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Neighbors work together, clean up Argay
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| Ron LaCroix, from left, pulls yard debris out of his truck aided by volunteers Nick Sommers, Jonathan Meza, a Portland Police Cadet, and Gary Scott at Shaver Elementary School. |
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| Argay residents, from left, Clare and Sharon Mershon help a neighbor get rid of unwanted items and yard debris during the annual Argay Neighborhood Association Clean-Up. |
| MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN |
As with most community events of this kind, volunteers were key to the success of the event. ANA board member Bonnie Scott is credited with organizing the cleanup day with husband Gary Scott managing the site day of. Other volunteers included Pat Klein, Katie Larsell, the Portland Police Cadets, Parkrose High School Soccer team, Valerie Curry, Dana McCray, Clare and Sharon Mershon, Kyle Ziegler, Tom Cooper, Anita Woodside, Shirley Piel, Damian Califf, Jonathan Meza, Nick Sommer, Colton Sharman, Adam Hartless, Kevin Mahn, Justin Breker and Keedehn Mollenhour.
Charter school awarded grant money
ACE Academy, 4222 N.E. 158th Ave., the free public charter high school that integrates academic and technical courses for students in the Parkrose, Reynolds, Centennial and Gresham-Barlow school districts, has received substantial grants from local industry.
Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission has awarded ACE Academy a $200,000 technology grant for wireless access and engineering computer-teaching labs. The grant is $100,000 per year for two years to make all ACE partner facilities Wi-Fi accessible, to put a laptop in the hands of every student-learning team, to provide each teacher with a high-end laptop and to fully equip a computer lab for Project Lead the Way engineering lab. This is a significant and critical step in acquiring the technology needed to provide the curriculum and the support students need.
The Foundation of the Associated General Contractors, Oregon-Columbia Chapter has selected ACE Academy for a $30,000 grant. The money will cover the costs of classroom tools and materials and the purchase of National Center for Construction Education and Research textbooks.
The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, Oregon-Columbia Chapter’s board of directors has voted to grant the ACE Academy $10,000 to cover operational costs. SMACNA also serves as one of ACE’s key campus training partners for students to receive hands-on education.
The American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon presented ACE with a donation of $2,500. The gift was made possible through the collaboration of local firms and ACEC Oregon. Participating firms included Parametrix, David Evans and Associates, Peterson Structural Engineers and CH2M HILL.
Asian-American smokers wanted for study
The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization Asian Family Center is recruiting Asian-Americans, ages 18 and over, who self-identify as current smokers to participate in a research interview. Participants will receive a $20 grocery store gift card as a thank-you at the end of the interview, which will take approximately one to one and a half hours to complete.
This is phase II of a study funded by the Oregon Department of Human Services Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program to explore factors that influence tobacco use and cessation behavior in Asian-Americans. In phase I, Asian-Americans from 10 Oregon counties completed a questionnaire translated into seven Asian languages to explore attitudes toward tobacco, knowledge about tobacco and linguistic acculturation.
Phase II explores barriers and motivation to quit smoking and barriers to accessing the quit line and other cessation services. During phase II, in-depth interviews will be conducted in English in a public location of the respondent’s choice (i.e. the respondent’s office, IRCO’s office, a library or coffee shop, etc.). The interviews will be recorded on audiotapes. All identifying information will be kept strictly confidential.
Asian-Americans who are smokers, 18 years old or older, who would like to participate should contact IRCO’s Asian Family Center at 503-235-9396, ext. 114, or elizabeth@mail.irco.org.
Hazelwood gets additional parkland
Portland Parks & Recreation and the nonprofit Trust for Public Land are partnering in the acquisition of 4.5 acres of undeveloped land in east Portland. The property, part of a reclaimed gravel quarry, is adjacent to and will eventually become an expansion of Cherry Park, an already developed park at Southeast 110th Avenue and Stephens Street.
The Trust for Public Land is purchasing the property for $1.5 million from the Craswell family, longtime owners of the Portland Sand and Gravel site, and will transfer the site to the city of Portland after several boundary issues are settled. PP&R will manage the property in the interim and use Park System Development Charge acquisition funds to later purchase the property from TPL. The partnership follows similar acquisition partnerships used by TPL and PP&R for Holly Farm Park, which opened last September in Southwest Portland, and Waterleaf located on Clatsop Butte.
The purchase allows the city to safeguard the property from potential development and to continue ongoing efforts to expand parklands and connect greenspaces in east Portland.
Like the expansion underway at Parklane Park to the east, the Cherry Park expansion is the site of a reclaimed gravel quarry. At one time as deep as 180 feet, the site is now filled to grade with clean fill, which has been tested to ensure it is contaminant-free.
Eventual plans for the Cherry Park expansion include a master plan with a public involvement component to engage the surrounding community in providing input on priorities, features and designs for the future expansion.
TPL also has the option to purchase an additional 6.5 acres of the quarry. That parcel, also directly adjacent to Cherry Park, is currently under reclamation, with the clean fill and grading anticipated to be completed in approximately three years.
Additional wildlife corridor purchased
An 11-acre purchase builds on the region’s protection of Clatsop Buttes, one of the largest remaining intact habitats in Portland. Located along Southeast Clatsop Street, the property includes a portion of Clatsop Creek and another small tributary, helping protect water quality in Johnson Creek. The land was purchased with funding from Metro’s voter-approved Natural Areas bond measure and Portland Parks and Recreation System Development Charges funds. The property is directly adjacent to more than 100 acres acquired by Metro in the area since 2007.
“Assembling a connected natural area of this size in Southeast Portland is exactly what we’d hoped to accomplish,” said Metro Council President David Bragdon. “Each additional acre we preserve here increases the value to wildlife of all the other acres we’ve protected and improves water quality throughout the watershed.”
The site has moderate to steep slopes and could have been approved for the development of up to 25 home sites. The property is primarily forested land crisscrossed by small tributary streams that drain into Johnson Creek. Older big-leaf maple, red alder and cedar trees are scattered throughout the site along with a healthy variety of native plants including Oregon grape, huckleberry and sword fern. Signs and sounds of wildlife such as deer, flicker and pileated woodpeckers and other local and migratory birds are abundant throughout.
PP&R identified the area around Clatsop Buttes as very important for protection in its 2006 Natural Area Acquisition Strategy. PP&R will manage the new site along with the other properties that have been recently purchased in the area. The new acquisition brings the total acres protected by Metro and the city in all of the Clatsop Buttes area to more than 150 acres. It is one of only a dozen protected natural areas of this size within Portland’s city limits.
County seeks comments on draft Stormwater Management plan
Multnomah County welcomes comments on its draft Stormwater Management Plan, which is up for renewal this year. The county is in the process of renewing two National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Phase I permits. The NPDES permits are issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality under the federal Clean Water Act and renewed every five years.
The county maintains two permits in the Portland and Gresham areas. The city of Portland and the Port of Portland are co-permittees with Multnomah County in the Portland area. The cities of Gresham and Fairview are co-permittees with the county for the Gresham area permit. Multnomah County implements a single countywide SWMP to cover both permit areas.
In the Portland permit area, coverage for the county includes five Willamette River bridges and pockets of unincorporated county land in the urban area. In the Gresham permit area, coverage includes the Interlachen neighborhood and arterial roads in Fairview, Troutdale and Wood Village.
Multnomah County is proposing revisions to the SWMP that will be submitted as part of the permit renewal. The revised SWMP is available for public review through July 7. The draft plan is available online at www.co.multnomah.or.us/stormwaterplan. If you have questions, please contact Roy Iwai, Water Quality Program, at 503-988-5050, ext. 28031.
Multnomah County will consider and address all substantive comments received by 5 p.m., July 7. Comments can be submitted via e-mail to water.quality@co.multnomah.or.us or by mail to Multnomah County — Water Quality Program, 1620 S.E. 190th Ave., Portland, OR 97233-5910.
Temporary bridge closure over Johnson Creek
The Portland Office of Transportation advises motorists that the Southeast 112th Avenue /110th Drive bridge over Johnson Creek between Foster Road and Brookside Drive will be closed to motorists through Aug. 29 for maintenance work. The closure will be in effect all hours, all days.
Motorists are advised to use an alternate route during the construction period. While the bridge deck is being replaced, a temporary construction detour using Southeast 122nd Avenue and Flavel Street will be signed to direct traffic around the closed bridge.
A temporary pedestrian bridge will be open for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Water bureau gets sampling results
The Portland Water Bureau received the results from the April sampling for pharmaceutical and personal care products in its Bull Run watershed and groundwater sources. The April sampling process was initiated after four PPCPs were detected in preliminary samples taken in 2006 and 2007.
The August 2006 Bull Run sample detected trace amounts of caffeine. No PPCPs of any kind were detected in recent Bull Run samples.
The October 2007 sampling of groundwater detected minute amounts of caffeine, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole. None of these PPCPs were detected in the April sampling.
During the April sampling, more extensive testing was conducted at the bureau's groundwater source. A total of eight groundwater samples were taken at different wells and in each of the three aquifers used by the Water Bureau. Two PPCPs were detected: estradiol and ethinyl estradiol. Both elements are hormones most commonly found in birth control pills, and were detected in extremely minute amounts.
The Water Bureau also detected PPCPs in three of the four field blank samples taken at the same time and locations as the groundwater samples. A field blank is a control sample using specially treated, pure water to validate the conditions and environment of the sampling. The results suggest that these substances may be pervasive in the environment.
Although PPCPs are not regulated substances, the Water Bureau will continue to proactively monitor its sources for PPCPs as well as other unregulated contaminants. At this time, the Portland Water Bureau, in consultation with local health officials, does not believe that contaminants at these low levels pose a health risk.
Elks celebrate Flag Day
Gateway Elks Lodge #2411 held its annual service to commemorate Flag Day on Thursday, June 12. The purpose of this service is to honor our country's flag, to celebrate the anniversary of its birth and to recall the achievements attained beneath its folds. The lodge chair officers gave testimony as to the significance of our flag, former Exalted Ruler Don Cohee spoke on its history and tradition and Lyle Wescott, a member of the lodge Americanism committee, gave a stirring rendition of the poem "This Ragged Old Flag."
Assisting in the service were Boy Scouts of local Troop #606 who paraded eight examples of the evolution of the American Flag.
First exhibited was the Pine Tree flag dating from 1775, which was carried by the Continental forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Next presented was the Snake Flag, which was used by the Southern colonies from 1776 to 1777. The third flag was known as the Continental colors or the Grand Union. This banner was never carried in the field but was used by the Navy as its exclusive ensign. The fourth flag is the familiar Colonial 13 stripes alternating red and white, with a union of 13 stars circled in a blue field representing a new constellation.
In 1795, two additional stars and stripes were added to represent the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union. This fifth flag was flown during the War of 1812, and it is this banner that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem.
The sixth flag was adopted by Congress on April 14, 1818, when it was resolved that on and after July 4, 1818, the number of stripes should be 13 and that the field of blue should carry one star for each of the 20 states in the union and that a new star should be added for each state thereafter admitted.
The seventh banner presented was the 48-star flag that represented our nation for 47 years beginning in July 1912. The last American flag to be presented was our current 50-star flag. The last two stars were added in 1959 and 1960 with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii.
Our flag is at once a history, a declaration and a prophecy. It represents the American nation as it was at its birth, it speaks for what it is today and it holds the opportunity for the future to add other stars to the glorious constellation. Woodrow Wilson said of our flag, "This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and shape of this nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours."
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is the first and only fraternal body to require formal observance of Flag Day. In July of 1908, the Grand Lodge in Dallas, Texas, provided for the annual nationwide observance of Flag Day on the 14th of June each year, making it mandatory upon each subordinate lodge of the order.
This unique distinction as the originator of Flag Day is most becoming to the Order of Elks. This order is distinctively American. Only American citizens are eligible to join and it has no foreign affiliations. It has linked its destiny to our country and made this flag its symbol.
For more information regarding the BPOE USA or Gateway Elks Lodge, please visit www.gatewayelks.com or inquire at Gateway Elks Lodge, 711 N.E. 100th Ave.
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