Port Angeles Washington - The Authentic Northwest.

A generous bequest for the late Mazie Maloney enabled Habitat for Humanity to acquire the site for a new diverse neighborhood in west Port Angeles; Where Habitat will develop 14 self-help single family homes over the next seven years. The first housing ready for occupancy at Maloney Heights is the 28 unit apartment building dedicated December 15th, designed by Ron Wright & Associates Architects, Miriam Ginsberg, project architect. Corstone Contractors LLC was the general contractor, with Sean Barquist, project manager, and John L Peer, site supervisor. A Washington State Housing Trust Fund project, Maloney Heights also received state and city Community Development Block Grants and a Clallam County Affordable Housing Fund award. The project benefits the community by expanding the supply of housing for people with limited resources and elevated needs, which will reduce demands on emergency services.. Maloney Heights adds more than $300,000 of public infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks and utility connections, to the City of Port Angeles. For more information about living in Maloney Heights Apartments, Accessing othe housing or obtaining help to prevent becoming homeless contact Port Angeles Housing Resource Center (360) 565-5041 or Serenity House (360) 452-7224

This Friday Entrance Fees will be waived to Kick Off 7-Day Road Access. Olympic National Park, in collaboration with community partners, is hosting a Grand Winter Opening celebration this Friday, December 17 at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. The public event is co-sponsored by the City of Port Angeles, ARAMARK and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce in celebration of Hurricane Ridge Road opening for seven-day access this winter. The public is invited to join in the celebration of the beginning of the winter season and the new seven-day a week access schedule. The brief Grand Winter Opening ceremony will begin at noon on Friday, December 17 and will be held just outside the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. Attendees are invited to warm up inside the Visitor Center following the brief ceremony. ARAMARK, the park concessionaire which operates the Hurricane Ridge Snack Bar and Ski Shop, will offer light refreshments including coffee and hot chocolate. The event will include short remarks from Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin, Port Angeles City Councilwoman Cherie Kidd, a representative from Rep. Norm Dicks and a representative from the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club. Also featured will be the unveiling of a new “Road Open” banner to help publicize this year’s seven day a week plowing schedule. All Points Charters and Tours will begin its shuttle service from downtown Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge on Friday, December 17 and will offer twice-daily van service Wednesday through Sunday through the end of March. Advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling All Points Charters and Tours at 360-565-1139 or 360-460-7131. Round trip tickets will cost $10 per person. The Hurricane Ridge snack bar and ski shop, with both ski and snowshoe rentals, will be open this Friday as scheduled, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The snack bar is open for ‘grab and go’ only on Fridays; full services are available Saturdays and Sundays. A ranger-led snowshoe walks for individuals and families will be offered as scheduled at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. The walk lasts 90 minutes and is less than one mile in length. People should register at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center information desk 30 minutes before the scheduled walk. A suggested $5 donation from each snowshoe walk participant helps the park provide snowshoe walks and repair and replace snowshoes. As always, winter access to Hurricane Ridge is weather dependent. For up-to-date information on road and weather conditions, you can visit the Olympic National Park website at www.nps.gov/olym, follow HRWinterAccess on Twitter, or call the recorded Road and Weather Hotline at 360-565-3131. All vehicles are required to carry chains when traveling the Hurricane Ridge Road in winter.

Sales, treats, music and Santa will be available as part of "Shop 'Til You Drop" Tomorrow night. More than 30 stores and shops in downtown Port Angeles and at The Landing mall will stay open until 8 p.m. There will be complimentary gifts, sales, special discounts on merchandise, drawings for door prizes and holiday cocoa, hot cider and cookies at many of the stores for people who come in between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Shoppers can also enter a drawing at participating stores for a prize of $500 in Downtown Dollars, which can be used like cash at many downtown businesses. The drawing will be held in front of the downtown Christmas tree at the Conrad Dyar Fountain, corner of First and Laurel streets, at 8:15 p.m. Santa will also be downtown, seated with one of his elves at The Toggery, 105 E. First St., and handing out candy canes. Parents are welcome to bring their children and a camera. Hot cider will be served from First Street Haven's Christmas Room next to The Toggery. Participating stores will have special red shopping bags for purchases. Music by Double Exposure (Howard and Leslie Fisher) will be heard throughout downtown there will also be caroling in front of the downtown Christmas tree. Also Thursday night, the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold its December holiday after-hours business mixer from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The mixer is in the second-floor meeting room of the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St. It is open to chamber members and their guests. Beverages and appetizers will be provided.

Designs for next year’s America the Beautiful Quarters have officially been announced by the United States Mint. The five coins will continue the presentation of a different National Park or site in each of the 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia. The releases for 2011 feature Gettysburg National Military Park located in Pennsylvania, Glacier National Park located in Montana, Olympic National Park located in Washington, Vicksburg National Military Park located in Mississippi, and Chickasaw National Recreation Area located in Oklahoma. The Olympic National Park Quarter features a Roosevelt Elk stepping onto a gravel river bar of the Hoh River. Mount Olympus is visible within the background of the image. The reverse of the coin was designed by AIP Master Designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by US Mint Sculptor-Engraver Michael Gaudioso.

You are Invited to Participate in the Annual

“Shop-‘til-You-Drop” Night

Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and Port Angeles Downtown Association

Thursday, December 16

5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

*Complimentary Cider will be provided to shoppers

*Santa Claus will be at the corner of Laurel and First again this year!

*Christmas Music will be heard throughout downtown

* Complimentary Shopping Bags Available!!!

* Sing-Along at the Fountain prior to the $500 Downtown Sweepstakes

NEW THIS YEAR!!!

Downtown Sweepstakes Sponsored by First Federal and PADA.

Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 16 shoppers can receive an entry into the drawing for $500 Downtown Dollars with every $10 they spend at participating businesses.  Drawing will be held at 8:15 p.m. on December 16th.  Must be present to win!  First ticket is complimentary.  Participating or sponsoring businesses, their employees cannot win at their business, PADA board members or families are not eligible to win.  Tickets and boxes will be provided to participating businesses.   Contact Barbara for more details  360-457-9614

Thank you again for participating in this community event!

Betsy Reed Schultz 360-460-7848

The Recreation Division is hosting this fun run / walk on December 18, 2010, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Participants should check in by 12:45 p.m. The 5K and 10K run / walk routes will start at the City Pier and follow the Waterfront Trail out and back. There will be shirts and antlers for participants and a raffle drawing for prizes. Pre-registration is $25.00 per person, and $15.00 for ages 18 and under. Pre-registration guarantees a T-shirt. Add $5.00 per person to register after December 10. Medals will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in each age division. Awards ceremony will start at approximately 2:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Recreation General Fund which helps cover costs for the various Recreation programs and special events throughout the year. Registration forms available in the Recreation office or online at www.cityofpa.us/parksrecreation.htm. For more information contact Dan Estes at 417-4557 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sleigh bells ring: are you listnin’? Join friends and neighbors for horse-pulled sleigh rides and more in Sequim! The North Olympic Land Trust’s 2nd Annual Holiday Celebration will take place on Saturday, December 11th from 10am until 2pm at the Lazy J Tree Farm. Folks can pick out their ideal Christmas tree while riding through the farm behind Jim Bower’s Blue Mountain Belgium horses, pay a visit to Santa Claus in the Lazy J Barn, snack on cookies and hot cider, and enjoy an outdoor bonfire and carolers. Participants can stroll down to Siebert Creek with naturalists Coleman Byrnes and Dr. James Karr to learn about how the Land Trust helps permanently protect important salmon habitat on land like the Lazy J Tree Farm. Visitors can purchase local fruits and vegetables, jam, wreaths and other products for gift-giving along with Christmas trees that they or the Lazy J staff cut fresh. The public is invited to the Land Trust’s event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Lazy J Tree Farm is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for tree cutting and sales at 225 Gehrke Road in Port Angeles. More information can be found at www.nolt.org The December 11th event is free.

Bella Rosa Coffee House will be hosting a fundraiser on Sunday December 5th from 2pm to 5pm. We will have Sterling Impressions Photography in to take Santa pictures for kids. Each photo will be 5x7 and $15. All proceeds go to help Team Bella Rosa raise money for American Cancer Society and Relay for Life.

The Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge winter schedule has been announced for the 2010-2011 season. Daily access to the Ridge will begin on December 17. To celebrate the new seven day a week schedule, and the community-park collaboration that is making it possible, the public is invited to a Grand Winter Opening celebration at Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center at noon on December 17. Weather permitting; the Hurricane Ridge Road will be open daily 9 a.m. to dusk through the winter season, except for December 25, Christmas Day. All vehicles, including four-wheel drive vehicles, are required to carry tire chains when traveling above the Heart O'the Hills entrance station in winter. Road and weather condition updates are posted on the Olympic National Park website (www.nps.gov/olym) or by calling the park's Road and Weather Hotline at (360) 565-3131. People can also follow "HRWinterAccess" on Twitter to receive road condition updates. The Hurricane Ridge shuttle van (All Points Charters and Tours) will provide twice-daily van service from downtown Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge Wednesday through Sunday, beginning on Friday, December 17. The shuttle will depart from the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on Railroad Avenue at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and will pick up passengers at the Vern Burton Center at 9:05 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. before the 45-minute drive to Hurricane Ridge. Vans will depart Hurricane Ridge at approximately 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Scheduling details will remain flexible during the start-up period for this new service. Advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling All Points Charters and Tours at 360-565-1139 or 360-460-7131. Round trip tickets will cost $10 per person; rates for special circumstances are under development and will be made available soon. In addition, park entrance fees ($5.00/person for anyone 16 years and older) will be required at the park entrance station. Park and national public lands entrance passes will be honored. For More information on the Hurricane Ridge winter schedule go to www.hurricaneridge.com.

Bob Saget comes to the Pacific Northwest in his new real-life series “strange Days with Bob Saget” on A&E . Bob is searching for Bigfoot with the BFRO (the Bigfoot Field Research Organization). Along the trip he meets some interesting characters who all have their own Bigfoot experiences, and take Bob into the wilderness so he can hopefully have his own. Bob tags along on search expeditions in the deep woods in the middle of the night with all the latest hi-tech equipment and night-vision technology. The woods are full of characters on a weekend like this one. Check it out at http://www.aetv.com/strange-days-with-bob-saget/.