Hage A3
November 28, 2001
Long Wait Is Over For New Northeast Portland Grocery
L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
by
The long wait for grocery
store-starved northeast Portland
will end Wednesday, Dec. 5
when store officials and neigh­
bors “break bread” together and
open the Concordia New Sea­
sons Market.
The event marks the end of a
seven-year cam paign by the
neighborhood to restore a su­
permarket to the old Wil shire
Park Sentry Market at North­
east 33rd and Killingsworth.
According to New Seasons
manager Brian Rohter, store of­
ficials will share a giant sand­
wich made from “a really big
baguette” with community vol­
unteers who helped bring the
store into existence. There will
be numerous free samples and
demonstrations inside.
A n o th e r c e le b ra tio n is
New Seasons Market Opens Dec. 5 at Northeast 33ra and
Killingsworth.
photo by M ark W ashinoton /T he P ortland O rserv er
planned for Saturday, Dec. 8.
Outside the store there will be
barbecue and chili for sale, with
all proceeds going to the Urban
League of Portland.
The store itself will be just
under 30,000 square feet. There
will be an emphasis on natural
and organic foods, but non-
organic products will also be
stocked when they are signifi­
cantly cheaper. The store will
produce its own baked goods,
salads, sandw iches and deli
items, and there will be tables
for on-premises consumption.
There will also be “full-service”
meat and fish sections that can
respond to special orders.
A new satellite building
Local Army Guard Unit Called to Action
houses the existing Rib Express
restaurant and a liquor store.
The Concordia Association
has been seeking a grocery on
the site since the Wilshire Park
Sentry Market closed in 1994.
When Thriftway sought to re­
place it with a new, larger store
they discovered to their dismay
that the city had rezoned a sat­
ellite parking facility to the south
for residential use as part of the
Albina Community Plan pro­
cess.
City Council eventually re­
zoned the entire property “CS,”
a commercial designation with
strict site design standards for
new construction and remod­
els. But the council, and par­
ticularly commissioner Charlie
Hales’ refused to consider re­
moving N ortheast Em erson
Street to link the two parcels
together, as did several resi­
dents o f Northeast 34th Av­
enue.
The property was eventually
sold to the Nicholson Develop­
ment of Kirkland, Wash. They
at first proposed to develop a
small grocery and a Rite Aid
store on the site, a plan that
received a less-than-enthusias-
tic neighborhood response.
Then, late last year, Nicholson
recruited New Seasons. At the
same time, Hales’ aid Jillian
Detweiler proposed that instead
of removing Emerson, it be
moved north 50 feet to provide
a large enough footprint for the
store.
Concordia land use chair Hec­
tor Roche spent several meet­
ings negotiating development
and operations agreements to
ensure that the store would serve
the community and be compat­
ible with its neighbors, espe­
cially the closest ones. Eventu-r-
ally, some of the past schemes’
strongest critics helped carry
p etitio n s to have E m erson
moved so that the project could
go ahead.
All did not go smoothly.
Glitches in the construction pro­
cess pushed the opening past
Rohter’s original deadline of
September, and annoyed some
neighbors. However, most of
those involved say that the end
result was worth the hassle.
“I feel great,” Roche says.
"W e're finally going to get the
store.”
As for New Seasons he says,
“I’m really confident about the
store owners. They’ve really
gone out of their way to hire
people from the community.”
The Concordia store will em ­
ploy about 110 people, com­
pany officials said.
Holidays are Busy for Green Thumb Kids
Deployment from Oregon is the largest since World War II
(AP) — M em bers o f the
41st Infantry B rigade o f the
O re g o n A rm y N a tio n a l
G uard will serve in the Sinai
P e n in su la b e g in n in g this
spring, O regon G uard offi­
cials said M onday.
The brigade will provide
one infantry battalion for the
M ultinational Force and O b­
servers m ission, w hich will
serve from spring 2002 to
January 2003, Army Guard
spokesm an Maj. Jeff Julum
said.
“It’s a m ission that was
designed back in the 1970s
by the United N ations to pre­
vent further conflict between
the Egyptians and Israelis,”
he said.
Between 500 and 550 sol­
diers will be deployed, Julum
said. T hat m arks the largest
operational deploym ent by the
O regon A rm y National G uard
since W orld W ar II.
The brigade is headquar­
tered in Tigard and has three
units, one apiece in F orest
G rove, C ottage G orve and
A shland. O ne o f these units
will be activated. Its m em bers
w ere to be notified M onday
night.
T he battalion will relieve a
sim ilar force based in A rkan­
sas, w hich was called up last
m o n th , s a id M a j. G e n .
Alexander Burgin, commander
o f the O regon N ational Guard.
W hile the troops’ m ission
w on’t have any direct link to
operations in A fghanistan, its
deploym ent is the direct result
o f the Sept. 11 terrorist at-,
tacks, B urgin said. Since
Sept. 11, N ational G uard
troops have been used to
backfill behind regular troops
being deployed in the w ar
against terrorism .
As active duty forces are
sent to Afghanistan, National
G uard units replace them
around the w orld, Burgin
said.
T he O regon A rm y N a­
tional Guard m em bers join
about 500 O regon A ir N a­
tional Guard troops that have
been guarding the N orthwest
air space since Sept. 11.
In all, the U .S. D e p art­
m en t o f D e fen se has
p ressed m ore than 55,000
natio n al guard and reserve
troops into active duty since
Sept. 11.
Questioning of Foreigners in
Terrorism Probe Okayed
(A P) — Attorney General H ardy M yers
on Tuesday cleared the way for state inves­
tigators to question foreign visitors as part o f
the federal terrorism probe.
M yers said state law doesn’t forbid his
agency or State Police “from conducting
such interview s as part o f a crim inal inves­
tigation to identify and apprehend people
who have conspired, or are conspiring, to
com m it crim es.”
M yers' com m ents were in a m em o to his
C rim inal D ivision, w hich he directed to “as­
sist the federal governm ent in the interview
p ro cess.”
P o rtlan d p o lice have refu sed a req u est
from U.S. A ttorney G eneral John A shcroft
to interview fo reig n v isito rs - the first
police dep artm en t in the nation to do so -
on grounds that it w ould violate state
p rivacy law s.
But M yers said the state law does not
prohibit posing the kind o f questions the FBI
is trying to get answered.
The state law, he said, pertains to asking
questions about “politicial, religious or so­
cial” activities or view s o f people who aren’t
crim inal suspects.
M yers said his advice directly affects only
state investigators and that local police m ust
depend on their ow n counsel.
T h e O regon State P olice w ere aw aiting
gu id an ce on how to h andle the request.
Green Thumb students in the Portland School District's horticulture magnet program take time
before Thanksgiving to offer floral arrangements for sale to the public at the Blanchard Education
Services Center in north Portland. A second winter sale featuring poinsettias grown by students,
candle rings, floral arrangements, green arrangements and more will be held Thursday, Dec. 6,
again at the services center, located at 501 N. Dixon. For more information, contact Joanne Barta
at 503-916-5818.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
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Youth of Color Support Group Formed
A new support group for gay and lesbian
youth of color is being formed by the organi­
zations Love Makes a Family and Brother to
Brother.
The group will replace Rainbow Youth,
which was discontinued at the end of summer
when it lost the support of its sponsoring
agency.
The new project will be staffed by Des
Anderson, the youth and schools organizer at
Love Makes a Family and Stephan Herrera,
HIV and youth coordinator for Brother to
Brother. Both had worked with Rainbow Youth
during the past year.
“It’s unacceptable to abandon these youth,”
says Des Anderson. “We were just beginning
to establish a supportive, safe environment for
queer and questioning youth of color. When
the group was disbanded the youth were left
with no support.”
The new group will support the youth in
setting and carrying out their own programs.
For more information, call Anderson at
503-228-3892 or Herrera at 503-417-7991,
Scholoarships Promotes Health Care Careers
The Kaiser Permanente African American
Association of the Northwest has awarded
Kennasha Roberson of Portland and Michelle
Washington of Vancouver a $1,000 scholar­
ship each to pursue careers in health care
professions.
“Part of the Kaiser Permanente African
American Association’s mission is commu­
nity outreach,” says Gwen Riggins, RN,
member of the Association. “W e’d like to help
increase the number of African-Americans in
health care professions, where w e’ve been
traditionally underrepresented, says Riggins.
“So w e'd like to offer financial help to stu­
dents seeking careers in health care.”
K ennasha R oberson, a graduate from
Benson High School in Northeast Portland, is
attending the University of Oregon this fall.
She is pursuing a major in nursing, to help her
become a nurse mid-wife.
Michelle Washington graduated from Moun­
tain View High School in Vancouver. Michelle
is attending the University of Washington this
fall and will major in pre-medicine. She would
like to go on to medical school and become a
physician.
The Kaiser Permanente African American
Association of the Northwest provides a fo­
rum to encourage professional and personal
growth, career development, opportunity, and
enhancements in the work environment for
African-Americans within Kaiser Permanente
and to facilitate diversity initiatives within the
organization.
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