(Photo by Kaz Mizuno) Name: Tucker Campbell Age: 17 Where he lives: Tigard Grade/School: Senior, Tigard High School Sport: Baseball Coach: Tom Campbell Highlight of this Season: “Getting out to a good start in league play.” How he got started: “My dad got me into baseball; my family is all about baseball.

This month’s Writers Connection will be held the second Thursday of the month, May 10, at 7 p.m.,  and will be held at the Willamette Writers House in West Linn, located  at 2108 Buck St., in West Linn’s Bolton neighborhood! The historic house sits just above Highway 43/ Willamette Drive and is beautifully furnish

(Photo: Cornelia Seigneur) The Marylhurst Neighborhood Association and West Linn’s Parks and Recreation Department are hosting a grand opening celebration and dedication for West Linn’s newest park, Marylhurst Heights Park, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. West Linn Mayor John Kovash will dedicate the park and pr

(Originally published in print edition of The Oregonian April 28, 2012 SW Weekly – Oregonian story link online (Photo: Sharon Burns) Name: Haley Burns Age: 18 City: Portland Grade/school: 12th, Wilsonville High School Team: Varsity tennis Coach: Jen Tinker Highlights: “We won our first match against Rex Putnam 8

The Green Team and Earthkeepers of Cedaroak Park Primary School invite the community to their fourth annual Earth Month celebration from 10 a.m. to noon April 28 at the school, 4515 Cedaroak Drive. This year’s free event includes games, interactive displays and a screening of the documentary “Deep Green,”

(Photo: Alyson Rubrecht) Name: Kristin Perry Age: 17 City: Tigard Grade/school: Senior, Tigard High School Team: Varsity tennis Coach: Matthew Rubrecht Highlights: “The highlight of this season so far would be our first win of the season at Glencoe High School. Our team came away with an overall sweep of 8-0. I had a

(David Houston) Michaela Houston, a West Linn resident, is organizing an “Artists Creating a Better World — Mother’s Day Celebration” sale to benefit the nonprofit ChristieCare from 11 a .m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at Holy Names Heritage Center, 17425 Holy Names Drive. The event will gather 30 l

This month’s Writers Connection is  Thursday April 19 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. (or so) in the East Atrium at Rolling Hills Community Church, located at 3550 SW Borland Road in Tualatin. During this meeting, we will glean inspiration from well-known literature excerpts, learn of upcoming writing conferences, share success

(Originally published in print edition of The Oregonian April 14, 2012 – Oregonian story link online) (Layne Reavely poses for a portrait by Lauren Reavely.) West Linn 17-year-old Lauren Reavely launched her photography/design business, Lauren Reavely Designs, last month. She is accepting clients for portraits, specia

This past weekend, my extraordinary, kind, intelligent, bright, warm, adventurous, curious, sweet, godly, loving, fun daughter Rachel Marianne was married  in a classic, elegant, vintage, beautiful marriage ceremony at the Academy Chapel in Vancouver. How did 22 years pass by so quickly.  .  . Rachel picked the perfect v

While my daughter  is home this month planning her marriage ceremony and reception with me and her fiancé Stefan we have been very very busy. It deserves about 100 times that many verys. It is unbelievable the details and process and back and forth and decisions and thought and planning and dreaming and attention to [...]

(Ken Waz Photo: Calvin Hermanson goes for a layup in a game against Salem’s Sprague High School.)  ESPN just named him Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Name: Calvin Hermanson Age: 17 City: Lake Oswego Grade/school: Junior, Lake Oswego High School Team: Varsity basketball Coach: Mark Shoff Highlight: ̶

(Photo: Tracy Stephens) Caleb Hansen, Phoenix Pro Cycles Name: Caleb Hansen Age: 13 Residence: Sherwood Grade/school: Seventh grade, Laurel Ridge Middle School Sport: “BMX (bicycle motocross) racing. There are two local outdoor tracks in the area. One in Newberg and one in Molalla. It is a sport that was huge in the 1

At last month’s Justice Conference in Portland, Ore., Shane Claiborne, a Christian activist for nonviolence and service to the poor, shared a story of his outreach visit to Iraq during the war. “We were having a birthday party for a 13-year-old girl when bombs started falling, and we thought we need to end this

Students from Multnomah University, where I teach,  are presenting the Isaiah Project  to bring the dark reality of human-trafficking to light. They are inviting area high school  youth groups to the Wednesday March 14 event, which is being held at 7 p.m. at Central Bible Church, located at 8815 Northeast Glisan Street i

For this month’s Writers Connection, come hear self-publishing expert Dennis Marcellino  share his story and how you too can get your book in print, inexpensively. Dennis will also touch on  how to sell your ebooks. Writers Connection meets at Rolling Hills Community Church the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.

I had the opportunity to attend The Justice Conference held at the Oregon Convention Center at the end of February, and was able to bring two  Multnomah University student journalists with me who are writing about the conference for Muse. During the two-day event, I was mining for stories for Christianity Today’s This is

On Monday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. Mark Hanson and Greta Pedersen will perform for the Music in the  Stacks event at the West Linn Public Library, located at 1595 Burns Street in West Linn. Mark is a Grammy Award winner with his guitar, and Greta was National Young Audiences Arts for Learning “Artist of [...]

(Originally published in Saturday March 3, 2012 The Oregonian SW Weekly print edition) SPORTS SPOTLIGHT- Braden Krellwitz, West Linn Lions (Photo Tracie Krellwitz) Name: Braden Krellwitz Age: 18 Grade/school: Senior, West Linn High School Sport: Varsity wrestling Coach: Doug Samarron Highlights: “Our team recently won

  (Photo: Cornelia Seigneur) Nora and Wade Wilson of West Linn are settling into running their most recent kid entertainment center, Tac-Ops Indoor Airsoft, 5063 N.E. 122nd Ave. in Portland. They also own JJ Jump in Clackamas and JJ Extreme in Vancouver. Nora Wilson said the couple enjoy opening “family entertain

I got a taste of The Justice Conference this evening at the Speakers Dinner held at Imago Dei- Was honored to be there to meet so many people I had written about or interviewed for stories. I had the privilege of sitting on a table with Dr. John M. Perkins,                                  Â

Martin French has convened an exhibit called Love is a Thread at the Imago Art Space in the Pearl district to complement the Justice Conference theme. An opening Reception runs from 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 23 and continues through the conference.  And, there will be an Open House during the regular First [...]

Ken Wytsma has been teaching classes on justice at Kilns College–School of Theology in Bend for years, and he has preached on the topic of justice at Antioch Church, where he is the founding lead pastor. But last year he decided he wanted to take the topic of justice to the next level. Real life. [...]

Name: Karly Leveque Age: 17 (Larry Lawson)   Grade/school: Senior, West Linn High School Team: Varsity basketball Coach: Glen Lee Highlights: “Being 7-1 in one of the top leagues in the state is a great accomplishment. Our team works together so well and I think that is something that is a great accomplishment al

 Kelly Bean, a West Linn mom of three, first learned of Pastor Steven Turikunkiko and his wife, Providence, at a conference for Christian leaders in Uganda in 2007. The Turikunkikos, who live in the neighboring country of Rwanda in central Africa, had been taking orphans into their home, as well as helping other orphans re

When I went to hear Richard Twiss speak at a “Race Talks” event at a popular pub in Northeast Portland, I was struck by how he spoke of his faith. “I am a follower of Jesus, though I would not call myself a Christian,” Twiss said. On several occasions, Twiss asked the audience to consider [...]

(Photo by Denyce Weiler) Austin Arizala, Tualatin Timberwolves and Tigard Tualatin Swim Club Name: Austin Arizala Age: 17 Residence: Tualatin Grade/school: Senior, Tualatin High School Team: Varsity swimming Coach: Jeanine Serrano Highlights: Won the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly and was part of the winning 200 medley

(Orignally published in Oregonian SW Weekly print edition, February 4, 2012) Name:Daniel Leonard Age: 17 Residence: Sherwood Grade/school: Senior, Sherwood High School (Photo: Jim Clarke) (The Sherwood Bowmen’s Daniel Leonard competes against the Pendleton Buckaroos’ Dylan Holcomb) Team: Varsity wrestling Coach:

The entire community of West Linn mourns the loss of West Linn High freshman Sierra Grill, who passed away yesterday. A Facebook Student memorial page has been set up. Such a tragic loss, I cannot even imagine the pain this family is going through.

For this month’s Thursday Feb. 16 Writers Connection  meeting, we are thrilled to have Novelist Melanie Dobson  return as our guest speaker. Melanie  is the award-winning author of nine contemporary and historical novels including most recently, Love Finds You in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She will share her writing j