Art students at Portland Christian Schools will offer their works for sale at the Portland Christian Art Show on Saturday, Jan. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the secondary campus in east Portland; 12425 N.E. San Rafael St.

Attendees will be able to bid on auction items as well while shopping for original art.

Kento Sato, a Portland Christian sophomore, will display this untitled work at the PC Art show on Saturday, Jan. 14. COURTESY AUBREY PARK, PORTLAND CHRISTIAN ART TEACHER

The $2 admission fee includes light refreshments. Additional fare will be available for purchase. Children six and under are free.

ikoniHuman Solutions’ 10th annual Epiphany Choir Fest will be held Sunday, Jan. 8, at 5 p.m. at Parkrose United Methodist Church, 11111 N.E. Knott St. in east Portland. The Epiphany Choir Fest is a celebration of the culmination of the holiday season, as well as a fundraising event to benefit Human Solutions’ Daybreak Shelter and other services for homeless families.

Local church choirs plus a bell choir will perform Christmas anthems and carols, and the combined choirs will perform the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” A reception with light refreshments will follow the concert.

Editor’s note: The 2012 elections are a watershed moment in city politics. For the first time in decades, with the mayor declining to run for re-election, Randy Leonard retiring from his council seat and incumbent commissioner Amanda Fritz facing a serious challenge, there will be at least two, if not three new faces at City council. Veteran beat reporter Lee Perlman interviewed the major mayoral and city council candidates. Beginning with this issue and in upcoming editions, we publish the interviews; first up, former city Council member Charlie Hales.  

Early this morning, near 6 a.m., Portland Police officers responded to a burglar alarm at Madison High School, 2735 N.E. 82nd Ave.

Many officers arrived in the area and began setting up a perimeter around the school.

As officers and a police K-9 unit were staging to enter the building, two people ran out of the school and disappeared quickly into a fog bank.

Officers and the police dog began chasing the burglars on foot. During the chase, and likely due to the dense fog, the police dog bit one of the officers instead of the burglar.

If you are looking for English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, look no more. Multnomah University, 8435 N.E. Glisan St., offers free classes on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Multnomah University Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages student Ronnie Glazner shares her enthusiasm with a classroom of eager English language learners.

With the help of MU students, Northeast Portland residents can study English vocabulary and grammar while learning to use English in real life settings like job interviews and grocery shopping. Students may join classes at any time. Contact Kristen Hubert, TESOL program director at 503-251-6412 or khubert@multnomah.edu to learn mor

A fourth candidate has entered the race to replace Mayor Sam Adams in Portland. Jefferson Smith, a state representative from Mid-Multnomah County, announced today he is running for the mayor’s office in 2012 and has begun a campaign to win Portlanders hearts, minds and votes.

Oregon State Rep. Jefferson Smith D-Portland

In a statement e-mailed to the media, Smith said he’s running for mayor because he believes, “Portland can be the city it aspires to be.” It goes on, “We can have big vision and work in small and real ways. We can be prosperous, sustainable and fair,” he said.

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.

Held last month, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Shaver Elementary Community Garden celebrates the nine raised beds (including one for disabled access), a garden shed and walking paths built over the spring.

Students, parents and volunteers turned out to mark the day and cut some ribbon; from left, students Mark Dois and Samuel Reed, parent volunteers Claudia Carrillo and Maria Gonzales and students Carson Shaffer, Alex and Brandon Vargas.

Students have taken ownership of the garden planting, maintaining and creating art for it. Over the summer, students and volunteers watered and tended the garden until school resumed this month.

Detailed in the June Mid-county Memo article, “Kids dig gardens,” the garden is a partnership between Shaver Elementary, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods and GrowingGardens.

The Double Reed Divas are the featured artists at the next offering of the Tabor Heights United Methodist Church concert series on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. Victoria Racz, Dagny Rask Regan and Ann van Bever will play classics by Debussy, Haydn and Krommer and newer works by Australian composer Graham Powning and jazz composer Arthur Woodbury.

The church is located at 6161 S.E. Stark St. The concerts are free. Free will offerings will be accepted.

TriMet is increasing fares by 5 cents effective Sept. 1. The MAX Blue Line and twenty-five bus lines will see improved service with added trips to relieve crowding and scheduling improvements.

Implemented in response to customer requests, and due to the success of the pilot program, TriMet is introducing a 30-day rolling pass. Currently, the new pass is only available only at the Pioneer Courthouse Square ticket office. The current monthly pass is valid from the first day of the month through the last day of the month and can be purchased after the 20th of the previous month up until the start of the new month. The new pass can be purchased any time and roll 30 days forward. The new 30-day rolling pass joins existing 7-day and 14-day rolling passes. All passes are available at the TriMet Ticket Office at Pioneer Courthouse Square.