March 14. 2012
This page
Sponsored by:
H ealth
pages 6-7
W
O pinion
pages 8-9
S ports ™
photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Laura Niemi, coordinator for Portland’s Community Gardens program, oversees work to open the
Frazer Park Community Garden at Northeast 52nd Avenue and Hassalo Street, one of five new
community gardens scheduled to open up this spring.
METRO
page 11
Community
spaces open to
the public
their own healthy organic food.
In an effort to meet the rising
demand by residents for more gar
den plots, the city is currently
building more gardens than ever
before, with a goal of five new
by M indy C ooper
community gardens and 1,000 new
T he P ortland O bserver
planting plots in various locations
The dem and for garden space for use by the end of the year.
is on the rise, leav in g m any
A ccording to Laura Niemi, co
Portlanders wondering where they ordinator for the Community Gar
can plant their seeds this spring. dens program , there are many
Founded in 1975, Portland Parks benefits to having public garden
and Recreation’s Community G ar sp a c e a v a ila b le to re s id e n ts
dens program has provided gar throughout Portland.
dening opportunities for m ore
“It is an opportunity to grow
than 38-years by creating usable food in the city, so it gives people
plots of land for residents to grow who may not live in a place where
pages 12-15
C lassifieds
page 19
—
page 20
continued
on page 4
Finalists for Federal Judgeship
NEIGHBORHOOD
F ood
they have garden space, the op
portunity to grow fo o d ,” said
Niemi. “We also find we have
people who have com m unity gar
den plots who could garden at
home, but chose to garden in the
com m unity space for the social
asp ect.”
C o m m u n ity g a rd e n s b rin g
people tog eth er, she said. "It
builds a sense of com m unity and
com ing together around a topic
they are all interested in, which is
growing food.”
She said, however, the demand
for the gardens continues to ex-
page 16
S t . J ohns
C alendar
Cultivating Gardens
The names of five finalists for a
fed eral ju d g e s h ip , in clu d in g
Adrienne Nelson of Portland, the
second African-American female
judge in Oregon history, have been
delivered to President Obama, who
will select one candidate to fill a
vacant judge position.
“Oregon has been fortunate to
have a long history of outstanding
judges serving our state on the fed
eral bench, and we are pleased that
the selection committee identified
five excellent candidates who can
continue in that tradition,” read a
joint statement last week from Or- Adrienne Nelson
egon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley.
The 13-member committee was
appointed last fall to find a replace
ment for U.S. District Court Judge
Michael Hogan of Eugene, who has
taken senior status.
The five finalists also include
Suzanne Chanti, Lane County C ir
cuit Court judge; Hannah Horsley,
assistant U.S. A ttorney, District
o f Oregon; Bryan E. Lessley, as
sistant Federal Public Defender,
Eugene; and M ichael M cShane,
M ultnom ah County C ircuit Court
judge.