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Volume XXVII, Number I 7
Committed to cultural diversity.
(Lltr ^ n rtía n b (l!)bseruer
April 23, 1997
SECTION
B
it mm u n ity
-a I c n ò a r
Portland Board of
Education meeting
Joan Li pis from NOVEA
ministries (left) talks with
the founder of “Women of
Purpose,” Dr. O. Virginia
Phillips (right) during a
recent buffet. The gathering
celebrated the message of
the “Women of Purpose"
organization.
The Portland Public Schools Board of
Education is scheduled to meet in Execu
tive session under provisions of ORS
192.660 (l)(i), on Thursday, April 24,
1997, at 5:30 pm, in the JDB Conference
Room at the Robert Blanchard Education
Service Center, 501 N. Dixon Street. If
you have a disability or are hearing im
paired and need assistance for this meet
ing, please make arrangements in ad
vance by calling the board office at 916-
3741. This notice is provided in accor
dance with provisions of the Oregon Open
Meeting Law.
See related article on
Religion, page.
All Aboard SamTrack!
Beginning May 3 - Weekends - I 1:00
am to 4:(X) pm, SamTrak, the open-air
train pulled by “big Red,” SamTrak’s
new 45 ton diesel electric engine, that
takes you on a scenic ride along the
Willamette River between Oaks Park and
OMSI through the Oaks Bottom Wildlife-
Refuge corridor. The six-mile round-trip
takes one hour. Stop off and enjoy the
sights at either end and take a later train
back or just enjoy the train ride. Afford
able family fun for only $4.00, ages 5 and
| over, $ 1.50 ages 1-4, and infants 0 -1 ride
free. Cupola seats $1.00 extra. Boarding
stations at Spokane Street, Oaks Park and
OMSI. For schedule information call 653-
2380.
PSU Panel Discussion Of
the Death Penalty
Portland State University students
against the death penalty present a panel
discussing the issues. Tuesday, April 29,
from 7 to 8:30p.m. in Room 292 of Smith
I Center (1825 SW Broadway) panelists
| discuss "The Case Against the Death
Penalty." Admission is free and the pub
lic is invited. For information call 234-
| 0118.
Renaissance Market
T
by
Oregon Housing 97
Conference
Experts at Harnessing Tax Credits,
Bonds and Other Creative Funding
Mechanisms To Finance Affordable Hous
ing in Oregon to Highlight Oregon Hous
ing 97 Conference. In the wake of dimin
ishing public resources and escalating
construction costs, finding innovative and
workable solutions is a must to house
Oregonians in need. National and local
affordable housing experts will congre-
| gate in Portland Thursday and Friday,
April 24 and 25 at the Portland Hilton
Hotel to share their wealth of knowledge
with Oregon’s housing community.
Fund-Raiser Set For
Women’s Shelters
A benefit baby shower acknowledging
Roisin McAliskey, a 25-year-old Irish
prisoner in London will help provide
gifts to mothers in area women’s shelters.
Sunday, April 27, 1997, from 4 to 6 p.m
Duffy's 8203 North Ivanhoe St. John's
District, Portland, Oregon
S U B M IS S IO N S : (O m n iu n ity
( a le n d a r in fo i in a lim i w ill be g ix e ii
p rio rity d ila te d tw o weeks
before the event date.
r l m a n
________________
is, and is not.
he Renaissance Market is do
At issue is a decision the market’s manag
ing well in Its first six months of
ers made early on not to stock any alcohol or
operation. Now its sponsors
tobacco products. This may have led to a
want it to do a lot better, in part
by
perception
that Renaissance is a "church
spreading the word of what they have to
store” rather than a true supermarket. Wells .
offer.
said, and that it is "trying to tell people how
I he market at 909 N. Killingsworth St.,
now run by Emanuel Temple, is attracting
about 600 customers a week, the temple’s
Bishop Wells told the Northeast Jobs Com
mittee last week. Io meet its goals, he said,
the market hoped to increase its customers
and income by 50 percent.
To do so, he said, he hoped to do a better
job o f spreading the word of w hat the market
to run their lives. It’s not that way at all. We
decided not to stock these items not for
religious reasons, but because they are haz
ardous to health.”
I he decision has had positive effects, he
said. “ Ihe area has changed drastically.
Drug selling is down We've gotten some
outstanding letters from parents and stu
dents who say they feel safer there.”
A big element of what the Renaissance-
hopes to offer is good customer service.
l or their staff, they want people who
have the temperament to provide customer
service,’ Wells said. "We need people who
have the ability to be friendly and informa
tive, and to do that while being efficient and
moving people through the line.” At the
moment the market has six full-time and
seven part-time employees with no immedi
ate job openings. However, Wells added.
As they say, ‘ There are a lot of barbers in
town, but there’s always more room for a
good one ”
Bonnie M cknight of the Northeast
Workforce Center suggested that the market
seek new employees "from the point of view
of offering not just a job, but a chance to do
community service. That will help you get
the kind of people you want. You can’t very
well offer them a dollar an hour more than
your competitors." She agreed on the need to
get the word out. "Marketing is what people
think of last, but if you don’t do it you won ’t
be in business long."
Some customers have complained that
the market's prices are above those of other
nearby food stores. However, customer ser
vices manager Mary Warren said the Re
naissance recently compared its prices for
50 popular food items with those of its
competitors, and found them "comparable.”
Youth
Jam
“97”
CoHousing:
Neighborhoods for people
A screening of the video “CoHousing:
Neighborhoods for People” will be held
Monday May 5th, at 7:30 pm at the
Reedwood Friends Church/Ong Chapel,
2901 SE Steele, Portland. An introduc
tory presentation about cohousing and
Cascadia Commons' plans to create a
cohousing ecovillage in Portland will fol
low the screening. The event is sponsored
by Cascadia Commons. Admission is free.
In cohousing communities, individual
residences are clustered around a Com
mon House which provides amenities
such as shared meals and children's play
spaces. Pioneered in Denmark, more that
100 cohousing communities are now be
ing planned in the U.S. For more infor
mation contact Cascadia Commons at
650-7169.
L ee P e
the word
Debra Young coordinator of the
Youth Jam "97" presents keynote
speaker Kermit Washington with a
Youth Jam Tee Shirt. This was the
second annual Youth Jam to be
held at the Bagley Community
Center in Vancouver Washington.
The Community Mentorship and
Youth Program was founded by
Debra Young and the Community
A.M.E. Zion Church in April of
1993. The purpose of the program
is connect youths with mentors in
the Clark County area. For more
information call 1-360-695-5577.
City allocates urban development funds
by
L ee P erlman
________________
for the commercial portion of mixed-use
he $10 million federal Housing
projects in the north-Northeast Enterprise
and Urban Development funds
Zone, and cited three possible examples:
once slated for the Wieden and
• Franciscan Enterprise’s renovation of
Kennedy project in northwest Portland
the form er Texas Lounge Annex on North
may go to a mixed-use project in north
east Alberta Street at 17th Avenue. The
or northeast.
project calls for nine units of low-income
T
Howard Cutler o f the Portland Bureau
of Housing and Community Development,
and Mark Cleamons o f the Portland De
velopment Commission, made the an
nouncement last week at a meeting o f the
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Action
Committee.
They said the funds could be used to pay
housing above a restaurant and other retail
outlets.
•H o u sin g Our F am ilies' A lberta
Simmons project, a four to five story build
ing on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr
Boulevard at Dekum Street with 74 low-
income housing units above ground floor
retail Director Gretchen Dursch said her
agency already has funding for the residen
tial portion of the project, but that "most
banks aren’t interested in commercial de
velopment as part of mixed-use.”
• Rill Reed’s Standard Dairy project,
which would include 64 market rate rental
housing units, 6,000 square feet of retail and
6,000 square feet ofstorage on Martin Luther
King Jr Boulevard at Graham Street The
project received city design and land use
approval in 1995, but has languished be
cause of a lack of funding.
Ihe city originally sought the $2.5 mil
lion gran, and $7.5 million low-cost loan
package to help the Wieden and Kennedy
advertising agency renovate and relocate to
a vacant building at 1227 N.W. Davis St. in
northwest Portland's Pearl District. The city
received widespread criticism for using funds
meant to combat urban decay to help an
established business build new office space
in wha, is already one of the city's hottest
development areas. Wieden and Kennedy
later decided to pursue the project without
federal funding
Cutler later told the Observer that HUD
had already approved the grant portion of
the funding package. He says the city can
expect a decision on the new application in
six to eight weeks.