(ominitted to Cultural Diversity o nt m o n ito a I c n b a r (L www.portlandobserver.com February 21, 20(11 Saving the Beech Alley Garden Learn to Meditate D iscover how m editation can sim plify your life and deepen your sense o f happi ness. A m editation w orkshop will be o f fered by the Sri C hinm oy C entre for free. T he event w ill be held on Sunday, M arch 4 at the P ortland D ow ntow n library, from l:3O -3:3O p.m .C all 503/450-9915 to regis ter. Pioneer Activities for Kids T he End o f th e O regon T rail Interpre tive C enter w ill feature a variety o f living activities for spring break, M arch 24 - A pril 1. W eather perm itting, visitors can enjoy playing p ioneer gam es such as bean bag toss, races, horseshoes, ante ante over and croquet on the law n o f the Center. Please call 503/657-9336 for specific activ ity days and tim es. Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Law T he A frican A m erican C om m unity Fo rum w ill be giving a talk on O reg o n ’s M edical M arijuana Law. C om e out and learn about the law and your rights. The event w ill be held at the M ain C onference Room o f the U rban L eague o f Portland, located at ION. R ussell St. on W ednesday, Feb. 21, from 6 : 3 0 - 8:30 p.m. R evitalizing Interstate Avenue Join the Portland D evelopm ent C o m m ission in an all day hands-on session for com m unity m em bers. C om m unity m em bers will be w orking on design alternatives for all five stations areas: L om bard, P ort land B lvd., K illlingsw orth, P rescott and O verlook. Y ou w ill have professional ar chitects, designers and planners there for you. T his is an all day event on Saturday, Feb. 24 at O ckley G reen M iddle School, located at 6031 N. M ontana A ve., from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Call A rt P earce at 503/823- 7791. C hildcare provided. Dr. Seuss Birthday Party O n T hursday, M arch 1, M cM enam ins K ennedy School throw s a B irthday Party for Dr. Seuss. Stop by K ennedy School from 6:30p.m . to8:30p.m . forbirthdaycake and perform ances by the Phoenix T heater group, w hose actors w ill invite all fam ily m em bers to jo in in honoring the author w ith interactive, descriptive readings o f your favorite Seuss tales. A free celebra tion. Call 503/249-3983. Protect the Salmon in Your Yard A ffe e “N aturscaping forC lean R ivers” w orkshop will be held on Saturday, M arch 10 at the A lbina Youth O pportunity School. T he w orkshop focuses on natural land scapes and w ater-friendly gardening prac tices. Each participant receives a w ork book and a native plant to start his or her ow n natural garden. T he free w orkshop w ill be held at the A lbina Y outh O pportu nity School, located at 3710 N. M issis sippi, from 9 a .m .- 1 p.m.Call503/797-1842. Community Energy Project D rip, drip, drip. Is your leaky faucet dripping m oney dow n the drain each m onth? C om e to a free W ater C onserva tion w orkshop and learn how to detect leaks around your hom e, repair leaky fau cets and toilets, save m oney on your w a ter-sew er bill, learn w ays to reduce your w ater usage, and more. All Portland resi dents w ill receive a FREE kit o f w ater conservation m aterials that can help save up to $ 100 a year on w ater and sew er bills. T he next w orkshop w ill be held at the A lam eda C om m unity School, located at 2732 NE. Frem ont on Feb. 21, from 6 :3 0 -8 p.m. Call 503/284-6872 to register. Volunteers relocate a garden from path of 1-5 soundwall project Mention a north Portland alley and the image that comes to mind may not be a pretty site. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as a woman who lives adjacent to the Interstate 5 free way has proven. Portland resident Alice Turowski has continued a tradition started by her mother, who transformed the al leyway behind their home into a beau tiful flower garden. Although she welcomes the sound walls the Oregon Department of Transportation plans to install along the freeway next summer as part of a m ajor pavem ent p reserv atio n project now underway, she was con cerned about what the work might do to her plants. Last year on a reconnaissance trip to the area ODOT Region l ’s Com munity Affairs Staff discovered the lavish garden of flowering shrubs and plants along both sides o f the alleyway. The problem was that the garden happened to be directly in the path of the planned sound walls. While years of hard work has made the alleyway an inviting and pleasant place rather than an eyesore, moving this volume o f plants would be a daunting task for any one person, according to C hristie Holmgren, ODOT senior community affairs spe cialist. “At that point, we made a commit ment to help Alice save her flowers from the construction bulldozers, and Alice Turowski gets help in saving her beautiful north Portland flower garden along Interstate 5. P hoto by M ark W ashington (T he P ortland O bserver ) invited several local garden clubs to help her out,” Holmgren said. Volun teers from the Hardy Plant Society o f Oregon helped move the garden on Sunday. The Portland Nursery donated stakes to label the plants. The volunteers plan to help put the plants back in place this summer or fall after the construction is finished. Better People Program Fights Crime A t a tim e w hen p riso n costs are sk y rocketing and leg islato rs are lo o k in g for w ays to reduce crim e w ith o u t b reak in g the bank, a Portland n o n -p ro fit org an izatio n has found a co st-effectiv e w ay to sto p the revolving d o o r or recidivism . B etter People, a P o rtlan d -b ased c o u n seling program that assists form er o ffe n d ers in fin d in g an d k ee p in g liv in g -w ag e jo b s, released a report T h u rsd ay show ing that form er O regon in m ates an d p ro b a tioners w ho p articip ated in a new co g n itiv e behavioral therapy p ro g ram w ere sig n ifi cantly less likely to w in d up back in ja il than form er offenders from a co m p ariso n group. A m ong the stu d y ’s key findings: Just three p ercen t o f p eo p le in the p ro g ram w ere convicted o f new crim es, co m p ared to 12 percent o f offenders w ho so u g h t out B etter People, but d ecid ed not to en ter the p ro g ra m . “O u r goal is to reduce crim e b y reduc ing recid iv ism ,” says Chip Shields, d irec to r o f B etter People. “It’s not enough to ju s t lock p eo p le up if th e y ’re g oing to c o m m it new crim es as soon as th e y ’re released. T his rep o rt is tim ely and en co u r ag in g , because th e Legislature is grappling w ith w ays to fund so m any prisons. In the long run, red u cin g recidivism m ay be the L eg islatu re’s o n ly option for controlling co sts.” “ B y itself, reducing recidivism is a laudable go al,” says C'lariner M. Boston, the stu d y ’s author. “ M ore praisew orthy, h o w ev er, is ch an g in g p e o p le ’s lives so th ey becom e m o re responsible, respectful an d productive. T h a t's the kind o f action that m akes o u r com m unities safer.” T h e program w orks to change the w ay form er offenders think and act, w hile also h elp in g them land and keep m eaningful jo b s. U nder the B etter People program , form er in m a te s an d p ro b atio n ers a tte n d g ro u p co unseling sessions and are taken through a series o f “step s" aim ed at identifying and chan g in g the d ecisio n -m ak in g processes that led them to com m it crim es. A fter co m pleting the p relim inary steps, ex -o f fenders are elig ib le for tem p o rary jo b s placem en t through B etter People. S u c cessful com pletion o f interm ediate steps puts them in position for perm anent, fu ll tim e em ploym ent. R eleased o f the B etter P e o p le su c c e ss sto ry co m es at a tim e w hen the O regon L egislature is co n sid er ing a bill to evaluate the effectiveness o f crim e-related program s in the state. T he Institute w ould help legislators c re ate m ore effective policies by evaluating pro g ram s funded directly o r indirectly by the State o f O regon that are intended to red u ce crim inal and ju v e n ile behavior. Clariner M Boston authors a report finding Better People, a northeast Portland-based counseling program, successful in helping former inmates stop a life o f crime. Urban Plaza Finds Room for YWCA and Safeway - Kayak/Canoe Tualatin River Tour Portland Parks and R ecreation’s O ut door Recreation Program , in collaboration w ith The A udobon Society o f Portland and Tualatin Riverkeepers, will host a lei surely kayak or canoe paddle along the Tualatin River. This is a great trip for the novice paddler to explore the riparian for ests along the river, as the w ater is calm and the distances are short. Participants pro vide their own boats Call 503/823-5132 for m ore inform ation and to register. A volunteer from the American Rhododendron Society recently ro- totilied a neighbor’s back yard, where the plants will be stored until after the sound walls have been installed. An artist rendering shows the proposed Museum Place downtown, the future home for a remodeled YWCA. Safeway and residential housing. A rehabilitated YW CA, a Safeway store and up to 560 housing units for a w ide range o f incomes are part o f a proposed five building com plex, poised to take shape m downtown Portland’s W est End. The Portland Development Commission has au th o rized s ta ff to en ter into a M aster * Predevelopm ent Agreement with other public and private partners for the “M useum Place" project located between SW C olum bia and M ain Streets and SW 1 Oth and 11 th Avenues. “This project will s e n e as a catalyst for the revitalization ofPortland’s W est End District,” said M ayor Vera Katz. “In addition, it will help achieve my goal o f increasing homeownership opportunity, while also im proving neighbor hood services to people in the central city." The three-block area includes the YW CA and the St. Francis Apartments on the northern block, a Safeway grocery store on the middle block, three vacant structures, the 1099 Office Building and a parking lot. The existing YWCA will be completely reno vated and expanded to includes a senior and com m unity center. Loaves and Fishes meal site, gymnasium, swimming pool, health and fitness center and 33 units o f transitional housing The existing St. Francis apartment building will be replaced with a new seven- story, 131 -unit apartment building to be devel oped by Sockeye Development and ow ned by Housing Authority ofPortland. Theapartm ent building tentatively called Museum Place North, will include 1 OOunits for extremely low-income tenants and 30 units for moderate-income ten ants. Northwest Pilot Project will relocate the current St.Francis tenants to suitable housing in the downtown area during construction. Former tenants will have the option to move back into the new building upon completion. The stand-alone m ixed-use building called “M adison Place" is slated for the 6,500-square foot parcel south o f the St. Francis. It will include ground floor retail with office and/or residential above. The middle block will entail the demolition o f the current Safeway store and the development o f a new 18-story, m ixed-use building w ith up to250marketratecondominium units formiddle and high incomes, 17,000 square feet retail; space on the ground level and 300 to 325 parking spaces. The condom inium project will also include development o f a new urban plaza, which will provide pedestrian access through the site. This project will be built prior to the former Safeway store's demolition so that there will be no interruption in service at the store. The development also includes 225 parking spaces for residents and shoppers in two levels o f underground parking.