David Keyes, who manages the Community Tech Program and the Technology Matching Fund for the City of Seattle's Department of Information Technology, has been elected to a second term on the CTCNet board of directors. His role with the City is to help plan for and encourage public access to technology tools and work with community organizations to make Seattle a technology literate city.

David has been working in the field of community and civic applications of technology for 22 years. His prior experience includes community access television development, teen media literacy projects, online course authoring, community organizing and educational television production. He has worked for non-profits, schools, industry and government. David can juggle flaming torches and is a graduate of Antioch College and the University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs.

The Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) envisions a society in which all people are equitably empowered by technology skills and usage. CTCNet is a leading advocate of equitable access to computers and related technologies; it invites, initiates, and actively encourages partnerships and collaborations with other individuals and organizations that offer resources in support of its mission.

The Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT) is seeking applications for the position of executive director. The principal responsibility of the executive director will be to advocate for strong and sustainable community technology centers and programs and to ensure the delivery of member support services (networking and professional development, program services, technical support and collaborative resource development) in Seattle and the Puget Sound region. A new membership organization of non-profits, schools, private and public agencies and others concerned with technology in underserved communities, PSACT supports lifelong learning, civic participation and healthy communities by strengthening community technology programs.

For more details and information on how to apply, please visit the PSACT web site.

The Seattle Channel, our civic cable television station and Web site, moved into the new city hall last month along with the Mayor and City Council. As of this ezine's deadline, cables are still being installed and lights are being hung in the new studio. Production has been slowed while editing suites are wired and equipment is unpacked. Both City Inside/Out, the weekly public affairs program with C.R. Douglas, and CityStream, Mike James' neighborhood and arts magazine, will return in September. Everyone is excited about the new studio, which will provide better acoustics and larger space for in-house production.

Look for the Video Voters Guide to be the Seattle Channel's first big project. Registered candidates will have two unedited minutes to tell their story to viewers before the primary election in September, and again before the general election in November. Check it out on channel 21 for Comcast cable customers and channel 28 for Millennium Digital Media cable customers. The Voter’s Guide will also be streamed on the channel’s website at www.seattlechannel.org.

The PGA Foundations will support expenses associated with implementing the specific project for which you are requesting funding. These expenses may include ongoing costs such as salaries and facility usage and should be included as specific line items in the project budget submitted with your application. Requests solely for support of general operating expenses or administrative overhead will not be funded by the foundations.

Applications are accepted for two deadlines each year: March 31 and September 30. General guidelines and applications may be found here.

$100 million, approved this week by a Senate committee, should enable AmeriCorps to reach a full enrollment of 50,000 volunteers this year, easing a huge projected staffing and services shortfall for nonprofits nationwide. The Corporation for National and Community Service, responsible for Americorps, VISTA, Peace Corps and other national service programs, indicated in May that it would not be able to fill more than half of its 50,000 volunteer slots in the current fiscal year. The shortfall stems from an accounting dispute over education grants awarded to volunteers upon completion of a year's service. Some AmeriCorps volunteers get modest living stipends, but all are eligible for $4,725 scholarship grants to pay for college or graduate school, or to repay student loans.

This appropriation represents just half the necessary $200 million. While some of the AmeriCorps cutbacks have been avoided, more dollars are needed to rescue the program. Letters to the editors of your newspapers are encouraged, and a petition is available online to help save Americorps.

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We encourage you to visit the City of Seattle's Community Tech pages, cityofseattle.net/tech.