Kenton's First Annual Street Fair is coming this Saturday, May 22nd all day to N. Denver Ave.

Come and celebrate the newly completed Kenton Library, the almost completed streetscape and the nearly, almost completely sober denizens of N. Denver Ave. Visit the many new businesses and the new and old residents that are making Kenton the best kept secret in Portland.

"I love Kenton," says Paul Bunyan, the historic plaster statue that stands watch over the Dancing Bare strip club most weeknights from the corner of N. Denver and N. Interstate. "But then, I'm cemented to the sidewalk, so, you know, I pretty much make the best of it."

Paul Bunyan, Portland's largest action figure, is a toy like icon for what has become the kid friendly capital of North Portland. Anchored around the new Kenton Library and Poises' kid friendly coffee shop, throngs of new families and sticky fingered kids are flocking to this neighborhood, once known, only for meat packing and Sam Adams...uh...that's an unfortunate juxstoposition...

So it was only a matter of time before Kenton got its own street fair full of frolicking family fun...HUrrRAYYYYY!!!!!

The big picture of what a new North/Northeast urban renewal area will look like will be revealed tonight at Billy Webb's Elk Lodge. Whether or not the Rose Quarter will be a part of that picture won't come into view until this summer.

Tonight, the Portland Development Commission hopes to start wrapping up its plans to consolidate the neighborhood's two urban renewal districts. But an earlier request from the mayor to plug the Rose Quarter into the new SUPER renewal district is being taken off the table.

This will decouple both large scale renewal projects in the pipe for the area: the URA merger, and the redevelopment of Memorial Coliseum and Blazer's Live District.

The announcement will be made at this evening's meeting of the PDC's North/Northeast Economic Study Area.

Now's your chance to toss out that old sofa and TV that have been sitting around in your back yard mother-in-law unit for the last two years. Hey..maybe you can toss that old mother-in-law too...

As Earth Day approaches, just about every neighborhood in the city will be holding big dumpster drives. 

Specifications on what can be dumped, where to dump it, and what if any fees apply vary:  

Event: Earth Day Overlook neighborhood clean-up

UPDATE 4.9.10

According to Trillium School’s executive director, Stephanie Hinkle, Trillium is aware the space is available but has not yet determined if there is ‘officially’ interest in the space.  Hinkle says she is “sad they (IFCC) are leaving,” and “didn’t know until spring break they were closing.” Hinkle did say, she will look into whether or not the space would make sense for Trillium. However, at this point there has been no discussion by Trillium’s board about a move to the space. We will keep you updated. 

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Since the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC), citing insufficient funds, announced that it will close its doors on May 1, arts boosters and city planners alike have been speculating about the fate of the Portland Parks and Recreation-owned space at 5340 N. Interstate Avenue. Now, The Sentinel has learned from reliable sources that Trillium Elementary School, located next door to IFCC, has responded to PP&R's request for proposals and may be eyeballing the the space. 

According to Trillium’s website, they are coordinating with City Repair to renovate their learning/social space, located just north of the IFCC. Do these plans extend to the IFCC? That's still unknown. Trillium has yet to respond to the Sentinel's call of inquiry.

Once a firehouse, the center, a well-respected Portland cultural arts center since 1982, has been remodeled to house a 99-seat theatre, art gallery and dance studio. We'll keep you posted on the next act for IFCC and the firehouse itself.

Email chatter today is showing a number of reports of a suspected scam artist working N. Killingsworth. This has yet to be substantiated by enough reports, but Mark Wells, North Portland's Crime Prevention Specialist, has contacted a number of local businesses in order to warn them.  The MO of the con man (male 20-30 years old), is to hit restaurants by demanding a refund on food orders.  The suspect will insist that their food order was wrong, or that he did not receive the food he ordered. Wells advised business owners- "Please call the police if he attempts to scam your business and alert all of your staff.  He may be part of a ring, so be very mindful of suspicious return or refund requests" 

If you have information or questions regarding these events email  Mark.Wells@portlandoregon.gov

UPDATED 1:44pm

Heard about two more.. second one, is Willamette Blvd, at Rosa Parks Way

From this morning..

..saw this this morning at Interstate and N. Watts on my way to the office.  The City of Portland has finally gone too far...

UPDATE: 11:56 am - A REAL hoax

Despite what folks at Poises Cafe on North Denver, orginally thought, this is a REAL hoax. No photoshop tricks by yours truly (other than a tweak to brightness and contrast). Someone actually took the trouble to change the sign.

We've just received terrible news via city PIO Beth Sorenson: North Portland's Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center will cease operations later this spring due to declining revenues. Last year, the arts nonprofit was initially cut from Portland Parks and Recreation's budget - for the third time since 2005 - but rallied support from the community and was spared. This time, it seems, not even the city's many arts boosters can save IFCC from the throes of the recession.

UPDATE 2:36 p.m. - I just got off the phone with Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center Creative Director Adrianne Flagg, who's understandably being slammed with phone calls about today's announcement that the multicultural arts center will be closing its doors this spring (see below). She didn't have a lot of time to speak, but had this to say:

"I have a long history with IFCC, and I am extraordinarily sad. I know how important this place is to the community, how important it's been to me as an artist, how important it was to me as a child. I'm brokenhearted to see it not succeed." 

You may have spotted them at the Rose Festival wearing their signature red berets. Or, perhaps you saw the news reports confirming that, yes, the Guardian Angels are back in town. The Guardian Angels are a volunteer group of highly trained, unarmed citizens that patrols city streets and transportation systems like the Interstate MAX.  They are trained to deter, prevent, and report crime.  In many cases, Guardian Angels will interrupt a criminal act and place a suspect under citizen’s arrest.

New York resident Curtis Sliwa started the Guardian Angels in 1979. The first patrols were made up of 13 of his friends, family, and neighbors. They rode the New York subways in groups to deter violence, and patrolled neighborhoods and events. 

Since that time, the Guardian Angels have grown into an international organization with 5,000 volunteers and 60 chapters worldwide.

Michael McDaniel, current leader of the Portland chapter of the Guardian Angels, first joined the group when it originally formed in 1983. Since then the group has suffered fits and starts, leaving Portland without a running chapter since 1995. 

Now, more then twenty years later, McDaniel is back and dedicated to building a lasting Angels presence in Portland.  Misconceptions range from fears about vigilantism to concerns surrounding liability. McDaniel is changing that as he aims to educate the community and inspire a new generation to take to the streets.  

It will be a subject of conversation as well as today's city council meeting. Email from Gary Marschke

Help Strategize Urban Renewal Recommendations to the People in Power

• Voice your concerns
• Hear draft community recommendations
• Strategize action steps
• Speak directly to Mayor Adams

  Thursday, March 11th, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
  Billy Webb Elks Lodge
  6 North Tillamook St.
  Snacks and Drinks will be provided
  20 Community Savings Cards as door prizes!

  For more information, please see attached flyer, visit www.necoalition.org or contact Shoshana Cohen at 503-823-4575 ext. 5 orforums@necoalition.org

  
  

 

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.

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.