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TriMet is asking your help – in person and via an online survey – to shape priorities for new funding for public transit under the Keep Oregon Moving law passed by the Oregon legislature last year.

It provides ongoing payroll-tax funding to improve and expand public transportation statewide. Locally, it could mean an additional $55 million each year.

At a recent meeting in Concordia, TriMet officials reported that TriMet may invest in more electric buses and deploy new service in the next five years from the Parkrose Sumner Transit Center to downtown Portland via Prescott and Alberta streets, and MLK Boulevard. A new bus yard is also in the works at 42nd Avenue and Columbia Boulevard in the next two years.

A series of workshops is planned to offer you information and ask for your input. The next one is Wednesday, June 6, 6-8:30 p.m. at Ride Connection, 9955 N.E. Glisan St. Your RSVP is requested, and a light dinner will be provided, along with child care and interpretive services.

RSVP or take an online survey to register your opinions and/or learn more information.

By Rachel Richards | CNA Media Team

Faubion School now offers monthly community cooking classes through the 3 to PhD program. That program is a collaboration of five different agencies: Portland Public Schools, Concordia University, Kaiser Permanente, Trillium Family Services and Basics (formerly Pacific Foods) with the shared mission to create safer, healthier and more educated communities.

The goal of 3 to PhD is to close the opportunity gap for the most vulnerable children and families, and to restore school as the heartbeat of the community.

Jaclyn Sisto, 3 to PhD services coordinator, created the community cooking classes and taught the first one in December about making tamales. She feared no one would show up, but 50 people came together and shared feedback that they really enjoyed the event.

Jaclyn obtained funding for the cooking classes to be ongoing throughout the school year through the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods Community Grant program.

“With so many partners and agencies involved, our community cooking classes bring them together with Faubion families to build community and share cultural knowledge through sharing culturally specific food,” Jaclyn said.

The program is accepting donations of food (3 to PhD also provides a food pantry for Faubion families in need) or financial support. Donations can be made by contacting Jaclyn at JSisto@cu-portland.edu or 971.804.9125.

In February, three Faubion parents taught a class on Ethiopian food. In March, Faubion parent Ana Rosa Gonzalez taught a class on how to make albondigas, which are Mexican turkey meatballs.

April featured Southern cooking with Andre, who is the school’s night custodian. Another April class taught community members how to make Argentinian empanadas.

“The community cooking classes give people the opportunity to do something they are good at and share it with others,” Jaclyn pointed out. “It is a great way for community members to share culture in a way that is accessible – food. Who doesn’t love food?”

May’s cooking class is pizza on Wednesday, May 16, at 3:30 p.m. in the 3 to PhD demonstration kitchen.

Rachel is a 16-year Concordia resident who loves her community. She has a background in counseling/education and uses her passion for helping others in her work as a real estate broker. Contact Rachel or learn more about her at RachelRichardsRealtor.com.

By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

Richard Roberts sure loves his brother Jerry. Sadly, Jerry passed away in summer 2016. The only thing Richard loves more than the memory of his brother is the legacy Jerry left behind: a 38-foot-tall lighthouse in Richard’s backyard at 4334 N.E. Holman St.

Jerry, who suffered from alcoholism most of his life, moved in with Richard five years ago. Richard wanted his kitchen remodeled, and Jerry offered to construct it. Richard agreed – but only if Jerry stopped drinking. Jerry did.

The job included rebuilding the cabinets and installing new tile. Jerry shared his basement apartment with his collection of about 100 mini lighthouses.

He mused to Richard he would like to build one. A big one. A life-size one. Richard knew he could not say “no” to his brother. “If you want to build one, build one,” Richard told him.

Jerry set about to build himself a lighthouse.

There was an existing concrete slab in the backyard in the middle of tall waves of grass. That formed the perfect base. Jerry nailed together large 2-by-4-inch pieces of pressed wood, and painted them twice. It had to be perfect. He bought the best fitting windows from Goodwill.

Once he completed construction, he added a turntable from a record player and placed large light bulbs on it facing outward. He nailed metal plates inside the top of the lighthouse so it would shine and lights would revolve out into the night.

There are a series of ladders inside, along with a number of empty chairs. It resembles the bottom interior of a Disneyland space ship, large enough to throw a small cocktail party of five to six guests.

“If it floods again, we’re the only ones going to have a lighthouse,” Richard recalled Jerry telling him.

“We need a ship,” Richard responded.

“Well,” Jerry said, “We’ve got a lighthouse.”

Richard acknowledged that people think he is crazy. He has a lighthouse that is 100 miles from the ocean.

Tamara is Edit Kitten, a writer with 20-plus years of experience offering a softer, gentler approach to editing and coaching. Her personal editors – Armani, Max Factor and Spicey’D – are also her cats. Visit her at EditKitten.com or contact her at Tamara@editkitten. com.

By Karen Wells | CNA Media Team

The 1984 Malcolm X mural, “Black Pride,” features the iconic face of the influential civil and human rights activist of the 1960s.

His original family name was Little, and he was a charismatic and outspoken leader in the Nation of Islam, the Black Muslim faith tradition.

Malcolm’s face and extended pointing index finger dominate the mural on 17th Avenue at Alberta Street. The use of a dynamic two-tone color palette suggests to the viewer a sense of urgency of purpose.

It is the second oldest surviving mural in Portland, and was installed during the Albina Mural Project, with funding provided by the Metropolitan Arts Commission.

“Black Pride” was one of several murals installed throughout the African American community of the 1970s. Originally it was one of two panels painted by artist Lewis Harris and students of the Black Educational Center, which was housed at the same location. The companion mural no longer exists.

The remaining mural, “Black Pride,” was allowed to remain and be re-incorporated into the surrounding visual landscape but, across the years, it was vandalized. In 2016, a team of five artists – assembled by the collaborative efforts of Lifeworks NW, Project UMOJA and Alberta Art Works – repaired and partially restored the mural.

Little background or historical information is available on the artist, Lewis Harris, or the students of the Black Educational Center who assisted with the mural. If you have information on the mural – or the artist – contact CNewsEditor@ConcordiaPDX.org.

By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

The problem is concrete. Paved surfaces contribute to storm-water pollution, whereby rainwater carries toxic urban pollutants to local streams and rivers, greatly degrading water quality and riparian habitats. Pavement also disconnects us from our natural world.

The solution is clear. The removal of impervious pavements will reduce storm-water pollution and increase the amount of land available for habitat restoration, urban farming, trees, native vegetation, and beauty, thus providing us with greater connections to the natural world. – Depave.org

Eric Rosewall grew up in southwest Michigan and moved to Oregon in 2003 after visiting Seattle and falling in love with the lush botanic wonders of the Pacific Northwest. He earned a University of Oregon degree in landscape architecture.

In 2009, Eric got involved as a volunteer at the outset of the now internationally recognized nonprofit organization Depave.

He deployed a tool he had always used: a camera. He would take shots of the community coming together and smashing pavement. Eric would chronicle these events. His love turned into a paid career.

During Eric’s stint at Depave, more than 151,000 square feet of asphalt was depaved – almost exclusively by hand – to create 52 new community greenspaces in Portland.

At Depave, Eric could be seen steering the ship and wearing many hats: organizational development, partnership building, fundraising, project and volunteer management, financial oversight, landscape construction and graphic design.

Last September, he left as executive director to lead Portland Parks & Recreation’s (PP&R’s) new Ecologically Sustainable Landscapes program. But he’s still active with Depave, and you’ll find him at the April 12 fundraiser.

“Similarly to my work with Depave, my role with PP& R requires being a jack of many trades to build a program to create urban greenspaces through community collaboration,” Eric reported.

Now he reaches out to relevant organizations in the name of how much people value parks. This program is geared toward involving the community. He brings people together to take ownership.

He attends neighborhood association meetings – including his own here in Concordia – to build awareness and get people involved. For example, the Alberta Park stream bed was built by a local Boy Scout troop.

The city partners on Alberta Park development with the Columbia Slough Watershed Council and is planning a ribbon cutting ceremony there May 5.

“Hopefully people will see plants and think they are cool,” Eric noted. “Maybe they’ll seek them out and create their own little nature patch.