New header
Issue #59
Posted January 9, 2010
Founded 2007
Also in This Issue
* 2009's "green" holiday
* Uninsured kids cared for
* The Datebook
Hillsdale News Sponsors

Westside Kung Fu
Visit WestsideAcademy of Kung Fu site

Forum persentation
Visit Sunstone site

Legacy hospice 2009

Visit Hopewell House Hospice site


Forum persentation

Visit Meyer & Wyse site

Air Hillsdale Logo

Owner Appreciation days
Friday - Sunday, Jan. 15 -17

Visit Food Front site


Alissa at Korkage


Visit Paloma Clothing site

Salon Dirk logo

Spa Haircolor Salon Dirk site


Korkage Logo

Visit Korkage Wine Shop



Alissa at Korkage

Visit Dianne Rodway's site


Celeste's new logo

Visit Celeste Lewis Architecture, LLC



Bonnie Crowley new

Visit Bonny Crowley's site

Jeff Devine
Chiropractic Physician


Om Base Yoga
Commentary:

Disclosure

Alissa at KorkageThe new year is a good time to remind  readers that I, as the editor and principal reporter for this publication, wear another hat. I'm a neighbor who gets involved in this community.

In short, I am violating a journalistic commandment: Thou shalt not be participant in the stories you write.

Every so often I caution you about my transgression partly in hopes of ameliorating it. I also invite you to write me when you think it is causing a problem. I will print your concerns.

I confess I am conflicted about my dual role.

Partly in the interest of disclosure, I will share three examples of how the conflict has played out.

As a neighbor, I occasionally take very public positions at neighborhood association meetings. For instance, I adamantly opposed the plan to rebuild Hillsdale Terrace on its current, isolated site. As a reporter, I reported on the pros and cons in the debate, but I didn't specifically identify my own outspoken opposition.

(I did, however, state my opposition in this "commentary" section.)

Another example: I supported the idea of having a one-day Capitol Highway street celebration next summer. The idea entailed closing the street for eight hours. I even convened a meeting last month to discuss it. Again, my reporting did not mention my involvement.

(FYI: We dropped the closure idea for lack of volunteers to help make it happen.)

I believe my reporting was fair in both cases. Indeed, I sometimes go out of my way to share views I disagree with just to make absolutely sure folks holding those views feel they have received a fair hearing.

One last example: I am on the board of the Hillsdale Community Foundation and for the past year I've been its acting chair. I've also reported on the foundation's deliberations and decisions. I have not mentioned my own role in the stories.

Are you okay with my dual role? Does my disclosure of conflict remove concerns you might have?

Should I attach such disclosures to stories like ones mentioned above?

Another approach is to assign someone else to write these stories. Any volunteers out there? If I do that, the question becomes: Should I edit stories in which I'm involved?

Another solution is to adhere to the journalistic commandment: Drop any active involvement in the community, resign from the foundation board and muzzle myself at neighborhood and business association meetings. Just stick to reporting. After all, I have this "commentary" column in which I can state my views. Shouldn't that be enough?

Journalism is changing and becoming "hyper-local." Whether my kind of local activism/journalism is now permissible is an open question. I invite you to help me search for an answer here in Hillsdale.

Thanks

The new year is also a good time to offer thanks.

While this publication is an all-volunteer effort, it does come with costs (primarily web hosting with Oakstand and distribution services through Constant Contact) The sponsors listed above pay those costs. When you patronize them, please join me in thanking them for supporting the Hillsdale News.

Recently Brian Olsen, a technical writer interested in making the switch to journalism, has volunteered to help report for The News. His only "pay" is a lot of editing and advice from me. He seems to think it's a fair trade. I appreciate the energy and dedication he has brought to The News.

Finally, if you, or someone you know would like to help out with our Hillsdale coverage, please let me know. Write me at [email protected]

Rick Seifert
Click HERE for past newsletters
or you can click on this icon...


Links to Hillsdale organizations

HNA traffic island meeting

The Neighborhood Assocation drew a crowd eager to comment on the Cheltenham "island."

 Neighbors: Traffic "island" causes more problems than it solves

The city's Hillsdale bike boulevard plans collided with neighborhood safety concerns at the January 6 Hillsdale Neighborhood Association meeting.

Because of the controversy, the meeting at St. Barnabas Church was one of the best attended in recent months.

Many of the 35 attendees were upset neighbors living near a new traffic island recently installed at the complex intersection of Pendleton Street, Cheltenham Street, Cheltenham Drive and Cheltenham Court.

Some called the new island "an obstruction" that made the intersection less safe and more confusing.

Other neighbors were more concerned about the intersection of Westwood Drive with Terwilliger Parkway. They wanted it made safer, particularly for cars leaving Westwood and trying to go north on Terwilliger. The intersection is directly in front of the Chart House restaurant and its well-used entrance.

The Westwood/Terwilliger problem is still under consideration by city traffic engineers, but neighbors made it clear to Mark Lear, the city's traffic safety program manager, that a proposal to place an island in the middle of Terwilliger would make matters worse.

Meanwhile, the new island at the Cheltenham/Pendleton intersection will likely stay, despite criticism at the meeting, said Lear, who lives three blocks from the intersection and bikes to work.

He said new traffic features often draw similar criticism. "Any change is hard," he said in an interview after the meeting.
Traffic Island #59
Lear told the meeting that engineers had determined the island was the best way to define the intersection to make it more safe. (It is shown here as approached from SW Pendleton.)

But, Lear added, the City will continue to evaluate the island as part of the new Westwood/Dewitt bicycle boulevard. He will meet with interested neighbors at the site at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 30.

Among them will be Susan Narizny. She and others at the association meeting disagreed that the island had helped. Narizny, who lives on Cheltenham Drive, a steep street above the new island, worried that a snow-overed island would be hidden and hit by sliding cars.

Narizny said that because the island narrows traffic lanes, it makes the intersection less safe and encourages some make dangerous short cuts around the island.

She said that simply installing stop signs at all the corners would be the easiest solution. Lear responded that the amount of traffic didn't merit a five-way stop. As for sliding cars, he said it would be better for them to hit the snow-covered island than to slide into the intersection where they could hit other vehicles.

Several neighbors said they hadn't been notified of two meetings held last summer to discuss a "Westwood/Dewitt" bike boulevard. The boulevard is intended to give bicyclists a safer commute route than Capitol Highway offers.

Lear agreed it was an error that only property owners living along the proposed bike boulevard had been notified.

The new island with striping and signage costs $15,000 and is part of the citywide bike boulevard program. It is not an effort to solve larger safety problems, Lear said. The Westwood/Dewitt bike route passes through the intersection where engineers concluded a traffic island was needed to give priority to the most used traffic lanes.

At the suggestion of neighbors, the City is considering installing reflectors on the island, filling in a roadside ditch, painting fog lines to define bike and pedestrian lanes and  striping a crosswalk across Cheltenham at Pendleton.

The association also overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for more data about the intersection. (The vote was 24 for, none against, with 5 absentions)
A "green" Christmas

Holiday sales brighten local shops

By Brian Olsen

For many Hillsdale merchants who found Christmas of 2008 disastrously snow-bound white. the 2009 holiday season was decidedly "green."
  
Mike Roach, co-owner of Paloma Clothing, said shopkeepers were lucky they had normal weather nearly all month. December sales at Paloma were almost 30 percent better this holiday season than in 2008, he reported.
Cheryl Richardson
Roach, who is president of the Hillsdale Business and Professional Assocation, said customers seemed to be going out of their way to support local businesses. Like other merchants, he reported that budget-conscious customers were on the lookout for "value."

Margot Wilcoxon, head chef of Salvador Molly's, said people seem to be more confident, but she agreed that they are looking for value. The restaurant's new menu introduced in November is geared to the value conscious, she said.

SweetWares, a shop that caters to home-cooking needs, had "a phenomenal" holiday season, said Cheryl Richardson (pictured here), who co-owns the store with her husband Dave, daughter Julie and son-in-law Matt Kappler.

The family also owns Baker & Spice just a few doors away in the Hillsdale Shopping Center.

Cheryl said that since opening SweetWares in October 2008, she is adjusting to customer wants, which include "Made in America" items. She says Portland-made whisks, US-made cake stands, and colorful California bisque bowls have been among the store's most popular items. Aprons made in British Columbia have also been hot items.

Baker & Spice had an 8.5 percent increase in business over last season, said Dave.

Joanna Dirk, owner of the Spa at Haircolor Salon Dirk, reported increased business this year. She is finding that customers would rather come to her Hillsdale salon than fight the parking hassles downtown.

At the post office, clerk Martha Younie reported that while more and more people were sending Holiday greetings via e-mail, package mailings remained steady. 
 
Although many businesses were helped by December 2009's weather, a few owners said they thrive on the mounds of snow that forces "neighborhood-bound" people to slow down and "shop local."

The Food Front Co-operative grocery was among them. Tom Mattox, community outreach and marketing director, said snow and impassable roads show how important it is to have a grocery store in the town center.
 
And at Impulse Video, manager Jake Eckelman said he welcomes snow, gobs of it. Renting movies goes with curling up to wait out the weather. He's hoping for more snow this year.
 
Many businesses believe that "value" promotions and improved consumer confidence will carry the green of the holiday season into an even greener 2010.
  
Food Front is focusing on building relationships within the community, said Mattox. The Co-op is offering food tasting on Hillsdale Farmers' Market dates and a contest to create the ingredients of a new "Wilson" sandwich. The contest winner will receive a free sandwich every week for a year.

At Baker & Spice, the Richardsons will be celebrating their five-year anniversary by participating in "National Pie Day," Saturday, January 23. The bakery will have balloons and special pies. And SweetWares will hold pie-baking demonstrations.

The bakery's anniversary is all the more celebratory because in the last two economically challenging years, Baker & Spice's business has increased 18 percent.

Did someone say something about a recession?



Uninsured children respond
to clinic's free care offer

From her Fanno Creek Clinic office Dr. Lisa Sullivan, a pediatrician, had seen the Hispanic woman and her three children walk by. Sullivan (shown here) had also seen the woman at a nearby Hillsdale bus stop.
Dr. Lisa Sullivan
The doctor suspected the children might qualify for the clinic's free primary physician care.

"I kept thinking, 'How do we reach that population with information about our program?'" she said.

Surprisingly, within days of her asking the question, she got an answer. The woman and her children made an appointment with Sullivan.

A social worker had told the mother of the special program, which started in mid-December and will last until the end of February. One of the three children was uninsured and is now being seen by Sullivan. The others had insurance through an Oregon program designed to help the poor.

Sullivan, who lives in Hillsdale, came to the clinic in October from a practice in Salem. Given Southwest Portland's reputation as being relatively affluent, she's been surprised by just how many uninsured children there are here.

Sullivan and two other doctors in the clinic's new pediatrics department are seeing patients under the program. Sullivan gets most of the new patients and is now seeing, on average, five a day. And the numbers are slowly increasing as the word gets out, she said.

Since the program began, two children have been in serious enough condition that Sullivan immediately referred them to the hospital and to specialists. One required surgery.

Sullivan emphasizes that the clinic is providing free primary care services only. Patients referred to specialists need to make arrangements with them. Social workers made arrangements in the case of the two hospitalized children, she said.

When Fanno Creek Clinic's free care program ends Feb. 28, the pediatricians will charge on a sliding scale based on ability to pay.

Sullivan said she was attracted to Fanno Creek Clinic because of its commitment to community service and health. With a bachelor's degree in social work, she is drawn to helping those in need. In Salem, she often worked with poor immigrant families through Headstart in Woodburn. "When I decided to practice in Portland, I was actually worried I'd lose that social service part of practice," she said.

Now she's heartened to be serving the same clientele here through the clinic's program.
The Date Book


Monday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m.

Workshop on saving for college

A workshop subtitled "How Can I Afford to Send My Kids to College?" will be held at the Robert Gray Middle School's  Cafetorium. Ken Carraro, parent of two former Robert Gray (now college-educated) students and a registered Financial Advisor, will describe the steps to prepare for the cost of college. The talk is presented by the Robert Gray PTA.

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.

Wilson Winter Concert

The Wilson HS Instrumental Music Department holds its Winter Concert in the Cosgrove Auditorium of Wilson HS.  The Jazz Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Chamber Orchestra will perform.  Admission is free but donations are gladly accepted to help support Wilson's music program.


Wednesday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m.

Capitol Highway on-street parking demonstration discussion

Those interested in organizing a one-day, 8-hour demonstration of what on-street parking might look like on Capitol Highway between Bertha Court and Sunset are meeting at the Watershed Building (Bertha Court and Capitol) community room. The idea being explored would consist of collector cars being parallel parked on the block during the Sunday of the Blueberry Pancake Breakfast, July 25. Organizers have written Mayor Adams about the idea but so far he has yet to respond.

Wednesday, Jan. 20, 6:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Former Israeli ambassador to talk on exodus of Ethiopian Jews

Asher Naim will give a talk titled "The Behind the Scenes Story of Operation Solomon: The Exodus of Ethiopian Jews to Israel-then and now." Naim, a retired member of Israel's Foreign Ministry, served as Israel's Ambassador to Ethiopia in the '90s and oversaw Operation Solomon, the airlift of thousands of Falashas to Israel. At the Stampfer Chapel at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane. Free and open to the public

Thursday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

SW Trails to hear City report on pedestrian funding

April Bertelsen, pedestrian coordinator of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, will discuss funding for pedestrian projects. Southwest Portland's walkability score is 54 versus the citywide average of 66. SW Trails is an advocate for improved pedestrian facilities in Southwest. At St. Luke's Lutheran  Church library, 6835 SW 46th.

Monday, Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Edible Garden Resource Fair

Planning for 2010's gardens. For experienced gardeners and newcomers. Food from local eateries and  door prizes. Sponsored by the Southwest Neighborhoods Garden Forum. Free! (donations to SWNI gladly accepted and we will be accepting canned food donations for Neighborhood House food box). Multnomah Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway. For more information or to sign up to volunteer for the event, contact: Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. at (503) 823-4592

Wednesdays, Feb. 3, 10, 24, March 3, 10  9:30 a.m.

Robert Gray Middle School Tours for fifth graders and parents

The tours will include visits to 6th-grade classrooms. RGMS serves students in grades 6-8 in  Hillsdale. The curriculum expands the core academic background with elective classes in art, band, choir, journalism, and technology. SUN School programs provide students with before- and after-school enrichment activities. For more information call (503) 916-5676 or go to www.gray.pps.k12.or.us/.
ALSO: Parent Information Night:  7 p.m/, Wednesday, Feb. 24.


Rick Seifert
Editor, Hillsdale News
(503) 245-7821
[email protected]