Brooklyn Neighborhood, Portland, Oregon

Dear Neighbors, we wanted to let you know about some construction scheduled at SE 17th & Holgate over the next few weeks which may have some traffic impacts, mostly on Holgate. TriMet’s contractor won’t begin work here until early next year, but I wanted to let you know about this underground utility work currently scheduled by others.

–Starting Monday, October 31, continuing for a few weeks, Northwest Natural Gas plans to work on the north side of Holgate, on both sides of 17th Ave. This will include closing the sidewalk on Holgate adjacent to the TriMet bus garage for a few days.

– Starting November 7, continuing for a couple days, Portland Water Bureau plans to work at the southeast corner of 17th & Holgate. They also plan to work in the intersection during the weekend of November 12 and on November 21.

– November 14-18 there may be more traffic on 17th Ave. ODOT plans to close the exit from eastbound Ross Island Bridge to southbound McLoughlin, and will direct this traffic to 17th Ave. (This is unrelated to light rail construction; I’m not sure what project is prompting it.)

Of course, construction schedules are always subject to change, but this is what we’ve heard is currently scheduled. There will be more private utility construction in January, followed by TriMet’s contractor beginning work on sewer pipes in the intersection, probably in early March.

Great news! Ms. Lee Kamrass has agreed to be the coordinator for our new community gardens. To get them ready for spring planting, we need volunteers to help with preparing the site (building raised beds, clearing, hauling) as well as with administrative activities such as volunteer recruitment and publicity.

Please send us an email with:
Your full name
Your street address
Phone number(s)
Area(s) of interest
Best days/times for you to attend a meeting and/or work on the site

Additionally, please let anyone you know who might be interested in the garden to contact us by email with ideas, questions, concerns.

We look forward to meeting and working with you on this incredibly exciting project.

What is Crime Prevention Awareness Month?

October is National Crime Prevention Awareness Month, which is the official month for recognizing the practice of crime prevention, as well as promoting awareness of important issues such as victimization, volunteerism, and creating safer, more connected communities. To celebrate, there are some exciting FREE activities happening all around Portland.

There’s fun to be had for the whole family, and we look forward to seeing you throughout the month of October. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming events. Find us on Facebook (City of Portland Crime Prevention Program), follow us on Twitter (@pdxpreventcrime), or visit our website.

The Office of Neighborhood Involvement Crime Prevention Program and our public safety partners are planning the following events for the month of October 2011: [Read more →]

Howdy Neighbors!

We’re looking for ten volunteers to help us clean up graffiti in the neighborhood from 9AM to Noon on Saturday Sept 24.

We’ll meet at 8:45 AM at the Thelma Skelton Loaves and Fishes center at SE Milwaukie and Center Street.

We’ll kick off the event with refreshments and brief instructions.

Please join us! Just send an email with your name and contact info and we’ll send you a reminder on Friday.

WE ALSO NEED FOLKS TO CATALOG GRAFFITI AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD BEFORE SATURDAY! PLEASE EMAIL US THE LOCATIONS OF ANY GRAFFITI YOU’VE SEEN!

You can also sign up by calling the helpline at (503) 241-4540 and leaving a message.

See you at the Graffiti Cleanup!

• Ice Cream Bars for 25 cents!
• Inflatable Slide and Bouncy House
• Face Painter and Balloon Sculptor
• Giant Toy and Game Giveaway
• Merchant Gift Certificate Giveaway
• Rock Wall and Fire Engine
• Hot Dogs, Polish Dogs, Chips, & Soft Drinks
• and live music from the Ice Cream Socialists

The BAC Mural at the SE 9th Avenue pedestrian bridge is underway!

Our next big volunteer opportunity is Sunday August 28. Show up around 10AM or call the artist, Lew Jones at (503) 701-7893 to sign up for a specific time slot. When we’ve finished priming the surfaces and applying the large blocks of color, we’ll be adding hundreds of stenciled images of fish, birds, bicyclists, trains, joggers, etc.

If you can’t help paint, feel free to stop by the site with refreshments for the volunteers, such as ice tea, cookies, pizza, etc. Be sure to call Lew first to make sure there are people on site when you come by.

We’re also accepting donated pads for paint rollers. Let us know with an email if you can help by volunteering your time or materials.

Thanks for your support!

BAC Mural Committee

Enjoy music by Matt Clark, Scott McDougal, Margaret Wehr, Scott Brockett and Jesta! Kids will love the bounce-house, playground, and other kids’ entertainment. And of course, we’ll have a fantastic raffle where you can win one or more of these amazing prizes: 10 classes at Yoga Shala, Ortlieb Messenger Bags from Clever Cycles, Free Furnace Service from Imagine Energy, a 100% silk scarf by Ferragamo, Craniosacral Massage from Stephanie Kaplan, Photo Printing by Andrea Leoncavallo and gift certificates for massage by Leah Hanson, New Renaissance Bookstore, Next Adventure, Sequel Apparel, Clogs-n-More, Ascending Hope Acupuncture, Cha Cha Cha and Mink. The SE Uplift building and grounds at 3534 SE Main Street will serve as the hub of the festivities, with the entire block of SE Main Street between 35th and 36th Avenues filled with an array of fun activities, music, food and beverages throughout the evening. [Read more →]

For more inspiration and educational opportunities while traveling, many have looked to the Guide to Online Schools for for flexible, affordable online colleges. This December, Tierra Educational Center in NE Portland is offering a unique full-immersion trip to Pátzcuaro, Mexico (December 10-18th). The center opened in 2009, with a mission to offer small group Spanish and ESL services to help bridge communication and cultural barriers between the growing immigrant population and the community at large. In honor of that mission, this immersion trip has been specially designed to integrate its participants with a Mexican and indigenous community in this small colonial pueblo in the state of Michoacán. Participants will study Spanish and regional history in 20 hours of classes, learn about local traditions by attending medicinal plant and artisan workshops, explore ancient pyramids and ruins, visit one of the largest Monarch butterfly overwintering areas in the world, and much more! [Read more →]

In Brooklyn neighborhood, a mural is coming to an old concrete bridge

By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian The Oregonian

In the next several days, Portland artist Lew Jones will begin work on a mural on the interior of a pedestrian/bike bridge at Southeast Ninth Avenue and Powell Boulevard.

The project was launched by Mike O’Connor, chairman of the Brooklyn Action Corps and a member of its mural committee. It’s being funded by a $2,046 grant from Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

The mural is intended to lighten up the drab, graffiti-ridden concrete bridge that crosses Powell Boulevard.

“I live five houses up here on Ninth and I’ve been using it for the 20 years I’ve been here,” O’Connor said Wednesday afternoon. “It seemed like it was just crying out for embellishment.”

So Jones and a crew of volunteers will begin work as early as Sunday on a project that will take roughly a month to complete.

Jones said he likes the idea of taking a blank space, or a “non-thing,” and turning it into a piece of art.

Art, he said, “should be a place where people can go and take a break.”

–Stephen Beaven

Editor’s note: We’d like to thank Miller Paint and Metro for providing paint, Beard’s Frame Shop for providing stencil-cutting services, and all the volunteers that have made this project possible.