Committed to Cultural Diversity
www portlandobserver.tom
May 17. 2 0 0 6
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SECTION
p o m m u n ity
L a le n d a r
Rally for Housing Justice
A rally for housing justice to sup-1
port seniors, people with disabili­
ties, working families and low-in­
come individuals is scheduled at
noon on Thursday, May 25 at
Portland City Hall, 1221 S.W. 4lb
Ave. For more information, call
Michael Anderson at 503-335-1
9884.
Bike to Work Day
Portland
Unwi
Free Internet connections
coming this summer
Celebrate National Bike to Work
Day, Friday, May 19, with a spe­
cial event from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
at Oregon Square Park on North­
east Holladay between Seventh
by S arah B lount
and Ninth Avenues. Enjoy free
T he P ortland O bserver
breakfast, speakers, door prizes,
It may come as a surprise that Portland
demonstrations and more.
will soon become unwired. In terms of Internet
Beginning Meditation
connection, that is.
Free yourself from worries and
With a project to blanket city neighbor-
mental discomfort and experience hoods and homes with free wireless signals
true happiness by learning about beginning this summer, wi-fi hot spots will
meditation in practical, easy, clear | finally expand beyond coffee shops and
and system atic m ethods each bookstores.
Monday from 7 p.m. to 8:30p.m. at I
The technology is made possible through
In Other Words bookstore, 8 N.E. a partnership between the City of Portland
Killingsworth.
* According to city
The Bridge Builders organization I
o f Portland Chief
invites the community to con­
gratulate African American gradu­ Technology Officer
ates from Portland and Vancouver
at the 10,h annual Black Baccalau- [ Matthew Lampe, the
reate, 7 p.m. Sunday, May 21 at th e ,
University of Portland C hildes| entire city should have
Center.
access to wi-fi hy the
Lents Home Buying Fair
|
On Saturday, May 20 learn how I end o f next year.
Local Grads Honored
you can buy your own home in [
Lents, and meet with realtors, lend­
ers, title companies, developers, I
home-buying counselors, busi­
nesses and non-profits. The fair I
free and open to all, from 10a.m. to
2 p.m. at Kelly Elementary, 9030 j
S.E. Cooper St.
Free Adoption Meeting
Open Adoption and Family Ser­
vices offers a free information
meeting for prospective adoptive
parents, Wednesday, May 24 from
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Belmont
Public Library, 1038 S.E. 39,h St
For more information, call 503-226-
4870orvisitwww.openadopt.org
nology Of ficer Matthew Lampe, the
entire city should have access to wi­
fi by the end of next year. He said
Metro-Fi will pay the estimated $8
million to $10 million to build the
system.
The company generates revenue
for the service through one-inch lo­
cal and national ad banners that run
when the wi-fi is in use, but Metro-Fi
promises to give subscribers the
option of an ad-free premium ser­
vice.
"Because we don’t have to dig up
streets with wires it’s much more
economical than Broadband, DSL,
or cable networks," said company
co-founder Chuck Haas.
A lthough the new service is
touted as free for Portland, the city
will help facilitate equipment place­
ment to reduce potential risks. It also
has agreed to buy services from |
Metro-Fi that won’t affect consum­
ers like hookineun Smart P irkmctpix ■
io lower credit card
ln X e X ™
and Metro-Fi, a Bay-area outfit that designs,
builds and operates wi-fi networks. It will be
Oregon’s first citywide wi-fi network and
one of a handful in the country.
The company will eventually deploy 2,(XX)
transmission points throughout Portland,
mounted on telephone polls, street lamps,
buildings, etc. The first phase hits a few
square miles of downtown and possibly the
Lloyd Center. Next it will cover key business
districts and finish in residential areas.
According tocity of Portland Chief Tech­
procession Ices
c " re X £ s '
to a wireless system.
For the average consumer, wi-fi means
the choice to replace dial-up, DSL and cable
Internet with a broad connection that is
everyone’s favorite price: free.
Municipal employees and price-con­
scious residential customers are expected to
be the biggest users of the new service,
because at one-fifth the speed of other con­
nections, many businesses will keep their
high-speed networks. For city employees
photo by S arah
B i , ount /T he P ortland O bserver
Jting£>ayerirses free wireless Internet at Goldrush Coffee in northeast Portland. Soon
^ghhorhoods o , the city, including homes.
who are often away from the office, a wire­
less network enables them to download and
upload data while in the field.
As cities race to try municipal wi-fi net­
works, dead spots and weak signals have
meant that many residents still pay for their
own Internet access.
Lampe acknowledged this sort of risk, but
after considering proposals from Earthlink
and the local Internet Service Provider
Veralan, they went with Metro-Fi because of
their experience at pioneering wireless tech­
nology, and their track record with existing
networks in California.
“One of the reasons we liked Metro-Fi is
because they have experience,” he said,
“and their networks have improvements
based on experience.”
The municipal network will most likely
complement other wireless access; the vol-
continued
on page B3
Juneteenth Plans in Motion
Portland’s Juneteenth celebration is mov­
ing to new a location this year.
Peninsula Park, along North Albina Av­
enue between Ainsworth Street and Port­
land Boulevard, will host the June 16,17 and
18 weekend with a new one-stop shopping
center of opportunities, services and infor­
mation for all of Portland.
Jefferson Old School Dance
Shake it to Old School and R&B at
the Jefferson High School Re
union Old School Dance, Friday
May 26from 9p.m .to I a.m.at the
Melody Ballroom. 6 15 S.E. Alder
Ricky Pettiford and DJ O.G One
will provide the music and tickets
are $20, helping Jefferson Student
Funds support future proms, grad
nights and student activities. For
more information call Phoebe
Tyeskey at 503-490-0985.
U n ity
WellBeing Sunday Brunch
Individuals living with HI V/AIDS
are invited to W ellBeing’s Sun
day Brunch, open every Sunday
from 3 p.m. to6 p.m. with free home
cooked meals served at 4 p.m. in
the historic Mt. Olivet building,
1734 N.E. First Ave. For more in­
formation, call 503-622-6138.
Larry Matthews (from left),
Regena Williams and Woody
Broadnax promote plans for
this year's Juneteenth
celebration scheduled, June
16-18 at Peninsula Park in
north Portland.
photo by
M ark W ashington /
The mission is to successfully inspire
and support individuals and corpora­
tions. while understanding and embrac­
ing diversity, according to Juneteenth
Community Unity committee members.
Organizers have partnered with Port­
land Parks and Recreation to bring music,
tood and merchandise vendors to Penin­
sula f’ark forthe freedom day celebration.
Representatives from the wellness com ­
munity .job and college recruiters and the
military have already accepted invita­
tions to attend.
Other individuals and businesses in­
terested in participating are encouraged
to pick up an information packet, com ­
pleted and submitted no later than June
l3,toJuneteenthCommunity Unity 2(X)6
in care of the House o f Exodus, 7339 N.E.
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland.
OR 97211.
For more information, call Woody
Broadnax at 503-978-9229.
Interstate Farmers Market
The Interstate farmers market is
ready for its second year, with a
variety of fresh local produce,
baked goods, cut flowers, artisan
cheese, meat and fish. The market
is open each Wednesday from 3
p.m. to 7 p.m., next to Overlook
Park across the street from Kaiser
Permanente Interstate Campus.
Dig Begins on King Food Market Site
Project key for
MLK corridor
G ro u n d b re a k in g and start o f
Movie Night at Senior Center co n stru ctio n has finally begun on
Woody Allen’s Matchpoint plays
Fridayat 1 p.m. at The Hollywood
SeniorCenter, 1820 N.E. 40"1 Ave
Soupand sandwiches will be avail­
able for a requested $1 donation.
years
of
* community service
the long-aw aited redevelopm ent
o f the form er King Food M arket
p roperty, a long blighted block
that once housed a M cD onalds
restaurant at N ortheast Frem ont
S treet and M artin L uther King Jr.
Boulevard.
Phase O ne will include the con­
struction o f a new commercial build­
ing with approximately 3,5(X) square
fee, o f storefront retail space and
5,6(X) square fee,, o f office space.
The new building will serve as a photo BY M arr W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver
gatew ay into inner northeast Port­ Groundbreaking has begun for a new mixed-use storefront at Northeast Fremont and Martin
land and anchor a prom inent com er Luther King Jr. Boulevard, bringing economic vitality to long blighted block.
with new businesses that serve the
com m unity. It is expected to be a
catalyst to the ongoing revitaliza­
tion along the MLK corridor and a
m odel for a m ixed-use, high qual­
ity project on a small, urban site.
M inority, women, and em erg­
ing small businesses will partici­
pate in approxim ately 25 percent
o f the total com m ercial construc­
tion cost, and the project will cre­
ate an estim ated 14 perm anent jobs
from the businesses that locate at
the site upon com pletion.
Proposed for phase tw o o f the
project are seven new hom es fac­
ing G rand A venue.
T h e P o rtla n d D e v e lo p m e n t
Com m ission, with input from a
com m unity advisory com m ittee,
selected the Fremont Partners, LLC
as the developers for the property.