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Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 16, Issue No. 9
www.multnomahpost.com
Portland, Oregon
City Council weighs
Sears Armory
proposals, postpones
decision to July 9
--Page 9
Complimentary
July 2008
Solar energy, sub-watersheds, and
North Macadam transportation
hIllSDalE NotEbook
By Mark Ellis
The Southwest Portland Post
Think renewable energy, and solar
power shines brightest. Ethanol is
getting a second look, as acreage
devoted to food production is swal-
lowed up in the quest for the corn-
based fuel.
The idea of wind harnessed elec-
tricity seems clean and abundant,
but the installations for them can
dominate large swaths of local geog-
raphy. Given the public’s deep res-
ervations about possible meltdowns,
terrorist attacks, and alarmingly
uncontainable waste, nuclear is
increasingly discussed as an option
only by energy wonks.
As ethanol gets a second look,
townships argue about wind farms,
and relics like the old Hanford reac-
tor degrade, solar power advocates
are staying on message.
At the June 4 meeting of the
Hillsdale Neighborhood Associa-
tion, Sandra Walden, director and
partner with Commercial Solar
Ventures, made her pitch. CSV is
the developer chosen by Portland
Public Schools for a Hillsdale solar
installation at Reike Elementary that
would provide energy and educa-
tion for three local schools.
Holding up a representative solar
panel, Walden said, “What we’re of-
fering is clean energy at a set price
at no cost for the installation to the
school.”
Under the plan, CSV, in conjunc-
tion with the Bonneville Energy
Foundation, would construct a 100
kilowatt ground-mounted solar
panel grid on the grass-covered
southwest-facing Bertha Blvd. em-
bankment near Reike and Wilson
High.
Walden shared projected images
which simulated the proposed in-
stallation. Hundreds of solar panels
would stretch along the slope, in
Two-year-old Drew Dunahugh enjoys strawberries as his mother, Heidi, and
brother Davis, 5, walk around the Multnomah Village Farmers' Market, June 12.
(Post photo by Polina Olsen)
(Continued on Page 3)
Laughing Planet Café coming soon to Gabriel Park shopping center
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
The background music was XM 74
Bluesville; large divided windows
and green plants kept the room light
despite rain. As Woodstock’s Laugh-
ing Planet Café filled with lunchtime
diners, founder and co-owner Rich-
ard Satnick sat down to talk about
the latest venture – a new Southwest
Portland location opening in August.
The Laughing Planet and Dinosaur
Sanctuary are coming to 4405 SW
Vermont St., across from Gabriel Park
in the 2200-square-foot space vacated
by PB & Ellie’s. The quick-service
local chain is based on the premise
that organic, nutritious food does not
belong to the privileged. It should be
accessible, affordable, and fun.
“We’re parent-friendly as opposed
to just kid-friendly,” said Satnick as
he munched a grilled vegetable and
cheese quesadilla and glanced around
the room.
Dozens of rubber toy dinosaurs lined
the windowsills “kids can bash them
up.” A bar serving local microbrews
backed up to a notice board covered
with bicycle events and advertisements
for Eckankar workshops. Photographs
of individual chimpanzees the restau-
rant sponsors surround a poster for
IDA-Africa.
Teens, local workers, and parents
with young children lined up to order
burritos, rice- bowls, soups, salads,
and dairy-free smoothies. Staff brought
food to the comfortable booths and
tables when it was ready.
“We start with vegan and build up,”
explained Satnick about the menu
which includes vegetarian and hor-
mone-free chicken selections. Laugh-
ing Planet proudly received the 2008
BEST Award for Sustainable Food Sys-
tems. They buy locally and conserve
energy by cooking most food in their
Mississippi Avenue commissary. One
bio-diesel fueled truck delivers fresh
to other locations each day.
Satnick, a former mountain-bicycle
storeowner, began Laughing Planet
in his college town of Bloomington,
Indiana. Interested in feeding bicyclists
healthy food, he developed a burrito
that fit perfectly into bike water bottle
holders. “We were horribly under-
financed, but after a couple years it
became obvious this was working,”
he said.
Satnick always wanted to live in
Portland. “If you’re interested in urban
planning, Portland shines like a bea-
con,” he said. On a 1989 reconnaissance
trip, he spotted the perfect Belmont
neighborhood storefront. He moved
into the apartment upstairs, brought
his toy dinosaur collection for the staff
to play with when things got slow, and
opened in 2000.
It wasn’t until the third restaurant,
this time in Eugene, that children be-
came a focus. “That’s where the kids
started teaching us to do it a little dif-
ferently,” he says. Today, locations
include the Woodstock, Northwest
21st, Mississippi, and Belmont areas
in Portland and the Whitaker neigh-
borhood in Eugene (they sold the
Bloomington, Indiana restaurant to
the local manager.) Décor varies, but
all locations include a kids menu and
posters of Satnick’s idol – Frank Zappa.
The new Southwest location will
include a large outdoor seating area
where Satnick plans raised flowerbeds
and heaters for winter diners. Anxious
to join the neighborhood, he hopes
to hire locally and looks forward to
school fund-raisers and community
activities.
There are lots of families in the area,”
Satnick said, noting proximity to the
Mittleman Jewish and Southwest com-
munity centers. “And, this is food you
can live on.”
For more information about Laugh-
ing Planet, visit www.laughingplan-
etcafe.com.
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203
Portland, OR 97219
Laughing Planet Cafe founder and co-owner Richard Satnick with marketing director
Mary Nichols at the Woodstock restaurant. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)