The Mid-county Memo is your newspaper. We want to hear from you. Discuss an important issue, respond to a request for comment or address a concern you want to call to the attention of the community. Letters to the editor will always be edited for space, style, grammar and issues of clarity. Please include your full name and identify the neighborhood in which you reside. We prefer e-mailed letters to the editor sent to Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. Please put “Letter to the editor” in the subject line. You may also mail your letter to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230 or fax it to 503-249-7672. Deadline for the January issue is Thursday, Dec. 15.

A paper worth reading
To the Editor:

Hey, you guys did it again.

Your recent Mid-county Memo, dated November, was so packed full of such interesting information (like Arnold “Arnie” Schmautz’s passing, details on controversial development and so many more newsworthy articles) that it was hard to put the paper down.

Thanks again for being there for us “Mid-counties.”

It is sooooooo nice to have it mailed.

Old reader,
Pat Dragowsky
Russell resident

You are welcome
To the Editor:

I want to thank Tim Curran for his small business, the independent community newspaper the Mid-county Memo, that he founded and owns. It takes time, talent and guts to be your own boss. Without the Mid-county Memo, we would have no archive of the history of our Mid-county neighborhoods.

Way, way before we had the Internet to keep everything archived, Parkrose had a neighborhood newspaper. As a kid (early 1960–61), the paper came out weekly and had a woman owner/editor. That is all the information I have. No newspaper name or editor/owner name. I have no idea how long it published but do not remember it being around after 1962–63. If anyone has any information, please contact our current community newspaper, because it would be a great story for the Memo to cover.

Success,
Paulette Rossi
Argay Terrace resident
(Editor’s note: The Mid-county Memo was founded by Pry Publishing in May, 1985. Mr. Curran bought the paper in August 1991 from the founders.)

Eating the pizza, but not drinking the Kool-Aid
To the Editor:

After reading several thoughtful and well-written letters in the past few months by residents of Parkrose and Gateway districts, it’s clear there’s nothing more than the illusion of “democracy in action” when City and Metro officials have already decided their course of action prior to any town hall meetings to placate area residents. As Phillip Norman of Hazelwood says, city commissioners just want those in attendance to “eat the pizza and go home.” Multnomah County residents are taxed to death, and as such we deserve better than mere lip service (and pizza) from our smug elected officials.

Sincerely,
Marvin Thiessen
Sumner resident