We at Saturday Morning Video don't usually work on Sundays... or do windows.

"So the idea of closing libraries instead of jails never came up?"

"We're not closing libraries," County Commissioner Serena Cruz says with exasperation. She is perhaps tired of endlessly arecent decision not to provide additional funding for jail beds this fiscal year.

Currently, suspects arrested by city police officers for crimes such as burglary are taken to county jails and then released back onto the street within hours.  The system of releasing suspects based on jail space availability is referred to as the matrix.

Portlanders have learned to wait patiently for those perfect summer days: temperatures in the 80s, cloudless skies, long sunlit evenings. But there is a stormy flip side to the sunshine. As in most cities, Portland's crime rate rises significantly during the summer months.

The reasons for the spike range from forgetfulness of residents who leave doors unlocked before heading to the beach, to the simple fact that more people are outside and therefore vulnerable to crime.

In a blooming love affair between artists, merchants, civic leaders, and educators, a school playground and an empty lot in St. Johns will transform into a walking arts fair during the Third Annual Window Project, running July 30 through August 20, with reception for the artists to be held August 17.

Sponsored by Art on the Peninsula, this event will feature over 60 North Portland and visiting artists who will display their artwork in over 30 locations, including installations in a dozen windows along St. Johns’ downtown core.

The Boise Neighborhood Association voted last month to permit real estate developer The Kaiser Group to build a ten-story condominium complex in the community. City Hall approved the plan as well, and passed a Spot Zoning Variance to allow the project in the predominantly industrial area near the intersection next to Boise Eliot School, just east of Fremont and Mississippi.

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.  

Some people around Kenton have been wondering if City Hall means what it says about fixing up the Kenton commercial district in North Portland. It’s been on the city’s radar screen for more than a decade but Kenton residents have yet to see change.  

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. 

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~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.