The May 2012 Mid-county Memo is posted online. A recap of its contents:

Last month, the top three mayoral candidates debated at David Douglas High School’s Howard Horner Performing Arts Center; the new Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative areas are approved; Parkrose School District averts a teacher’s strike; David Douglas special education teacher Annie Harrell is named Outstanding Teacher of the Year; Lee Perlman interviews City Commissioner Amanda Fritz and opponent, state Rep. Mary Nolan; the Planning and Sustainability Commission endorsed the Outer Powell Conceptual Design Plan; since 2006, east Portland neighborhood associations have been operating illegally; the Portland Housing Bureau is changing tax abatement area boundaries in east Portland … again; and, longtime Gateway hairstylist June Bauer’s obituary.

The April 2012 Mid-county Memo is posted online. A recap of its contents follows:

Bre’Shay Barnes was named Rose Festival Princess from Parkrose; the new Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative areas struggle to meet financial goals; Parkrose School District declares impasse with teachers; PSD Superintendent Karen Fischer Gray is one of four finalists for Reynolds job; the first meeting between Metro and Glendoveer golf course lovers since a contentious open house in August; the Argay Neighborhood Association hires a lawyer to help fight infill development across the street from Argay Park and an east Portland high school winter sports roundup.

You’re climbing a mountain, going up a steep slope. You’re exhausted, but the summit is within sight, within reach. Somehow, you summon up reserves of strength, haul yourself up, and throw yourself triumphantly upon the sum…No, that was just a shoulder. The real summit looms ahead, and there’s a lot of it.

Amelai Salvador, from left, Joe Rossi and Luke Shepard at a Parkrose NPI meeting.

This might sound familiar to the steering committees of the six new Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative districts, of which four are in mid-county. There are rewards to be had, to be sure, including more than a million dollars in public funding for business development and local projects, but the hurdles these good people must overcome are steep and getting steeper.

In the midst of an institutional crisis, new Parkrose Business Association president David Ableidinger presided over his first general membership meeting last week.

Luke Shepard, foreground, speaks at the recent PBA meeting.

Roiling the group was a post, “Rossi report stuns PBA” on this blog, in which longtime member Joe Rossi called the group to account for, among other things, not supporting his Centennial celebration and not giving his partner and friend Amy Salvador the group’s top honor last year, the Karl F. Lind Award.

ХудожникIn the wake of Judy Kennedy’s resignation as president of the Parkrose Business Association, the board voted to remove four members whose terms had expired at its meeting Wednesday.

A motion was made and passed to remove the board members whose terms had expired. Off the board are treasurer Marsha Lee, secretary Mary Brown, Mike Taylor and Gail Bash. The four held PBA board positions for at least ten years, some since the early 90s.

New PBA president David Ableidinger said there will be elections in May for the vacant posts. He also said that according to the bylaws, those stepping down cannot run again for at least one year.

Joe Rossi, Parkrose’s well-known promoter and leader of the Rossi family, stunned the board of the Parkrose Business Association recently with the delivery of a four page list of 23 grievances against the group.  He devoted five of his 23 points in particular to the method employed voting for the group’s annual top honor, the Karl F. Lind Award.

To read Rossi’s list of grievances it in its entirety, scroll to the bottom…

Joe Rossi, left, with sculptor James Gion at the Portland Immigrant Statue unveiling in October.

Posted online, here’s a recap of the February 2012 edition of the Mid-county Memo ….

Tom West, girls varsity basketball coach at Portland Christian for 30 years, was named Oregon’s 2010-2011 National Federation of State High School Associations Coach of the Year.

Former Portland Christian girls varsity coach Tom West, center, holding plaque, was named 2011 National Federation of State High School Associations Coach of the Year. West quit coaching after 30 years at the school. He won three state titles, including a 29-0, undefeated record in 2007.

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.

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.

The Parkrose Business Association holds its  genereal membership meeting Thursday, May 21 at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 N.E. Columbia Blvd in east Portland.

April Minister, Marketing and Public Relations Specialist for IKEA Portland,  is the May speaker.

The May meeting’s Member Moment is Dean Vrooman representing First Independent Bank.

The meeting begins at 11:30 and lasts until around 1 or 1:30 p.m. Lunch is $17 per person and includes dessert and gratuity.