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So far, I've not covered the Aaron Campbell shooting (which happened at the Sandy Terrace Apartments in Argay on January 29th) on ParkroseGateway.com, aside from a few tweets the night it happened. It's been more than amply covered in the local media, so I have little to add, but did want to provide a roundup of both basic news stories and insightful stories and columns on the shooting, some of which you may not have seen in the mainstream media.
The Parkrose Board of Education will hold it's regular meeting on Monday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. As always, the agenda is posted at BoardBook.org. This month's agenda includes several items of interest. Classified Employee Appreciation Week is March 1-5, 2010. The board will be approving a resolution honoring classified employees (those who are neither certified teachers nor administrators, including clerical staff, classroom assistants, custodians, food service workers, etc.). If you're visiting a school during that week, be sure to say a kind word to the classified employees. Allison Newman-Woods will be recognized for receiving a Heart of the Community award from Hands On Greater Portland and the Portland Trail Blazers. This award honors Newman-Woods for her volunteer work in the Parkrose School District and Parkrose community.
Board chair James Woods will give an update on the board vacancy appointment process. The board has not yet filled the vacancy left by Katie Larsell's resignation. The board... Local residents can eat out and support Sacramento Elementary School at two upcoming events: February 24 -- eat at Burgerville on NE 122nd Avenue between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and 10% of all profit goes to Sacramento Elementary. This is the same night as Sacramento's Fairy Tale Family Night Event, so families can plan to eat at Burgerville either before or after the event. No flyer or coupon is needed for this event. March 10 -- eat at the Original Taco House, NE 82nd and Klickitat, between 11:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Bring a flyer (available through the school) and 50% of your purchase will go to Sacramento Elementary. The Parkrose Heights Association of Neighbors meeting on January 26 featured an energetic conversation with State Representative Jefferson Smith. But before Smith got up to speak:
Also in attendance were Chris Scarzello, the East District liaison for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Shirley Craddick of Gresham’s city council, who is currently running for... A full house enjoyed great jazz, beer tasting and barbecue at the Outer Rim bicycle shop on Halsey Street February 1. Donations were accepted to benefit the Jazz Society of Oregon.
KTVZ.com reports that the state is not only adding more names to its Oregon Health Plan reservation list, it will be drawing names from the list to apply for new spots in the Oregon Health Plan Standard. Thanks to a new hospital tax passed by the legislature in 2009, 35,000 more adults can be added to the Oregon Health Plan. The state will hold monthly drawings from the reservation list, and those whose names are drawn can apply to enroll in the Oregon Health Plan. Enrollment is still subject to eligibility. The next drawing is Monday, February 1. To add your name to the reservation list, go to the Department of Human Services website or call 1-800-699-9075. This program is for adults only. Eligible children can get health coverage through the Healthy Kids program. Healthy Kids is available to children under age 19 who are legal Oregon residents, have been without health insurance for at least two months, and have family incomes under 300% of the federal poverty level (about $66,000 for a family of four). 
We told you it was coming, and now it's almost here! The Parkrose Fix-It Fair is this Saturday, January 30 at Parkrose High School from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Come on down and enjoy a free lunch, workshops, exhibits, free bicycle tune-ups, and more. The class schedule for the Parkrose Fix-It Fair is now available at PortlandOnline, for those who would like to plan ahead. Free on-site child care is available during the event. 
Education funding was one of the main areas that would have been affected by a defeat of Measures 66 and 67, which approved additional taxes on corporations and individuals with incomes over $125,000 per year ($250,000 for married couples). The measures did pass, and now school district leaders are reacting. "For the sake of our children, I'm relieved," Reynolds school board chair Theresa Delaney Davis told the Oregonian. But districts still face budget cuts for 2010-2011. David Douglas School District says today's release on their website "Even without the impact of the ballot measures, the School Board was projecting significant budget reductions for next year." The district will be seeking community input on budget reductions. 
State Representative Jefferson Smith will speak at the Parkrose Heights Association of Neighbors general meeting on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m. He'll be there to discuss local issues with residents and talk about the work he's doing for District 47 in the state legislature. PHAN meets at Parkrose United Methodist Church, 11111 NE Knott Street. General meetings are held quarterly, and are open to all neighborhood residents. Parkrose High School art students are holding a Souper Bowl to benefit Habitat for Humanity on Saturday, February 6 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Tickets are $15, and include soup from the Olive Garden, entertainment by the school's jazz band and choir, and a bowl handmade by a Parkrose art student. They'll also have artwork on display and students demonstrating pottery-throwing. Tickets must be pre-purchased either from Mark Warner at the high school or on the Portland Habitat for Humanity website (select Souper Bowl as the program designation, and $15 as the amount). Parkrose students and staff will help victims of the Haiti earthquake through Rock the Quake, a Battle of the Rock Bands (i.e., a Rock Band video game competition) on Tuesday, January 26. All proceeds will help support Haiti Earthquake Relief efforts. For more information, contact the high school main office. Speculation is still swirling about Owa Odighizuwa's college choices. He's apparently dropped USC from his list now. According to The Oregonian Owa's final four are now Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and Nebraska. There's also a heated discussion by fans on an Oregonian blog entry (scroll down to the comments). Parkrose school board chair James Woods shares with us a presentation from Parkrose High School's CTE (Career Technical Education) programs. Burglars have hit several area school recently, in both Parkrose and David Douglas. According to the Oregonian, police are investigating 12 burglaries that have occurred since the beginning of December, and four of the burglaries occurred over the recent three-day weekend. The burglars have been targeting computers, especially laptops, often breaking windows and even squeezing through bars to get in. In some cases, only one or two items were taken; at one school, fifteen laptops were gone. The David Douglas High School boys basketball team is "searching for answers"... PD Farms (located in Elgin, OR) sells its beef at both Parkrose and Montavilla Farmers' Markets during the farmers' market season, but the farmers' markets are closed right now. What to do? Well, PD Farms is making a special stop at the Montavilla Farmers' Market site on February 6th to sell their beef and other products to local residents. Here's their announcement, as sent to the Montavilla Food Buying Club mailing list: I wanted to let you all know that we will be at the Montavilla market site Sat Feb 6th from 10am until noon. The Montavilla Market site is at 7600 SE Stark Street. For more information about PD Farms, including beef prices and contact information, visit http://pd-farms.com. If you're interested in the Montavilla Food Buying Club, check out the Montavilla... David Douglas senior Owamagbe Odighizuwa played for the West in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday, January 9, helping the West to a 30-14 win over the East. The Army All-American Bowl showcases the best of high school football players, and is an important part of the recruiting season, with many players announcing their final college choice on this date. Owa had planned at one time to announce his choice at the Army game, but decided a few weeks ago that he would wait until the national signing day on February 3. He had also narrowed his choices to Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, and USC, but has now added Nebraska back to his list, saying "...I like the fact that Bo Pelini is a defensive-minded coach, and I just love the fans out there." Odighizuwa got a mention on ESPN.com as well, in their Army All-American coverage: "Owa Odighizuwa...did not have a big game statistically, but displayed good quickness off the ball and played with a high motor." PG3, the Portland Guitar Three, will perform an electric guitar showcase on January 30 at Peter's Room at the Roseland to benefit the Parkrose Music Boosters. The PG3 are Parkrose High School alumnus Terry Robb, Jennifer Batten, and Geoff Metts, all accomplished professional guitarists. Each artist will perform his or her own set, and then they'll come together for a grand finale. Tickets are $15.00 in advance (plus fees) or $20.00 at the door, and advance ticketholders are automatically entered in a drawing for a signed Fender Stratocaster (a $600 value). Parkrose Music Boosters is a parent organization raising funds to support music programs for grades K-12 in the Parkrose School District. More information is available in this press release on Terry Robb's website. Tickets are available from TicketsWest.com. This show is for ages 21 and older. It's time once again for the Fix-It Fairs, brought to you by the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Three Fix-It Fairs are held each year; the first for 2009-10 was held in November at Roosevelt High School. The remaining two will be this month, at David Douglas High School and Parkrose High School. Fix-It Fairs offer free how-to classes on home and garden topics, information booths and exhibits (many of which are fun and appropriate for children), and free giveaways. Lunch is free, and free on-site child care is provided during the classes. The Safe Routes to School program has also announced that they will offer free minor bicycle tune-ups and flat repairs at the David Douglas and Parkrose fairs, so be sure to bring that bike that's been sitting in your garage. The David Douglas Fix-It Fair will be Saturday, January 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the David Douglas High School North Building, 1001 SE 135th Avenue. You can view a flyer with a workshop schedule for this date here (this will... It's back to school week! David Douglas and Portland Public students will be back on Monday, January 4, while Parkrose students wait until Tuesday, January 5 (Monday is a teacher work day). In other news: I fixed the links in my last item about David Douglas defensive lineman Owamagbe Odighizuwa; if you want to see the Orlando Sentinel article, the link is there now. Ross Seligman did a detailed real estate analysis of the Parkrose neighborhood for PortlandNeighborhood.com (scroll down to view the report). Senator Ron Wyden will hold his annual Multnomah County town hall meeting at the David Douglas High School Performing Arts Center (1400 SE 130th Ave.) on January 5 at 9:45 a.m. David Douglas senior Owamagbe Odighizuwa still isn't announcing a final decision on college football programs, but he has narrowed his choices from seven to four, says the Orlando Sentinel. The final four are Oregon, Oregon State, USC and UCLA. Florida, Nebraska and Cal were cut from the list. According to the Sentinel, Odighizuwa said he'd like to stay closer to home than Florida and Nebraska, and alluded to "misunderstandings" with Cal. Odighizuwa was also recently named to USA Today's All-USA second team defense. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season! Here are some links to local news on other sites. Parkrose High School's PACE program was featured on FOX 12's High School Spotlight for their Homeless Project. The Broncoes Girls Basketball team broke its three-game winning streak with a loss to Benson on December 17. They'll play Madison next on Tuesday, December 29, 7:30 p.m. at Parkrose High School. League play begins January 5. See Parkrose math teacher David Whitfield and his fund-raising hair-do on EastPDXNews. Did you know that Parkrose Middle School teacher Dave Anderson is also a novelist? Killer Cows, a young adult novel mixing sci-fi, fantasy, realism and humor, is coming out in fall 2010. In a story that's received surprisingly little news coverage, just before winter break a Parkrose freshman found the names of several African-American students in a "hit list" scribbled on a wall at Parkrose High School. The David Douglas High School PTSA is planning a Spring Craft Fair to make up for decreased revenue from their... 
The Parkrose Board of Education met Monday, December 14 for its regular business meeting, and also to say goodbye to longtime board member Katie Larsell, who is stepping down for personal reasons. Larsell says she'll continue to be involved in the community, especially with the East Portland Action Plan. “I’ve found that to be a really neat opportunity to do that kind of work for our district," Larsell said. The Board is accepting applications for Larsell's position through January 8, and will appoint a new member at the January 25, 2010 meeting. This member will serve out the remainder of Larsell's term, which expires in June 2011, after which a regular election will be held for the position. In addition to recognizing Larsell: Angela King, Title I teacher from Sacramento Elementary, gave a presentation on the various reading interventions being used in the school. 120 children in the school have been receiving interventions this year, with good results. For instance, of 24 second graders who have been... 
The Vine Time Fellowship at Parkrose United Methodist Church is involved in a conspiracy -- the Advent Conspiracy. The Advent Conspiracy is a movement to change the way we celebrate Christmas. It's not just about "putting the Christ back in Christmas." The four parts of the Advent Conspiracy are to "Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All." Vine Time is spending their weekly meetings learning about and discussing these four areas. But they're also working on a project for the "Love All" part of the conspiracy. This project is called "Beans of Grace." The group is assembling dried bean soup packets to donate to local food pantries. The project originates from local charity SnowCap. SnowCap provides bag labels and instructions for making soup packets, and groups or churches can then purchase beans, soup base, and plastic bags and assemble the packets. "They did it at Eastminster [Presbyterian Church] during the Maundy Thursday service," explains Shannon Starr. That's where Vine Time... The Parkrose Board of Education is looking for a new member, as Katie Larsell steps down for personal reasons. Board chair James Woods has the details. The position will be filled by appointment rather than by election; the current board will accept applications and vote on who should hold the position until the next election in 2011. Faithful Savior Church and Community School will hold a holiday bazaar Thursday, December 3 from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. They're located at 11100 NE Skidmore. (thank you to http://northeastportland.katu.com for the tip) Robert Croskrey, a 13-year-old who was reported missing near NE 142nd and Sandy on Wednesday eventually turned up safe and sound. According to KATU.com staff, he'd been out walking and finally decided to come home. Authorities had said they were concerned because Robert has an undisclosed medical condition that could have impaired his ability to take care of himself. The Oregonian says that the number of school-age children in east county (Parkrose, David Douglas,... UPDATE: The entire special report on Kids and Play is now available on katu.com. Segments three and four (Recess Problems parts one and two) were filmed at Sacramento. KATU visited Sacramento Elementary earlier this year to film an promotional spot for the Bald Faced Truth Foundation; now they're back with a special report on Kids and Play. Reporter/anchor Anna Song, who's a co-founder of the Bald Faced Truth Foundation, came out with a crew to film students at recess, doing games with nonprofit group Playworks. Kids and Play segments will be featured on KATU newscasts all day on Monday, November 23. Segments from Sacramento will also be used to promote the Playworks program, which provides recess coaches who lead games and activities at lower income schools. In exchange, Sacramento received one week of free services from Playworks, something that simply wouldn't be in the budget otherwise. 
How do you solve a problem like...I'm not even sure what the problem is. The Portland Plan is attacking something big; so big I don't even know how to describe it! The Portland Plan is a gigantic project in which the city of Portland will come up with a new, comprehensive, 25-or-more-year plan for the city. The city's current comprehensive plan is 29 years old, so it's clearly time to evaluate and rebuild. As part of the project, the city is holding a series of regional meetings, in which area residents and other stakeholders are invited to find out more about the Portland Plan and provide input on where the city should be going in the next 25-30 years. November 19's meeting for East Portland was held at David Douglas High School, with about 130 people in attendance. A Portland Plan meeting is a high-tech event, with video cameras on all sides of the room, photographers, a digital projector, and an electronic response system. All participants were given a small, wireless electronic keypad for providing responses... 
Parkrose's girls water polo team are now the class 5A state champions! The Broncos beat Ashland 16-9 for the state title. The boys team placed second, also playing against Ashland, in a very close game (11-10). Junior Courtney Garcia was the girls MVP, and senior goalie Nathan Clement took MVP for the boys. The following players also won spots on the state all-star teams: Boys 1st team in 5A Jeremy Ibrahim - junior Nolan Pow - junior Boys 2nd team in 5A Sam Stites - senior Bruce Neelands - senior
Girls 1st team in 5A Emily Aronson - senior Tosha Garcia - senior Girls 2nd team in 5A Lily Rojas - senior Brianna Newman - junior Dominique Garrison - junior Congratulations to all of the Bronco players and their coaches, Gary Muzzy and Ben Talbott. David Douglas High School's football team won against Barlow on Friday, 42-14 to clinch the #4 playoff spot in the Mount Hood Conference. They'll play at South Salem in the first round on November 13. Parkrose United Methodist Church is planning a free community Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, November 26 at 2:00 p.m., open to all. Turkeys are provided; bring a side dish or dessert to share if you're able. RSVP to welcome@parkroseumc.org. The Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute is planning to establish one of five eco-districts in the Gateway area. Eco-districts "bring together residents, businesses, utilities and other groups to create and manage their own energy and wastewater systems, saving money and creating better places to live and work." |
