Now in its third season, the Parkrose Heights Community Garden, in addition to growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, has seeded the growth of community in its soil. The once empty 5,400 square foot plot houses 22 raised beds farmed by neighbors both within the church’s many faith communities and beyond. Gardeners have grown squash, peppers, spinach, sunflowers, okra, fennel, corn, and an abundance of tomatoes. This year, the garden donated 600 pounds of tomatoes to the SnowCap charities thanks to efforts from tomato-grower extraordinaire Clay Osburn.

We all have things in our life that we wish we could change — mistakes, broken relationships or bad decisions that we wish we could undo. Something that can help is grace — the opportunity to leave our past behind and start anew. In a special, movie-based series, “The Grace Card,” you will discover how to rebuild relationships and heal wounds by giving and receiving grace.

Woodland Park Church offers this series beginning with a free movie night featuring “The Grace Card” on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m., Refreshments will be served. Free childcare will include a movie just for kids.

Woodland Park Church is located at 11375 N.E. Halsey St. To learn more, contact Pastor Ken Blondeaux at 503-253-1944.

Crossroads Church, 2505 N.E. 102nd Ave., will host a celebration in commemoration of the powerful resolve of the American people to rise from tragedy on Sunday, Sept 11 from noon to 5 p.m.
Visitors to the east Portland church will enjoy live music, arts and crafts, international foods, community information, games for kids and more. This is a free event. The public is invited.

Early this morning, the Portland Police Bureau’s Special Emergency Reaction Team served a search warrant at a residence in the 1000 block of Northeast 110th Avenue. While inside the residence, the officers discovered a methamphetamine lab.

Five people have been detained at this point as officers from the Drugs and Vice Division begin processing the lab and and collecting evidence. The search warrant is related to a Gun Task Force investigation.

Additional details will be released as they become available.

A news release from Portland Police Bureau about yesterday’s shooting in east Portland follows.

This evening, Monday December 6, 2010 at approximately 8:27 p.m., Portland Police officers responded to the area of Northeast 117th Avenue and San Rafael Street on numerous reports of shots fired. An additional call came in from a residence located in the 2100 block of  Northeast 117th Avenue and the caller told police that a male at the house had been shot.

Medical personnel arrived and transported the 20-year-old male gunshot victim to an area hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound. The victim did not live at the residence and was there visiting friends at the house.

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 link to a composite sketch of the suspect from Thursday’s sexual assault in Parkrose Heights.

On Wednesday, June 2, 2010 around 12:30 a.m., a woman was sexually assaulted outside of her vehicle in the area of Northeast 116th and Sacramento. The man was armed with a box cutter and threatened the woman with it.

The male suspect is described as being Hispanic and in his late twenties or early thirties with short wavy hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo of letters or numbers on his upper right arm and numbers or dates tattooed between the joints of his fingers on the right hand.

He was last seen wearing jeans, a grey sweatshirt and black steel toed boots. Anyone with information concerning this suspect is asked to call Detective Brendan McGuire at 503-823-1063.

The next general meeting of the Parkrose Heights Association of Neighbors is Tuesday, March 23rd. Besides its regular business, the general meeting will feature a City of Portland Radon Expert. Parkrose Heights is listed as the Portland neighborhood with the highest potential for high radon levels according to the EPA.

Meetings are held at Parkrose United Methodist Church, 11111 N.E. Knott St. For more information contact chair Carol Williams at 503-255-9696 or e-mail her at: carolsmailbox@msn.com.

Parkrose Heights has about 2,500 homes and is located in east Portland, between N.E. 102nd and 122nd Avenues, and from N.E. Halsey St. to the I-84 freeway.

PHAN was organized around enhancing the livability of the area and to maintain communication between neighbors and government agencies.

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.