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m H M H B H W
Oregon Children’s Theatre Treats
Students to ’’Live Performance”
Poetry Celebration
Healthy Heart
H eart d isease can be p rev en ted ,
treated and even rev ersed by lifesty le
c h o ic e s th a t a ffe c t fitn e s s . L earn
healthy p rev e n ta tiv e ch o ices in free
one-o n -o n e sessio n on S atu rd ay , F eb ­
ruary 13, 12-4 PM at N atu ral C enter-
E a st o f th e N a tio n a l C o lle g e o f
N a tu ro p a th ic M ed icin e (11231 SE
M arket). C all 255-7 3 5 5 , ext. 0 for
appointm ent. F or a co m p lete list o f
free screen in g s, call 499-4343.
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n mm n n itu
a I c n ò a x*
T he N o rth w est A frican A m erican
W riters W o rkshop (N A A W W ) w ill
host a B lack H istory M onth p oetry
c e le b ra tio n on F eb ru ary 13 at the
N orth P o rtlan d B ranch L ib rary (512
N K illin g sw o rth ) from 3 to 5 PM.
T here w ill also be a ra ffle o f black
h isto ry b o o k s, and refresh m en ts w ill
be served. T he event is free and open
to the public. NA A W W m em bers have
cu rren tly had about 50 books p u b ­
lish ed . F or m ore in fo rm a tio n , call
the lib rary at 248-5394.
SECTION
35,000 Oregon/W ashington Students were able to
say "I went to the Portland Civic Auditorium" today
and saw a live theatre production o f "Pippi
Longstocking" by Oregon Childrens Theatre.
Pippi Longstocking is a role model with a twist.
While American audiences would not typically view an
impish, impossibly independent nine-year-old as a role
model, Swedish audiences view her as nothing short
o f a heroine.
Oregon Children's Theatre is dedicated to expanding
cultural horizons. We are very grateful to our strong and
loyal corporate, foundation and individual supporters.
Through their generous donations, Oregon Children's
Theatre brought more than 6,000 economically
disavantaged and culturally diverse students to this
production free o f charge.
Cat Toy Making
T he O regon H um ane S ociety and
SCRA P (S ch o o l and C om m unity R e­
u se A c tio n P r o je c t) p r e s e n t C a t
“ S C R A P” Fever. Join in the cat toy
m aking w orkshop - m ake fun cat toys
from recy cled m aterials. The event
w ill be held at the O regon H um ane
S o c ie ty ’s W h itte l E d u c a tio n W ing
(1067 NE C o lu m b ia B lv d .) on S atu r­
day, Jan u ary 30, 1999, from 11 AM -
2 PM . D rop in anytim e. T he event is
free.
Tai Chi Society
T he T ao ist Tai Chi S o ciety o f Or-
egon/U SA in v ites you to jo in us in
cele b ra tin g its th ird annual C hinese
N ew Y ear C eleb ratio n . A n evening o f
cu ltu ral ex change opens w ith a C h i­
nese L ion D ance fo llo w ed by a tra d i­
tio n a l 9 -c o u rse b a n q u e t, in clu d in g
v eg etarian , seafo o d , and m eat dishes,
guest sp eak ers and d em o n stratio n s o f
the art o f T ao ist Tai C hi w ill follow .
The doors o f the G reat C h in a S ea­
food R estau ran t w ill o pen at 5:30 PM
on S atu rd ay , F ebru ary 2 0 th lo cated at
336 NW D avis, in the h eart o f C hina
T ow n. C all 503/2 2 3 -6 1 9 3 .
Gambling Addiction
A n e d u catio n al talk on “G am bling
A d d ic tio n ” is hosted b y O H SU . The
au th o rity lectu rin g on th e su b ject is
J e f f C ook, M .E d., ad d ic tio n s co u n ­
se lo r and case m anager. H is d iscu s­
sio n is on W ednesday, F ebru ary 10
from 7-8 :3 0 PM at O H SU (2935 SW.
C ed ar H ills B lvd., in B eaverton M all).
C all 4 1 8 -2 0 0 0 .
Portland Miniature
Show
The EX PO C en ter w ill once again
be tran sfo rm ed into a dream w orld o f
D o llh o u se M in iatu res. C om e and jo in
us for one o f the larg est asso rtm en ts
o f M in iatu re H ouses an d A ccesso ­
ries ev er assem b led in P o rtlan d , on
Jan u ary 30 & 31, 1999. In ad d itio n to
the item s for sale, the local c ra fts­
m en w ill also be ex h ib itin g com pleted
h o u se s, v ig n e tte s , ro o m b o x e s and
m uch m ore. Several local clubs w ill
b e e x h ib itin g r e c e n tly c o m p le te d
p ro jects. C all 3 6 0 /6 9 3 -7 6 2 9 or em ail
D n K m in is@ a o l.c o m .
School Meeting
The B oard o f E d u catio n In stru c ­
tio n a l Im p ro v e m e n t C o m m itte e is
sch ed u led to m eet T h u rsd ay , January
28 a t 8 :3 0 A M in th e “ N e w ”
S u p e rin te n d e n t’s C o n feren ce Room
at the R o b ert B lan ch ard E ducation
S erv ice C en ter, 501 N. D ix o n Street.
T he p u rp o se o f the m eetin g is to c o n ­
tin u e d iscu ssio n o f p rep arin g stu d en ts
fo r the 2 1 " C en tu ry . C all 916-3741.
A Ms. Meadows 2nd Grade Class from Yankton Elementary in St. Helens, Ore.
(Photos by Larry J. Jackson Sr.)
4 Portland Civic Stadium plays host to Pippi Longstocking.
Mike Lindberg, Portland,
Elected Chair Of Oregon Arts
Commission
he Oregon Arts Commission has elected Mike Lindberg o f Portland as its chair. Lindberg, who served
as Portland City Council Commissioner from 1985 to 1996, has made the arts his priority, according
to Arts Commission director Christine D ’ Arcy.
Lindberg was instrumental in substantially increasing arts funding and was a leader in the development o f Arts
Plan 2000+, a regional cultural plan, said D ’ Arcy. In 1993, he received a Governor's Arts Award, the Ron Schmidt
Award, presented annually to a public official who advocates strongly in support o f the arts.
Until recently, he was president o f the Oregon Symphony Foundation. In addition, Lindberg is vice president
o f the Arts Alliance in Portland and an advisory council member for both the Pacific Northwest College o f Art
and Artists Repertory Theatre. He sits on the boards o f the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Willamette
Riverkeeper and is a former president o f the League o f Oregon Cities.
Kathleen Davis o f Medford, who has chaired the Arts Commission’s Education Committee since 1997, was
elected vice chair by the commission. A member o f the board o f directors o f the Oregon Shakespeare Festival,
she is the southern Oregon representative for the Oregon Community' Foundation.
Both Lindberg and Davis were appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to Oregon’s Task Force on Cultural
Development.
The Oregon Arts Commission fosters the arts in Oregon and assures their excellence. The agency’s policies
and programs are overseen by a nine-member commission appointed by the governor, with funding from the state
general fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and income from publication sales and services.
T
’’City, Piedmont Seek Ideas For Rosemont Property Use”
B y L ee P erlman
City and Piedmont neighborhood offi­
cials want to know what to look for as a new
use for the Rosemont School property.
Accordingly, the Rosemont Planning
Committee will hold an open house from
6:30 to 9 p.m. February 4 at Holy Redeemer
School, 127 N. Portland Blvd. Those who
come will be given a chance, individually
and collectively, to say what they think the
7.6 acre former Catholic girls school at 597
N. Dekum St. should be used for.
In addition, the city has distributed a Re­
quest For Information, asking potential de­
velopers to say what they would do with the
property if given a chance to do so. RFI
forms are available from the Portland De­
velopment Commission, the current owner
o f the property, and must be returned to
them by February 12.
The property was the subject o f a long
struggle between the social service agency
Central City Concern, which proposed to
develop housing for recovering drug and
alcohol abusers, and the Piedmont Associa­
tion, which argued that this would destabi­
lize the neighborhood. CCC eventually gave
up and allowed PDC to purchase the prop­
erty. It formed an advisory committee which
includes representatives from both the neigh­
borhood and city agencies.
“W e’ve really struggled hard to lift our­
selves out o f crisis, and we don’t want some­
thing that will put us back into it," Piedmont
president Tom M arkgraf told the commit­
tee. “There have been a lot o f good city
age household income. Planner Michael
H arrison said, “People who can afford
$150,000 to $200,000 houses are moving
in strongly.” This led some people to ques­
tion whether gentrification is at work, and
whether the Rosemont Project should sup­
port that.
“We9ve really struggled hard to lift our­
selves out o f crisis, and we don ’t want
something that will put us back into it,99
projects, but they’ve usually been commer­
cial. This is our opportunity.”
With this in mind, the project’s draft objec­
tives say that “to the extent feasible," housing
on the site should "generally reflect area char­
acteristics," such as the ownership-rental ra­
tio, and cost/afTordability. This touched off a
long debate within the committee.
For one thing, the demographics o f Pied­
mont have been changing rapidly in recent
years. In one census tract, the percentage o f
homeowners increased from 56 percent to
63 percent between 1990 and 1996 - well
above the city average - and so did the aver­
Consultant Sumner Sharpe noted that the
statistics reflected a large number o f older
residents moving out by choice and selling
to younger owners. “In the King neighbor­
hood there’s rampant speculation,” he said.
“That hasn’t happened here."
Consultant Sam Galbreath said. “70 per­
cent o f the people here couldn’t buy their
own home if they had to do it now. Despite
that, this is one o f the few neighborhoods
that’s still relatively affordable.”
M arkgraf noted that Piedmont home own­
ership and income levels dropped drasti­
cally during the 1980s. “We bottomed out,
and now w e’re recovering," he said. “This is
still a fragile neighborhood.”
Another issue is the histone old covenant
building, which the neighborhood would like
to save if possible. The consultants found
the building still salvageable, but they say
that upgrading it to accommodate housing is
“probably impossible."
For now, through the open house and RFI,
the committee is conducting a broad search
for ideas on how to use the property. Steve
Rudman, director o f the Bureau o f Housing
and Community Development, said, “First
let’s see w hat’s out there, and w ony about
feasibility later.”
There was a sim ilar process in ex am ­
ining new uses for K ennedy S chool,
Sharpe said. “ We decided in som e cases
that this w as a nice idea but w ouldn’t fly
by our c rite ria ." W hen looked at for
financial feasibility, “ W e had a lot o f
great ideas, including plans for private
schools, that w ent aw ay very q u ick ly ,”
he said.
Eventually the committee must examine
its tradeoffs, Sharpe said. With regard to
some objectives, “You may find a way to do
it, but decide you don’t like what you have to
do to get there."