Portland, OR. Portland knifemaker Alex Horn has created several commemorative knives from the rubble of the Twin Towers and says, “On this day, 20 years ago, the steel inside of this knife fell from a great height.” The proceeds from two knives will be donated to a charity called Tuesday’s Children. The nonprofit is still working with families whose lives were forever changed when the towers were brought down by a terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Alex Horn says of the creative project, “I was considering where the steel came from and it definitely made me handle the steel with more care.” The benefit auction will be on the knifemaker’s Instagram starting on Saturday, September 11th, and the bidding will close at midnight, Monday, September 13th.
The knife being raffled off is a 10 1/2 inch knife with an Amboyna burr handle. It features a spacer of fossilized mammoth ivory and is valued at $1,500. Raffle tickets are $20.
The post went live on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
The steel for the knives came from a large bearing salvaged from an elevator shaft found in the rubble of the Twin Towers. It was given to Horn by a fellow Portlander who had been gifted the steel by a friend who worked at the Twin Towers site.
The second knife will be auctioned off which will also take place on Alex Horn’s Instagram. It has a buckeye burl handle with g-10 bolster.
In addition to 9/11 families, Tuesday’s Children also works with families, “Who have been forever changed by terrorism, military conflict or mass violence.”
Many people have reached out to Alex Horn. He is thanking them for their kind words and for sharing their stories saying, “It’s been an honor.”
From Tuesday’s Children:
Your desire to help children and families whose lives have been impacted by traumatic loss means the world to us.
Thank you for being here for them today and on their long-term journeys toward healing, and to honor the memories of loved ones lost to terrorism, military conflict or mass violence.
There are so many ways you can personally make a difference – and engage your family, friends, company and school, too. You have the power to help families feel supported and hopeful again instead of isolated and at-risk. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call or email [email protected] if you’re not finding what you need here.
Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is open on a limited basis. To help keep our community healthy, OMSI has limited capacity, introduced staggered ticketing times, and is continuing to require face coverings.
OMSI remains committed to the health and safety of everyone at the museum—including visitors, students, staff, and volunteers. The organization wants visitors to feel comfortable and safe while discovering at OMSI. Administrators explain, “While our region is moving closer to community immunity, we are continuing to require visitors to wear masks. This policy allows us to offer a safe space to the hundreds of children attending OMSI Camps & Classes at the museum, as the majority of these students are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.”
Founded in 1944, OMSI is one of the nation’s leading science museums with an international reputation in science education. Our mission is to inspire curiosity by creating engaging science learning experiences for students of all ages and backgrounds. We foster experimentation and the exchange of ideas, and we help our community make smart, informed choices.
To help limit the spread of COVID-19, OMSI has taken the below steps:
– Staff and guests will be wearing face coverings to protect those too young for vaccination
– Capacity for open areas across the museum has been reduced
– Providing online ticketing (we’ll scan your ticket for contactless entry)
– Signs are posted throughout the museum to encourage guests to maintain physical distancing
– Enhanced cleaning protocols are in place and additional hand sanitizing stations have been installed throughout the museum
Daily Hours and What’s Open
– OMSI’s hours are Monday through Sunday from 10am to 7pm.
– Visitors may experience Dinosaurs Revealed, the Natural Science Hall, Empirical Theater and Kendall Planetarium shows, and tour the USS Blueback Submarine. The Empirical Cafe is also open for refreshments and snacks.
– To learn more about hours and pricing, check out the Visitor Info page.
Travel Back in Time with Dinosaurs
Journey back 250 million years to prehistoric North America! Get up close and personal with life-sized dinosaurs, two detailed dinosaur cast fossils, and more.
The last day of this exhibit is Monday, September 6th.
Find constellations in the night sky, travel to the moon with Big Bird, experience the creation of the Milky Way Galaxy, and more in the Kendall Planetarium.
Get a glimpse of how a crew of 85 lived on the Blueback for months, walk through the torpedo room, learn about the submarine’s famous history, and more.
Purchase Tickets: We strongly recommend purchasing admission tickets and parking online prior to your visit. Upon arrival, guests may present the ticket order on their phone to be scanned by museum staff. Admission tickets can also be purchased via phone at 503.797.4000, and can be sent to the guest’s email account or picked up at the museum front desk.
Admissions and capacity are reduced throughout the museum. Capacity will be controlled through the use of timed ticketing for museum attractions and monitored by staff.
To help keep them safe, OMSI staff and museum guests age 5 or older are required to wear either a cloth, paper, or disposable face covering (that covers the nose and the mouth). Any guest or staff member without a face covering will be provided a disposable face covering.
Signage will be posted throughout OMSI requiring guests or staff with known symptoms of COVID-19 to stay home and contact a medical professional. All OMSI staff are required to complete daily health assessments including temperature checks. Any staff with a temperature in excess of 100.4 degrees or feeling ill for any reason must not report to the museum.
Additional hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed in key guest contact areas. All hands-on exhibition components have either been removed from the museum floor or turned off. OMSI will follow enhanced cleaning protocols and use an EPA-registered disinfectant that is active against coronaviruses. Frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected multiple times daily.
From OMSI:
Our Mission
OMSI’s mission is to inspire curiosity through engaging science learning experiences, foster experimentation, and the exchange of ideas, and stimulate informed action.
Our Equity Statement
OMSI respects, values and celebrates the unique attributes, characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. We believe that we will be successful in accomplishing our mission and vision when we seek out and respond to diversity of participation, thought and action. We will work to dismantle barriers to equity and access to the experiences OMSI provides and to create welcoming environments and conditions where all people can reach their full potential.
Portland, OR. As Covid-19 guidelines are updated, Fences for Fido continues to build fences for dogs while following recommended protocols. The nonprofit improves the quality of life for dogs living outdoor by building fences free of charge for families who keep their dogs on chains, tethers, and in small enclosures. In addition to the fence, Fences for Fido also provide an insulated doghouse for each dog as well as spay/neuter services and emergency veterinary care when needed.
Fences For Fido had unchained a lot of dogs…over 1,600.
The nonprofit uses volunteer labor. Here are some of the Covid-safe modifications volunteers are undertaking:
On-Site Safety Guidelines
Face coverings or masks, along with six feet of physical distancing, significantly slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, it is our policy that all volunteers must wear face coverings and practice physical distancing at all of our fence builds.
Prior to Arrival volunteers are asked the following:
If you have been in contact with any known COVID-19 patients, we ask that you complete the 14-day quarantine before joining a build.
If you feel sick or have any symptoms of the virus, we ask that you not attend a build. Please take your temperature before coming to a build to check for fever.
If you have an elevated temperature, please stay home.
Here’s a video about the work of the organization. Dog house coordinator, Jennifer Adams, tells the story of Tiny Guy, a Warm Springs, Oregon dog living outside in sub-freezing temperatures:
From Fences for Fido:
We’re protecting OUR VOLUNTEERS: the most valuable part of this amazing, life-saving, kindness-spreading, hard-working machine we’ve created together.
When a dog is unchained, a transformation begins. It starts with what we call “zoomies:” The running, jumping, exuberant joy our Fidos display once unchained – many for the first time in years. That visible happiness puts smiles on the faces of our volunteers and most importantly, on the faces of our client families who through this process being to connect with their pets in a more meaningful way.
This single moment represents the beginning of an even deeper bond between a dog and his or her family. Since we built our first Fences in 2009, we’ve witnessed more than 2,200 “zoomies!” We’ve expanded to cover Southwest Washington and most areas throughout Oregon, answering the call and building an average of 13 fences per month in every kind of weather.
Additionally, we’ve inspired change on a larger scale: In 2014, Fences For Fido was instrumental in the historic passage of Oregon’s first anti-tethering law, which restricts the amount of time a dog can be chained.
To accelerate the unchaining movement, we actively support and mentor new unchaining groups all over the country. We’re fully committed to this next step in our mission, and have created the Unchained Planet initiative to further this cause.
Thank you for being a part of our effort to change lives… one fence, one family, one dog at a time.
Portland, OR. Oregon has had eight consecutive weeks of increasing hospitalization rates from COVID-19. State leaders say professionals on the front line are feeling the stress. It’s not just doctors and nurses who are feeling the stress, it’s all of those who keep the hospitals running, like janitors, security staff, cafeteria personnel, and those who greet the public.
Oregon COVID-19 hospitalizations rates are soaring.
Supporting those in your community who are working through the pandemic is easy to do with a phone call, offering a meal, or assistance in any other way.
In addition to reaching out and personally offering help to healthcare workers, Hospital administrators are asking members of the public to do the following:
Providence and local emergency rooms have a unified message as the COVID surge escalates. Help us help you. We need our ERs to take care of those with emergency and critical health needs – not vaccinations or COVID tests. If you need immediate help, call 9-1-1. For all other care, get the right care at the right time: COVID testing, COVID vaccination, other more minor health needs don’t belong in the ER.
To get a sense of what’s happening on the front lines, this is a message Jennifer Gentry is an R.N. and the Chief Nursing Officer at Providence Oregon offered her staff:
A special message to our nurses, providers, and caregivers: You are enough. I know what your work conditions are. And what you are doing is magnificent. It is selfless and it is enough. More than enough.
We will pace ourselves and together we will see this through. We are innovative, purposeful, and caring. We do our best to care for ourselves and we do our best to care for our community.
We do our best and it is enough. We go home knowing we were enough as we leave our work on our doorsteps. We cherish our time with our families and friends.
I have a favor to ask. Let’s all remember that we are enough. We are doing enough. Nurses, caregivers, providers do not need to be more or do more, only adapt to our new reality. There is no more to give because you are already doing your best.
Pace yourself. The work is in front of us. And we will do our best. We know that we are enough.
According to the State of Oregon, we can also do more by getting ourselves and our families vaccinated and helping others who may be vaccine-hesitant to understand the urgent need to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Doing our best to avoid needing a scarce hospital bed is the best way to thank frontline workers. Please offer your appreciation for the heroic efforts of health care workers by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, physically distancing, and being kind to one another.
Portland, OR. As people continue to return to their favorite pre-pandemic pastimes, the Oregon Zoo is offering longer hours and a host of seasonal activities. On Fridays and Saturdays, guests can come late and spend and summer evening at the zoo. Last reservations are at 6:30 p.m., with grounds remaining open until 8 p.m. The zoo’s food outlets will be staying open late as well and offering a selection of local beer and wines for adults. Advance online ticket reservations are required for all guests, including members: Reserve tickets.
Along with more time to see the animals, zoo visitors will be treated to a summer chock full of keeper talks, animal activities, and other happenings.
Guests can once again ride the rails on the zoo train after more than a year out of service.
A playful baby river otter pup has taken up residence at the Oregon Zoo this summer after being orphaned along a roadside in Deer Island, OR. The video below shows some of her new activities.
Here’s information about visiting the zoon:
From Oregon Zoo:
All areas of the zoo are open and face masks are required for everyone 5 years and older in indoor spaces, outdoor areas where six feet of distance from other people cannot be maintained, and in other areas where posted. Find member information here. The Oregon Zoo is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Online advance-purchase tickets are required
Advance online ticket reservations are required for all guests, including members. All visitors must be included in the timed reservation, including infants (age 0 to 1). Tickets are available 10 days in advance. Guests and members should arrive at the zoo within 10 minutes of their scheduled time. Zoo capacity is timed and limited. If you arrive outside of your scheduled time, you may need to wait for the next available entry time. In order to ensure entrance, your timed ticket should be purchased in advance.
For zoo members: all named members must show photo ID along with their reserved ticket when entering the zoo. Additional guests may not be substituted for named cardholder reservations. Membership cards are not required since ID numbers will be printed on the tickets. (Each named member, child or infant (age 0 to 1), or guest must have their own reservation. All children and guests must arrive with a named cardholder with a photo ID.)
Face masks are required for everyone 5 years and older (regardless of vaccination status) at entry and in indoor spaces, including exhibits, restrooms, restaurants and shops. Masks are also required in all outdoor areas where six feet of distance from other people cannot be maintained, and in other areas where posted. Face shields, if worn, must be accompanied by a properly worn face mask. Per CDC guidance, you may wear two-layered or folded balaclavas or gaiters, but not bandanas or masks with exhalation valves or vents. In some cases, accommodations can be made for individuals with a medical condition that makes it hard to breathe or a disability that prevents them from wearing a mask. To request an accommodation, call 503-226-1561 (press 4) or email [email protected]. Please contact us at least 48 hours prior to your visit date, as accommodations must be scheduled in advance, and are by reservation only.
Train and carousel
A beautiful carousel of 18 handcrafted animals runs from 10 a.m. to 15 minutes before the zoo closes. On-site tickets are available until a half-hour before the zoo closes. $3.50 per rider.
The historic zoo railway runs daily from 10:30 a.m. to a half-hour before the zoo closes. Rides last six minutes and board every 15 to 20 minutes. $5 per rider. Train and carousel tickets are available as add-on options when reserving tickets online. Members must be logged in to receive discounts.
Food service
Food is available (no cash transactions). Mobile ordering is available for AfriCafe. You will be notified when your order is ready for pickup. Indoor dining areas are open. You may bring your own food, beverages, and coolers, but no alcohol. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.
Parking
Parking is available in the city lot adjacent to the zoo and throughout Washington Park. Guests are encouraged to download and use the Parking Kitty app for safer and easier parking payment. Oversized vehicles and trailers can park in designated areas.
Cashless transactions
To minimize contact, all food and retail locations are only accepting credit or debit cards at this time.
Keeper talks and animal activities include the following (daily except where noted):
9:45 a.m. – mountain goat/black bear keeper talk
10:30 a.m. – condor keeper talk
10:30 a.m. – crocodile feeding (Sundays only)
10:45 a.m. – Family Farm keeper talk
11:15 a.m. – sea otter snack time
1 p.m. – chimpanzee keeper talk
1:15 p.m. – elephant keeper talk
1:45 p.m. – polar bear keeper talk
2 p.m. – penguin keeper talk
2:15 p.m. – giraffe keeper talk
2:45 p.m. – orangutan/gibbon keeper talk
3 p.m. – bat feeding
3:15 p.m. – river otter play time
On Thursdays at 11 a.m., guests can stop by the zoo’s Family Farm for “Ask a Vet,” presented by Banfield Pet Hospital, where zoo and Banfield veterinary staff answer questions about caring for animals both wild and domestic.
The zoo opens at 9 a.m. daily. Masks are not required, but capacity is limited and all guests, including zoo members, are encouraged to reserve their tickets online in advance. Learn more about what to expect when visiting.
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