2012 Christmas Ship Parade. December 7 - 21. 2012 marks the 58th year for the Christmas Ship Parade on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. The all-volunteer "Christmas Ship Fleet averages about 55 to 60 boats between the two Columbia and Willamette River fleets. Both fleets will be out most every night for two weeks beginning December 7, 2012 and running nightly through December 21. Without the donations from the restaurants and the hotels along the waterfront, this parade would not be possible. Please book your Christmas parties at our sponsoring restaurants and hotels."Christmas Ships  Also, the Portland Spirit offers cruises to view the Parades. Image: Jollycraft by Maria Swearingen on christmasships.org    

Restored trains plan holiday run. Weekends through December 16. "The public will have a rare opportunity to ride in train cars pulled by antique steam locomotives during the next three weekends. ... Passengers in vintage cars view Oaks Bottom, the Willamette River and the West Hills. Each car is strung with lights and decorated inside with a holiday theme. Santa visits each car on every trip, spreading holiday cheer." Portland Tribune, November 29.  Schedule and ticket info here.

 Portland's Lost Waterfront-Book Signing. December 16, 2 - 4pm, on the Steamer Portland (on the Willamette River at the foot of SW Pine and Naito). Author Barney Blalock will be onboard the Steamer PORTLAND signing copies of his new book "Portland's Lost Waterfront". The book covers, "the period from the origins of the city up to World War I [when] Portland went from being a log cabin in a clearing by the Willamette River to a major American seaport." Stories of shanghaiers, sailors, fortune-seekers, and ship captains fill the pages." Oregon Maritime Museum event. 

Lighting of West Linn's Maddax Woods. Daily from 4-9pm November 17-December 31. Come and enjoy a magical walk down a lighted accessible path through the Woods and to the viewing platform on the Willamette River. If you are interested in purchasing a lit tree please contact Sally McLarty 503.722.2137

Milwaukie's Winter Solstice Bonfire & Christmas Ships Spectacle. December 15, 4 - 6 pm. Milwaukie Riverfront/Jefferson St. Boat Ramp. View the Christmas Ships; purchase hot cocoa, coffee, hot dogs & desserts; listen to the Dickens Carolers; warm by the bonfire! Image: City of Milwaukie

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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University of Portland River Campus "Hard Hat" Tour, October 2012. by Uportland on YouTube, October 30

Waterfront Welding. Portland harbor coalition scholarships support welding students training for industry jobs. PCC Communities, Winter 2013, p. 14. (Image: Rivers Office)

Zidell property could get E-zone status. "Portland's City Council could add a valuable development plot to the state's "enterprise zone" program. ... The strategy would include the property as part of Portland's East Portland Enterprise Zone program ... The Portland Development Commission believes giving the Zidell company incentives to build on the site would help meet stated city goals of 10,000 jobs and 5,000 housing units in the district when it's fully built out." Portland Business Journal, December 10

Newly-planted ecoroof (BES)

Grand Opening of Gray's Landing-South Waterfront's first affordable housing development boasts a 30,000 sq. ft ecoroof. "This Thursday [will mark] the Grand Opening of Gray's Landing, the first affordable housing development in Portland's South Waterfront neighborhood. ... The building boasts one of the largest ecoroofs in the Portland metropolitan region, and is targeted to receive LEED Platinum certification. ... The City of Portland contributed $5 per square foot to this project as part of the Ecoroof Incentive. Applications for the incentive are being accepted now, and you can visit the website to learn more." City Green Blog, Dec. 10  

Portland Development Commission votes to settle Centennial Mills lawsuit. "Portland's urban renewal agency agreed Wednesday to end its costly legal fight with the would-be developer of Centennial Mills for $200,000. The settlement is the latest turn in a lengthy struggle for the Portland Development Commission and its derelict riverfront property in Northwest Portland." OregonLive.com, December 13 

PDC solicits development ideas for Central Eastside ODOT blocks. "The city of Portland is seeking a development team to propose ideas for three blocks totaling 4.3 acres in the Central Eastside Industrial Area" [Request for ideas posted here.] Portland Business Journal, December 14 

Columbia Grain announces plans for $40M expansion at Port of Portland. "After months of working through the permitting process at the city, the company today announced plans to expand its facilities at the port's Terminal 5. Construction would begin within the next 30 months, according a statement from the company. ... Columbia Grain purchases wheat, corn and soybeans from more than 5,000 producers across the nation and sells them to major domestic and 30 foreign markets." DJCOregon.com, December 12 [subscription req'd to view full article]   

Boeing hit with penalty for wastewater pollution. "Even leaders in aerospace technology are not immune from the difficult task of managing wastewater runoff. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $4,800 penalty to Boeing Aerospace Operations, Inc. for discharging wastewater into the Columbia Slough. The discharge came from a rooftop power wash and created a milky white plume in the inlet." DJCOregon.com, December 12 [subscription req'd to view full article]   

Making Peace with the Willamette River. "This is the summer I fell in love with the Willamette. Admittedly, like many relationships, my love is based on the potential for good that I see in Portland's troubled, yet improving, water vein. I've been in Portland for more than a decade without so much as sticking a toe into our river. I suspect this may be true of most Portlanders. We drive over it, bike across it, walk beside it, and wish there were more places to dine on the banks and take it in. Some hardy folks row on it. Even braver ones fish from it. But ask people if they swim in the Willamette and they're likely to say something like, "Eew. Gross." Columbia Overlook newsletter / Sierra Club, Oct 2012 - Jan 2013, Vol 22, no 2.

Freshwater Mussels in Johnson Creek: Cleaning up the Neighborhood. "Freshwater mussels often go unnoticed ... but they speak volumes about the biological health of a stream. These unassuming bivalves improve water quality and habitat for native fish and other animals, but much remains to be learned about their distribution and life histories in northwest waters. The Xerces Society, Johnson Creek Watershed Council, and local partners joined forces in 2010 to learn more about native mussels in the Johnson Creek watershed." Johnson Creek Watershed Council Newsletter, Fall 2012

Metro poised to put natural areas funding plan on ballot. "The Metro Council appears prepared to place a $50 million natural areas levy on the May 2013 ballot ... The council is scheduled to hold a hearing and vote on the referral on Dec. 18. Metro President Tom Hughes says the hearing and vote will proceed, despite a Nov. 30 letter from 19 mayors in the region asking for more time to study its potential impacts on their budgets. ... At issue is compression, a side effect of Oregon's complicated property tax limitation system. It allows some new levies approved by the voters of one government to reduce the property taxes that can be collected by other governments." Portland Tribune, December 13

My View: Mayors should not block Metro levy-Support for region's natural spaces funding goes beyond city borders.

East Lents Floodplain Project Video. Portland Environmental Services Bureau, undated

Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership-Year in Review .  

Image: Sharon Wood Wortman

'Bridge Lady' closer to publishing children's book on Portland's bridges. "Sharon Wood Wortman, commonly referred to as the "bridge lady," and her husband Ed Wortman are leading a campaign to finance the publishing of the "The Big and Awesome Bridges of Portland and Vancouver: A Book for Young Readers." The book would include 100 pages of photos and drawings of more than 25 highways and pedestrian bridges in the area. Members of the Portland Community College Graphic Design Program will provide the book's colorful, children-focused layout, Wortman said. It would also include interviews with bridge operators, bridge engineers and others, including the Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen, who will explain how bridges have become some of the world's oldest metaphors. Wortman's hope is to publish 4,000 copies of the book and give them to Portland Public Schools and Vancouver Public Schools for free. ... To learn more about the fundraising effort, visit http://pdxbridgefestival.org/ or http://www.bridgestories.com. The group hopes to gain the funding by summer 2013." DJCOregon.com, December 5 [subscription req'd to view full article]

From brink of disaster to love. "Ed Wortman fell in love in the same place he almost fell to his death. That was on the Fremont Bridge, which was built in 1973; Wortman met his wife there, and 20 years earlier was on the bridge when it almost collapsed during construction. ... The Fremont stands as one of the world's longest tied-arch bridges. Its design was chosen because of the public's dissatisfaction with the appearance of the Marquam Bridge, which was constructed seven years earlier. ... The Fremont's design is celebrated today. When it was built, it was one of the largest bridges to successfully use an orthotropic deck - structural steel with steel ribs welded to it. It has since inspired the installation of orthotropic decks on other bridges, including the Golden Gate Bridge." DJCOregon.com, November 30 [subscription req'd to view full article]  

Image: Cacophony on Wikipedia

Apartment project planned for Burnside bridgehead. "Nearly nine years after development was proposed for the east end of the Burnside Bridge, plans are in motion for construction of a new, $60 million mixed-use building there." DJCOregon.com, December 3 [subscription req'd to view full article]  

Dragon Boat Pioneer Now 'Shapes' the Sport. Dr. Joel M. Shilling is fondly called the "father" of dragon boat racing in the Portland harbor, a moniker of which he is justifiably proud. ... But, what he is most proud of is helping kick-start the sport of dragon boating on Portland's Willamette River." Freshwater News, October 2012, p. 10