Mid-county Memo Blog

We received an e-mail from Scott Bradley, pastor of Abundant Life Church in Parkrose, requesting publicity for an upcoming marriage seminar at his church. It was too late for the print version of the January edition of the Memo by the time it was received (editorial deadline: 15th of every month),  so I told him we’d place the notice on our blog site; it follows.

“Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage! Register now for a 2-day marriage seminar. This is a wildly entertaining and informative marriage event designed to bring hope and positive change to marriages. Cost is $35 per couple or $18 per individual.

Parkrose United Methodist Church tonight holds its Christmas Eve Candlelight Service beginning at 7 p.m.

Join them as they live out the celebration of great joy through music (hymns, carols, Chancel Choir and the Bells of Praise) story, scripture and candles.

Parkrose United Methodist Church is in the east Portland neighborhood of at 11111 N.E. Knott St. Their phone number is 503-253-7567.
All are welcome.

Links and a recap of feature articles from the December 2009  edition of the Mid-county Memo online version follow:

Latest photos and full story about the world’s largest choral festival, The Grotto’s twenty second annual Festival of Lights in east Portland.

Full story about east Portland neighborhood association leaders examining the different ways other neighborhood offices are run.

Latest photos and full recap of fall high school spots in Mid-County.

Latest photos and full story about Hall of Fame wrestling coach Marc Sprague joining the David Douglas Mat Club.

Mid-county Memo Neighbor of the Year (1994) William “Bill” Winge’s obituary.

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

A recap of feature articles from the September issue of the Mid-county Memo follows.

The three stories on the front page are: TriMet opens light rail service in Southeast Portland to Clackamas Town Center with the opening of the Green Line Saturday, September 12.

Marking the completion of the Russellville community — begun over a decade ago by the Rembold family — Russellville Park II opens with fanfare and politicos speechifying.

Mid-County’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization uses federal stimulus dollars to keep hundreds of teenagers working and learning.

Since we’re so close to Gresham, and so many east Portland  Churches are near, or on the border with Gresham, we thought we’d pass along this e-mail missive from the Gresham Police Department. If you have any information, please call Sergeant LeDuc — the Gresham police officer handling the case — at 503-301-5182.

“The Gresham Police Department is issuing this advisory to inform the public of a thief who targets special events at local churches.

“In the last 35 days, thefts have occurred at the following Gresham Churches: Sanctuary Church on Southeast Orient Drive, Mountain View Church on Northeast Cleveland Ave, Powell Valley Covenant Church on Southeast 282nd Ave and the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Southeast Cleveland Ave.

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.

We received a note from über Parkrose schools volunteer Allison Newman Woods. It follows. It seems Allison, along with Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray are the progenitors behind the formation of a new group of Parkrose Patrons focused on enhancing the music experience at Parkrose Schools.

“Hello, as many of you know, Dr. Gray and I have been spreading the word about an exciting new program designed to raise funds and offer volunteer support for the Parkrose Scool District’s music programs throughout the District. We settled on a date for our kick off meeting, Tuesday, July 7 at 4 p.m. at the District Office., 10636 N.E. Prescott St.

A summary of feature stories from the May 2009 edition of the Mid-county Memo:

The Gateway Green Project gets going with a grant for planning and an anonymous donation.

To meet Mayor Sam Adams’ first round of budget cuts, Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer  cuts the number of police precincts from five to three.  The Northeast Precinct will now stretch from Linnton to Gresham.

Western States Chiropractic College, the 105-year-old institution in Mid-county seeks to become a university.

Up next, Perlman’s Potpourri: news items from across the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.

A couple of weeks ago, at the east end of the off-leash area in Argay Park, three new light poleswere installed. Not knowing the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau had scheduled this upgrade, we put a called them, only to discover the money for this improvement came from Mayor Tom Potter’s Interbureau Task Force.

Mark Warrington, public safety manager for Portland Parks & Recreation said the impetus for the additional lighting came from the IBTF.

The task force is comprised of representatives from each City Council office, a representatives from the Portland Police and Development Services Bureau code inspections division. The IBTF’s objective is to address livability, crime and fear of crime in neighborhood areas with long-term and complex public safety issues.