The Columbia River Crossing "Project Sponsors' Council" held its first meeting on Tuesday, November 4. The 10 member council faced a list of 129 things that the local jurisdictions want addressed—like a study of the big bridge's impact on greenhouse gas emissions and a solid financial plan—plus things that the jurisdictions need to hash out, like the number of "auxiliary lanes" the bridge will have. For starters, the group discussed how to get through the massive list in a timely fashion.

"Some are stated as conditions that would need to be satisfied. There are many of these that are stated as issues to be resolved. The fact that we're sitting here, you can check that off now," said Metro Council President David Bragdon, noting that an oversight group was one condition on the list.

The council meets again on December 5, and will start to tackle the most controversial issue: The bridge's number of lanes, and traffic capacity. AJR

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Apparently Southeast Portland residents are happy to trade guns for food: The Lents neighborhood's annual Gun Turn-in Day netted just over 300 guns from residents willing to trade their lethal weapons for $75 Fred Meyer gift certificates. That's up from last year, when neighbors handed over 245 guns in an effort to get these weapons out of homes.

Meanwhile, Lents Neighborhood Association Vice-Chair Wes Wolfe sent out an email to the neighborhood email list Friday, October 31, offering a different deal: He would pay $100 cash for a .22 caliber rifle. Wolfe planned to use the rifles to help Boy Scouts train for a shooting merit badge. SM

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The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT), the city's main nonprofit focused on tenants' rights, has changed leadership: Ari Rapkin is temporarily taking over the director reigns from longtime leader Ian Slingerland, who took a job with Housing Authority of Portland. The next few months could be especially busy for CAT, since nearly a third of houses facing foreclosure are rentals. SM