This morning at 9 a.m., Mayor Sam Adams is scheduled to announce the winners of the city's Main Street Program, at LadyBug Cafe in St Johns.  This is the first year of the city's program intended to help revitalize commercial streets.  Three of the five of neighborhood commercial districts that applied will be selected. Applicants are St Johns, NE Alberta, Hillsdale, 42nd Avenue and Multnomah Village. Of those applicants both Multnomah Village and Hillsdale are located in Portland's relatively affluent and suburban southwest hills.

In 2000, the US Census reported that St Johns had the poorest commercial census tracts in the city.  The area has seen significant investment and revitalization over the years. But unlike much of North and Northeast Portland, the area does not have investment tools like urban renewal to channel public dollars into local projects. 

The five neighborhoods that qualified for the program were required to raise $30,000 in matching funds. The St Johns Boosters committed approximately $12,000 to the project.  

If awarded, the Main Street program would, among other things, provide technical support and networking opportunities to help better market the district.

Photo teaser from PortlandBridges.com

North Portland’s most unique and eclectic summer event has to be No.Fest InterArts. This June 25 the free experimental art and music festival will fill the streets, stores, allies and sidewalks of downtown St. Johns for a two-day carnival of homegrown avant-garde acts. . Now in its third year, organizers have expanded the range of performances and added a second day in order to include 51 acts in 29 hours: 36 musical, 5 visual, 4 youth, 3 movement, and 3 spoken performances. 

The festival organizers, Sean Ongley, Jeffrey Helwig and Chad Ferguson, began with a simple idea: hold a free daylong music event in St. Johns. With only months to organize, the event grew to include 25 performances on four stages. The trio knew they had stumbled on something great and founded InterArts, a not-for-profit corporation, to represent the No.Fest project for the coming years. Three years later the event had almost doubled in size, attracting major sponsors such as KBOO community radio.

The program for No.Fest 2010 starts off with an art walk on the last Friday of the month. At about 6 p.m. businesses throughout downtown St. Johns will function as makeshift galleries for viewing public art. Local merchants exhibiting art include The Parlour, Lady Bug Café, James John Café, Town Square, Proper Eats, Legong Gelato, and Salty Teacup.

“None of these are traditional galleries,” said Ongley who is pleased to have the galleries hosted by the local business community. Ongley stresses that one of the ideas behind NoFest is the breakdown traditional boundaries between high art and the average person. “It is another example of our desire to blend the arts with daily life.”

Law enforcement and rescue officials are stepping up their efforts to find a boy who disappeared yesterday from Skyline Elementary School. Seven-year-old Kyron Horman (photo from yesterday on the right) was last seen at 9 a.m. at his school science fair. Residents of Forest Park, Linnton and St Johns have been involved in the search for a boy that one resident described as "part of the community." Please read the following article for more information. If you have details about Hornman's whereabouts call 503-261-2847. 

Have you heard a coyote’s call in your neighborhood? [today's O article]

Folks in St Johns say they have.

Lecture on Urban ‘cay-yotes’ coming next Tuesday, April 27th

Where’s the Roadrunner when you need him?
Many of know about or have seen “urban” coyotes in or around Portland International Airport. At about 6am, I once saw one scampering through the high grass in the vacant lots off Airport Way. The little fellar pictured here, hoped on the Airport MAX back in 2009. It was almost like he did it in obedience to the song Light-Rail Coyote by Portland’s own Sleater-Kinney, released the year before. (see video below).?“They’ve been seen on occasion along Baltimore Woods and heard! There is also coyote scat in Pier Park on the trail on the east side of the Park all the time. Apparently they come over from Chimney Park to hunt at night,” wrote Barbara Quin, of the Friends of Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association in an email today. “One of our FOBW members saw one trotting down Decatur in daylight and the neighbors at the deadend of Edison have lots of stories.”

The hatchet finally seems to be buried after months of protracted hissy fitting between the St Johns Boosters and the organizers of the St Johns Farmer’s Market.

“The boosters, never intended the shut the farmer’s market down,” said St Johns Boosters Sarah Anderson. “I could not be more happy that its all worked out.”

Representatives of the Farmer’s Market could not be reached by phone at the time of this posting.

Last year’s launch of the St Johns Farmer’s Market was a huge success. But downtown businesses had some concerns about scheduling, and the vendor mix.

Last night the Farmer’s Market, St Johns Boosters issued a joint press release:

The Board of Directors from the St. Johns Business Boosters and the Friends of the St. Johns Farmers Market met on Tuesday, March 31st to discuss solutions on a handful of issues and to determine how to best work together in their common missions of further building and supporting the St. Johns community. The groups agreed to meet to mediate issues around communications, scheduling of the St. Johns Plaza, and products and services offered by market vendors.

The Plaza, which was for decades more eye sore and hang out for street drinks appears to be getting ‘over booked’ with family oriented events. It’s not a bad problem to have.

FCPNA meeting, Tuesday, April 13, 7-8pm, BES Water Lab, 6543 N. Burlington

• There will be a continued conversation about homeless camping in the neighborhood and what we as neighbors can do. Our community police officer will answer questions/offer advice. Also, next options for neighbors near the large campsite at the end of Tyler St. will be discussed. Clean up of the site is being scheduled.

• There is a new development notice for a 4-plex at 8935 N. Syracuse. Come and learn about it!

FROM PRESS RELEASE

In celebration of our 3rd year in planning No.Fest, newly founded InterArts inc. brings the multi-venue fun out of St. Johns and in to downtown Portland for an eclectic night of rock, pop, noise, and experimental music at Backspace and Someday Lounge, featuring new bands for the 2010 roster, Trawler Bycatch and Sustentacula, as well as alumni, Mustaphamond, Exit Collapse, and Brown. The first wave of our 2010 line up will be announced at the show. The festival dates are June 25th and 26th.

April 14th, 2010, 8:30 pm -1:30 am
@ Someday Lounge/Backspace
115 & 125 NW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
$6 for both shows / $3 for minors

From email from Barbara Quinn of the Friends of Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association and Friends of Baltimore Woods

Hi neighbor,

The Friends of Baltimore Woods, (FOBW) a local grass roots group has recently won a Nature in Neighborhoods grant to help acquire, preserve and restore four lots in our neighborhood greenway within the Baltimore Woods corridor between New York and Catlin! All the lots were slated for high density development. There is more information on FOBW’s just launched website! You can check it out at: www.friendsofbaltimorewoods.org  further details at: www.portlandsentinel.com/node/6031

There are many great local events in April:

April 1, Thursday at 2pm - last hearing for the North Reach River Plan before City Council. So far it looks like the council is holding firm in requiring local industry to participate in helping restore the North Reach. It’s likely neighbors’ last chance to be heard!

April 10th, Saturday 9-4 - Swap’n Play is having an Open House at the Red Sea Church at N. Leonard and N. Chicago. Swap-n-Play is a cooperative community sharing space in North Portland for families to build intentional community through play and the sharing of resources such as toys, clothing, household goods, skills and knowledge while rethinking and reducing our relationship to consumerism and waste. See http://swapnplay.org/ for more info.

Great news for North Portland nature enthusiasts: The Baltimore Woods connectivity corridor, intended to preserve native trees while connecting Cathedral and Pier Parks as part of the larger Willamette Greenway project, has just received $158,000 from Metro's Natural Areas program. Natural Areas, an initiative dedicated to preserving 4,000 acres of land in the region, was approved as part of a 2006 bond measure by voters in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties. In all, Metro is distributing $1.9 million to five projects in the region.

We've covered the Baltimore Woods project in the past, and salute the dedication of the Friends of Baltimore Woods and other active citizens who have helped champion the cause of land preservation. All the project info is below the jump.

Sarah Stevenson, Executive Director of Innovative Housing addressed the Friends of Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association Tuesday night. She was responding to neighborhood complaints about Innovative Housing's 14-unit facility, with part-time service and care providers by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare.  The building, located near North Trumbull and Edison streets, was purchased by Innovative in 2005 and renovated and rented the following year.

Tenants are formerly homeless residents who must be single when they apply and go through a screening process.

In addition to a spat about the St. Johns Farmers Market, there's plenty goin' on in the John this month. Thanks to St. Johns Neighborhood Association President Babs Adamski, we've got a quick 'n dirty wrap-up of events, meetings and must-know news for March. Here goes:

Monday, March 8 (that's today!): St. Johns Neighborhood Association General Meeting, 7:00pm - 8:30 pm, St. Johns Community Center Auditorium, 8427 N Central St. (at Leavitt). Agenda includes the introduction of Angela Wagnon as our new Crime Prevention Coordinator, planning for the Community Clean-up and Trash to Treasure in April.

Wednesday, March 10th 6-8 p.m.: St. Johns + Art Organizing Potluck. Interested in helping form the SJ+A group for 2010? We're having a family friendly organizing meeting & dinner. Send an e-mail to babsia@gmail.com for the address.

Friday, March 12th and Saturday, March 13th -- 7 p.m., Saturday, March 13th -- 2 p.m: MATINEE! Wizard of Oz  - Roosevelt High School
Tickets for the performances are now on sale online at www.roosevelttheatre.org or you can contact the box office at 503-916-5260 ext. 71424

Project at 8629 N. Crawford St.
Cathedral Park neighbors have been closely following a new multi-lot development near the intersection of North Burlington and Salem avenues.

Three-story multifamily condominiums with two or three bedrooms each will be going in at 8629 N. Crawford St., according to Jerry Offer, a planner for Otak Architects. Offer referred additional questions to the Otak architect on the project, Sinan Gumusoglu, but Gumusoglu did not respond to The Sentinel’s request for details.

A total of three lots and 18,000 square feet of land at the location are listed as belonging to East Coast-based M&T Bank and Chesapeake Holdings West, LLC. There is as yet no name for the project.
Barbara Quinn, chair of the Friends of Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association, heard that Otak is simply designing the condos for the out-of-town owners. She hopes that Otak will answer neighbors’ concerns at the next association meeting. With permits still pending, she feels there’s time to make sure the designs fit with the neighborhood.

[Photo of 2005 St Johns Bridge Rededication ~ from offline archives]
In one of my editorials for The Sentinel, I wrote, “St. Johns is always on the verge of nothing happening.”
This area has seen decades of revitalization schemes and big plans floated by developers. The brochures and a trail of defunct newspapers were once laid out for me in the offices of the St. Johns Boosters.  “The only thing that changes is the date,” said then-Booster President Gary Boehm.  But I think history has proved us both wrong.

St. Johns has historically been the commercial and communal center of the North Portland peninsula. While given to insularity at times and dismissed as remote at others, the businesses there rely almost exclusively on customers from North Portland and far Northwest Portland. North Portland and St. Johns residents have a stronger connection to the merchants and the daily life of the town center than any other part of our coverage area.

The planning for the second season of the St. Johns Farmers Market has hit a snag as representatives of the market and the St. Johns Boosters quarrel about jurisdiction over the downtown plaza and whether the market’s sale of perishable food is hurting local businesses.

Last July, the much-anticipated market was officially established in the St. Johns central plaza.  It was organized by a board of directors, headed by Simone Streeter and shepherded along by the efforts of many volunteers.

Uncertainty has consistently remained certain in the nearly three years that Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services has been trying to develop the 0.16-acre brownfield at North Lombard Street and Baltimore Avenue. But by the end of this month, a final decision may be reached on proposed buildings for the site.

For the first two years of the proposal process, restrictions on the site scared away potential bids, and only recently have flexible terms attracted three proposals from real-estate developers. The three groups are developer Jeana Woolley in a partnership that includes Bloc Design Development LLC; Cavenaugh & Cavenaugh LLC; and a partnership among Innovative Housing, Inc., LRS Architects and Walsh Construction.