kmcdade

UPDATE: Parker returned to his home late Sunday evening, July 24. According to police, he called his mother around 10:00 p.m. and police picked him up from a Portland location and took him to his home.

Portland Police are looking for Levi Richard Parker, age 16, who was last seen at Ventura Park (near SE 117th and Stark). According to the police department press release:

Levi was with his mother at the park when he was approached by a man in his early 20's. The man offered Levi an hourly wage to do door to door marketing and told Levi's mother that he would bring the boy back by 8:00 p.m. that same night. Levi has not returned and is considered a missing juvenile at this time by detectives.

Levi is described as a light skinned black male, 5'6" tall, weighs approximately 130 pounds, and has short reddish blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, red Vans with white stripes, and possibly a black baseball cap with a green and white logo that appeared to be an outline of the State of Oregon.

The man that left with Levi is a male white in his early twenties, 6'0 tall, medium build, with a short black mullet and wire rimmed glasses. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and a white baseball cap with baby blue trim and a black skull. The man was also wearing a large amount of jewelry.

Anyone with information about Levi's whereabouts should call 911 immediately. A photo is not yet available.

Earlier this year, Governor Kulongoski instructed school districts to expect an additional nine percent reduction in monies received from the State of Oregon. This was part of an across-the-board nine percent reduction in the state budget.

The David Douglas School District has now nailed down how it will deal with this reduction. 

The David Douglas School Board closed a $4.4 million gap in the District’s 2010-11 budget by spending down reserves, reducing funding for the District’s PERS debt fund and instituting a hiring freeze on most open positions created through attrition and administrative transfers.

The David Douglas School Board closed a $4.4 million gap in the District’s 2010-11 budget by spending down reserves, reducing funding for the District’s PERS debt fund and instituting a hiring freeze on most open positions created through attrition and administrative transfers.

However, employees who already have jobs will keep their jobs for now.

Superintendent Don Grotting told the Board that no employee currently holding a position would be laid off to balance the current budget. But he also cautioned that state funding is unlikely to improve over the next two years. 

In addition, the school board approved a schedule change. All schools (elementary, middle, and high school) will start one hour later on Wednesdays, to allow teachers additional time to "study student achievement data and develop best instructional practices." Previously, the district had occasional early  release days (students were released at 12:25) for staff development and planning purposes. These early release days will be eliminated.

On Wednesdays, middle and high school students will begin their day at 9:00 a.m., and elementary schools will start at 10:00 a.m.

Don Grotting is the new David Douglas superintendent, who took over on July 1.

The City of Portland has issued permits for the home  at 3265 NE 108th Avenue (NE 108th and Klickitat, in Parkrose Heights) to be demolished and replaced with a a new, two-story dwelling.

The current home is a one-story house built in 1953, with a shop in the rear. The owner is listed as Kim C. Nguyen. The new construction permit allows a single-family, two-story house with attached two-car garage.

Parkrose United Methodist Church is beginning a weekly "Monday Evenings In the Garden" series in its community garden. The first meeting was held July 12, and meetings will continue weekly.

The church describes this group as:

Community time in the garden each week together building community and attending to the soul:

◊ Checking in with each other on garden progress

◊ Sharing insights about your favorite vegetables

◊ Sharing poetry/meditations from: our own garden experiences, from creation spirituality resources, from world religion and “hands-in-the-dirt” spiritual practices and sharing resources and action potential around environmental issues.

During the first meeting, participants sampled nasturtiums, edible flowers with a strong peppery taste. Many participants had never tried nasturtiums before! Some members also brought fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs to share.

Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. in the community garden at PUMC, 11111 NE Knott Street. Gardeners from outside the community garden are welcome.

The garden itself is looking well.  I had recently noticed that grass was taking over an empty portion of the garden, which I can sympathize with -- grass is always trying to get a foothold in my garden, too! But community gardener Clay Osburn arranged to have the empty portion of the garden covered in weed-barrier cloth, so all is tidy again. Many different varieties of edible plants are flourishing in the raised beds and other parts of the garden.

We reported last summer that the city of Portland was in the process of purchasing the property at 11510 NE Knott Street (between Knott Park and Knott School), which at the time held a collection of rickety, vacant buildings. 

The purchase did go through, and the Parks and Recreation department has now razed the buildings and flattened the lot.  According to East Zone manager Doug Brennan, the lot will simply become part of the park, and will probably be seeded with grass at some point. However, the lot has no irrigation system, and the parks department has no money to install an irrigation system at this time, so this will probably not happen until fall 2010.  There are also several existing trees which remain on the property.

On Sunday, July 18, several miles of street in East Portland will be closed to automobile traffic for the first-ever Sunday Parkways event in this part of Portland.

Sunday Parkways events have been a success in other areas of Portland, and now the area east of 82nd Avenue will have its turn, too.  The event is planned around several city parks, including Lents Park, Ed Benedict Park, and Bloomington Park, all of which will have music, vendors, community booths and activities available.  More information on the streets involved and activities is available at the Sunday Parkways website.

Organizers are still looking for volunteers to help with this event, too. And yes, you can volunteer for half the day or for the cleanup afterward, so that you have time to enjoy the event yourself. Find out more and register to volunteer at PortlandSundayParkways.com. (UPDATE: Volunteer as an Intersection Superhero and you can also sign up for A Talk in the Park, "an opportunity for a small group of neighbors to sit down with a notable professional and discuss topics that are central to the mission of Sunday Parkways.  These topics include Community Building, Alternative Transportation and Healthy Lifestyles. ")

Finally, if you plan to go, ParkroseGateway.com is organizing an informal, unofficial ride from Gateway Transit Center to the Sunday Parkways event. We'll ride the I-205 bike trail and end up at Lents Park (about 3.5 miles one way).  Everyone is on their own at the event and for getting back afterward.  Meet at Gateway Transit Center at 9:15 a.m.; we'll plan to leave at 9:30 a.m. 

Portland Police have reported that they are investigating a homicide that occurred around 3:15 a.m. near NE 103rd and Clackamas (just south of Halsey, near Wunderland and Winco).

According to the press release,

An adult male was in the area visiting friends when a fight erupted with unknown individual/s. The male suffered at least one wound consistent with a stabbing which proved to be fatal. A second adult male suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The victim was found on the ground near a motorcycle, so the incident was originally reported as a motorcycle accident, but police quickly determined that it was not.

UPDATE: Portland Police have announced that the stabbing victim was 30-year-old Carroll Williams.

UPDATE 2: Police have arrested Thomas A. Kolpin, age 27, in connection with this homicide. 

Portland Police responded to a bank robbery today at 11:00 a.m. at the U.S. Bank in Menlo Park Plaza, 12203 NE Glisan Street. Officers arrived quickly, established a perimeter, and took a suspect into custody at 11:20 a.m.

The suspect is 22-year-old Stephen Larue, who is being held at the Multnomah County Jail pending review by federal officials.

Morning newscasts are reporting an early morning shooting at The Refectory restaurant at NE 122nd and Halsey. One vehicle left the scene with an injured man and crashed at the AM/PM gas station at NE 102nd and Halsey.  The man was transported to the hospital with a non-life-threatening neck wound. More information and links as they become available.

UPDATE: According to Portland Police, the shooting occurred at about 2:15 a.m. The victim left the scene in a friend's vehicle, which crashed into a gas pump at 102nd and Halsey a few minutes later. No one else was injured in either incident.

State Representative Jefferson Smith (D-District 47) has been running a 1000 Donors campaign for several months. However, he's now adding a twist. Or maybe you'd call it a flip.

If I am willing to prostrate myself for the various virtuous and nefarious interests that participate in this process, it has occurred to me that I can prostrate and jumble myself in another way. That is, if we are expected to do somersaults for private interests, I can do cartwheels for the public interest.

For every 10 donations, I will be performing a cartwheel. Not a figurative cartwheel, but an actual cartwheel. In the interests of disclosure, I must acknowledge that at nearly 6'4" and nearly two-hundred-and-*@^$% pounds, my cartwheels are not particularly impressive. What is impressive is the prospect that I perform a cartwheel at all.

Smith promises to record and post videos of the cartwheels.