This week, a crew of Portland Police, Clark County Sheriff’s Deputies, Multnomah County Sheriff’s, River Patrol and Port of Portland Marine Patrol members played Clarence the Angel to a local Man’s Jimmy Stewart.

About 7:15 in the evening, Trenton Pietz from Ridgeland stopped his Black Lexus midspan on the Glenn Jackson Bridge.  He exited his car and flung himself over the railing, plunging 100 feet into the icy, dark turbulent water below.  

There’s no word on why he jumped, but cops were quickly tipped off to the empty vehicle with it’s engine still running, parked to the side of a busy freeway and no driver in sight.  Crews responded, scouring the waters, blackened by the dark night sky.  They found Pietz, clinging to a piece of driftwood and battling for his life.

Though he was hypothermic and spent 40 minutes in the frigid depths of the Columbia, Pietz is expected to be just fine.  Crews are not releasing any information as to WHY he jumped in the first place.

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Found this story from the O.  When the GoodNewsPDX staff was in school, we were lucky if we raised more than ten dollars in our jog-a-thon (we were more in it for the free cookie and orange drink served at the end).  But two school’s raised a cool $28K in their events.  Yeah, $28,000.  The price for a decent car (heck, two decent cars with prices as they are these days).  For jogging around a tack.  We are impressed.

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Ingenuity . . . dedication . . . creativity . . . happy ending . . . I love this story!

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Here’s an AWESOME story out of the Columbian.  In summary, the owner of Runyan’s Jewlers in Vancouver had a customer come in for some basic repairs.  Erik Runyan offered to do them free of charge, provided the customer “paid it forward.”

Well, the recipient of the good deed, instead, decided to help himself to some diamond jewelry.  An anonymous tipster returned the jewelry soon after and Runyan, thrilled to have his property returned, decided to donate the value of the bauble to charity.

He went to Kazoodles toy store asking to spend $1,500 on goodies for the KPTV Toy N Joy makers Program.  How did the owner of Kazoodles respond?By offering a 20% discount . . . the toal amount of toys donated came in about 2 Grand.

What started as fixing the clasp on a junky bracelet turned into HUNDREDS of toys for needy kids.  tell me THAT doesn’t make you smile!

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It’s that time of year again when the “weather outside is frightful” . . . Matter of fact, some meteorologists predict we could see enough snow this weekend to lock things down through Monday.  That being said, there IS a very useful tool available if you’re heading out across the state.

The Oregon Winter Driving Guide is put out by the Oregon State Police and is basically an instruction guide to driving in the snow (when and where you need chains, what supplies to have on hand in case of an emergency).

You can also view it on TripCheck . . . it may actually be easier to simply rely on the TripCheck connection as TripCheck is constantly updated with closures and hazardous areas . . . all the information in one spot.

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In what can only be described as a perfect fit, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has singled out Eugene to be one of their 80 “hybrid branches” nationwide.  Customers can drive off in a Prius, Altima or Escape for an extra $5-7 per day ($45 starting rental cost).

For perspective sake, Enterprise operates 7,400 branches nationwide so only about 1% are hybrid specific locations, that’s after they decided to double the number of Hybrids they rent to around 10,000.

Company leaders say it’s a sign of commitment on their part to fuel-efficiency and helping to grow the market for new engine technology.

You can reserve your car online at www.enterprise.com

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A music teacher in North Clackamas developed a unique way to make sure her students are practicing.  She’s opening her own pocket book.  But don’t think that Carol Capps (who teaches sixth grade orchestra at nine different schools) is PAYING the kids themselves.  She’s actually pledging a penny per minute that they practice Violin, Cello or Viola that will be used to buy animals for developing countries.  

*A new charitable trend is to donate money which is used to purchase goats, sheep, chickens and cows that are then given to villagers in developing countries.  The idea is that the animal will continue producing milk, eggs, wool or some other good long after a single meal would have been eaten.  Here’s an example**

Capps kids have donated a goat, a sheep, a hutch worth of rabbits and a flock of ducks the past two years.  This year they’re adding another goat and a flock of chicks.  it’s enough livestock to provide for a whole village.

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Thanks to a $1 Million anonymous donor, Clark College is prepping for construction of a new Japanese garden on campus.  The landscape will play off of pre-existing Japanese cherry trees and offer a calm, serene location in the midst of the bustling campus.

The public can weigh in on the design by going here.  Clark College celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

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Tuesday afternoon, cops in Clackamas County were called to the Sunnyside Road Bank of America on reports of a robbery.  They showed up just in time to see a masked suspect take off through the parking lot.  However the masked man didn’t get very far thanks to 50-year-old William Onstott.

Onstott (and we’re quoting here) “tackled the suspect NFL STYLE!”  The two hit the pavement and Onstott didn’t let the masked one loose until cops had him in custody.  The suspect *pictured* is 20-year-old Chas William Lombardo of Newberg.  At the moment , charges have not been filed but deputies suspect they will be coming forth soon.

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For 31 years, Kam Lawrence has stood in front of dozens of pairs of youthful eyeballs, imparting knowledge on the future of our great world.  She doesn’t do it for money or fame.  She does it because she gets to see a real change in her kids over the course of a year.

Now, she’s being honored as the Washougal School District Teacher of the Year award (she transfered to Canyon Creek Middle three years ago where she splits her day between sixth and seventh graders).

But for all of her talents in the classroom, Lawrence also has some matchmaking mojo as well.  one of her former students, while visiting years after moving on to a new grade, caught a glimpse of Lawrence’s daughter in a photo on her desk.  the former student is now her son-in-law.

Lawrence will be honored at a ceremony this evening.

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