The July Edition of the Sentinel is on the street and in homes across North, inner Northeast and Far Northwest Portland. This month's feature: Rocketboy! Nine-year-old Kirkland Leach suffers from autism. But Leach has found that rock 'n' roll helps his condition and this month he's releasing a CD of his music on North Pole Records.
The real estate markets decline and the new economy has a silver lining for Living Room Realtors. Owner and founder Jenelle Isaacson saw the shift in market as a perfect time to open Living Room Realtors with her partner Brandy Hibben. Frustrated with the lag in the industry keeping up with the environmental movement and market changes Jenelle and Brandy decided it was time to create a fresh business model. They site many of their clients as a huge source of inspiration.
There's a lovely long article in the InPortland section of the Oregonian today that focuses on recent gains in revitalization and improvements in Portland neighborhoods. Successes are due in part to the participation, imagination and energy of the City's neighborhood assocaition system. The article states that attendence at the City's whopping 92 neighborhood groups is up 30% over the past 5 years. The article highlights some recent neighborhood accomplishments including efforts by Woodlawn residents and businesses to revitalize (and not gentrify) the area and St Johns's long journey out of obscurity and neglect.
"When plans were pitched for a new Triple-A baseball stadium in Lents, a quintet of neighborhood associations — Lents, Foster-Powell, Mt. Scott-Arleta, Powellhurst-Gilbert and Pleasant Valley — made their concerns heard. Among the objections: a proposal to finance the stadium with urban renewal money typically steered toward neighborhood improvements.
Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson cited that vehement opposition when he abandoned plans last month to build the stadium in Lents Park."That squeaky wheel does make a difference," said Mary Walker, a Powellhurst-Gilbert representative."
Mr. Griscom's effort to find a name-brand literary asset to call his own -- and subvert the economics of the freelance writing business -- comes as name-brand writers are slowly turning up on the Web. David Talbot, the editor of Salon, the San Francisco-based Webzine, has Garrison Keillor and Camille Paglia as regular contributors. He said that he had offered stock options to about 10 of Salon's best-known freelance writers and illustrators -- but would not say which. More of this on new york times website
The two biggest events of the year, the Mississippi Street Fair and Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, are coming and you're invited.
MISSISSIPPI STREET FARING WELL
The biggest block party in North Portland, the Mississippi Street Fair takes off once again this year with more music, beer, kids activities and BBQ than ever. What started out eight years ago as the Boise-Eliot Multi-Cultural Fair has evolved into a must-attend event for neighbors and folks from across the city. The event has stayed true to its roots as a fundraiser for Boise-Eliot and Albina Youth Opportunity School(s), but packs the extra wallop of being a local seen-and-be-seen event onto itself.
[From the Pub Page of the July Street Edition] Usually I use this space to talk about North and Northeast Portland. This month I had every intention of being brief ... and then came Chavez. Last year the City Council said it would name a street after Cesar Chavez. On July 7 the council is supposed to vote on whether or not to rename 39th Avenue after Cesar Chavez.
There is a difference between my opinions, which are printed here with my name attached, and Sentinel editorials, which require the support of the staff/editorial board. While The Sentinel supported the renaming of Portland Boulevard after Rosa Parks in 2006, the paper remained silent and divided on the Interstate/Chavez issue when it came up the following year.
Video and Report ~ Andrew R. Tonry, photos by Jason E Kaplan, POD playlist below
“When you get here, just come on in to the garage — we’ll probably be rocking out,” says Shane de Leon, giving directions to his home. “And I mean rocking!”
On arrival, the garage door is wide open. Toward the back of the room, behind the two monolithic steel letterpresses and beneath a hand-painted mural, there is a drum set, keyboard, and a cluster of amps. Nine-and-a-half-year-old Kirkland Leach and de Leon, his bandmate, are between songs.
~ Mara Grunbaum, photo by Jason E Kaplan Warmer weather means the sidewalks on North Mississippi Avenue are bustling, but almost as abundant as boutiques and bicycles these days are windows bearing “for lease” signs.
With several new development projects opening now or in upcoming months, the street is flush with available residential and retail space. That could be a boon for a rapidly growing neighborhood, which Mississippi has been for the last several years. But in the currently sagging economy, developers who undertook projects in fatter times are now finding it hard to move people — and their businesses — in.
~Rebecca Robinson, photo by Jason E. Kaplan (Interstate Farmers Market pictured here) After 18 months of preparation, and no small amount of neighborhood anticipation, the opening day of the St. Johns Farmers Market is finally just around the corner — July 11, to be exact. According to Kirsten Gunst, the secretary for SJFM’s board of directors, it’s been a team effort through and through.
“Everyone in St. Johns seems to be offering something!” said Gunst. “Burgerville is allowing our customers to use their restrooms, POD has donated a portable storage unit, U.S. Bank is donating a portion of their parking lot, and a number of other local businesses have made monetary and nonmonetary donations,” from signage to website design.
~Rebecca Robinson Portland has more monthly art walks than you can shake a stick at, but none in North. Until now.
On June 18, several downtown Kenton businesses kicked off the Third Thursday Art Walk, an event they hope will continue the positive momentum and revitalization in their neighborhood. Jessie Burke, owner of new coffee shop Posies on North Denver Avenue, said the Third Thursday concept sprang out of a conversation in April between herself and Marina Wynton, owner of Olivine Gallery on North Willis Boulevard.
~William Crawford, photo by Jason E Kaplan It won’t happen this year. Before the Oregon legislature concluded its session in late June, an attempt to increase the state’s beer tax came up short on votes to pass. But some proponents who never say never may persist in their support of a beer tax increase for future sessions to consider and reevaluate.
Mark Kirchmeier, owner of Krakow Café and Pub on Interstate Avenue, admits a tax on beer to fund alcohol and drug treatment is not the “flashiest idea,” but he steadfastly believes it is the right thing to do.
Described by residents as a magnet for criminal activity and drugs, a King neighborhood corner will nevertheless continue to go unobserved, despite recent efforts by local business owners to form a Neighborhood Watch.
Andrew Bean’s company, Doug Bean and Associates, Inc., manages the Cascade Square retail complex anchored at the corner of Northeast 7th Avenue and Killingsworth Street. Fed up with suspicious activity around the corner, Bean and other community members hope to initiate a Neighborhood Watch with the help of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI).
~ Cornelius Swart When Andrew Chung took over ownership of Kokiyo Teriyaki in downtown St. Johns, he passed up larger business opportunities just so he could be a part of what he saw as an up-and-coming neighborhood.
“We looked at a larger [restaurant for sale] in Vancouver, Washington,” said Chung, who moved to Portland with his wife and three children from Salem this year. In Salem, Chung owned a large Mediterranean-style restaurant called the Arbor Cafe.
“When we saw this [restaurant] we saw a lot of promise and potential. This neighborhood is sort of like the Pearl was 15 to 20 years ago. It’s one of the hidden gems of Portland.”
FROM PRESS RELEASE SALEM, Ore. - Today Rep. Chip Shields (D-N/NE Portland) announced that the following funding accomplishments have been, or shortly will be, approved by the 2009 State Legislature or Governor Ted Kulongoski: Directly Impacting North/Northeast Portland:
* $3.2 million restored to Oregon Project Independence funding to help seniors,including those served by the Urban League. (HB 5054-A) * $150,000 to The Skanner Foundation for continuation funding for the neighborhood multi-media training center in North Portland. (HB 5054-A) * Over $1 million for funding civil rights enforcement in the Oregon Department of Justice and Bureau of Labor and Industries. * Restored all cuts to funding for Multnomah County gang services ($772,937) and added another $800,000 for gang services in East Multnomah County. (HB 5054-A) * Funding for Project Clean Slate in the Oregon Department of Justice budget.
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods Provides Families in Need Access to Farm-Fresh Foods at the New Sunday King Farmers Market through Foodshare Fund Northeast
- First-of-its-kind initiative uses donations from North and Northeast residents and businesses
to attract low-income neighbors to the new Sunday King Farmers Market -
Portland, Ore., June 25, 2009 – The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) with the support of the Portland Farmers Market today announced the launch the Foodshare Fund Northeast, an incentive program to improve the access of low-income residents of North and Northeast Portland to the new Sunday King Farmers Market.
Annual tour of Portland’s Community Gardens on July 18
(Portland, OR) – Portland Parks & Recreation’s Community Gardens program is offering their annual free guided tour of six gardens throughout the city on Saturday, July 18. From 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, participants can join PP&R Community Gardens staff and learn about various gardening techniques, examine water catchment systems, and view edible greenspaces.
A good dive is a simple thing. It requires some cheap beers for when you’re broke, a few nice drafts for better times, a healthy selection of liquors for a good night of trouble, and decent munchies. But what if your neighborhood dive had all these things, plus a great bar menu?
Dustin Berkholtz, owner of Duckett’s Public House at 825 N Killingsworth St. which opened this April, calls his bar a work in progress.
He shouldn’t sell himself short: In addition to the usual bar décor of neon beer signs, flashing pinball machines and a mirrored wall of booze, Duckett’s sports a decent menu.
SENTINEL NEWS SERVICE 
The July Edition of the Sentinel is on the street and in homes across North, inner Northeast and Far Northwest Portland. This month's feature: Rocketboy! Nine-year-old Kirkland Leach suffers from autism. But Leach has found that rock 'n' roll helps his condition and this month he's releasing a CD of his music on North Pole Records.
COMMUNITY CONTENT
The two biggest events of the year, the Mississippi Street Fair and Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, are coming and you're invited.
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, photo by Jason E. Kaplan (Interstate Farmers Market pictured here)
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