The weather is mild, but relatively dry and all ready crime seems to be picking up in North Portland. Yesterday's homicide represents the second such shooting in New Columbia, the state's largest public housing community, and the second homicide in recent weeks. Police worry that there may be a connection.

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

Could attempts to scale back the Columbia River Crossing and Hayden Island's Safeway end up creating a new local or arterial bridge -– one connecting the island directly with North Portland's Expo Center and Kenton neighborhood? Since the Sentinel first reported the proposed 22 lanes of freeway spaghetti [pictured below] that the CRC would build on Hayden Island, a storm of controversy has arisen over the proposal.  [The Sentinel's consistent editorial position on the CRC has been to build a bridge of grander design and more modest scale.]

A CRC meeting on Monday night, two proposals surfaced that would greatly reduce the number of traffic lanes crossing the island. At least one proposed redesign would move a massive tangle of freeway interchanges off the island and create a local traffic bridge for Hayden Island. The local bridge would create a street grid for the largely suburban pod-style street system west of I-5 and allow Islanders and North Portlanders to get in and out of the community without having getting on the freeway.

Jantzen Beach Supercenter more or less hates the idea. So does Diversified Marine, a sizeable tug-and-barge service company that says a new bridge might wipe out precious deepwater harbor along Marine Drive.

On the table Monday: two new concepts to shrink the great gray wall of highway on- and off-lanes that would slice through the island and likely wipe out Safeway. (See pages 6-8 for maps of this PDF of the various plans, or here for the biggest plan, known as the "locally preferred alternative.")

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. 

Well it's summer for sure. This weekend is jammed with events as locals cram a year's worth of outdoor partying into 2.5 months of dry weather. 

The most compelling event this saturday is a fundraiser for 9-year-old Stella Cakebread Monteverde. Stella has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. (I know, it's awful and shocking how many children are getting cancer these days.)  Stella, whose mother owns a shop on North Mississippi Ave., has seen an outpouring of support from the local community and the music and entertainment scene as well.  The event, held this Saturday at @Large Studios, will feature a star-studded day of local professional entertainers (check out the links below) who are sure to brighten your (and Stella's) day even if we get partially cloudy skies.

FROM EMAIL
Please join the friends and family of Stella Cakebread Monteverde, 9-year-old daughter of local business owner Dayna Cakebread and Fernando Monteverde, for a day of family fun and entertainment, and an evening of local music and dance troupes. Held at @Large Studios, 807 NE Couch Street, the daytime event will run from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. and will feature music by Kode Bluuz, arts and crafts tables, interactive theatre with Katie O’Grady, Double Dutch with the Jumping Jackie O’s, a raffle with great prizes, and more! The evening, adults-only event will feature musical performances by Lindsey Stormo, Stephanie Schneiderman, Oracle, Stolen Sweets, and Dr. Theopolis, plus local dance acts, a silent auction, and wine, beer and cocktails. Tickets will be available at the door, or in advance through www.brownpapertickets.org.

NoBody covers NoFest like the Sentinel. It's possible that the Sentinel created this event as a result of some art-provoked night of troubled sleep. It's also possible that the Sentinel had nothing to do with this event. But either way, we do talk about it a lot. The day long, all free, all experimental, all trance inducing acid flashback of art X-plotion that is NoFest is coming this June 25th. We'll have more to say as the event approaches. But here is the initial rundown.
[Event Schedule attached PDF below]

The details: NoFest InterArts
51 performances in 29 hours: 36 musical, five visual, four youth, three movement, and three spoken performances within 18 hours of hard programming. Not to mention 10 full month exhibitions in seven galleries and two surprise installations.  Also, NoFest is introducing a visual art program, art walk, 21+ after hours, opening night, and world music sub-program.  What I'm trying to say is that this is the most complex and cross-disciplinary NoFest to date.

[POD PLAYER ON THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN]

Today the Portland Police Bureau released an audio recording of radio communications from the police-involved shooting incident that left North Portland resident Keaton Otis dead and police officer Chris Burley hospitalized. Some transcripts of the recording are posted by the Portland Mercury.

At a press conference today, the Portland Police Bureau and Mayor Sam Adams detailed a step by step break down of what they contend occurred at the May 12th shooting that left Keaton Otis dead. Newly installed Police Chief Mike Reese says that Otis, a young African American male, was initially tailed by police because Otis was “driving with his hoodie down” on a “hot day," and that he was focused on the police car behind him and “not on his driving.”

Otis apparently was pulled over on NE 6th Ave and then moved back into traffic and pulled over a second time one block to the south.

Reese stated that this stop and start, more than anything, created a “hightened state of awareness” for officers.

“That’s a concern that we are are going to wind up in a pursuit,” said Reese.

More officers arrived quickly. The patrol cars parked in front of Otis to prevent him from fleeing.

The location at the corner of Lombard and N Richmond has been having trouble holding a tenant these last few years, sitting vacant since Blue Moon Coffee moved out last fall. Recently, St. Johns residents saw a new business take root. On April 30, the doors opened to Sultan Hookah Lounge and Smoke Shop, with a grand opening celebration that took place on May 8.

“About 300 people came through the night,” says co-owner Mike Makoul. “We had DJ music...the neighborhood has been very supportive.”

Makoul opened the Hookah Lounge with business partner Asem Samman because of the anti-smoking legislation that went into effect last year. Makoul has owned the Sultan Cafe on NW 18th for the past six years. In addition to being a restaurant, the cafe offered patrons hookah smoking. As of 2009, that was no longer permitted in establishments primarily serving food. Wanting to continue the Middle Eastern tradition of his youth, Makoul sought to find a new establishment to be built around hookahs.

“The law says that 75% of our business has to be tobacco related...we're trying to stay close to 90%.” Makoul explains that the smoking law permits businesses to be smoking lounges so long as that is their primary function. The Sultan Lounge does offer snacks and beverages, but these refreshments are ancillary to their main business of selling tobacco products and offering a lounge for hookah smoking.

This Saturday the St Johns Bizarre will kick off for its fourth year. The all day celebration of what makes Portland Strange and St Johns Bizarre happens in downtown St Johns with a beer garden, vendor's market and musical acts occurring before and after the annual St Johns Parade.  This year's event promises to raise the bar on 'bizarreness,' hope to see you there. 

A Ride with Rex: Leg 7 - Series Finale from Rex for Metro President on Vimeo.

Here's a video blog by Metro Presidential candidate Rex Burkholder.  Burkholder has represented N/NE on the Metropolitan Regional Government since 2000. He's a big bike advocate and a technocrat (which always scores big points with the Sentinel) who has worked quietly behind the scenes to help fund projects in our coverage area, from bike lanes to the Linnton Community Center.  Now he's got his site set for the top position at this, the wonkiest governmental body in Portland (which is perhaps the most wonky government loving town in the country). This video is the 'season finale' of a 7 bike ride through North/Northeast.  It's sort of a fun new media take on the old whistle stop campaign trails of old.