When two young Jews were shot dead at a gay club in Israel last summer, New York’s gay Jewish community responded immediately. The West Village congregation for gay Jews, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, reached out to friends they made in Israel through a city-to-city partnership established 10 years ago.

Megeve, France, is a ski town at the base of Mont Blanc...Telluride, Colo., is a ski town at the base of the San Juan Mountains...this week, a long-standing effort between the comparable communities to become sister cities will take a big step forward. Three Telluriders are traveling to Megeve to act as representatives of Telluride in an international water conference.

A delegation of dignitaries from Shinagawa, Japan, will arrive in Portland today for a five-day celebration of a sister city relationship that began more than 25 years ago. Although Portland has three other sister cities -- Cap Haitien, Haiti; Mytilene, Greece; and Archangel, Russia -- Shinagawa was Portland's first.