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• Quirky: Voodoo on the Go
• New Hotels: McMenamins to Open Downtown Portland Hotel
• Green News: Courtyard by Marriott – Portland City Center Earns LEED Gold

Voodoo Doughnut's legendary pastries just got a sweet set of wheels. The popular Voodoo-themed doughnut shops (there are two locations in Portland) recently teamed up with Urban Opportunities to launch the Voodoo Van, a hot-pink former utility truck that now serves as a rolling showcase for Voodoo's imaginative doughnut creations. Using Twitter to announce where it will be on any given day, the van pops up around town, serving many of the same crazy varieties available at its bricks-and-mortar locations: Voodoos (voodoo doll-shaped doughnuts with raspberry “blood” filling), Bacon Maple Bars (maple bars topped with strips of real bacon), Portland Cremes (Portland's official city doughnut), even vegan doughnuts. Tip for meeting planners and tour operators: The van can be booked to make appearances at special events.

And while the doughnuts are delicious, the van has an even sweeter purpose. It's operated by Urban Opportunities, a nonprofit job-readiness training program for homeless, at-risk and under-supported youth. The kids staff the van, earning $8.75 an hour while picking up valuable customer-service and sales skills along the way. All proceeds from Voodoo Van sales go back to Urban Opportunities. For more information on Voodoo Doughnut, visit www.voodoodoughnut.com. For information on Urban Opportunities, go to www.urbanopportunities.net.

Media Contact
Polly Bangs, Urban Opportunities
503.860.1655
pollybangs@gmail.com

McMenamins Hotels, Pubs & Breweries — a Portland-based company with a penchant for rescuing, renovating and repurposing historic buildings — is working to transform a 1911 structure in downtown Portland into a full-service hotel. The new McMenamins' property will be called the Crystal Hotel, due to its close proximity to McMenamins Crystal Ballroom. It is scheduled to open in early 2010.

The hotel's triangular footprint will encompass 50 guest rooms, a restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and outdoor seating; a heated saltwater soaking pool; spa-like massage rooms; and the subterranean Cellar Bar, which will connect to McMenamins' existing Ringlers Annex Pub next door. Through artwork and historic photographs, McMenamins will commemorate the property's evolution from pioneer residence to tire shop to live jazz club to — most recently and significantly — part of Portland's “gay triangle.”

In addition to adjoining Ringlers Annex, the new hotel is just one block from McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, a historic venue that has presented live national music/dance acts since the 1920s, ranging from Rudolph Valentino to the Grateful Dead to Modest Mouse. With its location in Portland's Burnside Triangle/West End district, the whimsically designed hotel will be adjacent to the Pearl District, two blocks from Powell's City of Books, and a five-minute walk from Portland's downtown city center. For updates on the hotel's progress, visit www.mcmenamins.com.

Media Contact
Renee Rank, McMenamins Hotels, Pubs & Breweries
503.492.5457
reneer@hq.mcmenamin.com

The U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded the Courtyard by Marriott – Portland City Center a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. The 256-room hotel, which opened in downtown Portland in June 2009, is the first Courtyard to receive such a high level of recognition for environmental design and responsibility. Among the hotel's green benchmarks:

• a reduction in energy use that is 60 percent higher than benchmarks established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers
• the elimination of all harmful refrigerants
• a 26 percent savings in potable water
• dual-flush toilets in all hotel rooms
• curbside access to alternative transportation modes (MAX light rail trains and biodiesel buses)
• the recycling of 84 percent of the project's construction waste

The hotel is a renovation of an older downtown office building. The building's exterior received a complete facelift, and its window proportions were optimized to allow maximum daylighting and energy conservation, both important LEED considerations. The hotel offers wireless Internet access, business services, more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space, valet parking and The Original, an independent on-site restaurant dishing up diner-style comfort food in a chic but comfortable environment. The Original's main entrance faces Southwest Sixth Avenue and Portland's new MAX light rail Green Line (opening Sept. 12, 2009).

Media Contact
Cheri Hanson, Courtyard by Marriott – Portland City Center
503.505.5000
cheri.hanson@cymportland.com