at about 6:45 or when the Randall Gym reaches capacity. Overflow viewing is available in the McLoughlin Auditorium.

Each graduation service recognizes a number of outstanding graduates, as well as friends of the college.

Participants in graduation are asked to register online to help college staff plan for the ceremonies. To register or get additional information about graduation, please visit the CCC graduation website at http://www.clackamas.edu/Graduation/

Former Clackamas Community College (CCC) athletes and teams, as well as supporters in the community, will be honored at the fourth annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Alumni Reunion. The event will be held on Saturday, June 8, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm in the college’s Randall Gym.

Athletics are an important part of student life at CCC. The college offers 11 competitive sports that have won more than 50 championships over the college’s 47-year history. The college has produced a number of exceptional student-athletes and coaches. Athletic success at CCC has been fostered by many donors, sponsors, citizens, and athletic supporters.

Hall of Fame honorees are selected by a committee based on a number of criteria including both their stint at CCC and successes that may have followed. The Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2013 includes:

·         Dr. John Keyser, CCC president emeritus. Dr. Keyser was not only instrumental in transitioning the athletic programs to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) conference but helped foster and build the success of the Athletics Department in all aspects, including the establishment of tuition waiver opportunities,

·         Jim and Connie Olson, longtime CCC athletic supports and owners of Oregon City’s Jimmy O’s Pizza. The Olsons have given back to their community, not only with their hospitality but their financial contributions and support to all the athletic programs.

·         Kim Holum, softball 1991-1992. A member of the 1991-1992 softball championship team, and stand-out pitcher with a 17 win-2 loss pitching record. Holum proved herself both at CCC and Portland State University, still holding top 10 all-time records for career shutouts and career ERA. Returning to CCC, Holum is assistant coach for softball and teaches part time in the Science Department.

·         1991, 1992, 1993 softball teams, three-peat NWAACC champions.

·         David Daniels, mens’s basketball, 1989-1991. Daniels is a national and international athlete, who has competed professionally with stints in the FIBA World Championships, Canadian Olympic Team, NBA, CBA and Athletes in Action, and now continues his passion as a collegiate coach.

·         Bob Rapp, assistant softball coach and mentor, deceased. Rapp was a 10 year assistant coach and mentor for the CCC softball team, as well a long-time community activist.

Tickets for the banquet are $40 for an individual ticket or $500 for a table of eight. Tickets may be purchased online at www.clackamascougars.com/hof.asp.

For more information, please contact Kayla Steen, assistant athletic director, at 503-594-6394 or kaylas@clackamas.edu.

Relay volunteers will be canvassing the area with purple ribbons and bows and are asking the community to wear purple for the day.  Let them know if you would like to help. Many hands make for light work.

This year’s Relay For Life of North Clackamas will be held at Happy Valley Park from 10:00am Saturday, July 27 to 10:00am Sunday, July 28. Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, faith-based groups –people from all walks of life – all aimed at celebrating the lives of those who have had cancer, remembering those lost, and fighting back against the disease.  Relay For Life events are held as individuals and teams gather at an athletic track, park or other gathering area, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times throughout the evening. Teams do most of their fundraising prior to the event, but some teams also hold creative fundraisers at their Relay.

For more information on the Relay For Life of North Clackamas, or to order your purple bow, please contact Andrew Nordby at 503.680.5291, or anordbypdx@gmail.com.

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, thye fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. They save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.8 billion, they turn what they know about cancer into what they do. As a result, more than 13.7 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about them or to get help, call them anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has historically been one of the most dangerous maximum security prisons in the United States. A voluntary inmate hospice program initiated in 1998 has transformed the prison into one of the least violent.

“Grace Before Dying” is an award-winning photographic documentary by Lori Waselchuk that chronicles the prisoner-run hospice program at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. A community exhibition with quilts created by the hospice volunteers is on display in the Community Center at Clackamas Community College (CCC)  through June 28.

The powerful photographic display and the quilts not only show a culture of caring and compassion that challenges stereotypes of the incarcerated, but also provides an intimate and personal perspective on what long-term and life sentences signify for those inside.

Most of Angola’s inmates are expected to die there. Until the hospice program was created, prisoners died mostly alone in the prison hospital, and their bodies were buried in shoddy graves in the prison cemetery. The nationally recognized hospice program has changed that.

Now, when a terminally ill inmate is too sick to live among the general prison population, he is transferred to the hospice ward. Here, inmate volunteers work closely with hospital and security staff to care for the patient. The volunteers, most of whom are serving life sentences themselves, try to keep the patients as comfortable as possible. Then, during the last days of the patient’s life, the hospice staff begins a 24-hour vigil. The volunteers go to great lengths to ensure that their fellow inmate does not die alone.

The hospice volunteers’ efforts to create a tone of reverence for the dying and the dead have touched the entire prison population.

Waselchuk is a documentary photographer whose photos have been featured in magazines and newspapers worldwide. She has reproduced photographs for several international aid organizations. The photos in the Grace Before Dying exhibit are also in a book by the same title that includes essays by the photographer and Lawrence N. Powell, a history professor at Tulane University.

A video about the exhibit, followed by an informal discussion will take place on Monday, May 13, from 10 to 11 a.m. in room 127 of the Community Center at CCC. The exhibit will be featured in two upcoming community events: the engAge in Community Expo on May15, and the Northwest Justice Forum June 25-27.

The exhibit at CCC is sponsored by the Education, Human Services and Criminal Justice Department. For more information, please contact Yvonne Smith at 503-594-5207 or Ida Flippo at 503-594-3363.

The second annual Compose Creative Writing Conference takes place Saturday, June 1, at Clackamas Community College. On Friday, May 31, “A Hemingway Feast” dinner event introduce guests to an eight-page, unpublished letter written by Ernest Hemingway that was recently donated to the college.

Both events are open to the public.

The free, daylong Creative Writing Conference on June 1 features local writers discussing comics, songwriting, memoir, publishing, fiction, poetry, playwriting and Hemingway. Registration for the conference begins Wednesday, May 15, and is available at compose.eventbrite.com/#. A complete schedule of the conference is available at ccccreativewritingconference.wordpress.com.

Prior to the Saturday writing conference, “A Hemingway Feast” dinner will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Gregory Forum. This will be the first public view of an original, unpublished letter written by Hemingway and sent to his friend and hunting companion Charles Thompson. The letter was composed on stationary from the Inglaterra Restaurant-Café-Bar in Havana in 1933.

The Hemingway letter was donated to the college Foundation earlier this year by Larry Peterson, who will be honored during the evening. The event includes dinner, music, literary trivia and more. Seating for the Hemingway Feast is limited. Tickets are $50 and reservations are required. Tickets may be purchased at http://give.clackamas.edu/page.aspx?pid=412

The Creative Writing Conference and the Hemingway Feast are sponsored by the CCC English Department. For more information the Hemingway dinner, please contact Sue Mach at 503-594-3262.

Stand Up for Mental Health shows look at the lighter side of taking meds, seeing counselors, getting diagnosed, and surviving the mental health system. By doing stand-up comedy, something that most so-called “normal” people would never want to attempt, the Stand Up For Mental Health comics, all of whom have been impacted by mental health issues, fight stigma and discrimination.  The comic’s acts look at the lighter side of their mental health journeys, and spread a message of hope and empowerment. Because this message is delivered with humor, people want to hear it. Stand Up for Mental Health puts a human face to mental illness and addictions.

Tickets can be purchased at www.strangertickets.com or by contacting the NAMI-Clackamas County office at 503-344-5050 or nami.clackamas@gmail.com

“Most people think you have to be nuts to do stand-up comedy. I do it as a form of therapy!” says Stand Up for Mental Health graduate and current instructor, Dave Mowry. Mowry’s comedy routine can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBO2MfYPQdI.

Stand Up for Mental Health Oregon was made possible by a generous grant from the Regional Arts and Cultural Council.

Other Mental Health month events include the Discovery to Recovery seminar series and the NAMIWalk on May 19, 2013.

Discovery-to-Recovery will take place each Wednesday of May: 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Sessions will run from 7:00pm until 9:00pm at Providence Willamette Falls Community Center, 519 15^th Street, Oregon City, OR 97405. All sessions are open to the public.

Topics will include:

May 1^st, Discovery: Understanding Mental Illness. Featured speakers: Ally Linfoot and Nina Danielsen, CPS, of Clackamas County Behavioral Health, and Hazel Barrett, LPC, of Clackamas Health Share. Speakers will present a comprehensive introduction to mental illness, challenges, and local solutions.

May 8^th, Treatment: Available Options and Current Research. Featured speakers: Rupert Goetz, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Oregon State Hospital; Christopher J. Lockey, MD Psychiatrist; William A. Newbill, PhD, Psychologist. Returning guests from the leading state hospital will discuss an array of specific clinical treatments, philosophies, and procedures.

May 15^th, Coping: Caring for someone (youth or adult) with a serious mental illness. Featured speakers: Dr. James Mol, Executive Director of Behavioral Health at Providence Portland, and Debbie Zwetchkenbaum Assistant Director at Lines For Life.. During this session, presenters will discuss coping mechanisms for day-to-day living applied to those struggling with mental illness, as well as family and friends.

May 22^nd Recovery: County and Community Support. Featured speakers: Amber Hambrick and Matt Wood of Centerstone, Amy Penkin, LCSW, of Lifeworks NW, and Corbett Monica, Founder of Dual Diagnosis Oregon. Representatives of local services will present information about the services they provide, along with insight on how these services are often interconnected with one another

May 29^th, In Our Own Voice – A NAMI Signature Presentation. Featured speakers: Volunteers of NAMI-CC. A truly unique experience, this session features members of NAMI-CC speaking about their own experiencing living with mental illness. This powerful and inspirational program is an excellent opportunity to learn and ask questions.

From Discovery to Recovery lecture series is open to anyone interested in learning about mental illness. Registration is requested but not required.  To register or for more information about any of the events, call or email NAMI-CC at  503-344-5050; nami.clackamas@gmail.com.

The NAMIWalk will take place on Sunday, May 19^th at the Vera Katz Eastside Esplanade. Registration is at noon with the 5 K walk beginning at 1 pm.  Attended by thousands of people, the walk is a way to bring awareness to the issues of mental illness, fight the stigma associated with it and earn money to support NAMI’s mission to improve the lives of all who have been impacted by mental illness.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Clackamas County (NAMI-CC) is a 501(c) 3 organization that was established in 1979.  It is the county’s largest grassroots source of support, education and advocacy on mental illness.  Affiliated with the national NAMI organization, NAMI-CC’s mission is to improve the quality of life for all whose lives have been affected by mental health issues through education, support, outreach and advocacy.