Received an e-mail plea from Portland Mayor Sam Adams looking for help to find  business volunteers. There’s a Tribune editorial on the same subject here.

“Students behind on core graduation credits who attend summer school are more likely to graduate from high school. But budget cuts driven by the current recession will reduce summer school opportunities and risk increasing the dropout rate.

“We pledge to continue our efforts toward finding a long-term fix for education funding. Our schools, our teachers, and our students deserve it and our community desperately needs it.

We received a note from Rev. Chuck Currie of the Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, 4715 N.E. 106th Avenue in Parkrose.  Currie is on the cutting edge where it comes to recognizing injustice, and man’s inhumanity to man. The subject of this Sunday’s sermon is about the gun-totin’ Kentucky man of the cloth, and, apparently, the bullet. Rev. Currie’s press release follows:

“Recently, a pastor in Kentucky had his parishioners bring their guns to church for a special celebration of guns and God.  “I don’t see any contradiction in this,” the Rev. Ken Pagano, the pastor of the New Bethel Church, told The New York Times.

The Montavilla Neighborhood Association set a date for its first Meet and Greet, Saturday, July 11, at the Coconut Café in east Portland at Northeast 79th and Glisan Street from 11 a.m. to noon.

Some proceeds will be donated to the Montavilla Neighborhood Association to help create and sustain community projects.
MNA Board members will be on hand to meet with neighbors and have informal conversations. Any idea on how to better Montavilla  has potential merit and is welcome.

For questions about the MNA in general, or this event in particular, contact Brian Wong, Co-Vice Chair Montavilla Neighborhood Association at 971-221-4718 or e-mail him at: wong.brian57@yahooh.com.