From the open publishing newswire:

For nearly a year, the group Save Cedar Mill has been fighting against a proposed Wal-Mart in our community. We have held rallies, held signs to raise awareness, raised thousands of dollars to finance independant surveys of traffic and community impact, written hundreds of letters, and now, we hope to pack full the Beaverton Council Chambers to show popular opposition to the proposed store. Here is an email sent around by the group leader, Steve Kaufman. [ read more ]

[ Dont let a 14 acre community farm in South Central LA turn into a Wal-Mart warehouse! | no new sprawlmarts | www.savecedarmill.com ]

From the open publishing newswire: The Cornelius City Council will decide Monday night whether or not to allow Walmart in town. People interested in stopping this Walmart are encouraged to come to this council meeting, Monday, February 6th, 7PM at the Public Service building, 1310 N. Adair St, Cornelius.

The City of Cornelius Planning Commission has already approved Walmart's design application for an 193,000 sq. ft. Supercenter next to Adair Street (TV Hwy); the only thing left now is whether the City Council will approve a ~3 acre zone change from residential to commercial. A 'no' vote on the zone change will stop Walmart's current plan. Your presence and especially your testamonies can help stop Cornelius stop Walmart.

The reasons to oppose Walmart are varied. To many, they are obvious.

From the open publishing newswire:

Attention Please... Wal-Mart is coming. Their sights are set on Portland, and they want you to save money soon! Location scouts are considering sites in SE Portland, Beaverton, and Gresham, and your neighborhood may be the next place to save.

When Wal-Mart opens, they will contribute many things to our community. They will create jobs, pay taxes, provide affordable products to Portland, and maybe even build a traffic-light or sidewalk.

Wall Mart employs an army of handsome consultants and lobbyists to repeat these high points at every possible opportunity. Nobody can argue with the benefits of Wal-Mart, they really do all the things they say. Their colors are also red, white, and blue.

However, if you look just a little bit deeper--say, the last two paragraphs of most major media stories about Wal-Mart--the value of their community contribution vanishes. [ read more >> ]

[ no new sprawlmarts ]

From the open publishing newswire: About 40 women (and a few men) took over Wal-Mart for a brief time this afternoon [Sat. 7/9] to dramatize the unfair working conditions at Wal-Mart stores and at the sweatshops where Wal-Mart gets much of its goods.

From the open publishing newswire: Wal-Mart's Type II Development Application has been deemed "complete" and residents now have only 14 days (June 20 - July 4) to submit comments to the City Planner. ANY PERSON opposed to this development may communicate in writing via electronic or regular mail during this review period. Comments should address relevant concerns and also your intent to appeal if the application is approved.

From the open publishing newswire: Walmart has signed a secret deal with developer Howard Dietrich to build a 150,000 sq ft supercenter, along with 600 enclosed parking spots, at SE Tacoma street and 99E. The lease can only be broken if a city agency decides to buy the property.

Is this an attempt to increase his property value and blackmail the city for somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 million dollars? Or does he really intend to build a Walmart on a site that cannot handle the proposed traffic load? What of the businesses in Milwaukie that will be affected by the opening of a big box right in their neigborhood? What about the neighbors who already suffer through frequent traffic on SE Tacoma street? How will this giant store affect emergency services? None of these questions have been addressed, as the plan was hatched in secret and only leaked out this week.

Well, it's a secret no more. Several hundred people showed up at a Sellwood-Moreland (SMILE) neighborhood meeting last night, and opposition to this development was unanimous. Also attending were members of the Portland City Council.

From the open publishing newswire: Tonight at 7pm about 300 people gathered in the gym of Cedar Park Middle School to attend a rally put on by Save Cedar Mill. Save Cedar Mill is the group that has formed in just 90 days to a size of about 1000 people. It was a well organized and well set up rally complete with door greeters (that was me!), interesting speakers, and a large turnout. It was a kind of pep-rally to keep people motivated and interested in the cause. The other purposes of the rally were to inform people on how to argue their points (the idea is to focus on things like traffic and how it will effect the community, not on bad business practices or anything personal), to get people involved by signing and distributing petitions, and to sell materials such as lawn signs and t-shirts. The purpose of generating revenue is to hire our own traffic analysts and to pay for our legal fees in the fight against Wal Mart.

[ Save Cedar Mill ]

From the open publishing newswire: This week the City of Gresham facilitated a positive and productive meeting between residents and developers to review the scope required for the Wal-Mart traffic study. Fifteen community members met with Kittelson, Pacland and City staff to address traffic concerns including local schools, pedestrians on Springwater Trail, neighborhood short-cuts, Fire Station 73, and the 2-lane bridge south of Safeway. The meeting resulted in an expanded study scope to address those issues. The City has requested a list of "hot-spots" from members, due Friday, to include in the final scoping requirements. Please forward any questions or concerns regarding traffic issues in your area. The City now estimates 3-4 weeks before the traffic study is complete and the review period will begin.

NOT ANOTHER WAL-MART RALLY! Saturday, April 16 from 11am - 1pm. Past street-corner rallies have been very effective at raising public awareness, gathering signatures to our petition, and selling yard signs. This weekend we will target the intersection at 182nd & Powell, and will meet in the Shari's parking lot. We are seeking volunteers to come for at least one hour and help picket the site and wave at traffic. T-shirts are now available and will be offered at a discount to rally participants!

[ Gresham First ]

From the open publishing newswire: I'm still processing last night's Town Hall Meeting. The word "wow" keeps running through my head! I can only say that it was an amazing experience. Here are a few quick highlights of the extraordinary evening:

• I would estimate attendance at 350-400--a fantastic turnout.
• We had 50 signs and some cool buttons made up as our first fundraiser. We sold every single item and raised a whopping $1,272.00! With commitments from several businesses, we have now raised nearly $6,500.00.
• Sen. Ringo reviewed his proposed legislation and had some excellent comments on how to frame the Wal-Mart discussion. Many people asked questions after his presentation, many of which focused on the Wal-Mart issue. Sen. Ringo showed us, in word and deed, that he is backing our efforts and attempting to give us a stronger say in our community's land use planning process. We are very lucky to have such a strong advocate in Salem.

[ Save Cedar Mill ]

From the open publishing newswire: As of this evening, we have 916 people who have registered their opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart store in Cedar Mill. We hope to add many more to our ranks in the coming weeks. Thank you to everyone who has signed up. Please keep recruiting your friends and neighbors to join our growing movement!

Protest on Friday
To capitalize on our momemtum, we plan another rush-hour protest at the proposed site of the Wal-Mart store. We will be at the intersection of Cedar Hills Blvd. and Barnes Road from 4:00 - 6:00 PM, rain or shine. Come join us and lift a sign!

Consultant Search
We are very excited to announce that we have finalized our search and selected our land use attorney and traffic engineer. Both are very experienced professionals and seasoned in the issues we will face when reviewing Wal-Mart's development application. Their selection is one of the most important decisions we will make and we're confident that we have assembled a top-notch team of experts.

[ Save Cedar Mill ]

From the open publishing newswire: The rally was started off by Michael Funke, who affirmed that the WalMart north of Bend was "not a done deal". He pointed out the victories that had been achieved in Hood River and other places. He pointed out the fact that WalMart no longer takes questions directly from the community because of the problems it encountered in Gresham. He asked; "How often is it you get to fight a big corporation in your own back yard?"

The next speaker was John Schubert, who said that he had tried for many years to create a model community. He said he did not want to see Bend sucked dry and abandoned as he had seen happen in other communities where WalMart had conducted business. He pointed out the diverse group of people in Bend who are opposed to WalMart.

[ NotAnotherWalmart.org ]

From the open publishing newswire: Our group has grown to more than 720 members--in only a month! In that short time, we've been very active and very vocal in our opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart store at the Barnes Road/Cedar Hills Blvd. site. I congratulate all of you for taking such a strong stand and for getting involved. I wanted to bring you up to speed on what's happening--and tell you how you can help propel the movement forward.

I'm thrilled that our membership has grown so quickly. A large group sends a powerful message that the community is serious about our resistance to this store. To that end, we have set a goal to double the size of our membership in the next week.

[ Save Ceder Mill ]

First off, thank you for all the support you have given to our growing community campaign to stop the proposed Wal-Mart superstore. We have collected over 1,000 signatures in our petition drive and we are just getting started. Wal-Mart wants everyone to believe this is a done deal, but it isn't. We have hired the attorney who helped people in Hood River and Medford stop a superstore and we are building our public awareness campaign. We need to demonstrate visible opposition to this store and we need as many of you as possible to come out to our...

From the open publishing newswire: Earlier today [Friday, March 3], at four o'clock, i counted as many as 37 people with Anti- Wal mart signs at the intersection of Barnes Rd and Cedar Hills Blvd in the Portland suburb of Cedar Mill. People were there to protest the newly propsed Wal Mart that is to be built at that intersection. People where there for all reasons, from a fundemental dislike of Wal Mart to the threat of greatly increased traffic. People were there to protest the drop in property values and the increase in crime and loitering that has occured in other communities. For whatever reason people showed up, I am glad they did.

[ Save Cedar Mill ]