TriMet’s MAX Red Line to Portland International Airport opened Sept. 10, 2001, what happened the next day made its opening ironic and insignificant in the big picture. The attacks seriously wounded the airline industry, consequently the new rail line to the airport, the first train-to-plane connection on the West Coast.

Ten years later, dignitaries —  Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt, Portland Development Commission Executive Director Patrick Quinton and Travel Portland Executive Vice President of Convention and Tourism Sales Brian McCartin and TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane — gathered at the Red Line’s terminus at PDX to mark 10 years and the 10 millionth ride. “The Red Line was the first of its kind, built years, if not decades ahead of schedule because private funds helped to build it and the Cascade Station development at the entrance to PDX,” said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane

Your April issue of the Mid-county Memo is posted online. The re-cap of its online content follows …

This month’s edition has stories about: the Senior Prom held at Care Center East; the Parkrose High School bond vote in May; a round up of east Portland high school winter activities; Bradford’s Sports Lounge — formerly the Candy Store; the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission meeting where activists demanded action on the many plans to make life better in east Portland; the Portland Plan Fair held last month at Mid-county’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization and the Portland Airport Master Plan’s final approval from the city .

A recap of the December issue, now online for the world to read — chock full of timeless articles about east Portland —  follows:
Eastminster Presbyterian Church opens a Homeless Family Warming Center; City Council approval of the Portland International Airport Master Plan is postponed; Parkrose Community Thanksgiving Dinner becomes a reality; Fall Mid-county sports round-up; Perlman’s Potpourri; Gateway Elks Lodge honors veterans and active duty personnel at its annual salute to the military.

Also on Veterans Day, Parkrose Chateau, an independent senior living community, welcomed the American Legion Riders from Portland Post No. 1; a new Gateway Park design was unveiled at an open house last month and Spirit of Portland awards recognize east Portland work.

Never forget the backbone of the Mid-county Memo, its Departments: Memo Calendar, Memo Pad, Letters to the Editor, the monthly Loaves & Fishes menu and our own Memorable Menus.

The print and online versions of the October 2010  issue of the Mid-county Memo have been published.  A recap follows:

East Portland’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization — with help from a Nike grant — treated current and former teenage refugee clients from Bhutan, Myanmar, Iraq, Vietnam and Somalia to an all-day soccer clinic at Knott Park last month.

The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services, at the former site of the Children’s Receiving Center on Northeast 102nd Ave. at East Burnside St., officially opened last month.

The July issue of the Memo was posted earlier this week.

This month’s feature stories include: a story by Heather Hill about the schism at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Parkrose; Lee Perlman reports on the progress of PAC, or the Gateway Regional Center Urban Renewal Area Program Advisory Committee; Perlman also reports on the wrapping up of the Portland International Airport’s Master Plan; finally, this month’s Perlman’s Potpourri, a beat reporter’s round-up of news and information in Mid-Multnomah County.

As always, the Memo Calendar, containing east Portland’s most comprehensive listing of community events.

Here’s a recap of the May 2010 online edition of the Mid-county Memo at www.midcountymemo.com:

This month’s front page story: snapshots of a day in east Portland’s life, Saturday, April 24.

Lee Perlman reports on East Portland Action Plan advocates’ testimony at a City Council meeting on the EPAP one-year-anniversary.

A story by Heather Hill about the 50th anniversary celebration of the David Douglas School District held at the Annual David Douglas Educational Foundation Auction/Dinner last month at Persimmon Country Club in Gresham.

Links and a recap of feature articles from the online editon of the November 2009  Mid-county Memo follow:

Latest photos and full story about the transformation of the former Children’s Receiving Center into the Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services in east Portland.

Latest photos and full story about how former elementary schools within Parkrose School District — Thompson School and Knott Elementary — are being used these days.

A story about developers, for all intents and purposes, killing a proposed amendment to control the way garages are built on smaller parcels

On Thursday, June 4 at Harney Elementary School Cafeteria, 3212 E. Evergreen Blvd. in Vancouver the Airport Futures Planning Advisory Group meet (whatever happened to plain old  “committee?”). And again Wednesday, June 10 (closer to home) in east Portland’s Portland Fire & Rescue’s Training Center, 4800 N.E. 122nd Ave.

The Airport Futures Planning Advisory Group is a 30-member group that meet and “guide the planning process.”
What is Airport Futures? From their Web site:

“Airport Futures is a collaborative effort between the City of Portland, Port of Portland, and the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan community to create an integrated long-range development plan for Portland International Airport (PDX).