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Library to serve as ballot drop-off site
Midland Library, 805 S.E. 122nd Ave., is one of four Multnomah County Library locations that will serve as ballot drop-off sites during the September 2005 Special Election. The library will provide ballot boxes at its circulation desk during regular business hours from Friday, Sept. 2 through Election Day, Tuesday, Sept. 20, except Sept. 5 and Sept. 12-14, when all libraries will be closed and will not accept ballots.
Voters may also deposit their ballots 24 hours a day, until 8 p.m. on Election Day, into the outdoor ballot drop box.
Midland Library is open Mondays and Tuesdays from10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
The outdoor ballot box is located at the southern parking median.
Centenarian honored as resident of the month
The Oregon Baptist Retirement Home resident of the month for September is a native Oregonian who celebrated her 100th birthday on Aug. 23.
Raised in Portland along with three brothers and two sisters, Mollie Spieger Bradford, fondly recalls her tight-knit German family. She went to Albina Homestead School and was baptized and confirmed at a local church.
By age 18, Bradford had met and married Merrick E. Bradford, a surveyor at the Portland shipyards. The couple later owned and operated a service station and tow service in Rockaway, Ore. They were life members of their local Masonic Lodge and enjoyed ballroom dancing as active participants of the Neahkanie Dancers.
An OBRH resident since 1986, Bradford enjoys playing cards, visiting with residents, helping with and participating in the crafts, reading and listening to old songs. She attributes her good health and long life to her love of fruits and vegetables.
Fish hazards prompt mini-grants for community groups
For a third year, the Oregon Department of Human Services is making available small grants in the Portland area to educate various community and ethnic groups about health risks of eating fish from the Willamette River.
DHS will award two to five grants, funded with federal dollars, ranging from $2,000 to $4,500 each between Nov. 15 and June 30, 2006. Application deadline is Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. Application packets can be obtained on the Web at www.healthoregon.org/superfund or by calling Julie Early, DHS public health educator, at 503-872-6804. Collaboration among applicants is encouraged.
“This summer we released a public health assessment which concluded that eating fish from the Portland Harbor could result in health problems, which really underscores the importance of these mini-grants,” said Early. She said it is well known that various community and ethnic groups regularly catch and eat fish from that area of the river.
“This is an opportunity for leadership organizations, youth groups and churches to help educate others in their own community,” Early said. “We have current health information, but it needs to be translated and communicated in ways that take into account specific cultural practices.”
In 2000, the federal Environmental Protection Agency added a six-mile section of the Willamette River from the southern tip of Sauvie Island to the Fremont Bridge to its national Superfund list. Sediment contaminants from this section of the river include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and pesticides and heavy metals, which tend to build up in fish. The health effects of these contaminants may include cancer and damage to the brain, liver and immune system.
Early advises that children, people with weak immune systems, and women of childbearing age or who are pregnant or nursing who eat fish from these waters should choose those that are lower in PCBs, such as salmon and steelhead.
She also says that since PCBs tend to accumulate in the fat, exposure can be significantly reduced by proper preparation and cooking. This means removing the skin, belly, back and side fat and removing eggs, eyes, head and organs of the fish.
The mini-grants are completely funded through a cooperative agreement with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The Portland Harbor public health assessment is on the Web at www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/shine/index.shtml.
Schedule and fare changes take effect in September
On Sept. 1, TriMet fares increased by a dime on cash fares and $4 on passes to help keep pace with inflation and help offset rising diesel prices.
Starting Sept. 4, TriMet also will adjust service and schedules on MAX and about one-third of its 93 bus lines.
Red Line MAX service will be extended so that the last train will leave the airport at 11:57 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, the last train will depart at 11:37 p.m.
Most Red Line MAX trains also will be double-cars. This adds more capacity in the heavy service area between Gateway Transit Center and Beaverton Transit Center.
MAX Blue Line schedules have been adjusted by three minutes west of Beaverton Transit Center and east of Gateway to even out service intervals between the Blue, Red and Yellow lines.
New schedules are now available at trimet.org, and will be available soon on TriMet buses and by calling 503-238-RIDE weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
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