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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2002)
December 04, 2002 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity CÍIÍic ^ o rtla n h (Dbsrrtn'r Super Development Inches Forward ommunity a le n d a r C Adopt a Pet The Oregon Humane Society is extending its outreach efforts to several area pet stores this month. Help the Humane Society bring homeless pets into the commu nity, call 503-285-7722, extension 204 for more information. Emotional Remedies New Seasons Market - Concordia , welcomes Dr. Tim Shannon, ND, to address the use of homeopathic drugs to replace traditional drugs • in the treatment of anxiety and depression. On Thursday, Dec. 5 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Shannon will strive to empower patients with self-sustaining healing remedies. Call 503-288-2323 to reserve space. A proposed urban renewal site on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bser veer Planners eye magnet store, minority businesses on King Holiday Home Tour The public is invited by Ainsworth Elementary School to tour five prestigious P ortlan d H eights properties on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in an event to benefit Ainsworth El ementary School. This years tour features a 8,000 square-foot na tional historic registry home, a 1917 Colonial Revival, a Roscoe Hemenway Dutch Colonial.a 1932 English Tudor and the historic Ascension Episcopal Parish. Tick ets are $20 per person which can be ordered by calling 503-916- 6288. by L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver Truth and Lies:9-ll Former narcotics officer with the L. A.P.D., Mike Ruppert has been blowing the whistle on the C.I. A .’s involvement with drug trafficking for the last twenty years. Hear him speak on topics ranging from motivations for a w ar on Iraq to the erosion of civil liberties in the U.S. Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7p.m. at Liberty Hall, 331 N. Ivy St. Sug gested donation is $2-5. Diversity honored Join the M orning Star Baptist C hurch for the annual C hrist mas G ala A ffair to honor A fri can A m erican m em bers o f the Portland Police and Portland Fire -D epartm ent. This spectacular event will feature a gourmet din ner, as w ell as speakers Ben- ’ jam in H ooks, Rev. K enneth D upree and Rev. D ale Sanders, Sunday, Dec. 8, at 5p.m. at the Em bassy Suites H otel A irport, 7900 N.E. 82nd Ave. Festival of Trees Beautiful C hristm as trees, m u sical entertainm ent and Santa’s W orkshop aw ait fam ilies at the 20th annual Providence F esti val o f the Trees. This y ear’s three-day festival also includes gift shop, stocking shop, g in gerbread houses and “Mad S ci ence” shows. Proceeds benefit cancer research, patient care program s and ch ild ren ’s ser v ic e s . T h e e v e n t is o p e n Fri- Sat, Dec. 6-7, from 10a.m.- 9p.m ., and Sunday Dec. 8 from 10a.m.-6p.m. Jasmine Proctor, 3, plays with a puzzle before recess at the Community Learning Center, a faith-based private school that serves inner city students. Miracle on 42nd Street Community Learning Center Celebrates 10 Years in \V> m » e D yi «/T he P ort j w p O bne in i.« ‘We had a vision and a mission that became a reality. We 're very happy about where we came from and where we 're going. — Dr. Carl Parker, founder of the Community Learning Center Doctor Carl Parker didn ’ t know how he was going to fix the problem, but he wanted to take a stab at it. It was the mid-80s. Each day when he opened up his morning paper he found more discouraging news about the troubles for Portland’s inner-city public schools. Reading and math skills were below those of other school districts by two or three grade levels. Suspension rates were two to three times as high as other schools. So in 1985, Parker and his wife Audre, devised a plan: They would offer tutorial services to inner city children through a program called Citizens Involved in Teaching Youth. Parker, then a counselor for Portland Community College, enlisted the help o f college students to serve as tutors. By 1992, the program had served more than 700children with 40,000 hours of tutorial services. In 1991, the citizens group evolved into the Community Learning Center, a private school with Christian-based roots, serving about 13 children in a 1,500-square-foot home. Today, the Community Learning Center stands tall on the com er o f Northeast Prescott and 42nd in a 7,600-square-foot state o f the art educational facility. Hundreds of inner city children have been served in the last 10 years. When Parker reflects on those years, one word comes to mind - Blessing. “Its truly a miracle on 42nd Street,” Parker said. “We had a vision and a mission that became a reality. W e’re very happy about where we came from and where w e’re going.” As Parker looks forward to the future, he hopes to be able to draw more students into the center. Presently the school continued on page B5 Become Tree Friendly Neighborhood Trees program training is on Saturday, Dec. 7 firom9a.m. to3p.m. at the Bethesda Christian Church located at 109 N Emerson. Participants in this train ing will help build community though the protection and expan sion of urban forest and by foster ing environmental stewardship thro u g h street tree plan tin g projects. On Saturday, Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sunnybrook Service Center at 9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd. in Clackamas, attendees can learn how to enhance degraded urban natural areas. For more informa tion, call 503-282-8846ext. 12. Students in the pre-kindergarten class cast shadows on the floor by waving their hands through light coming from e window in a play room at the Community Learning Center. PHOTON BY W y M » * D m . r ZT he PORTI^N d O i ISERV ER ► Plans for a major new retail development on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard are still alive, backers say, but the Vanport Square Project may turn out to be drastically scaled down from its original version. The mixed-use development by Ray Leary, Jeanna Wooley and the Gerding-Edlen Co. was originally con ceived as a Killingworth to Alberta retail strip, covering the equivalent of five square blocks on the west side of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Planners envision a full-service grocery, other retail and office space, a public plaza and more than 100 rental and row house units with underground parking. Another scenario, the developers recently told about 50 people at the Northeast Multicultural Senior Center, is an 87,000 square foot project on two thirds of the designated area that that will include a small market, another 18,000 square feet of retail, office space and 13 row houses, with surface and rooftop parking. Other schemes are in between these extremes. The final product could be shaped by the following four factors: • M oney: The city is pursuing $250 million in federal funds under a “New Market Tax Credits” program that givesincome tax deductions for urban renewal projects. The monies would be targeted to inner north and northeast and the Gateway district of east Portland. • S u p erm arket: Vanport partners had plans for a 60,000 square foot supermarket near Alberta. But an executive change within that company has set the deal back and thrown it into question. continued y^ on page B6 Public to Hear Plans for Villa Upgrade The Housing Authority o f Portland is hosting a public open house to discuss planning underway for the New Columbia project on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Portsmouth Middle School, 5103 N. Willis Blvd.. Those who attend will have an opportunity to hear about New Columbia and comment on various aspects of the project. New Columbia is a $ 150 million effort to replace the aging, isolated Columbia Villa public housing in north Portland with a new mixed-income neighborhood that has a range of housing choices. When complete, the New Columbia neighborhood will be a gathering place where residents and neighbors can come together to work, play, learn and shop. “Our residents and neighbors have worked hard with HAP to guide the project on everything from relocation to design to how it affects the neighbor hood," said Penny Rose, co-chair of the New Columbia Community Advisory Committee. “We get lots of questions from residents and other neighbors who want to know more about New Columbia. We hope they will come and give us their ideas.” The event is open to all. Children are welcome. Visitors are invited to drop by at any time throughout the afternoon. An overview on the project will be presented at 2 p.m., and progress on the master plan and site design will be presented at 3 p.m. Participants will have an opportunity to talk individually with members of the New Columbia team, as well as to give their comments. Columbia Villa was developed by HAP during World War II as temporary housing for defense workers. Today its housing stock and infrastructure is dis tressed and its street patterns isolate the public hous ing community from the surrounding neighborhood. For more information on the open house, contact John Keating, HAP. 503-802-8522 or Elaine Cogan, Cogan Owens Cogan, 503-225-0192.
