Letters to the Editor December 2017
Dear Editor: We are Mt. Tabor neighbors who oppose the proposed diverter at SE 50th and Lincoln St. Along the proposed greenway, none of the dive…
Feature Stories
Zero-Waste shopping at People’s Food Co-op
By Jack Rubinger The recent news that China is banning imports of plastic from the United State for environmental reasons is frustrating to some and…
PORTS AHOY!
While you may see Port wines for sale at your local grocery store from Portugal, California, the Pacific Northwest and even New York City, all ‘True’ P…
Monti’s Cafe
By Nancy Tannler 8600 SE Stark St. 503.256.8300 Mon. - Fri. 7-5 Sat. 8-5 Sun. 8-4 If you haven’t made the time to visit Mon…
Ceramic painting = hours of fun
By Michelle Frost Hiding in plain sight, Pottery Fun is nestled between antiques, beer, yoga, and movies at 7821 SE Stark St., across from Flying Pi…
Let’s Get Small
By Deirdre Shepherd Got plans for the Saturday following Thanksgiving? What if you could start your holiday shopping, support the small, local busin…
Representatively Speaking – Healthcare
By Representative Rob Nosse One of my roles in the Oregon legislature is serving as vice-chair of the House Health Care Committee. That means a lot …
DR VINO – Beaujolais
Beaujolais is a wine producing region in the southern end of France’s Burgundy region just northwest of the city of Lyon and exclusively employing the …
Helping hands ease loneliness
By Don MacGillivray In recent years, the concept of loneliness and social isolation has become an important issue that affects us all. It has always…
Kids At Heart Toys — Celebrating 30 Years on Hawthorne
By Jack Rubinger Elizabeth Campbell from Kids at Heart Toys is celebrating her store’s 30th year on Hawthorne Blvd. “Thirty years on Hawthorne su…
Equinox Celebrations
By Right Rev. Roland Lakey Most of us know that at some time in September, we have what is called an equinox. Many know that translates, from the L…
Sidestreet Gallery celebrates the end of an era
By Michelle Frost Hiding in plain sight at the corner of SE 28th and Ash streets is Sidestreet Gallery. Part gallery, part eclectic gifts, the galle…
Letters to the Editor Oct 17
Dear Editor: Like you, I’ve seen much lamenting of the “loss” of the Gorge and its beauty. I too mourn the landscape I’ve come to know. However, …
Longtime Portland bookseller enjoys community support after move.
By Judy Wayne In 1977, when Andrea Drinard opened her now iconic secondhand bookstore Paper Moon, she started with a paltry 200 books. “I really …
Local Seahorses proprietor co-authors book
By Jack Rubinger It’s a cliché to say Don Hudson is a born salesman; he’s more of a consultant. As a matter of fact, he almost immediately offered m…
Representatively Speaking
By Rob Nosse, State Representative I’ve had some time to reflect on the 2017 session since it ended in July, and it’s safe to say things were harder…
Girl Scouts keep busy supporting their SE Community
By Michelle Frost Girl Scouts of America is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls, with programs from coast to coast and acro…
Portopia eclipse effect: watching whales or nirvana
By Midge Pierce For a brief cosmic moment last month, moonshadow banished discord from the Land. Through first bite to rainbow-like sunbeams, daytim…
DR VINO – THINK PINK!
If you are so politically correct, why are you so prejudiced against Rosé? Just because a bunch of guys in California got rich selling “Blush Wines” th…
Just fix it
By Sam Adelman O.D. Many of us have electronic devices living in our closets, basements, and garages that we no longer use. Some are broken, others …
Do You Know the Hawthorne Bridge?
By Jan Caplener In 1845, a young entrepreneur named James B. Stephens purchased a 640 acre site on the east side of what would eventually become Por…
Community builder, naturalist, performer
By Nancy Tannler Roosevelt’s Terrarium’s at 44th and SE Hawthorne Blvd. has expanded. Owner Gregg Harris added a workshop to the greenery-filled sho…
TerryCurrier Day declared by Mayor
By Brian Cutean Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Proclamation designates August 12, 2017 as “Terry Currier Day” throughout the City. The Proclamation st…
Church Needs Helping Hands
By Midge Pierce Mt. Tabor’s living room needs your help. As it marks its 125th birthday, the storied Presbyterian Church midway up Belmont Street th…
Conversation continues for better housing
By Don MacGillivray Better Housing by Design is an ongoing project of the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to improve medium density r…
Safety Stakes Rise with Bike-Car Interfaces
By Midge Pierce Accidents mount as the City learns the hard way – through deaths and neighborhood ire – that you can’t address both safety and traff…
State Bike Tax not favored by cyclists
By Jack Rubinger Those of us who ride bicycles in and around SE Portland, are not alone. There are approximately 29 retail bike stores in the area. …
PWB rushes to build controversial filtration plant
Op-Ed By Floy Jones Portland Water Bureau is rushing an August 2 City Council vote to make monumental, onerous, and costly changes to our pristine B…
Population growth conversation continues
By Nancy Tannler Earth’s growing population hasn’t been in the forefront of the news about sustainability and quality as much as it was in the 60s a…
A Fine Rug Story
By Jack Rubinger Abbasi Fine Rugs, the only Persian rug shop on the east side of Portland, is located at SE 32nd and Belmont St. but its roots stret…
Immigrants making Portland home
By Charlotte Finn Unlike so many newcomers who set their sights on living in our hip city, Yasmine’s family arrived by a more arduous, traumatic, an…
Seniors get closer to neighbors to stay home longer
By Karen Hery There is a quiet revolution going on in SE Portland, championed by a wide range of volunteers, paying it forward in anticipation of th…
Big Float 2017
July 15 • 11 am – 6 pm Tom McCall Waterfront Park Parade • River Float • Beach Party • All Ages! Reggae Legend Clinton Fea…
Letters to the Editor June 17
To the editor: After reading so many recent articles on housing, the homeless, traffic problems, etc., I am amazed that these issues are being dealt…
The Caplener Group–a team effort
By Jack Rubinger By Jack Rubinger Jan Caplener and SE Portland go back a long ways. He’s seen the good and the bad. But no matter how y…
Clever Cycles celebrates ten years with a family ride
By Michelle Frost In a bike-friendly city like Portland with 17,000 bicycle commuters, according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation PBOT websi…
Slower speed limits = less fatal accidents
By Don MacGillivray Over the last three year Vision Zero has grown to become one of the most popular new polices within Portland local government an…
Growing revolution
By Jack Rubinger Geologist/Author David Montgomery discusses “Growing A Revolution” At Powell’s Books Geologist/author David R. Montgomery believ…
Letters to the Editor May 2017
Editors note: A reader requested a response from the Portland Water Bureau on the article Drinking winter well-water (concerns with radon, water qualit…
Representatively Speaking
By Representative Rob Nosse Those of you that read this column regularly or have run into me at a neighborhood association or a PTA meeting know tha…
Take the plunge
By Will Levenson Camaraderie. Summertime. Propulsion. Activism. Jumping in the water, the river feeling amazing... what an incredible wa…
The Aspire Will Get You Cooking This Summer
By Jack Rubinger Early in his life, Stanley Cheng revolutionized pots and pans and other types of non-stick cookware, but he’s been passio…
Stories of Lone Fir Cemetery
By Don MacGillivray Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery is one of the little known treasures of Portland’s past. By simply walking through the headstones and …
My Portopia: bent orange clip and other capers
By Midge Pierce Welcome to springtime in Portopia where potholes are supersized, syringes line sidewalks, broken promises litter the stalled-out eas…
Great furniture never goes out of style
By Midge Pierce Design is as important inside as out. It’s no surprise that furniture stores are among the beneficiaries of Portland’s building surg…
New split rail fence at the top of Mt. Tabor
Andrew Correa, a member of Boy Scouts Troop 56, extended a split rail fence at the top of Mt. Tabor for his Eagle Scout project. With financial support…
Climate and justice intertwine
By Midge Pierce Despite a city official’s claim that more than 100 people move to Portland daily, Mayor Ted Wheeler promised attendees at last month…
New uses for old building materials
By Don MacGillivray The Rebuilding Center takes in and offers used, salvaged, and reclaimed building and remodeling materials from the community so …
Café Marino, Not an Ordinary Place
By Sam Adelman A Bosnian man checks his phone on the free wifi to see how his online advertisement for the refrigerators he repairs is doing. A Japa…
Enhabit launches Smart Stat to help more Portland residents use smart thermostats
By Margaret Malarkey In the middle of winter, when Caitlin Davis is heading home from work or the grocery store, she pulls out her smartphone, opens…
Curious Ear captures stories
By Jack Rubinger Jocelyn Brady lives in SE Portland. She works from home running a small business called Scribe which is a voice and language consul…
Gun Safety: Responsible use, responsible policy
By Michelle Frost The League of Women Voters of Portland provided a format for discussion of Gun Safety with a panel of experts on Tuesday, March 14…
My Portopia: May the fourth be with you
By Midge Pierce March was birthday month in my family. I share mine with the best present ever, my favorite only grandson. Given that I have year…
Drinking winter well-water (concerns with radon, water quality, and public health)
Op Ed by Scott Fernandez M.Sc. Biology chemistry/ microbiology/radioisotopes There is “no safe level of radon” (USEPA). Our drinking water is n…
Locally Owned and Community Supported
By Jean Baker Mirador Kitchen and Home has closed after nearly 18 years at SE 20th and Division St. In 2016, a perfect storm of problems converged o…
A better way to help the homeless
By Don MacGillivray This freezing winter made the homeless situation a first order priority. The deaths of four people due to exposure on the street…
On the Streets Where We Live
Dear Readers: The storms of winter really took their toll this year on the PNW. We had the good fortune of a few beautiful days at the coast this pa…
My Portopia March 2016
Feeding the Mouth That Bites You By Midge Pierce As Portopia’s snowglobe turned into swampland last month, head colds, Nyquil and dehumidifiers s…
Japanese American Internment remembered at PCC
By Michelle Frost On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe mi…
Representatively Speaking March 2017
By Representative Rob Nosse The Case for HB 2387 Many of you are probably aware of news stories about the rising cost of prescription drugs that …
Ralph Chessé art
By Midge Pierce “Art is a part of life as necessary to my well-being as the food I eat and the air I breathe.” These were the words of Ralph Ches…
NorthStar Clubhouse, a place of hope for those living with mental illness
Submitted by: NorthStar Clubhouse We all know someone with a mental illness. We all have heard myths regarding mental illness. One of the most ha…
Ladd’s Addition rose garden alert
HAND residents are very concerned that Portland Parks Bureau is threatening to eliminate nearly $100,000 in maintenance for the Ladd’s Addition Rose Ga…
My Portopia: Home of the Blue
Guest Column By Midge Pierce On the third Saturday in January, I stood proudly with Dumbledore’s drenched army; my clan well-assembled despite my…
Letters to the Editor Jan 17
To the Editor: After listening to thousands of concerned citizens of East Portland about the hazards to the city’s neighborhoods posed by the encroa…
A bright future for Leach Botanical Garden
By Michelle Frost Leach Botanical Garden, at 6704 SE 122nd Ave. in east Portland, is a verdant paradise maintained by Leach Garden Friends. They ove…
2016 recap with a grimace
By Midge Pierce Good riddance 2016. I admit it. My personal views ran off the rails somewhere between not-news, #not-my-president and four-year-ol…
Ch-ch-ch-changes
By Jean Baker Division is changing again (or still, depending on how you look at it) New rules for inclusionary zoning will take affect later thi…
Help alleviate hunger in Portland
By Midge Pierce This New Year, as you prioritize resolutions, consider the Portland Food Project’s power of one green bag. Filling up the Food Proje…
Letters to the Editor December 2016
To The Editor: I’ve lived in Portland since 1965 and in the inner eastside for the past 34 years. We were in Irvington until this year and now in Co…
Representatively Speaking December 2016
By Representative Rob Nosse I will always remember where I was when I heard that Donald Trump won the 2016 election for President. I had just lef…
New Book Features Early Oregon Hero
By Michelle Frost Calvin Tibbets: Oregon’s First Pioneer is a thoroughly-investigated account of Oregon’s early trailblazers, researched and written…
Infill testimony from southeast resident
By Midge Pierce OpEd Portland residents agree that affordable housing is critically needed. What divides us is whether the Residential Infill Propo…
Tree Advocacy Workshop
By Midge Pierce The “white hot development market” was a topic at a tree advocacy workshop sponsored by Save the Giants, Friends of Trees and East M…
Portland’s Great Tree Canopy
By Midge Pierce Billed as the Grand Reveal, a five-year, record-breaking inventory of more than 218,610 street trees illustrates the magnificence of…
Let’s talk climate justice: Oregon vs California
By Stephanie Kaza Last year the Oregon legislature took up, but did not pass, a comprehensive bill to cut carbon emissions and support a clean energ…
HBBA Gift Guide 2016
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Miracle Theater/Teatro Milagro: breaking down biases
Photo above: Dañel Malan, Teatro Milagro Artistic Director and Jose Eduardo Gonzalez, Executive Director By Michelle Frost The only Hispanic thea…
Natural Furniture — moving closer to home
Photo above: Rick Slagter By Jack Rubinger Rick Slagter is happy to be home again. The 63-year-old furniture store owner and his wife Tammy re…
History of Portland’s Neighborhood Associations
By Don MacGillivray Neighborhood Associations in Portland have always been a center of controversy. Some believe if you don’t have any adversaries, …
Positions Flip in a Mixed Bag of Survey Results
By Midge Pierce Once upon a time, several decades ago, neighbors came together to stop the Mt. Hood Expressway from tearing the Eastside apart. Port…
Letters to the Editor October 2016
Dear Editor: In the 25 years that my wife and I have lived in our neighborhood, we have witnessed more change in the last two than the previous 23 y…
Sunnyside neighborhood
Part two: Reaching for Community by Karen Hery In the beginning, it was a reach just to get across the river. The 384 urban acres from 28th to 49…
Transforming historic and sacred spaces
by Jack Rubinger Taborspace, located at 5441 SE Belmont, the site of the Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church had about 100 active congregants seven years …
Reasons for high house prices in the Portland metropolis
By Robert McCullough A question that comes up frequently in neighborhood discussions concerns the rapid run up of prices in Portland. Why are price…
New businesses open at 1100 SE Division Street
Two new shops recently opened at 1100 SE Division. Both are totally different and unique to the Division streetscape. Book With Pictures (see below …
Introducing home energy scores
By Don MacGillivray In spite of climate change and global warming, Portland is on the way toward enacting measures to reduce carbon emissions. The C…
Col. Summers Park Improvement Plans Finalized
By Don MacGillivray Next summer there should be an interesting new water feature in Col. Summers Park to replace the existing circular w…
Empty Bowls/beer pairing fundraiser
By Michelle Frost Montavilla Farmers Market is hosting the Empty Bowls soup and beer pairing fundraiser event on September 13, 5:30-8:30 pm, at Mont…
Altruistic Italian cycling legend
By Karen Blauer Cycling legend Gino Bartali was a multiple winner of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia cycling races, and an athlete recognized a…
Representatively Speaking
Measure 97 This upcoming November election is going to be one of the most important in recent memory. Certainly the presidential election looms larg…
Central Eastside continues to grow
By Don MacGillivray A handsome building where Fishel’s Furniture has become an icon at E. Burnside and SE Martin Luther King Blvd. (MLK) will soon b…
Salvation Army Rose Senior Center open to all
The Salvation Army is familiar to everyone. We’ve all seen the bell ringers at Christmas and probably been to one of their thrift shops, but this is on…
Let’s talk climate, but how and where?
By Stephanie Kaza Flooding in Louisiana, California wildfires, permafrost melt in Alaska – the list of events made more extreme by climate change is…
Belmont Street Fair origins
By Karen Hery Belmont Street Fair is in its 21st year attracting over 10,000 people to the streets of Belmont between SE 33rd and Cesar E. Chavez Bl…
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor: Your recent story titled “Division Preferred for Rapid Transit” was excellently reported. Midge Pierce is to be complimented on her c…
Hawthorne Street Fair Sunday August 28
Sunday August 28 11am - 7pm EVENTS (as of press time) SE 34nd Acoustic Stage 11:00-11:50 Jon Koonce 12:00-12:50 Reverb Bros 1:00-1:50 Te…
Bike Around Town
A hundred Biketown racks have been placed around Portland’s inner city with 1,000 bikes in use. In four days 1,960 single ride passes and 441 day passe…
On the Streets Where We Live
By Nancy Tannler, Editor Dear Readers: The past few weeks every time I hear the news, I think of the line in Patty Griffin’s song, “Don’t bring m…
Summer in a city pocket park
By Michelle Frost Avalon Sanctuary is a very small ‘pocket park’ nestled between The Hope Center/Cascadia and St. Philip Neri Convent along SE Divis…