Corvallis

AID FOR IRAQ -- The deadline to provide a box of necessary goods to be sent to Iraqi people in need has been extended.

The original deadline set for last week to have your box to the Westminster House, 101 N.W. 23rd St., has been moved to May 12. Boxes can be dropped off at Westminster on weekdays.

Mennonite Central Committee is organizing the international effort for the many Iraqis who have been displaced by the war. It has been overwhelmed with the initial response, according to Kathy Howell, a member of the Corvallis Mennonite Fellowship who has helped coordinate the local effort.

Suggested items for a relief kit include:

• Four bars of soap

• One plastic bottle of shampoo (450 to 830ml/13 to 24oz.) in a plastic bag

• 10 cups of powdered laundry detergent (double-bag in a 4-liter/1-gallon re-sealable bags)

• 1 squeeze-tube toothpaste (minimum 130ml/6 oz.)

• 4 adult-size toothbrushes (leave in packaging)

• 4 new bath towels (medium weight, not white)

• 1 each -- hairbrush, wide-tooth comb and fingernail clipper

• 1 box of assorted adhesive bandages (minimum 40)

• 1 package of sanitary pads (18 to 24 thin maxi or ultra thin)

Cash contributions can be sent to: Mennonite Central Committee, P.O. Box 500, Akron, Pa., 17501; Mark as Iraq Families at Risk

SWEETLAND RECEPTION -- The board of directors of the Corvallis-Benton County Economic Development Partnership will hold a reception for departing partnership president Doug Sweetland from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the offices of CH2M Hill, 2300 N.W. Walnut Blvd.

Sweetland and his wife, Bobbie, are relocating to Modesto, Calif., where Sweetland will become executive director of the Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance.

Sweetland has been the president of the local economic development organization for 13 years. He and his assistant, Abbie England, are the only full-time staff the partnership has ever had.

People planning to attend the reception are asked to RSVP to 757-1507.

CIVIL LIBERTIES DISCUSSION -- A community forum, "Civil Liberties since 9/11," will be held April 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. The primary focus will be the USA Patriot Act and how it is affecting our community.

Panelists include Charles Matthews of the FBI's Portland office, Dave Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon ACLU, Valerie Rosenberg of OSU International Programs, Carolyn Rawles-Heiser, director of the library, and Gilbert Paul Carrasco, a law professor at Willamette University.

It is not a debate, but a public information effort to let citizens know about the USA Patriot Act and its effect on local businesses and residents.

The event, which is free, is co-sponsored by the city of Corvallis, Benton County, the library, the League of Women Voters, and the Linn-Benton chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.