Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
April 4, 2001
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SECTION
Youth Opportunity Block Party
Montavilla Neighborhood
Clean Up
Friends and neighbors, let Metro take your
unwanted junk for free! You can bring plastics,
mattresses, furniture, tires, scrap metal, yard
debris, returnable cans and returnable bottles.
These items can be dropped offat the Montavilla
Baptist Church parking lot, located at 9204 SE.
HawthomeBlvd. Call503/255-0141.
Cardio Kickboxing or
Martial Arts?
The Portland A thletic C lub is looking for
people w ho are serious about their fitness
and want to work up a sweat. A long with your
kickboxing or martial arts class, you can get
a FREE m em bership to P ortland’s premiere
sports and fitness club. Call 503/292-2649.
N/NE Loaves & Fishes
Billy R eed’s Restaurant and Bar will be
having a fundraiser for N/NE Loaves & F ishes
SeniorCenteron Monday, April 9, from 5 p.m.
until closing. H alfo fth eev en in g ’s profit will
support Seniors in Y O U R neighborhood.
Call Tyesis Gamble at 503/988-5211.
Easter at the Oregon
Humane Society
The Oregon Humane Society will be having
an Easter celebration. Remember Easter with a
fun photo o f you, your child, or your newly
adopted pet with the Easter Bunny. ShopalOHS
Best Friends’ Comer Retail Store and enter to
win a Rabbit Care Pack. Kids can crack open an
Easter egg revealing a discount on the normal
adoption fee. Call503/285-7722.
MAXimizing Neighborhood
Stability
In an effort to fight involuntary displace
ment in the Interstate Urban Renewal District,
11 com m unity groups have joined to form
MAXimizing Neighborhood Stability. As part
o f this effort, the C om m unity Alliance o f
Tenants (CA T) will be leading a training and
doorknocking effort on April 14, from 10a.m.
- 5 p.m. at A lbina Y outh Opportunity School
at 3710 N. M ississippi.
Dances with Universal
Peace
The Oregon Peace Institute (OPI) will spon
sor a workshop on Dances with Uni versal Peace
with Devi DeJardin Ihe Dances o f Universal
Peace are a form o f multi-cultural folk dances
dedicated “toward one world, within and with
o u t” This will takeplaceon April 19,from7-9p.m.
atFiistUnitedMethodistChurch. 1011SW. 12*,
Rml34.Call503,725-8l92.
Ujima Day
The Uj ima Education Office (UEO) is host
ing its 4'” annual African/African community
outreach event. “ U jima D ay” which will be
heldat SelfEnhancem ent Inc., located at 3920
N. Kerby on Saturday, April 14 from 11 a m.
to 3 p.m. “Ujim a D ay” is to continue to
em phasize the im portance o f post-second-
ary education and highlight the opportuni-
tiesofferedbyO SU .Call 1-800-291-4192, ex t
9032.
Friday. The center was hosting a Spring Break Block Party fo r Portland kids. The center offers skill building, job training, internships,
long-term employment and other services to area youth.
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /P ortland O bserver )
B y L ee P erlman
L ike the early pioneers w ho settled the
com m unity, the leaders o f the Piedm ont co m
m unity think their future lies to the north and
w est - and not with their longtim e neighbors
to the south and east.
T he Piedm ont N eighborhood A ssociation,
the official group representing people in the
area betw een the 1-5, N ortheast M artin Luther
K ing B oulevard, and C olum bia and Portland
boulevards, w ant to change its affiliation
from the N ortheast C oalition o f N eig h b o r
hoods to that o f the N orth Portland N eighbor
hood O ffice. The association intends to put
the m atter to a formal vote o f the m em bership
at its A pril 26 meeting.
The change w ould m ake Piedm ont the first
neighborhood east o f 1-5 to be affiliated w ith
the N orth office, and the only neighborhood
touching on N ortheast M artin Luther King Jr.
B oulevard not to be part o f the Northeast
Coalition.
Piedm ont officially notified the Northeast
C oalition and the c ity ’s O ffice o f N eighbor
hood Involvem ent director D avid Lane, o f the
proposal in a Jan. 22 letter from spokesperson
B arbara Fisher. In a Jan. 29 reply, Lane called
on Piedm ont and the tw o coalitions to pro
ceed in accord w ith established city proce
dures.
These procedures call for form al votes o f
the neighborhood association m em bership,
and the boards o f the tw o coalitions. If all
three favor the change, it takes place. The
policies are less clear about w hat happens if
there is a conflict, but they state that Lane can
veto the change if there is not unanim ous
agreem ent and he feels that “ further discus
sions will not lead to resolution.”
A lthough none o f the groups involved
have taken form al positions as yet, there
appears to be general support for the m ove in
the north neighborhoods, and substantial
unhappiness w ith it am ong N ortheast C oali
tion members.
T he N ortheast C oalition is a non-profit
agency that contracts w ith the city to provide
services to volunteer groups. It is governed
by a board o f representatives from participat
ing volunteer neighborhood associations and
other interest groups. They also discuss and
take positions on significant issues.
The N orth Portland office plays a sim ilar
role, but it is run directly b y the city through
ONI. Its neighborhood representatives m eet
regularly, but officially are merely advisors to
a city staff.
The change w ould m ean the transfer o f
$1,000 for P ied m o n t’s printing and m ailing
Columbia Park Receives New Playground
V olunteers are needed for the 3rd Annual
Race for the Roses, April 22 at OM SI. This
half-marathon, 5K race/w alkand 14 mile kids’
dash, “ Bridging the G ap for Kids in Crisis,”
benefits Albertina KerrCenters and The Boys
& Girls Aid Society ofOregon. Food, fun and
t-shirts provided! Call Carol Hardwick at 503/
222-9661.
Lead Poisoning
Prevention W orkshops
To help our com m unity keep their homes
and families safe from lead. C om m unity En
ergy Project (CEP) offers I^ a d Poisoning
Prevention W orkshops. Participants will re
ceive free Lead Poisoning Prevention Kits
valued at approxim ately $45. W orkshops are
free and open to the public. Call 503/284-4962.
Joints in M otion
M arathon Team
I
A memorial service will be held
for the late community activist Josiah
Hill III Sunday at 10 a.m. at Natures,
3535 NE 15th Ave.
Hill, the first formally trained Phy
sician Assistant to be trained in Or
egon, was active in many community
organizations, including Physicians
for Social Responsibility, the Coali
tion for Black Men and the Educa
tion Crisis Team.
He was co-chair of Portland Po
lice Chief Mark Kroeker’s C h iefs
Forum.
A plaque will be placed on the
bench where Josiah Hill was sitting
when he had a heart attack and died
on Oct. 12.
Members of community who knew
Josiah Hill and his family are invited
to attend this event.
For more information, call A. Halim
Rahsaan at 503-249-8082.
Piedmont to Vote on a New Neighborhood Affiliation
3rd Annual Race for the Roses
Join the Joints in M otion marathon team
for an evening o f good food for a good cause.
This group o f w om en is participating in the
Vancouver, B.C. marathon on M ay 6*, and
needs your support! There will be a silent bid
auction as well. The event will be at the
Augustana Lutheran Church, located at 2710
NE. 14*, on Saturday, April 7, from 5 p.m. - 8
p.m. Call503/282-6925.
Memorial
Service For
Josiah Hill ID
Community volunteers review a newly installed playground at Columbia Park Th noriJTPdrildhd s Portsmouth neighborhood
Saturday. Fundi fo r the project were raised by Friends o f Columbia Park and Peninsula Community Development Corp
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /T iie P ortland O bserver )
I
assistance from the N ortheast office to the
N orth office, and could affect future funding
for the tw o groups.
Piedmont chair Betsy Radigan downplayed
the significance o f the m ove in discussions
w ith her mem bership.
“ W e’reju st form alizing asituation that has
existed for several years now ,” she said.
“W e’ve been m eeting regularly with N orth
Portland for two years now , and w e h av en ’t
been participating with the N ortheast C o ali
tion board for five.”
She later told the Portland O bserver, “W e
never said w e’re refusing henceforth to w ork
w ith other northeast neighborhoods,” and
noted that Piedm ont is currently w orking with
the W oodlaw n and H um boldt associations
on m atters o f mutual concern.
S tory C ontinues on P age B5
PDX Says
‘Sayonara’ to
Asia Flights
(A P) - A bout 200 people gathered Satur
day to say goodbye to the last flights
betw een Portland International A irport and
Japan.
D elta A ir Lines started the nonstop ser
vice in 1987. The final two routes, to Tokyo
and N agoya, Japan, have been m oved from
Portland to N ew Y ork and Los A ngeles,
respectively. For D elta’s 1,250 em ployees
in the P ortland-V ancouver area, Saturday
w as the last day they will w ork together.
“ It’s pretty depressing for everybody
involved,” said M ike Collins, who was a co
pilot on the last flight arriving from Narita
A irport in Tokyo. “W e’ve all been working
together all these years; everybody know s
everybody,” said C ollins, 57, o f O lym pia.
“W e have a lim ited num ber o f flights, and
w e w ork w ith everybody frequently, so we
know each o th e r’s habits. It’s like a fam ily
. and now th ey ’re going to be scattered
to the four w inds.”
Shortly before noon, about 40 D elta p i
lots m arched in tw o lines dow n Concourse
D, w here international flights arrive and
depart. They stood at attention, forming
tw o lines o f 10 people in front o fth e gate for
the T okyo departure and another pair o f
lines at another gate for the N agoya depar
ture.
A bagpipe player led the pilots to each
gate. T hey saluted the processions when
they arrived. And continued onto the planes.