Around the area

Battle Ground

School board announces Saturday morning meeting

Battle Ground Public Schools is holding a regular board meeting at 9 a.m. today at the district office, CASEE-A, 11104 N.E. 149th St., Brush Prairie.

The stated purpose of the meeting is strategic planning and “presentation of surveys and focus groups,” a discussion to be led by Ann Rivers of Convergence Northwest.

Rivers is a public relations consultant who was hired over the summer to bridge the gap between public information officers.

Plans for the meeting were announced Friday morning, just three minutes before a 24-hour deadline for such announcements.

VANCOUVER

Bailout bill discussion set at Clark College

Looking for insight into the big bailout?

The public is invited to a panel discussion at Clark College on the $700 billion bailout, 12:10 to 1 p.m. Thursday in the Ellis Dunn Room, room 213 in Gaiser Hall.

Panel members are Charles Herdener, adjunct instructor of business and employment law; attorney Peter Mozena; stockbroker Mark Halvorsen; and Scott Bailey, economist and adjunct instructor.

Call 360-992-2000 for directions.

Portland

Disaster author set for Brews and Views event

Bill Sullivan, author of “Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters,” will speak during the monthly Volcano Views and Brews event Tuesday at the Lucky Labrador brew pub in Northwest Portland.

The event begins at 7 p.m. at 1945 N.E. Quimby, though doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $3. Revenue benefits the nonprofit Mount St. Helens Institute.

Sullivan’s book examines floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions that have affected the Pacific Northwest over the past 13,000 years. The final chapter is fictional, set 12 years into the future, when a massive earthquake and tsunami devastate the Oregon Coast.

Camas

Tipton appointed to fill school board position

The Camas School District has filled its vacant school board seat with a familiar name, and person.

Mary Tipton, whose husband, Gary, was school board president before he died in September, has been named to the board of directors, the district announced Friday.

A former 27-year employee of Hewlett-Packard, Mary Tipton is a founding member of the school district’s foundation. She served three terms on the foundation board and also led the special committee that presaged the Camas High School math, science and technology magnet program.

Tipton, 52, also has worked with several other community groups.

She was chosen from among several candidates, the district said. She will be sworn into duty at the board’s next meeting on Nov. 24. She must stand for election in 2009 for the right to fill out two more years remaining for the four-year board term.