The June Street Edition of the Sentinel features festivals, events and activities for families and residents that make North and Northeast Portland a hot place to live this summer. Download the paper or check back with this site for constant updates and community contributions about what's going on in your neighborhood this summer.

DOWNLOAD THE ATTACHED PDF COPY FROM THE LINK BELOW [6.6 MEGS]

~ Sean Farrell

Sacramento Lofts
506 NE Sacramento St.
Residential Lofts

Urban Sky Development has been working on the Sacramento Lofts for seven months. By the end of April, all eight of the Sacramento Lofts units will be on the market. The four-story building is located on Sacramento Street near Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.  The units range from 1853 sq. ft. to 2040 sq. ft., and all have decks that range from 190 sq. ft. to 456 sq. ft. 

The May Street Edition of the Sentinel is 'on the ground' and taking root. Read about neighbors in your neck of the woods who are turning their home lots into farm plots.  Special feature coverage of how the recession is hitting local churches by Rebecca Robinson, plus news summaries of online neighborhood coverage, community editorials, recommended events and more. 

DOWNLOAD PDF ATTACHMENT FROM LINK BELOW [6.4 MB]

~Cornelius Swart

Northeast, St. Johns and city ponder development programs
With city budget projections plunging and many neighborhood businesses struggling, February saw a flurry of meetings and discussions in Northeast Portland and St. Johns centered around neighborhood revitalization efforts, the Oregon Main Street Program and a new Portland Main Street Program.

The Oregon Main Street Program, modeled after the National Main Street Program administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, currently offers marketing, networking, and consulting services to mostly rural communities looking to revitalize their downtown commercial districts.

The March Street Edition features a cover story on Victory Outreach Church. The church specializes in building its congregation from former drug addicts and gang members.  The church currently has a contract with TriMet for a Rider's Advocate program, in which outreach workers ride the rails and try to de-escalate potential gang violence before it happens.

Download the PDF of the Street Edition from the attachment link below (7.22 MB)

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Cornelius Swart

It all sounds so good. The city of Portland would buy a crumbling, old school building for $1 million and the money would go to fund a desperately needed shiny new neighborhood school. Then, the city would turn around and give the property away for free to a group that wanted to build a center where indigent elders help in the care and mentoring of foster kids. It sounds like a do-gooder’s dream. And it actually happened in Portsmouth.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Neil Phillips

The Good Samaritan Food Bank (a division of the Oregon Food Bank), which serves the North Portland peninsula, is in the process of relocation. Where? They haven't a clue.

Presently located at the corner of Ivanhoe and Charleston, the locally-based charity was scheduled to find a new home by the first of this year. Its sponsor, the Good Samaritan Center of North Portland, is searching for a spot that may better serve the 300 families it helps each month.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Sophie Harris

On Dec. 9, the Multnomah County Marine Patrol, a special division of the sheriff's office, arrested three individuals who had been living illegally in an unapproved floating structure in the Multnomah Channel.

The "barge" consisted of three boats and one partly constructed shack, all connected by ropes and planks and covered with tarps. The structure was moored off the shore of Port of Portland property, just up river from Terminal Six and about 200 yards from Northeast Marine Drive.

In multiple locations along the river in North Portland, Hayden and Sauvie islands, people with nowhere else to live have taken to residing on the water, mooring their homemade crafts outside the boundaries of regulated marinas and staying there indefinitely.  The boats are often previously abandoned vessels or makeshift shacks on top of flotation devices; often they are half sunken, covered in tarps and without power or running water.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Jennifer Birch

File the following as yet another reason that the City of Roses consistently ranks as one of the most sustainable cities in the nation: the Fix-It Fair. Where else could you show up and get free energy-saving light bulbs (have you priced those lately?), reusable grocery sacks, complimentary Burgerville sandwiches, and workshops covering all manner of interesting topics including organic gardening, emergency preparedness, weatherization and home repair financing?

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Ceressa Crawford

Eighty percent of fatal crashes occur due to inexperienced drivers ages 15-19 cruising with their friends, according to Joanne Fairchild, nurse coordinator at Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital.

The city of Portland is working together to improve the habits of new drivers.  Trauma Nurses Talk Tough (TNTT), Portland Public Schools (PPS), and the city’s Department of Transportation (PDOT) have teamed up to offer free Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) workshops for Portland area high school students and their parents.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Alissa Bohling

The secret is out: Dog owners from all over the United States, Canada, and even overseas will pour into the Portland Expo Center Jan. 18-22 for the chance to see their pets compete among the 156 breeds and varieties at the Rose City Classic Dog Show.

“Our shows are kind of legendary,” said Patti Strand, public relations and promotions coordinator for the event. Dog shows, she adds, “are one of the best-kept secrets in America.”  

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Audrey Dilling, Will Crow, Cornelius Swart

In December of last year, the U. S. Department of Defense deemed the 2nd Lt. Alfred Sharff USARC National Guard armory, located on North Chautauqua, surplus property and slated it for closure and conversion to a possible homeless shelter. The move has sparked alarm amongst residents who fear that the Portsmouth neighborhood could become burdened with three large-scale social-service centers all within blocks of one another.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Alissa Bohling

Dignity Village resident Gay Reyes gives a vivid description of what life is like for the homeless living on the streets:  “You’re in war mode.  You take the land, you seize the land, you defend the land.”  

When Reyes lived under the Fremont Bridge, at one time her camp was attacked by  people who threw bottle rockets that lit its tents on fire.    

In contrast, life at Dignity Village “is kind of like living the way your great-grandmother lived,” said Reyes. The .7-acre property next to the Portland Department of Transportation’s leaf-composting facility near Portland International Airport is home to 34 men and 10 women who are working to transition out of life on Portland’s streets.

St. Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Cornelius Swart

A second public meeting will be held this month to facilitate community feedback regarding development in the diamond-shaped block that contains the St. Johns Racquet Center, the Bank of America, and the Jower’s building in downtown St. Johns. Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams and city staff will meet at the former brownfield site on North Lombard Street that has set off speculation about the future direction of the neighborhood.

St Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Cornelius Swart

In the 1972 film The Candidate, Robert Redford’s character wages a win-at-all-cost campaign to win a seat in the U.S. senate. The film ends as a crowd of triumphant supporters rushes Redford’s offices as he turns to his advisors saying, “What do we do now?”

Jeff Cogen, an effervescent technocrat who, even over the phone, seems to be smiling, is generally known as a man of actions and results. Now that Cogen has won one of the most hotly contested local elections in a decade, what will he do now?

St Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Tom Webb

My boys of winter, the Trail Blazers, had me worried there for awhile following the first Blazer Beat column predicting more wins on the way. The team went on a slide, losing seven of nine games following a respectable start. Thankfully, they bounced back to win five of their next seven games. The next month of games will speak to my contention that this team should finish around .500 and have an outside shot at the playoffs.

St Johns Sentinel, Street Edition, January, 2007

by: Ceresa Crawford

With new small businesses blooming throughout North Portland, some business owners are excited about the local business associations.  Others believe there is room for improvement.

While the Historic Mississippi Business Association is not yet two years old and has developed goals and committees to contribute to the success of the business community, the Kenton and Interstate business associations have fallen through the cracks as the volunteer board members find it difficult to balance their time.

The Sentinel's history theme salutes African American History Month, Oregon's 150th birthday and quirky local tidbits from North Portland's past at portlandsentinel.com/themes.
Click here for all the Street Edition stories.

Download the PDF from the attachment link (8 megs) below or poke around the site for all the local news.
PS. Drop down news menus and search function makes things easy to find.

nPodcast producer Allision Millionis, Editor Cornelius Swart and Assistant and Online Editor Rebecca Robinson talk in the second part of a two part nPodcast, recorded last Friday, January 23rd.

Part 2: North Precinct and the Awesome
The second installment of this episode will include a discussion of the proposal to close North Precinct [meeting Wednesday Jan 27th]. Also, assistant and online editor Rebecca Robinson joins in to talk about how, despite recent events, the community remains an awesome place to live and work.

The Sentinel's January street edition is a salute to the strange, quirky and sometimes outrageous things that make our community unique. Take a tour of North and Northeast Portland through the slightly googley-eyed perspective of the Sentinel.  

Download the PDF [7.4 megs] version of the paper from the attachment link below.