It appears freak weather in the PacNW has yet to run its course. This morning, a Portland-area rain storm was bowled over by a sudden, unexpected cold front. Here's the result:
The Heatmiser couldn't be reached for comment. His brother, Snowmiser, released this statement: "I'm too much!"
JILL'S GRANDMOTHER IN THE HOSPITAL
Charlotte Wachdorf, Jill's grandmother - Judy's mother, is in the hospital due to a bad fall and, apparently, pneumonia. She was in intensive care for a while, but she's apparently holding her own now. We don't have much more news than this, but she's a tough lady and she's very much in our thoughts and prayers. We'll be visiting her for Thanksgiving in San Antonio next week.
REWARDING CAREER SOMETIMES
I learned last week that a community/housing development corporation has successfully been awarded tax credits to build apartments for farmworkers in Salem, Oregon. The reward was based largely on the feasibility study and market need analysis I conducted for them. There's a serious lack of safe, non-slum housing for farmworkers all over Oregon, but in Salem, the state's capital, the need was particularly bad. Well, in a year to two years, the project should be constructed. It will provide low-rent, quality apartments, english lessons, day care, volunteer legal services and job/computer training to enhance work skills among families renting there. That's all good news in my book!
That's just one of the projects I've been working on.. here's what's keeping me busy right now:
- Financial analysis for the City of Wood Village to determine if the redevelopment of their old city hall property can pay for a new one
- Statistical analysis and quantification of residential composting rates for the purposes of a statewide tax credit
- Economic and fiscal (tax revenue/public service costs) analysis of a few million square feet of office, industrial, retail, condominium and hotel development near downtown Seattle
- Market position analysis of three different apartment complexes in the Sacramento area
- Waterfront development need and feasibility for the Port of Siuslaw in Florence, Oregon
- Market Need, financial feasibility and economic impacts of a business park to be built along I-5 in Keizer, Oregon
- Community impacts of redeveloping properties in a lower-income/higher-crime neighborhood in Seattle
And I manage to get some sleep every night!
JILL SPEAKS WITH VIVI & LUCIA RUCUCH QUILA IN GUATEMALA CITY
Last week I reported that the Guatemalan election was a bit of a zoo but that results indicated that the former dictator Rios Montt was defeated. Well, that's still the case, but Jill telephoned Vivi and her mother Lucia in Guatemala City to see how things were. Both are doing fine, though Lucia reported some minor health problems. Vivi is extremely busy raising her son and working full time in the City (she and her family live many slow miles out of town in a government subsidized - well - shantytown. Rats and all.).
Politically, things are stable and just fine. They reported no real bad news, though so we feel much better about the situation. I'll try to post some photos of them soon so that everyone can see who we're talking about here. Jill was Vivi's case manager in 1996 back in Eugene. Vivi was kidnapped and tortured by the military during the country's civil war at the tender age of 14. We've visited them there twice and keep up with them. We continue to financially help Vivi, particularly with her college education.
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