Dancing dragons at OCOM opening.

Three projects in three corners of the Portland region – Northeast, Northwest and Southwest – opened in October with investment from Metro's Transit-oriented Development Program. Metro's TOD program provides incentives, primarily in the form of modest funding grants, to private developers to build mixed-use, higher density housing and retail projects near transit.

Addressing a packed room at the Metro Regional Center, Manuel Pastor, nationally recognized economic and social equity expert, led a 90-minute conversation about what success as a more racially and ethnically diverse nation looks like and why its important to start the conversation at the regional level.

Word about Mark Bosworth's disappearance reached people in New York's Time Square today. The missing person flier for Mark was broadcast on the Time Square's giant digital billboard. Mark, a Metro employee, went missing on the night of September 16 in Riddle, Oregon while volunteering with Cycle Oregon. He had been disoriented in the weeks before, and the night of, his disappearance. A medical condition related to previous cancers he’s battled is likely to blame for his confusion. In addition to the flier being featured on the Times Square billboard, local Associated Press Reporter Terrence Petty wrote a story about Mark and the efforts to find him. The story was released to the nation and quickly went up on the websites of national news organizations.

It's a dirty job, but Metro's on it. Watch recycling information specialist Betty Shelley help a local mom and her family discover reusable resources – and hidden savings – in their garbage can. The segment, part of KATU's Savings Makeover series, shows how one household can cut its trash output in half, helping the family's pocketbook and the environment.

A Metro team is in Chicago this week, competing for the Portland metropolitan area to be named the world's most livable community. Based on a written entry, the region was selected as a finalist in the International Awards for Liveable Communities. The competition, which is endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme, was launched in 1997 to recognize innovative approaches to improving sustainability and quality of life.

With a last "all aboard" call on the Oregon Zoo and Railway's steam engine, outgoing Metro Council President David Bragdon bade staff, colleagues, family and friends goodbye before leaving for a new job in New York City. In mid-September Bragdon begins his job as director of long-term planning and sustainability in the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He'll be responsible for the creation and implementation of PlaNYC, the city’s long-term vision for a greener, greater New York.

The Oregonian feature editorial for Jan. 5, 2010

The election for council president in 2010 could be the most thoughtful and provocative in the history of the regional government

This year, the Metro regional government will make a momentous decision, perhaps the most important in its history. But the principle behind it is surprisingly simple: Minimize waste.

Oregonians detest waste. Increasingly, they understand that land can be wasted as surely as money can be wasted - and, in fact, that wasting land is a form of wasting money.

This year, along with Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties, Metro will distinguish land that it would be smarter to develop eventually, called urban reserves, from land that it would be smarter to set aside for generations, called rural reserves.