Rather than invest in a day on the couch or catching up on odd jobs around the house, 250 Kaiser Permanente employees are taking their free day from work and giving back to the community (and as a gesture of good faith, KP will PAY any employee for a day’s work if they donate their holiday to a worthy cause).

In honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., they’re pitching in at the Oregon Food Bank on Monday.  And they aren’t coming empty handed.  The volunteers kicked in $30K worth of food to hand off to the bank.

Beyond the food bank, some KP employees are offering free medical care to those in need while others are painting local classrooms and recycling donated bikes.  All told, about 600 KP employees are helping out on the day of service throughout Portland and Salem.

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Tickets are going fast for the rare opportunity to see Fergie, the Duchess of York, best-selling author and Weight Watchers spokesperson, speak April 3rd in Salem.

About half the seats have been sold though they’ve only been up for grabs for about a month.  Formely Miss Sarah Ferguson’s words will help raise cash for the Medical Foundation of Marion and Polk Counties.

In recent years, other speakers have included Jane Goodall, Chris Gardner (the guy who wrote Pursuit of Happyness . . . they made it into a movie with Will Smith) and former first lady Barbara Bush. 

You can hear The Ferg-meister by visiting TicketsWest to claim your seat.

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Borrowing from the “teach a man to fish” philosophy, the Portland City Council vows to invest a half BILLION dollars in public works projects this year.  That will create 5,000 jobs before the ball drops on 2010 (the local unemployment rate is over 8% and is targeted to hit 10% before dropping again).

Better than the overall job creation is that the projects are not one or two month gigs.  The 84 tasks on the cities “to-do list” are scheduled to roll out over a 5-year span which means job stability for those 5,000 families.

Guess that’s why they call it the “City that Works.”

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Pot Hole -- Portland Tribune

It happens every year.  A deep freeze hits the city of Portland, moisture gets under the pavement, freezes, expands and . . . (sing it with me kids) “POP goes the pot-hole.”

While the city averages 133 pothole repairs a week, crews are working triple time to catch up with the devastation wrought by Arctic Blast 2008.  Last week alone, they filled 555 axel-braking, tire-jarring obstacles on Portland roads.

If you have a pot hole on your street that you’d like to have fixed (or maybe you just want to build some mini-speed bumps on your neighbors driveway for a mid-winter chuckle) call 503-823-2867.

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A bunch of agencies pitched in to help Wilsonville cops buy four Automatic External Defibrillators.  The AEDS can mean the difference between life and death if someone’s having an emergency heart problem.

While the machines are pricey (about $1,400 a piece), countless people are saved every year by the zappers.

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While the reason behind the Amber Alert system is terrifying and tragic (the nationwide network was founded after the fatal kidnap of Amber Hagerman 12 years ago), theit is POSITIVE news to be found as we celebrate National AMBER Alert Awareness Day.  

Thanks to this instant alert system, more than 400 kids are home safe (12 in Oregon alone).  

400.

AMBER alerts are designed to go out over TV and Radio broadcasts, but cops are also keeping pace with technology and now you can check alerts online or have them sent directly to your cell phone, your pager or your e-mail.

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When you’re trying to make a point, it’s common to . . . fudge a little bit on the actual size of the issue.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”  (My guess is, by the time you got to the flank you’d be ready for a doggy bag)

“It was the funniest thing EVER.”  (Really?  In your entire lifetime, that was the most humor you’ve ever encountered?)

But the Meyer Memorial Trust is NOT exagerating when they say they’re donating truckloads of food to the Oregon Food Bank.  17 Truck loads to be exact (or $500K whichever you prefer).

The Trust says the donation was specifically timed to come AFTER the holidays to remind everyone that we don’t pack need away with the tinsel and tree ornaments.  Organizers say the gift is also a challenge of sorts as they hope to see the community match the 17 U-Hauls worth of tuna, chili, stew and canned veggies.

Interesting fact: Though the Meyer Memorial Trust was founded in honor of Fred G. Meyer, it is NOT associated with the Fred Meyer chain of retail stores.

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Three U of O professors have been named Fulbright scholars this year.  Their fabulous prize includes lecturing and researching abroad.  plus a month’s supply of Rice A Roni and a Glidden Wondermop.

Lori Kruckenberg of the Musicology department is off in germany, Geography Professor Lise Nelson is in Mexico and Anthropology professor Phillip Scher is in Barbados.

Hmm, three months in Germany, Mexico and Barbados on someone else’s dime.  Nicely done.  Makes me want to be a professor of the hula and get a Fulbright Scholarship to study the dance’s history in Maui.

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In a similar move to that reported earlier regarding WOU, the University of Oregon is taking a sledgehammer to its own piggy bank.  The Ducks are offering up $340 grand in extra financial aid this spring thanks to cuts by state grants.

But like a pit boss in the craps pit, this isn’t a constantly running faucet.  Leaders warn that these funds are the last band aid in the box.  We have to heel the wound that is underfunding (funds were cut due to the recent economic downturn) or else we’re going to wind up with an infection of financial-aid-loss.  (how’s THAT for a brilliant analogy  ).

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You may have heard about the recent Robot Robbery in Aloha . . . a Physics Professor at Portland State left Mr. Robot in his car overnight, only to have it looted (no, we don’t know if the robot took off on it’s own searching for “input” as Johnny 5 would say in the acclaimed Short Circuit flicks . . . although he COULD have pulled a WALL-E and gone after some stray trash . . . .).  

At any rate, the bot vanished a week ago but was recovered earlier today, floating in Commonwealth Lake in one piece.  The Propeller Quadrover  which looks like a heavy-duty ATV costs about $5 grand to replace.

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