The Southwest Portland Post., January 01, 2015, Image 1

Folks get crabby
at Hillsdale
Winter Market
– Page 8
Holiday
Quartet
performs during
Holiday Gala –
Page 5
Mothers get a
workout at
Baby Boot Camp
– Page 7
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 23 Issue No. 3
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
January 2015
Lawson brothers team up on crew of hit television series, “Grimm”
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
Set in Portland, “Grimm” is a modern
cop-drama with a twist. The lead character,
Homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt
(played by David Giuntoli), discovers he
is descended from a centuries-old line of
hunters, called Grimms, whose purpose in
life is to battle and destroy evil creatures
known as Wesen. Nick relies on a trailer of
weapons and books about various Wesen left
to him by his aunt to fight the evil beings.
Wesen look like everyday people to those
who are not Grimms. He also is helped by
Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a Wieder
Blutbad, who becomes Nick’s friend, and
has a wealth of knowledge about the Wesen
world.
“Grimm” is one of NBC’s most
popular shows. Shot in Portland
between July and April, it provides
more than 150 full-time jobs.
Positions in every department from
hair and makeup to sound recording
are staffed by Oregonians.
Three men from one
Portland family have
the grip department
locked up.
Bruce Lawson and
his brothers, Brian
and Brent, make up
respectively: the key
grip, dolly grip and
b e s t b o y. A n d a l l
three graduated from
Wilson High School in
Southwest Portland.
Bruce gives Wilson
credit for fulfilling his
creative longings back
in the mid 1970’s.
“For me, it was a really
creative atmosphere
there,” Lawson said.
“Between (drama
teacher) Julie Accuardi
and (choir director)
Merle Lotz, those were
some of the best years A group of Wilson High School alumni works on the NBC television series, “Grimm.” Left to right: Sean
of my life, really.”
Kennedy ’78; Brian Lawson ’78; Maureen Berrie-Lawson ‘78, Bruce Lawson ’77, Brent Lawson ’78; Tyler
(Continued on Page 6)
Stephens ’88; Jesse Bellis ’07. (Post photo by KC Cowan)
Is construction never-ending along Multnomah Boulevard?
would never know it sitting with him at
his bar. He just seems worn down and
tired of all the issues getting in the way
of running a small business.
According to Prenty, his business,
Jim Prenty, owner of Jimmy’s Sports
employees,
and customers have
Bar and Grill, is upset at the city but you
suffered financially,
emotionally, and
physically.
“This has all been
due to the road work
on Multnomah
Boulevard for
years” Jimmy said.
It began over 15
years ago when the
city had to replace
the sewer pipe from
Interstate 5 west to
40th Avenue due to
complaints of raw
sewage odors.
“When they first
dug up the road,”
Prenty recalled,
“the city put in
t h e w ro n g s i z e
Workers complete construction on a new catch basin and sidewalks sewer pipe. They
excavated the street
along Multnomah Boulevard near 36th Avenue.
again to replace it
(Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
with the right size.”
That took almost a year and affected
business owners village-wide.
“Customers could literally not make
it to the bar,” Prenty explained. “I lost
my lunch business and lottery sales
went down.”
Then, when he thought everything
was finished, the city came back to add
new sidewalks, a bike track, and green
street planters.
The interview was interrupted by a
customer who stopped in to ask Prenty
if he had parked correctly out front. “I
now have to play parking enforcement
officer,” he said, grinning.
Prenty pointed to the parking
configuration which appeared to
be somewhat in the middle of the
boulevard. The bike track, which looks
like a second sidewalk, has dashes for
a short half-block then weaves back
into the street by 31st Avenue. Parking
is marked with a big P on the black
asphalt.
than the usual white for better contrast
with the concrete, but delayed because
it was on back order. Both markings
were installed several weeks ago and
now people seem to get it much better.
We are going to also add more
markings soon make it clear there is
another 20 feet of parking available to
the east of the driveway.
To get the latest update on Multnomah
Boulevard construction, The Post
interviewed Rich Newlands, a project
manager with the Portland Bureau
of Transportation. What follows are
excerpts are from that mid-December
interview.
Q: What’s going on with the crosswalk
beacon at 25th Avenue?
A: The original final inspection
identified several issues with the
construction of the rapid flash beacon
that need to be corrected before turn-
on. A follow-up inspection passed in
mid-December, so the beacon is now
on.
The crosswalk striping did not meet
the (slip resistance) specifications
either and will have to be replaced.
The schedule from the contractor for
replacement is not yet known.
Q: There have been reports of people being
confused by parking near Jimmy’s Sports
Bar. What’s going on?
A: Parking on the cycle track has been
a problem over the summer while we
waited for the installation of the two
pavement markings needed to clarify
where parking is allowed and not
allowed.
The “bike man” symbol marking
for the cycle track was in black rather
Q: There were reports that Multnomah
Boulevard fills up with water during
downpours due to the cycle track being a
little bit higher than the asphalt. Cars were
seen hydroplaning. Do these not drain
properly?
A: Not quite. The cycle track is
supposed to provide vertical grade
separation with the roadway and is
designed with a two percent slope to
drain water into the street. Multnomah
is relatively flat so I suspect during
the really intense portions of the other
week’s rain it seemed like it was not
draining.
Q: Mature trees were cut down at near
the former Sears’s Armory, at 25th and
28th avenues. At an earlier interview, the
(Continued on Page 3)