Eastside Digest
Fund-raiser to help bring art museum back to life

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BELLEVUE — The Bellevue Art Museum has hired a longtime local fund-raiser to help bring the museum back from the brink of financial ruin.

Karen Porterfield, formerly head of community fund-raising campaigns for United Way of King County and a former development director for the local Salvation Army, takes over as the museum's fund-raising counsel.

Her arrival comes at a critical juncture for the museum, which closed in September during a financial crisis. Museum leaders say they must raise $2.8 million in the next five months to meet their planned Oct. 28 opening date.

The museum has been without a fund-raising director since closing. Lackluster fund raising has been cited as a reason why the museum nearly ran out of money less than three years after moving into a new $23 million building in downtown Bellevue.

Bus hits truck when driver suffers medical reaction

BELLEVUE — A charter-bus driver apparently suffered a diabetic reaction yesterday, causing his bus to plow into a state Department of Transportation truck that was parked on the side of northbound Interstate 405.

The bus was empty at the time of the 9:38 a.m. crash near the Interstate 90 interchange, according to the State Patrol. The bus driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, but no one else was hurt.

Traffic was backed up from the Interstate 90 interchange to Renton as officials worked to clear the road, the Patrol said. All lanes were reopened at 11:53 a.m.

Forum to discuss issues related to family planning

REDMOND — A town-hall forum will be held in Redmond on Thursday to discuss international family-planning issues, such as controlling HIV/AIDS and population growth.
 
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, will give a welcome address that will be followed by comments from two international experts: Halida Hanum Akhter of Health Promotion Limited in Bangladesh and Carlos Guarnizo of Pathfinder International in Peru. There will be an opportunity for questions.

The event is sponsored by Planned Parenthood Global Partners and Planet Northwest, a coalition of groups working to gain support for international family planning. The meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. at the Clise Mansion in Marymoor Park.

Information is from the Eastside bureau of The Seattle Times.