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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
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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.