OurPDX shared links for April 17th

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Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for April 17th. Go out and enjoy the fantastic weather!

Isaac Laquedem: How to evaluate proposals to spend the City’s money
Isaac's got it: "I propose Isaac's Rule for evaluating every request to the City to spend money on something new that is not a core function of the City, whether it be the $150,000 to consider renaming a street, the unknown millions to convert a baseball field into a soccer field, the unknown millions to build a baseball field to replace the baseball field that is being turned into a soccer field, or the unknown hundreds of millions to build a hotel to house the conventioneers who aren't coming to the convention center."

The rule is simple. It doesn't require math, or major brainpower. Go read it for yourself and see if you agree!
Lelo in Nopo: How do you learn how to garden?
LeLo writes: "Now I’m a gardener of both ornamentals (hello, flowers!) and veggies, but I know a lot of you are hardcore into the vegetable growing this year, and there’s a ton of information out there telling you to do this and not to do this. I know that whatever Oregon Tilth is going to teach you is going to be valuable and practical. For a few Thursdays and Saturdays now through mid May, it should be a really great course to learn a lot, meet some other folks just like you, and set a great foundation for growing your food."
Festivals all weekend: Filmed by Bike, Eat Mobile, Stumptown Comics, Record Store Day | Dave Knows: Portland
The weather's going to be phenomenal, so why not get out and about to one of the many cool events happening this weekend? Dave's got a few ideas over at his blog…
Free Events This Weekend in Portland: Apr 17–19 | Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond
If you're not already following this blog, you need to start NOW! Especially if you have little ones & need fun, inexpensive (or free!) family activities.
Food Haiku Contest, Fooku is Back! | An Exploration of Portland Food and Drink
Food Dude writes: "It’s that time of year when we run “fooku”, Portland Food and Drink’s annual food haiku contest. We’ve partnered with a new sponsor this year. The winner will receive two tickets to the Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, April 27th, a $150 value. This doesn’t leave much time, so sharpen your pencils and get to work!" (Note: I've been a judge once before; reading all of the entries was priceless..!)