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luly 27. 2011
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IN S ID E
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The Week ¡n Review
Page 3
FredMeyer
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M ETRO
pages 12
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
A spring production of Ma Rainey is advertised outside a church turned into theater venue at 602
N.E. Prescott St. The owners of the site are asking for a Conditional Use Permit to allow for contin
ued use of the facility.
Portland Playhouse Forced to M ove
The Portland Playhouse, a theater
group that obtained a funky and in
timate old church in northeast Port
land for its public venue, is currently
seeking a Conditional Use Permit af
ter the Bureau of Development Ser
vices implemented immediate zoning
issues.
“The Church is not zoned for a
com m unity space so we are
proactively seeking that zoning now,
as we feel invested in being part of the
INEEIIAINMENI
King Neighborhood,” said Harold
Goldstein, the theater company’s
board chair.
The Playhouse located at 602 N.E.
Prescott St. will be relocating for part
of their upcoming season because of
the unforeseen circumstances with
the zoning of their building.
Brian Weaver, Portland Playhouse
artistic director, said his group was
pleased that the Regional Arts and
Cultural Council responded immedi-
ately to their concerns, as did Cary
Clarke from the mayor’s office to help
them navigate this process.
“Everyone from Commissioner
Saltzman’s Office and BDS has been
extremely helpful and willing to work
with us to fix this problem," Weaver
said.
The first Portland Playhouse show
of the season, “Gem of the Ocean,”
will be staged at the World Trade
Center, downtown.
TriMet Shifts to Fare Enforcem ent
pages 13-17
S ustainability
page 18
J uly C alendar
page 19
R eligion
page 20-21
TriMet General Manager Neil
McFarlane announced last week
that in addition to expanding the
number of staff dedicated to fare
inspection, he’s also shifting the
focus from education to enforce
ment.
Six new supervisors have been
hired exclusively for fare and code
enforcement, and their work will
move away from a warning and edu
cation focus to issuing citations
and exclusions if riders are found
without a valid fare.
According to TriMet, the major
ity of riders over the past five years
received a warning when found with
out a fare.
• “More fare inspection and the
shift to enforcement will improve
the integrity of our fare system,”
said McFarlane. “This change sends
a clear message to our riders that
they need to pay their fare or face a
stiff fine even for a first offense.”
Although the number of staff
dedicated to fare inspection was cut
due to the ongoing recession over
the past couple of years, six new
supervisors will increase the num
ber o f fare enforcers to 18 full-time
staff.
The base fine for not having a
valid fare is $175, of which TriMet
receives $69, and the rest goes to
the county and state.
MM
S t .J ohns
NEIGHBORHOOD
F ood
page 24
T
Ìn Community Input on Police Review Opens
page 22
After the federal Justice Depart
ment issued an investigation of the
Portland Police Bureau last month
to determine if a pattern exists in
violation of civil rights, the U.S.
Department is seeking community
input.
The United States Attorney’s
Office for the District of Oregon, in
conjunction with the Special Litiga
tion Section of the Civil Rights Divi
sion, will conduct individual inter
views with members of the public
during the first week in August.
The interviews will take place in
three locations throughout Port
land, including downtown, the outer
east-side, or north Portland.
Although space and time are lim
ited, the department welcomes any
information from the community and
said any individual who has spe
cific or recent information they
would like to share about their per
sonal interaction with PPB officers
may request an individual meeting.
To request a meeting, contact the
U.S. Attorney’s local Civil Rights
Hotline at either503-471 -5577oremail
at usaor.civilrights@usdoj.gov.