It's an unbelievably exciting weekend for arts in N/NE, headlined by the kickoff tomorrow of the PORTLAND2010 Biennial at Disjecta (with which we happily share a building). As described by Disjecta Founder/Director Bryan Sureth, PORTLAND2010 "is a biennial exhibition of contemporary artwork significant to Portland's art landscape" featuring 18 competitively selected Portland contemporary artists, whose work will be displayed at Disjecta and other venues citywide through May. Be sure to check out the opening reception tomorrow evening from 6-10 p.m. at 8371 N. Interstate Ave.

Also! Roosevelt High School presents "The Wizard of Oz" this weekend! RHS Theatre Arts Director Jo S. Lane has received significant local praise for her productions, and this one is not to be missed. The curtains go up tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. See our other post for more details, and see you there!

Plans are underway for the Kenton Street Fair, gracing North Denver Avenue in May. Jessie Burke, the owner of Posies Cafe, is helping to spearhead the fair's organization, and is giving Kenton businesses first dibs on booths. We've got the info below, and Kenton business owners can download the vendor form as an attachment at the bottom of this post.

We've completed our vendor forms and they are being prepared for distribution and to be posted on our KBA website.  I wanted to send them around to the Kenton area businesses first, however, because we wanted to give Kenton businesses first priority for booth space, and also a discounted rate for all KBA members.  At next week's KBA meeting we will be discussing KBA membership, dues, etc if you want more information on how to qualify for the discounted rate.

The rate for Kenton businesses is $25 per booth (10x10).  You must provide your own tent, table and chairs.  The remainder of details are listed on the application.

At long last, the Kenton branch of the Multnomah Library System opened on Monday March 7th. A grand opening ceremony and party is scheduled for this Saturday March 13th.

In my five years with The Sentinel, my favorite story was “Crack in Kenton” (November 2006 article not available online).  An ex-pimp and drug addict named Lionel Scott walked into The Sentinel offices in St. Johns one evening in September. He said that he was seeing a lot of drug dealing in Kenton, but he felt that police and neighborhood activists weren’t taking him seriously. 

The newly installed community policing office on North Denver Avenue was not in regular use, and at the time, there were few businesses on the street that could keep an eye on things. Scott street mannerisms might have lead some to be dismissive or suspicious of him.

Scott appeared sincere to me.  He worked as a case manager for True Dialogue, a nonprofit that worked to keep kids off the street.  Scott’s references checked out, and distinguished people in the community such as the Reverend John Tolbert vouched for him.

Over the next two months, I followed Scott and his wife, Stephanie, as they told me of the remarkable turnaround Scott had achieved in his own life, and of criminal activity they saw in the neighborhood around them. 

In 2006, The Sentinel dedicated considerable coverage to the effort to rename North Portland Boulevard after civil rights leader Rosa Parks. In October 2006, Sentinel Publisher Cornelius Swart wrote an editorial in support of the name change.

But by the summer of 2007, as the first new Rosa Parks signs began going up on Portland Boulevard and became visible, a small backlash against the name change began to arise amongst residents. Little did they know that another street-renaming controversy was waiting in the wings.

In August 2007, The Sentinel street edition expanded on earlier online coverage about a campaign to change the name of North Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. The Sentinel reported that several neighborhood associations along Interstate Avenue had given initial support for the idea, but businesses were unaware of the proposal.

The efforts quickly grabbed citywide, statewide, and then national headlines as a determined activist group met with increasingly vocal opposition. Accusations of racism on one side were met by allegations of back-room deals at City Hall.

I love the smell of new books in the morning! I also love adorable press releases. Which is why today is positively heavenly. Fresh from the Inbox, a press release from Multnomah County Library, detailing how local children will perform the final inspection on the brand-spankin'-new Kenton Library tomorrow before it officially opens to the public on Monday, March 8. Will The Sentinel be there with camera in tow? You bet your sweet bippy we will! (Sorry, Public; you're not invited)

Check back tomorrow for "aww"-inspiring photos featuring kids in hard hats testing the book return. And be sure to mark your calendar for the Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, March 13! Dr. Seuss plays: Need we say more?

Some crackerjack reporting here from your esteemed Publisher:  Kenton Library finally slated to open this coming Monday, March 8th! The Grand Opening ceremony's set for next Saturday.  Don't take my word for it; just look at this picture I took of a flyer in a window.  That makes it REAL. The Kenton Branch Library has been in the making for almost 10 years by my reckoning [but here's 100 years of history for you if you want it]. 

When I ran the Portsmouth Press in 2001, activists advocated for a branch along North Lombard Street.  Then-County Commissioner Serena Cruz chose to locate the planned branch in what is now the New Columbia development. Needless to say, that branch never materialized - perhaps to Kenton's benefit. Now, the little downtown strip that keeps getting better will finally have a daily regional attraction (other than the surly butcher shop and "7 Bucks a Whack" barber shop).

Kenton has had other new businesses crop up in the area, but unlike Mississippi or Alberta, the library will add a little more family friendliness to the mix.  This is more of the St. Johns model of neighborhood revitalization: a diverse mix of public services, small businesses and major corporations all in one confined area. (You don't hear St. Johns held up as model very often.) Good for the library, good for Kenton and North Portland and the city. ~ Cornelius Swart

Friday, Feb. 26, 6:45 p.m. - We just received this message from the Kenton Neighborhood Association, forwarding an email sent by a concerned resident about strange activity in Kenton Park. [unsubstantiated account]

I live on Terry Street and my husband had a very bizarre
experience at Kenton Park today involving a woman/child approaching another
child who appeared to be there alone...the woman was probably eastern
european, very heavy set, about 60+, pale skin, black/gray long hair. She
was with a teenage girl that was very, very thin with long black hair. They
had a blanket with a teddy bear print that seemed very worn and
inappropriate for the age of the girl she was with.

The teenager approached a child on the tire swing that was maybe 10 or so
years old and started asking her a bunch of questions (what;s your name,
etc.) but the line of questioning evolved into the pair asking the girl if
they could take her picture (which they did) and asked her how long she had
been at the park. My husband says his "spider sense was tingling." He got
a really, really bad vibe. There has been quite a bit in the papers
recently about human/child trafficking in the Portland area. I know it
sounds crazy but Rob is really freaked out and calling the police right now.
Could you send this out to the neighborhood list? Rob will be filing a
police report in the morning.

I just remembered something else. When my husband and I were walking into
the park we walked past the bench on the middle path that faces the play
area but is across the field from it. There was a woman with another person
(I didn't pay attention to who she was with). She had binoculars and I
remember it vividly because I thought to myself ?why does she have
binoculars and what is she looking at?? She was looking at the swings. I
thought to myself ?maybe she has grand kids and they?re over there but why
is she sitting over here? because she was much too old to have young
children. I just remembered this while I was nursing my son...one of those
observations you make and file away that don?t seem important at the time.
Something weird was definitely going on. We just missed the call back from
the police and are calling again...
 

113-second preview of the soon-to-open Kenton Library at your fingertips.

It's that time again, tree huggers: Friends of Trees is comin' to the neighborhood for its annual planting party! This Saturday, join your neighbors and plant some trees in Kenton, University Park, St. Johns and Cathedral Park. Next weekend, bring your shovels and spades to Boise, Eliot, Humboldt and King. (Time and location info on the Friends of Trees calendar)

We've written about these annual plantings in the past, and how beneficial they are for the neighborhoods in which they take place. If you've never taken part, we highly recommend it, for you and your green thumb. 

[illustrative photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmentd/ / CC BY 2.0]

The Kenton Neighborhood Association has won a major victory for cutting down noise from the Portland International Raceway, says Ryan Pittel, the association’s noise subcommittee chair.

At a Jan. 13 public meeting, the Noise Review Board denied PIR a multi-year variance on allowable noise limits in four upcoming racing events. Instead, the board voted to review only 2010’s races.

“My stance was that variances should be applied for on a yearly basis,” Pittel said. “We just wanted a voice.”

Dump trucks, tractors, and shovels aren’t the only things shaking at North Denver Avenue and McClellan Street. 

Traffic director Traci Olson has stylishly eased traffic through the intersection over the past several months as the Kenton streetscape project has been digging deep into the heart of the business community.

But calling it traffic directing doesn’t do justice to the infectious grooves and smiles Olson adds to the job.

Bastards!