Page 2 July 3, 2019 photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver Chefs were thanking customers last week at the iconic food cart pod at Southwest Alder and 10th Avenue, downtown, as they served up last meals before clearing out to make room for the construction of a new Ritz-Carlton hotel. City officials and private donors are trying to secure another place for some of the carts a few blocks away at the North Park Blocks. Alder Food Carts Move Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written con- sent of the general manager, unless the client has pur- chased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORT- LAND OBSERVER. 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The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a mem- ber of the National Newspaper Asso- PO QR code ciation--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association Mark Washington, Sr. e ditor : Michael Leighton A dvertising M AnAger : Leonard Latin Office Manager/Classifieds: Lucinda Baldwin C reAtive d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt P ublisher : r ePorter /W eb e ditor : Danny Peterson P ubliC r elAtions : Mark Washington Jr. o ffiCe A ssistAnt /s Ales : Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer , PO Box 3137 , Portland, OR 97208 Group offered help on new location by D anny p eterson t he p ortlanD o bserver Some of the food carts of the iconic Alder Street Food Cart Pod, downtown, have found a temporary home in the old downtown Post Office parking lot, thanks to an anonymous donation that covered towing costs and support from the city, with the hopes of securing a new permanent home along the North Park Blocks. Oregon Minimum Wage Increases July has ushered in a raise for minimum wage workers in Oregon. Under a regional formula accounting for inflation and geo- graphic differences in local economies, employers in the Portland area will now pay at least $12.50 an hour, 50 cents higher than before and higher than other parts of the state. The collection of food carts at South- west Alder and 10th Avenue were the first to give Portland a reputation for being a food lover’s paradise without the trappings of brick and mortar restau- rants. Sunday they were all cleared out after 20 years to make room for a new Ritz-Carlton hotel, which began con- struction Monday. “It’s sad to move but the reality is, this is private land, we have no way to con- trol the owner’s actions,” Michael Xu, who helps run Shanghai’s Best Street Food, told the Portland Observer. He added that he’s appreciated the The Week in Review Single-Family Zones Eliminated The Oregon Senate responded to an afford- able housing shortage on Sunday by giv- ing final legislative approval to a bill that would effectively eliminate single-family zoning in large Oregon cities. It will allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and “cot- tage clusters” on land previously reserved for single family houses . Life Sentence for Hate Death An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters during a white nationalist rally in Charlot- tesville, Va. last year was sentenced to life in prison Friday. James A. Fields Jr. plead- ed guilty to 29 federal hate crimes as part of an agreement that eliminated the death penalty as a possible punishment. Scooters Fished from River The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office’s dive team spent two days in the Willamette River in Portland last week, recovering 57 e-scooters and bikes, so many that they had to quit at one point because they ran out of space to get them back to shore. Max River Tunnel Considered Metro and TriMet are taking concrete steps this summer to determine if it’s feasible to build a tunnel underneath downtown Port- land and the Willamette River to speed up light rail trains and provide an alternative river crossing to the aging Steel Bridge. A website by the government agencies asks help that’s been offered by city officials so far, “They reacted so fast. That’s so lucky we have them to help us.” A group of businesses, non-profits and the City of Portland—spearheaded by Commissioner Chloe Eudaly—is at- tempting to create a space for the food carts on the North Park Blocks between Burnside and Northwest Davis, with a tentative move-in date of July 15 The effort is backed by a Go Fund Me page that aims to raise $300, 000 to cover the costs of towing, electrical, and to de- velop a long-term solution for food carts in Portland. for comments on the tunnel concept. Carter Dishes on Trump Vote Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday he believes President Donald Trump actually lost the 2016 elec- tion and is presi- dent only because of Russian interference. Carter made the comments during a discussion on human rights at a resort in Leesburg, Virginia. Superintendent Hire Extended The Portland Public Schools Board of Edu- cation voted unanimous- ly last week to extend Superintendent Guada- lupe Guerrero’s current contract by another two years through June 2022. The approval came after board members offered a positive review of his performance, cred- iting him for putting the district on a foot- ing to improve student outcomes in future years.