At www.oregonmetro.gov/greatplaces, you can view interactive maps and download reports about each of 10 areas being considered.

TPAC is an advisory committee that reviews regional plans and federally funded transportation projects across the three-county Portland area. It advises regional leaders on transportation spending priorities as well as policies related to transportation, such as efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and create communities with easy access to public transit. It also recommends needs and opportunities for involving the public in transportation matters.

Cities and counties across the region have nominated 11 transportation projects for Metro to approve – and now through Oct. 13, the public gets a chance to help refine and improve those projects.

The Metro Council today voted unanimously to approve early-phase designs for new animal exhibits, educational facilities and sustainability measures funded by the $125 million bond measure passed by local voters in 2008.

Imagine sorting through bits and pieces of your daily life, things you’ve tossed away, from that wild fashion accessory that never quite worked, to a well-loved baking pan used to make your family memorable meals and festive feasts.

Contemplating that tangled mess of unpredictable odds and ends and guiding them to become objects suitable to be contemplated as fine art may seem unimaginable or downright ludicrous. For Jen Fuller, one of five local artists given seven months of scavenging privileges and access to the region’s discards dropped off at Metro Central Transfer Station in Northwest Portland, "what began as an exploration of materials has morphed into an overwhelming and emotional experience."