By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

Barbara Kelso describes herself as a sleep-deprived mom, writer and amateur paparazzo of her neurodiverse autism spectrum disorder family.

She started her blog, Kelso Kids, 7 1/2 years ago as a journal for her daughter Leonora, now 7, in case something happened during Barbara’s pregnancy with the girl. Barbara had gestational diabetes, and the medical professionals were scaring her about being pregnant.

At only 34 years old, they labeled her pregnancy geriatric. If anything happened, she wanted Leonora to know who she was, and what her hopes and dreams were.

Kelso Kids began to help her feel less alone in her experience as a mom. As time went on, her blog evolved. Barbara included personal observations, her experiences with post partum depression and anxiety. She wanted to piece together why moms can struggle – and come together in a sense of community.

Barbara found she was developing a small but loyal fan base. “However, dogs on Instagram have more followers than me,” she laughed.

Five years into her blog, son Owen was diagnosed with autism at age 18 months. Her daughter was tested last year and Barbara learned Leonora was autistic as well.

Barbara became completely overwhelmed with both kids being autistic. There’s a lot to deal with. Owen’s preferred outfit is naked. “I, Owen,” he will announce proudly. Leonora has a very active fantasy life. She is obsessed with inventing things, coding games and creating things.

Barbara went through the grieving process. Now, she is able to see things more from Owen’s and Leonora’s points of view. She can accept these Kelso Kids are unique.

“The beauty of autism is there is no filter, no hidden agenda, no malice,” Barbara observed.

As Barbara neared 40, she wanted to have a book under her belt. She published “Chimera Lines” in 2015. It’s a darkly humorous fiction about what life might look like if an earthquake was to hit Portland, and how an entire neighborhood of friends and family would react. “Chimera Lines” is available on Smashwords.com and Amazon.com.

She was breast feeding at the time, so a good chunk of her book was written one-handed, using her phone.

Now Barbara has no fewer than four new books she is working on. The one she really wants to finish soon is “Merit Badge,” a wry fiction about a family that is neurodiverse and the wife is leading a double life as an assassin.

The protagonist’s autistic husband is clueless.

Tamara Anne Fowler is a copy/content editor, fiction editor and accountability coach. Visit her at EditKitten.com, email her at Tamara@ editkitten.com or call 310.359.6038. She would love to hear from you.

By Riley O’Boyle CNA Media Team

Nestled in the alley between 27th and 28th avenues, between Killingsworth and Jarrett streets, stands a former pay phone.

There’s just one difference. You can leave your coins at home and call nearly anywhere in North America for free.

Futel, a Portland nonprofit telephone company, announced the installation in January. The first was installed on southeast Clinton Street in 2014, and Concordia’s is one of four additional local phones, the second in northeast Portland. One was installed in 2016 on Ainsworth Street at 8th Avenue.

There’s another on southeast Taylor Street and – thanks to a partnership with Village Coalition and Freewire – there’s a phone in homeless encampment Right 2 Dream 2. The first out-of-town unit was installed in March in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Futel has several volunteers and contributors, including Regional Arts and Culture Council, Precipice Fund and Awesome Foundation.

Installation requires a host – with power and internet service – who is willing to share. The rest is managed by the dedicated network of volunteers who believe in the project. Last year 14,000 calls were made from the company’s phones, according to Karl Anderson, one of two men who created Futel.

The intent is twofold: to provide a social service for anyone who may not have a phone and an artistic mode of engaging with a community space.

“It’s a way of getting art in the community,” Karl explained at a May gathering of hardware aficionados hosted by Crowd Supply.

“It’s a part of the urban landscape that I never saw as disappearing,” he added. “I thought that they [pay phones] would always be there.”

From a social services standpoint, the phones offer more than free outgoing calls: incoming phone service, voice mail accounts and speed dialing to social services resources, TriMet Transit Tracker, weather forecasts, the Portland mayor’s office and an “apology line” patterned after one in New York City for people to unburden themselves to a recording.

Dial “0” and you’ll talk with Karl, fellow Futel founder Elijah St. Clair or another volunteer. “You can call us to answer what questions you might have or talk about whatever you want,” Karl offered.

The nonprofit’s costs are relatively low. Futel repurposes salvaged payphones, thrift store landlines, obsolete IT hardware kept alive with open source firmware and rented cloud computers.

“Then we buy phone service and we give it away free,” Karl said. “It’s not a technologically exciting thing. It’s a socially exciting thing.”

Riley O’Boyle, certified EIT, works in land development and site engineering, and can be reached at RSOboyle13@gmail. com

By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

There’s about to be a lot more activity at the corner of Killingsworth Street and 42nd Avenue.

Thanks to the ongoing support of Portland voters, a $185 million bond measure was passed last year to provide Portland Community College (PCC) the opportunity to demolish the Metro Workforce Center’s two outdated buildings on that three-acre site and combine the programs into one multi-story facility.

PCC is currently staffing up its Planning and Capital Construction Office and beginning the initial planning and coordination meetings with the team at Metro Center.

PCC purchased the existing facility in 1998 and opened the Metro Workforce Center with minimal improvements. The two buildings are among the older buildings in the PCC district and no longer serve the workforce programs well, according to Rebecca Ocken, PCC planning manager.

Completing this project will reduce ongoing maintenance costs by $2 million, she added. And it will enable the community college to continue partnerships more effectively with the Oregon Department of Human Services and other regional and community workforce development entities.

Additionally, PCC is assessing the feasibility of providing affordable housing for students at the site. Student housing is very new to the college and will take some time to evaluate, Rebecca pointed out.

However, it is of great interest to PCC administrators, given the pressure on Portland’s housing market and the growing number of PCC students who experience housing insecurity.

PCC will ask community members for input during the planning phase, but isn’t prepared yet to name the timeframe. “I would anticipate a very broad and inclusive community engagement process,” Rebecca said.

PCC wants to honor the community in regard to the Metro Workforce Center site with more lengthy, more across-theboard discussions over the next three to five years. That’s a new approach for the community college.

“PCC values Metro Center as both a college and a community asset,” Rebecca said.

“Over the coming year we’re looking forward to hearing from community members in a variety of venues to better understand needs and expectations. This may add some time to the overall project schedule, but we feel it is well worth it.”

Tamara Anne Fowler is a copy/content editor, fiction editor and accountability coach. Visit her at EditKitten.com, email her at Tamara@ editkitten.com or call 310.359.6038. She would love to hear from you.

By Marsha Sandman | CNA Media Team

When money comes knocking at your door do you answer? You might if you own one of the 116 accessory short-term rentals in the Concordia neighborhood.

What is an accessory short-term rental (ASTR)? According to the Portland Bureau of Development Services (BDS), “An ASTR is where an individual or family resides in a dwelling unit and rents bedrooms to overnight guests for less than 30 days.”

Regulations allow ASTRs in houses, attached houses, duplexes, manufactured homes on their own lots, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Each ASTR type has unique requirements based on the number of bedrooms and structure type. Six or more guest room rentals at one time are not considered ASTRs.

If sharing your home or ADU sounds appealing, there are a few hoops the city requires you to jump through:

• Fill out an application.
• Notify your immediate neighbors with the city’s form letter, “Neighborhood Notice.”
• Pay a permit fee rental ($180 and more).
• Obtain a permit from BDS every two years ($50 and more). In the intervening renewal years – or years two, four, eight, 10, etc. – the resident may self-certify compliance with the bedroom requirements.
• Have the rental bedroom(s) inspected by BDS. Rental bedroom(s) are inspected every six years thereafter.

Still interested in that knock on your door? Each bedroom must have a smoke detector and may require a carbon monoxide detector.

Hosts with ASTR permits are required to occupy their residences for at least 270 days during each calendar year.

There are no limits to the number of nights you may have a short-term rental. The maximum number of days you may be away from home and renting to overnight guests is 95, or roughly three months.

Rules, rules, rules. If you operate an ASTR without the required permit, you’ll be found in violation of Portland City Code and subject to citations with civil penalties of $1,000 to $5,000. So it’s a good idea to know what you are doing before you answer that knock at your door.

For questions about ASTRs and the general inspection process, visit PortlandOregon.gov or call 503.823.7526.

If you own an ASTR or live near one, and you have an opinion you’d like to share in a subsequent issue of CNews, please contact Marsha.

After living east, south, north and west, Marsha Sandman is home at last. And she wants to hear your story. Contact her at MarshaJSandman@ gmail.com.

By Rachel Richards | CNA Media Team

You CAN teach an old park new tricks. Seventy-eight-year-old Fernhill Park will soon sport a new splash pad, the thoroughly modern version of running through a sprinkler.

Splash pads have replaced wading pools in several Portland parks. According to Portland Parks and Recreation project manager Travis Ruybal, children of all ages love the opportunity for water play provided by these features that shoot water into the air to allow a fun cool down on hot summer days.

Another benefit of splash pads is no city employees are needed to operate them, and parents are expected to supervise their children playing.

Restroom renovation is part of the project, with relocation of doors and windows in line with ADA requirements. Travis said he plans to invite the Beaumont Middle School students who last year painted the murals – one on each of the four exterior walls – to touch up and add to the mural when the renovations are complete. Additional project elements involve water service lines, benches and irrigation improvements.

New amenities will also include bike racks and updated drinking fountains, as well as additional picnic tables. New sidewalks and pathways are being added to make the park more accessible for all members of the community.

“The improvements will provide enhanced opportunity at the park, allowing the community to come recreate together at the new splash pad, paths and the other furnishings,” Travis pointed out.

These new amenities join the current baseball field, dog off-leash area, horseshoe pit, paved paths, picnic tables, playground, soccer field, softball field, tennis court, track and volleyball court on 26.63 acres. The park is open daily from 5 a.m. until midnight, and the splash pad will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Labor Day.

Travis said construction is slated to wrap up this month, with an Aug. 25 grand opening of the splash pad. Keep an eye on Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX for details.

The costs for the project total $1.25 million dollars, with $500,000 provided by the Parks Bond Development Measure voters approved in 2014 and $750,000 from System Development Charges (SDCs).

Those SDCs are one-time fees assessed on new development to cover a portion of the costs of providing specific types of public infrastructure. They are for urgent repairs and other capital costs, not park operations.

“Park SDCs help ensure that Portland’s quality of life keeps pace with our growing and changing city,” Travis pointed out. “They provide additional parks and recreation facilities needed to accommodate growth.”

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.