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Author Archives: Web Manager

Exhibit features resident’s botanical paintings

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News

By Rob Cullivan | CNews Editor

Amy Daileda’s ‘Bitter Nightshade’ is among the paintings she’ll be exhibiting this month at Flour Market.

Concordia resident Amy Daileda will showcase a group of paintings in “Micro Flora,” an exhibit at Flour Market Bakery, 5507 NE 30th Ave., from Wednesday, May 4, through Sunday, May 29. A reception will take place from 5-8 p.m. Friday, May 6. Admission is free and open to the public.

Daileda said her paintings are being exhibited “mere blocks from where my subjects grow. Flora is a list of the plant life of a particular area, period or habitat. These acrylic paintings represent part of the flora of my Northeast Portland, Oregon native, edible, organic garden.”

The artist used macro, or close-up photos of plants to help her create her works. “I also study their botany, edible and medicinal uses, history and beauty, and try to connect to them using all of my senses,” she said. “Using acrylic paint on locally made wood panels, I painted them while working next to the studio window that overlooks our organic garden where they grow.”

The exhibit is part of the Taking. Up. Space. Initiative facilitated by the Artist/ Mother and Thrive Networks. Taking Up Space or T.U.S. is a female focused community global art exhibition taking place in more than 80 locations in May. You can learn more about them by visiting the #takingupspace2022 hashtag on Instagram.

Daileda has lived in Concordia for 21 years and is a clothing designer creating wearable art for even longer under the name Vivid Element. She said that this is her first painting exhibit since 1993.

“During the pandemic I started painting again,” she said. “Since we were quarantined at home, I used the details of plants and flowers I grow in our Backyard Habitat Certified garden as subjects. I studied painting in college and am now inspired to take it further. I’m thrilled to be showing at this great new bakery in our neighborhood.”

For more information, visit VividElement.com/art_event/micro-flora.

You’re invited to tour local linear arboretum

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News, Trees
Concordian Jim Gersbach will lead people of all ages on an April 16 walking tour of the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum. Pictured taking their own pre-tour are Naomi Anderson, Audrey Sullivan, Willa McCauley, and Gina and Crosby Levine. Photo by Nancy Varekamp

By Jim Gersbach | Linear Arboretum Founder, Concordia Tree Team Member

You’re invited to join me on a free walk to explore the Concordia Linear Arboretum Saturday, April 16. The 90-minute walk, sponsored by Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry, will start at 9 a.m. at the southeast corner of 30th Avenue and Ainsworth Street.

Concordia is fortunate to have one of a handful of Portland’s tree-lined medians. It’s a stretch of about 1.5 miles from Fernhill Park to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Since 2005, the median – and the right-of-way planting strips on the north and south sides of the street – have been designated by the city as an investigational arboretum.

Here, city residents can get to know less familiar, approved street trees, including ones in a trial for suitability in this climate.

Originally conceived as a grand entrance to the city from the east, Ainsworth was envisioned as a boulevard with a tree-lined median running from the Columbia Gorge to the Willamette River.

The only part ever developed as such is what exists today. The original Ainsworth planting was a classic monoculture – a single species of tree (Acer platanoides) that conformed to the uniform look so prized by European city planners. That made Ainsworth more vulnerable to any pest or disease that especially afflicted maples.

Portland’s mild climate can support hundreds of different tree species. As the city began to allow and then encourage more choices of species, many people still selected only what was familiar. Exposing people to great new options is what the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum is all about.

When trees die, we replace them with diverse species and new cultivars with better forms or disease resistance. Over 16 years, diversity in the median has grown from six to 47 species, and now there are trees native to Oregon.

Many people and organizations have helped. Trees and mulch have been provided by nurseries, Friends of Trees and Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry. The parks folks have also removed dead trees, ground the stumps to enable new plantings and watered young ones for the trees’ first two summers. Members of the city Youth Conservation Crew have weeded and mulched.

Because Portland has experienced multiple drought years, I have handwatered a lot of the trees beyond two years to help them establish.

Editor’s note: CNews space is limited, and there just wasn’t room for all of the information Jim Gersbach provided. To see his full-length story, visit ConcordiaPDX.org/2022-linear-arboretum-tour.

Concordian Jim Gersbach is public affairs specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry and former urban forestry specialist for the city of Portland. His volunteer activities include serving on the Concordia Tree Team, founding the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum, acting as an outreach guide for the Hoyt Arboretum, and providing education as well as leading planting and pruning crews for Friends of Trees.

Volunteers rescue and foster lost pet rabbits

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in CNA, Volunteer Opportunities
Concordian Brian Duval rescued Morgan from his neighbor’s yard. Usually, he just fosters lost,  domesticated rabbits for the Rabbit Advocacy organization – but this one he adopted.

By Mac Larsen | CNA Media Team

Take a walk down the grocery store aisle during this season. You see chocolate, marshmallow and stuffed rabbits, and the list goes on and on.

For many, spring brings bunnies to mind more often than any other time of year, unless you’re a volunteer for Rabbit Advocates. Then bunnies are a year-round concern.

Concordian Brian Duval is a volunteer with Rabbit Advocates and recently rescued a large white rabbit from his neighbor’s yard.

“I was in between fostering rabbits, so I took the offer to take this one in, and foster it for the time being,” Brian said. “He’s just hilarious, following me around everywhere, nipping at the bottom of my pants to pet him.

“You know, it takes a really long time for a rabbit to warm up to you. But this guy was like, ‘I’m ready for a friend.’ And I was like, ‘Me too,’ so we put in the adoption papers.”

Rabbit Advocates is an all-volunteer nonprofit founded in Portland 20 years ago. The mission is to help stray domesticated rabbits find new owners after they’ve been abandoned or otherwise left without permanent homes.

“There are domestic rabbits and wild rabbits, which are different animals. And these animals that we’re fostering and we’re rescuing are domesticated rabbits that are meant to be pets,” Brian said.

The most noticeable difference between pet rabbits and wild rabbits is size and color. A wild rabbit usually is small and solid brown. If a rabbit looks larger, has spots or is white, then the rabbit may be a lost pet.

Rabbit Advocates’ volunteers are trained to care properly for the rescued rabbits until permanent homes are found.

“In 2021, Rabbit Advocates rescued 160 new bunnies from perilous situations and found excellent adoptive homes for 148 bunnies with the help of 85 certified foster families in the Greater Portland Area,” cited the Rabbit Advocates year-end report.

According to Brian, Rabbit Advocates’ work is important because domesticated rabbits can’t defend themselves in the wild. “They don’t have the breeding to understand predators or survive.”

Rabbit Advocates educates the public about the differences between wild and pet rabbits, how to spot the differences and provides rescue and adoption resources for those who’ve found lost rabbits.

If you’re interested in adopting or fostering a bunny through Rabbit Advocates, visit RabbitAdvocates.org.

As for the rabbit Brian rescued from neighbor Peter’s yard, he named it Morgan. “I couldn’t name him Peter. That would be too obvious.”

Mac Larsen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. He grew up in Concordia neighborhood and can be found frequently on Alberta Street, complaining about all the construction.

Reader’s Opinion – SRV issue was a missed opportunity

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Andy Pfandler | Concordia Neighbor

I followed with interest the discussion around siting the Safe Rest Village (SRV) at the Whitaker site, ultimately I feel saddened and a little ashamed at the way things played out. I understand why Portland Public Schools (PPS) chose not to approve using that location, and I have a problem with the way our community reacted to the proposal. Instead of sending out flyers and letters I wish we had collectively said “Maybe not here, how else can we help?”

The flyer that ended up at my house in November was full of dog whistles and not based in reality. It was also hypocritical. Do those who rent or own undergo mental health screenings when moving here? Are our choices around drug use, pets or anything else scrutinized?

The request for engagement in the letter the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) sent to PPS seems reasonable. But to me, the tone in that letter is “not here.” There is not even a throwaway sentence about wanting to support or provide housing for people who are homeless.

I think we need to do more to support our neighbors. Does the CNA represent all people living in the neighborhood or just those privileged enough to be living in a parcel? Do you want people to leave, or do you want to help, maybe both?

I work at a nonprofit that provides behavioral health support to people living in shelters. My No. 1 recommendation: ask people what they need. Experiencing homelessness is traumatic, and can cause a loss of agency and voice. I’d like to believe that we as a community can find ways to lift up the voices of people who have been marginalized and dehumanized. Individually, you can talk to people, the discomfort fades quickly. Systematically, the CNA could work to include our unhoused neighbors. What great ideas can we collectively brainstorm to lift up people’s voices?

In lieu of asking what people need, here are some suggestions based on my experiences: organize trash pick ups, provide sanitary ways for people to use the bathroom, set up a system for clean water, be friendly, advocate for housing-first policies, help people wash their clothes, give them money and let them choose, support mutual aid groups or nonprofits doing this work.

I think the SRV idea is a good one, the Whitaker site was not the place, and I wish we had been more welcoming. We can do better.

CNA respects the views and beliefs of all Concordians, and their cultures and faiths. The views expressed by this writer do not necessarily reflect the views of CNA. For details about submitting a Reader’s Opinion piece for publication, visit ConcordiaPDX.org/CNewsSubmissions.

Nature offers haven in urban, industrial area

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Mac Larsen | CNA Media Team

The hidden nature of Whitaker Ponds is part of its appeal, as is its transformative history. Photo by Gordon Riggs

Whitaker Ponds Natural Area sits just northeast of Concordia. It’s a hidden gem that provides two wetland ponds for birdwatchers, nature enthusiasts and anyone trying to get away from city life.

“Having these little pockets of natural area here is really valuable when you’re surrounded by all of this industry and urban infrastructure,” said Jennifer Starkey. She is the education director for the Columbia Slough Watershed Council.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut businesses and schools, a visit to Whitaker Ponds was typical for local elementary students.

Under normal circumstances Jennifer and the council run a program called Slough School, which lets students interact in local ecosystems with the earth sciences curriculum they’re taught in the classrooms.

Educators face a school bus driver shortage and other obstacles amid changing pandemic precautions. Education programs like the ones at Whitaker Ponds moved online and, eventually, back to classrooms.

Despite these challenges, educators like Jennifer see a thriving interest in Portland’s local nature and wildlife.

“I have seen every day that I’m there families with their kids,” she said. “I had an event in October called Boo in the Slough. It was something I had always wanted to do, just have a Halloween party. Families showed up with their kids, and so many of them said ‘I’ve never heard of this place before.'”

The hidden nature of Whitaker Ponds, according to Jennifer, is part of its appeal – as is its transformative history. Before it was a city natural area, the ponds were treated as a dump.

Through plenty of work, investment y and collaboration with the city and partners like the Native American Youth and Family Center, the watershed council has elevated all eight of its sites for conservation and education.

“It feels great to be in a place where you can hear a woodpecker or see a beaver dam or just listen to water moving,” Jennifer pointed out. “I feel really grateful that I get to do that for my job.”

As the pandemic continues to complicate in-person gatherings, the watershed council plans to increase events at all watershed areas this spring and summer.

Details for events at Whitaker Ponds and the Columbia Children’s Arboretum are posted at ColumbiaSlough.org/events.

If you’re curious about Whitaker Ponds, Jennifer offers this advice: “Come on down. Leave your dog at home.”

Mac Larsen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. He grew up in Concordia neighborhood and can be found frequently on Alberta Street, complaining about all the construction.

Eddie “The Weatherman” Morgan isn’t forgotten

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

Note: The February 2022 CNews column about Eddie “The Weatherman” Morgan awakened memories of many members of the Concordia and Cully neighborhoods. A few of them offered the details below.

“Eddie brought our neighborhood together, both in life and in death,” wrote Susan Nelson, Cully neighborhood historian. “A candlelight vigil was organized spontaneously for Eddie by the owner of the local Sentry Market. It was attended by hundreds, including Portland police chief Charles Moose and mayor Vera Katz.”

Although Eddie was not Catholic, St. Charles Catholic Church held a service for him. “At his graveside, residents lined up to toss handfuls of dirt into his grave,” Susan recalled.

According to Sharla Fischer, Wilshire Tavern owner, her customers donated the funds for Eddie’s plaque at the spot where he died on 42nd Avenue in front of the U.S. Bank. “Bill Taylor, who has passed away, John Lamphere and Steve Newstrum received permission from the bank and placed the plaque just a few days after Eddie’s death,” she wrote.

Ginger O’Harrow, 93-year-old widow of Bob O’Harrow, reported, “Papa … took it upon himself to tend to the stone. He was also the one for years and years and years to place a Christmas tree. That’s what papa started.”

When Bob died in 2019, Mike – one of the O’Harrows’ seven children – took over the responsibility. “Mike probably helped Bob the last couple of years he was alive,” Ginger added.

“It was his father’s passion,” Mike’s wife Karyn O’Harrow explained. “’I will honor Eddie as you did,’” Karyn remembered her husband told his father before Bob died. “’I’m doing it for my dad. More importantly, I’m doing it for the respect for Eddie,’” she quoted Mike.

Of the O’Harrow children, Mike lives closest to Ginger in Cully neighborhood and to the plaque at the U.S. Bank. Ginger believes that’s not the only reason Mike continues the tradition “That’s Mike,” she said. “That’s just him.

“Eddie was just special to us, not just my husband but everybody in northeast Portland.” His daily walks on 42nd Avenue took Eddie from Lombard Street to Sandy Boulevard, according to Ginger. When cars full of children would pass him along 42nd Avenue, car windows would be rolled down and children would hail him. “Eddie would wave back,” Ginger pointed out.

St. Charles Church was one of his daily stops. Ginger said Eddie would attempt making the sign of the cross to the priest to show respect. “He stopped at the tavern every day, but he never took a drink.”

Ginger believes Eddie’s walks were interrupted only to greet people and tend a few odd jobs. “He had nothing else to do,” Ginger said. “That’s just what he did.”

“Eddie was a huge presence of the neighborhood,” Sharla pointed out. “Anyone who remains in the neighborhood will remember Eddie.”

Susan added, “This neighborhood won’t allow the memory of Eddie to be forgotten.”

Portland blogger and TriMet operator Dan Christiansen posted his tribute, below, in his 2009 “In Memory of ‘’Eddie The Weatherman.”

“I think every neighborhood has one. Someone who is special, in my days they would call ‘retardos’ or ‘brainers.’ I cringe now at the language but, at the time, there was no love for the different. So these special people could function in the world on a basic level. They were not Rainman, could accomplish super feats of math. But, on the flip side, they could live a good life. Even a valued life.

“In the neighborhood I grew up in Portland, that was Eddie the Weatherman. Now, he did not have the name ‘Weatherman’ when I grew up. We called him ‘Eddie the Walker.’ He would walk up and down 42nd Avenue and all over Killingsworth Street. You could not live there in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and not have seen him. He was not ‘The Walker.’ That was an older man with a Labrador he would walk with almost four hours every day. Eddie was close. He was ‘Eddie the Walker.’

“As I grew up and went to high school, Eddie had already begun his fixation with the weather. He was always walking around smiling, telling people the weather that was on the way. I can remember going up to the local Catholic church, where I was the part-time janitor (job lasted a month), and he was always there to tell me the weather.

“He was known in every business along 42nd, where he would boldly come in and tell you the weather. If you watched him, he would just walk up the street, going in and out of shops, talking about the weather and meeting everyone with a smile. He always walked with a determined stride like he was on a mission. And, in a sense, he was.

“Now this was in a day before cable and 24-hour weather reports were on every TV and radio station. Eddie was our weatherman. He would wake up early and call the weathermen on TV to get the report for the day. All the weathermen in town knew him and they were always there to help him out. I had no idea about this until later, but they all knew and loved Eddie as much as we did.

“We had many strange, unusual and special people where I grew up. It was a mixed neighborhood racially and economically as well. It ranged from the Finnish woman who was always yelling at the top of her lungs about people spying on her to the man who kept a horde of cats in his house. We had our share. Of all these many unique characters, Eddie was the most innocent and simple. I say ‘simple’ in a good way here, not a derogatory one.

“When I moved back into that neighborhood with my then-wife years later, Eddie was there walking along. He was one of the first people I would see in the morning on my way to work. He loved the Thriftway, where he was known by name by everyone. When I moved back, he looked a bit older but still walked the same way, on the same mission. For him, nothing had changed.

“A year later (Karin made sure we lived in no place longer than a year), I moved out of the old neighborhood. It was then that it happened. You see, by the mid- to late-‘80s, things had started to change where I grew up. Crime was on the rise. Gangs and issues with gangs were also becoming a problem.

“One night while walking down 42nd, a car pulled up and someone inside shot Eddie for no reason. He died right on the spot, and with him died a bit of my neighborhood. No one ever found out why or who. It was impossible for Eddie to really start something, so one can only imagine that it was just a random killing – maybe an initiation for some lost soul trying to fit in with a group that put no value on human life.

“The northeast neighborhood was devastated. Here was a guy who, by any economic measure, was disadvantaged but who, in a real way touched the hearts of everyone on 42nd. The local U.S. Bank put up a memorial right where he fell. Everyone showed up. I even drove back to that area to be at the vigil. I cried along with everyone else.

“So the other day on, extra service I had a call to go fill a run on the bus route 75. It goes right down 42nd – my old neighborhood, my old world. The bus I was covering for had been held up at Hollywood Transit Center, and I was the closest extra service bus. So I swung in to the rescue. (Extra service is like the lone ranger of the TriMet transit system.)

“I pulled up to Alberta and 42nd to let a passenger off. It was dark and there was a light sprinkle. I opened the door and, before I could shut it, I saw the memorial for Eddie. I secured the bus and got out of my seat, much to the shock of everyone on the bus.

“I had forgotten all about Eddie and I stood there, sad for the memory and guilty for having forgotten. It’s just a small flat marker there along the sidewalk. I looked left and right and wondered if anyone living there knew the name Eddie Morgan or ‘Eddie the Weatherman.’

“Most of the people there have moved away or died. Probably it was just a place people flicked their butts while waiting for the bus; a name on a marker and how could it matter to them? They can never know.

“There was an ancient belief that if people remembered you and spoke your name, you lived on in the afterlife. I said his name. I promised not to forget his name and to say it every now and then to remind myself of where I came from and how fragile our hold on life really is. I strive, myself, to live a life equal to this simple giant of 42nd Avenue. I won’t forget ‘Eddie the Weatherman.’

“I have a personal saying now ‘Live life in a way that a thousand people weep at your passing.’ Though it sounds grim, I believe it is a good yardstick, one that Eddie lived up to. One I will strive to live up to.”

Meet the Board – Pandemic life in Concordia is what it is

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News
Joseph Fraley is a five-year resident of Concordia and a one-year member of the Concordia Neighborhood Association Board of Directors. Like everyone here – and elsewhere – he finds ways to cope with the pandemic. That includes searching for his cat.

By Joseph Fraley | CNA Board Member, East 2

Happy New Year, neighbors! I hope it brings you peace and love. I’ve lived in Concordia since 2017 and joined the Concordia Neighborhood Association as a board member one year ago.

My family bought our house on Roselawn Street in July 2019. My sister-in-law spent the early days of COVID-19 with us. The three of us pulled the pet-stained carpets, and signed our bedroom subfloor: “COVID Quarantine, April 2020.”

In September we built a fence so the dog and cat could safely enjoy the yard. The cat walked right under the gate and into the world. My wife Amanda signed up for NextDoor.com, looking for help tracking him down. A picture of me from our neighbor’s security camera opened her inaugural feed.

“Does anyone know this man?” the caption asked. “He seemed suspicious, but maybe he was just looking for his cat…”

The pandemic bled quietly into 2021, so we built a deck for safe gatherings with friends. We moved 6,000 pounds of dirt to make way. A mouthful of dirt ended up in the street out front, where it blew dust across cars and houses down the street.

We prayed for rain throughout the driest summer in a century. When our annual street cleaning day finally arrived, they did their best. Their brushes spread the mud like a paint roller over three blocks.

The annual Fernhill Park summer concerts and a movie night were canceled in the interest of public safety. So, we hung a used billboard tarp on the back of the house as a makeshift screen. I hand painted replicas of movie posters to announce a COVID-safe movie night every Saturday. One neighbor attended the first half of two movies.

My wife said, “I guess we’re all done working on the house…” I look around. The kitchen cabinets hang visibly crooked, like a prop from the gravitational anomaly in the San Francisco Bay area, the Mystery Spot. An ailing cherry tree upends all four fences at the back corner of our property. The broken shower tile leaks into the subfloor, and ultimately the crawlspace.

“I guess so,” I replied. “Maybe next summer we can get more neighbors to come out for movie night.”

CNA seeks qualified candidates for the Concordia News editor paid contractor position

Posted on January 20, 2022 by Web Manager Posted in CNA

Put your talents to work by joining the media team as editor for Concordia News. Provide a vital function for the monthly paper serving Concordia neighbors and businesses.

For a full description of the duties and requirements of this important contractor position, and how to apply visit: ConcordiaPDX.org/get-involved/CNews-editor-position. Questions? Please contact Peter Keller at Chair@ConcordiaPDX.org.

Resilience sees Binks through two decades

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Mac Larsen | CNA Media Team

Jason and Bianca Youngers are completing the most difficult two years of their two decades in business at Binks Bar. Resilience and a sense of community is
seeing them through. Photo by Nancy Varekamp

Even during the hardest part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Binks Bar still found a way to make things a little bit more beautiful.

After 20 years, the little bar near the corner of 27th Avenue and Alberta Street is still truckin’ and its response to the hardships of COVID-19 reflect the sense of community and resilience of owners Bianca and Justin Youngers.

Even with Portland restaurants and bars in disarray, the couple invested in their future and made their space even more appealing to the residents of Concordia and Alberta Street.

“I think that at the beginning, when we were shut down, my husband and I had a lot of nervous energy. It was pretty horrible,” Bianca said. “We took that time to take everything out of here and redo the floors, and we painted the whole thing ourselves. “We just came down and just kind of tried to beautify it.

“We had mural artist Plastic Birdie come in, and he did a mural in our little room back here that we lovingly call the make-out room, because people make out back there.” Bianca laughed at the intimacy a neighborhood bar can provide.

In the early years, Justin and Bianca had worked Binks themselves, from open to close.

It was the groovy and gritty atmosphere of the Alberta Arts District that really stood out to Bianca. She remembered the MarchFourth Marching Band, a Last Thursday standby, on stilts and in costume that threw parties in Binks’ back room.

When COVID-19 closed down eateries across the state, the couple changed their bar business model and focused on delivery.

Dubbed “Binkster,” the delivery service offered meals and drinks to individual households. If a customer wanted to host a videoconference party, Binkster delivered the provisions to each guest’s home. Items ranged from entrees, snacks, growlers, cocktails to selections from Binks’ bottle shop to flowers, gifts and CBD. “We actually had to bring on more staff because it was so labor intensive,” Bianca said.

For the Binks owners, change and resilience is par for the course. “If you imagine we’ve been here for 20 years, that’s a lot of changes you see, and each one is so significant,” Bianca said. “You mourn them when they happen because they really happen fast.

“And then, the next thing is just like a whole rebirth and a whole new thing. It’s pretty cool, owning a bar that way.”

Mac Larsen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. He grew up in Concordia neighborhood and can be found frequently on Alberta Street, complaining about all the construction.

Catalytic converter thefts plague Concordians

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News
Catalytic converter thefts aren’t unusual these days in Concordia. But Michael French’s experience was. Thieves towed his car a few blocks away, removed the converter and left the car otherwise untouched. Photo by Edana French

By Mac Larsen | CNA Media Team

When you search “catalytic converter theft” on Concordia Nextdoor.com, you’ll see countless posts of desperate neighbors dismayed that they, too, have been victims of the crime.

This form of petty theft is so common in the Portland metro area that many car owners see catalytic converter theft as almost inevitable, leaving many wondering, “Why does this seem to always happen?” and “What can be done?”

Michael French awoke in his home in southwest Concordia to discover his car was missing from the spot he’d parallel parked it the evening before.

“Generally thieves will cut the converter out of a car without taking the entire car,” he said. His experience was the opposite. Three days later police found his car not far from home. The catalytic converter was the only thing that appeared to be missing or damaged.

“The car, otherwise, was in good condition, and nobody had ever gotten inside it,” Michael said. “It was still locked.”

Auto mechanics are on the front lines of dealing with this problem. Ron Johnson, a local mechanic, has observed a steep increase in catalytic converter theft over the past few years. He said the shop is replacing the catalytic converters of about 50 Priuses a year.

According to Ron, for the Gen 2 Prius like Michael’s, it takes only three minutes to remove the catalytic converter if the thieves have the proper equipment and a makeshift tow jack. A neighbor who saw Michael’s Prius stolen noticed the thieves used the back of a pick-up truck to move the car away from the neighborhood.

Generally, thieves are stealing the converters for the rare metals they contain – palladium and rhodium – and a Prius converter can sell for about $1,200 as scrap metal.

Peter Keller in south central Concordia had his own experience with would-be thieves when he was awakened at 5 a.m. to what he said sounded like a train derailing. Using two hacksaws, the thieves were halfway through removing the converter when Peter made a commotion and scared them off.

The tide may turn Jan. 1 when Oregon Senate Bill 803 takes effect. It prohibits scrap metal businesses from purchasing or receiving catalytic converters, and it passed by a majority in both the Senate and House.

Mac Larsen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. He grew up in Concordia neighborhood and can be found frequently on Alberta Street, complaining about all the construction.

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