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100 street sign toppers honoring Rosa Parks installed in Piedmont neighborhood
New commemorative street sign toppers honoring Civil Rights legend Rosa Parks are now up on Rosa Parks Way in North and Northeast Portland. One hundred sign toppers—designed by renowned painter, educator, and Piedmont resident Arvie Smith—were added to shine a light on the civil rights icon. The City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture Bureau…
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Darcelle XV Plaza completion and ribbon-cutting
Portland Parks & Recreation held a ribbon-cutting celebration of Darcelle XV Plaza in downtown Portland on June 18 at 800 SW Harvey Milk Street (corner of SW Park). The event marks a successful collaboration of partners dedicated to restoring and revitalizing this key public space — and supporting the continued activation of the downtown core while…
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N/NE residents in sour mood over city service cuts
North and NE Portland constituents delivered an earful of complaints about the proposed city budget to District 2 councilors with two dominant themes: don’t cut St. Johns Fire Station 22 – and don’t give the Portland Trail Blazers a dime of city money for the $650 million Moda Center renovation. St. Johns resident Jenny Hoyt said…
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Mayor Wilson warns of more cuts to city budget
By Mark Kirchmeier Citywide budgets cuts may be coming that will affect North/Northeast Potland, Mayor Keith Wilson warned more than 60 people at a March 14 budget hearing. “We’ll protect all Parks programs, but need to ‘skinny down’ some of them,” Wilson told the audience Double Tree Hilton near Lloyd Center. The mayor emphasized that…
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City councilors brainstorm on restoration of Columbia Park Pool
The long-distance campaign to restore Columbia Park pool is getting a second wind. City Councilors Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Sameer Kanal discussed strategies with pool advocates to convert the former year-round pool into a seasonal summer pool, during a Feb. 18 meeting at City Hall. The councilors and Friends of Columbia Park chair Chris Manno agreed…
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Controversial Portland Parks levy passes
By the time the Portland Parks & Recreation operating levy was passing on election night, District 2 Councilor Dan Ryan was the odd man out. While Ryan reluctantly voted to refer the measure to the Nov. 4 ballot with the rest of the City Council, he later had second thoughts and came out against it…
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Mayor Keith Wilson leads historic ceremony
Mayor Keith Wilson, a Roosevelt High School graduate, capped a historic year by taking the oath of office in a festive celebration before 700 people at the Newmark Theater. The RHS Jazz Band opened the ceremony as Dan Ryan, Sameer Kanal, and Elana Pirtle-Guiney joined Wilson on the stage to as the first-ever councilors for…
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Will he or won’t he run?
In 2020—for the first time in one-half century—Portland voters elected a City Council member with North Portland roots. Commissioner Dan Ryan is a Roosevelt High School graduate and current Arbor Lodge resident. He is the first North Portlander to serve on the Council since fellow Roosevelt alum Mayor Terry Schrunk left office in 1973. As…
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Holiday Memories inspire North Portlanders (Dec. 2023)
Family psychologists tell us that the holidays have the potential to inspire year-end review, reflection, even reconciliation. To see if that might be true, I asked several current and former North Portlanders if they had ever had a deeply moving holiday experience. Several said yes. The unexpected Lifelong North Portland resident Mike Verbout described his…
