Job Post: FULL TIME or PART TIME ELECTRICIANS

Mr. Sun Solar is looking for full time or part time electricians.  You must be agile enough to work on rooftops and in confining spaces like attics.  Experience installing solar photovoltaic systems is helpful but not necessary.    An active Oregon Journeyman Electrician card, or higher, is necessary.  A Washington Journeyman Electrician license is helpful, but not required.  Pay is  based on qualifications, experience, and performance.  Call 503 222-2468 or send resume to jp@mrsunsolar.com

Alberta Street Bar Meeting- Nov 17th

The City's Liquor Licensing Program is working with the 53 liquor license establishments along Alberta as well as neighbors and neighborhood associations to create something called a collaborative bar agreement meant to decrease negative impacts from late night activities on the neighborhood. The City has already met twice with the licensed establishments to brainstorm ideas - they are now looking for input from neighbors.

What: Alberta Street Bar Meeting
When: Thursday, November 17, 6PM
Where: Kennedy School Community Room
6332 NE 35th Ave., Portland 97211

Community Events and Announcements

Please see below for upcoming community events and announcements shared with us by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods.

1.           Turning Brown into Green
Restore our Community, Rebuild our Wealth

Please join the People of Color Health Equity Collaborative (P.O.C.H.E.C.) and Oregon Action for an Economic Forum that will focus on brownfields and local economic community development.

Date:   Saturday, November 12, 2011

Time:   11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Place:  Constructing Hope
             408 NE Church Street

             (@ the north east corner of MLK Blvd.)

             Portland, OR 97211

             Phone: 503-281-1234

To RSVP or for more information contact:
Steven Gilliam
Phone: 971.634.0004
Email: Steven@oregonaction.org

2. Want to help Portland residents effectively resolve conflicts?

Resolutions Northwest (RNW) is now accepting applications for our annual Volunteer Mediation Training.  This 38-hour basic mediation training is free in exchange for a one-year weekly ongoing training and volunteer commitment to help diverse neighbors and communities in Portland resolve conflicts with each other. Application deadline: November 18, 2011.  Training dates in Jan., 2011.  More information and application forms can be obtained at http://www.resolutionsnorthwest.org/become_volunteer_mediator or (503) 595-4890.  RNW is committed to the goals of equal opportunity and affirmative action in education and volunteerism. We encourage all interested to apply.

3. The proposed draft of The Portland Plan is now available.  You can find both the full length plan and the summary online here:http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?&c=56527

The Portland Plan is a community-wide process to create a 25-year strategic plan for the future of the city. Ultimately, this plan should help to set direction and prioritize funding decisions for the City.  If you are interested in commenting on the plan, please send comments to psc@portlandoregon.gov with the subject line "Portland Plan testimony." Or attend one of three upcoming hearings on the Plan.  The NE hearing will be November 8^th at 5:30pm at Jefferson high school.

4.  Families are Invited To Celebrate the Launch of the New Citywide Curbside Collection Service at the Portland Farmers Market Great Pumpkin Event on October 29

Pumpkin carving contest, children’s costume parade and prizes to celebrate curbside collection service changes starting Halloween week

On Saturday, October 29^th all Portland area children and adults are invited to the Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University for pumpkin carving, a costume parade and more.  For more info, please contact Jocelyn Boudreaux of BPS at 503.823.3660 or,jocelyn.boudreaux@portlandoregon.gov

5. And please remember, Neighborhood Small Grants and Graffiti Abatement Grant applications are due November 1^st! November 1^stis also the date of the CEDC Speaker Series Kick-off event, A Historical Perspective for Today's Understanding: Economic Development in NE Portland!  Please let us know if you will be joining us at 6pm at Curious Comedy for this exciting event. For more infohttp://necoalition.org/page.cfm?TITLE=news&RECORDID=111 and to RSVP, please call 503.823.4575 or email info@necoalition.org

Cell tower public comment session on Wednesday, October 26th

Courtesy of Representative Michael Dembrow's newsletter:

"Proposed T-Mobile Wireless Installation—Good Thing Or Bad?
Neighborhood opposition to cell towers is not a new issue in Portland.  The City Council recently created a new public process for proposed wireless installations, including a requirement that the cell company hold a public community meeting where neighbors can provide input and suggestions for changes to any proposed installation.  One of these meetings is coming up on Wednesday, October 26th, regarding a proposed installation in the Alameda-Concordia neighborhood.  T-Mobile is proposing a wireless installation on top of a utility pole on NE Prescott and 31st.  We’ve been hearing a lot from constituents about this proposed installation, with strong feelings on both sides of the issue.  I’ll be attending myself to hear first-hand what people have to say.  I hope you’ll join me.

What: Community Meeting on T-Mobile Wireless Installation
When: Wednesday, October 26th from 7:00-8:30 PM
Where: The Little Church (5138 NE 23rd Ave.)"

Class: Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Portland

Kol Peterson, a Sabin neighborhood resident, is offering a one day class called 'Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Portland' on Sunday, November 6^th. Learn more at pdxadu.blogspot.com

If you’re like me, you enjoy walking the streets around our neighborhood, marveling at what neighbors have done with their houses, landscapes and yards. If you look more closely, you may spot a second smaller house, set back from the street, sitting where a lawn might normally be. These small, standalone houses, sometimes converted from old garages, and sometimes built as new construction, are called Accessory Dwelling Units, or “ADUs”.

Two months ago, I completed an ADU in my backyard. My partner and I immediately moved into our 800 sq ft charmer and now are renting out the main house. I had many motivations for building an ADU, but the notion of a building a financially sustainable housing situation for myself was the most compelling reason.

While the upfront cost of building the ADU was expensive ($92K), I now live for “free”, as the mortgage on the primary house is offset entirely by the rental income that the primary house now generates. Building an ADU on a property is neither cheap nor simple, but if you’re a homeowner with an inclination to have an ADU on your property, NOW is a great time to think about building one. Not only does Portland’s zoning/building code allow ADUs (which is surprisingly rare), but Portland has temporarily waived System Development Charges (typically, $7-12K) through June, 2013, in an attempt to popularize ADUs. The City recognizes that ADUs are a smart way to add density in the city core, while not dramatically changing the character of its neighborhoods. The $7-12K incentive is nothing to scoff at, and with June 2013 only one and half years away, many homeowners have begun to think about building an ADU more seriously.

If you are a homeowner in the area, think about whether building an ADU may be an interesting option for you to pursue for your property: Maybe you’d like an ADU for some flexible living space for a family member, or maybe you'd like to have one as rental property for some additional income, or maybe like me, you actually want to live in a smaller space that you built for yourself from scratch so you can live at little to no cost in perpetuity.

And, for those of you who enjoy sustainability, and community housing….maybe you have been inspired by Sabin Green, or by other green buildings in the neighborhood....consider this: reducing your environmental footprint is primarily about where you build and what size you build. Building an ADU in Portland is actually one of the most green building decisions you can make for you and for future residents of Portland.

In the course of building my ADU, I became so passionate about them that I have begun to offer classes to help others who want to build one. The one day class is an on-ramp to the elaborate process of designing and building an ADU. It will open your eyes to the spectrum of information that you’ll need to know to design and build an ADU on your property. The class is intended to help you understand the ADU design, permit, management, and building process.

If you’re interested in learning more, visit Kol’s blog at http://pdxadu.blogspot.com/p/adu-class.html

Sabin School Boundary / Enrollment Changes...AGAIN

Portland Public Schools is again looking at making changes to many of the K-8 and middle schools in N/NE, including Sabin. The changes are not set yet, but could possibly involved boundary or grade reconfiguration changes.

Please come to one of the upcoming community meetings to ask questions and provide input.

Here are the community meeting times.

Oct. 27, 6-7:30 p.m. Sabin PK-8 School auditorium, 4013 N.E. 18th Ave.

Nov. 2, 6-8 p.m. Rigler K-8 School auditorium, 5401 N.E. Prescott St.

Nov. 3, 6:30-8 p.m. Alameda Elementary School cafeteria, 2732 N.E. Fremont St.

Nov. 7, tentative date, time to be determined Irvington K-8 School, 1320 N.E. Brazee St.

Nov. 8, time to be determined Beaumont Middle School, 4043 N.E. Fremont St.

Vernon PK-8 School, time and date to be determined.

For the latest meeting schedule, go to pps.net (click “Enrollment Balancing” at bottom left) or email enrollment-office@pps.net.

General Meeting TONIGHT at 6:30pm at the Sabin School!

In case you haven't heard through our printed newsletter, tonight is the Fall General Meeting for the Sabin Community Association. We're holding it at the Sabin School (2nd floor auditorium) and once again, there will be a plant exchange outside. We're beginning tonight at 6:30pm with social time and will be reviewing plans for the Sabin Triangle design. Friends of Trees will be there if you want to sign up to have a tree planted. Do come and meet your neighbors, fill us in on what is going on with you and learn how you can get involved in making our neighborhood a great place to live!

Free childcare will be provided.

See you there!

2012 Neighborhood Small Grants and Graffiti Abatement Grants: $30,444 Available!

The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods is offering $23,794 in small grant funds and $6,650 in graffiti abatement funds to neighborhood, business and community-based groups. NECN will offer $1000-$4000 per project within the Neighborhood Small Grant program and up to $2,500 per graffiti abatement project. Past projects funded by NECN include community orchards, tours of African American murals, afterschool programs, community outreach projects, website design, murals, graffiti clean-up and multicultural festivals.

The goal of the grant program is to provide opportunities for building community and increasing and sustaining involvement in neighborhood associations, district coalitions and the community at-large. This program prioritizes engagement of historically under-represented organizations representing people of color, immigrants and refugees, low-income families, youth, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered people.

Interested in Applying?

If so, we strongly encourage you to attend the small grants orientation session. This year, NECN will host both an Orientation and a separate, hands-on, interactive Small Grant Workshop.

Orientation: September 21st, 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

This informational session will answer questions about the application, the committee review process, what funds can be used for and NECN's unique priorities.  Please RSVP to imani@necoalition.org or 503.823.4264

Small Grant Workshop on October 6th, from 7:00pm - 8:30pm. 

This workshop is meant to give grant applicants a chance to receive direct feedback on how to make their proposals stronger. Draft proposal in hand, participants will pair up and review each others drafts.  Please RSVP to Katy@necoalition.org or 503.823.4135.  Please remember to bring your draft proposal!

Click here for more information and to download an application

Application Deadline is November 1st, 2011 at 5:00pm.

Upcoming Events and Information for NE Portland Residents

Hello neighbors!

Please see below for a variety of announcements about upcoming events, important dates and information available to you. 

• Spirit of Portland Award nominations due this Monday, August 22^nd.  More info here: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=29024

•  The Urban Food Code Zoning Code Update Survey has been extended.  This project is exploring updates to Portland’s zoning code as it relates to urban food production and distribution and animals.  The following link has information about the concept report and the survey.  Please pass along to those you think may want to weigh in.  http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=53834

•  The N/NE Quadrant planning project would like public input on the concepts developed so far.  Please visit,www.portlandonline.com/bps/cc2035/nneq to review the information and take a survey to provide your feedback.

• The N. Williams Traffic Operations Safety Project will be holding a community forum in October to explore how the traffic operations safety project relates to gentrification, privilege, historic disenfranchisement, community power, and the nature of public decision-making. More information available soon.

•  The Hayden Island Natural Resources Inventory Draft report is available for review.  This report is the first step in updating the Environmental Program on Hayden Island.  This is part of the planning work for a mix of marine terminal development and open spaces on West Hayden Island.   The report is available here: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?a=360015&c=50960

•  The Coalition for a Livable Future is accepting registrations for the 2011 Regional Livability Summit.  This year’s Summit will take place on September 14^th and the theme is Climate Equity.  Please visit, www.clfuture.org for more information.

•  Save the date for the Urban League of Portland’s Equal Opportunity Day Awards Dinner to celebrate the mission of the League and honor those who support and serve our community.  The event will be Thursday, November 17^th.  More info, here: http://www.ulpdx.org/EOD2011.html

•  Finally, please watch for more information coming soon about the Neighborhood Small Grants program, a new Speaker Series on community economic development and the Local Leaders Institute! Small Grants information will be available early September and the Speaker Series and Local Leaders Institute are both coming this fall!

--
Shoshana Cohen
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
www.necoalition.org

Whole Foods is getting a Face Lift

Dear Sabin Neighbors,

My name is Patty Richards and I am the Store Team Leader for the Sabin neighborhood Whole Foods Market located on 15^th and Fremont. I am absolutely thrilled to announce to you our plans to remodel our store this summer. It feels amazing to take action after the many years of planning ways to improve your shopping experience in our store. It is important for you to know that our plans have been heavily influenced by your direct feedback. We heard from you the desire to have more prepared food offerings as well as enhanced seating to enjoy our great food. We heard from you that produce needs to expand and provide more options. We heard your frustrations with the diagonal aisles and the awkward use of space. We heard your concerns with the lack of ease and comfort of our check out. We heard your thoughts on lighting and brightness. I am happy to report that our remodel will address all of these things and so much more. It continues to be our goal to satisfy and delight our neighbors each and every day and our team at Fremont is committed to making this a reality.

We would love to hear additional ideas and feedback regarding our remodel. Next time you are in the store please feel free to ask for me and I will be happy to answer any questions.  You can also reach me through our website www.wholefoods.com/stores/fremont and selecting “contact store”.

See you in the store soon,

Patty Richards

Sabin Annual Potluck Picnic: National Night Out & Volunteer Appreciation

Tuesday, August 2nd, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Join us for what always is an enjoyable summer evening of meeting your neighbors. Participate in our raffle to get the chance to win an iPad!

Every year the Sabin Community Association holds a potluck picnic to recognize the work of the many volunteers who have worked on behalf of the community that year. This year we are expanding our annual get together to also include an update on plans for the redesign of the Sabin “Triangle” and plans for the August remodel of our neighborhood Whole Foods store!

In order to highlight our design plans for the Triangle, we will be picnicking this year at the Triangle, at the corner of NE Prescott and 15th (instead of at the hydro park). Please plan on joining us and don’t forget to bring a dish to share with your neighbors. See you there!

Public alert system

PublicAlerts.org is a website managed by the City of Portland that enables residents of Portland and Multnomah County to sign up to receive emergency notifications by landline phone, cell phone and email. The website also regularly posts information about street closures, highway road conditions, transit schedules and service alerts, and other service disruptions. All NET members are encouraged to sign up at this website:
https://www.publicalerts.org/signup

- and to promote the website to others in the community.

Mark your Calendars: Monday May 9th --- SCA Plant Exchange and General Meeting

The SCA Plant Exchange and Bi-Annual General Meeting is Monday, May 9th!!!

This year we are hosting our first of many plant exchanges and presenting some fantastic designs for the remodel of Sabin Triangle (SW corner of 15th and Prescott). All of the events listed below take place at Sabin School on Monday, May 9th.

Childcare will be provided.

6-7pm--- We will host Sabin’s free neighborhood plant exchange where neighbors/friends who love gardening get together and swap seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, potted plants, bagged plants, or other terms for easily planted flora. Please make sure all items are properly labeled (to the best of your knowledge), and potted/bagged (to the best of your ability- see Neighborhood Beets article in May edition of our printed newsletter). Our local Ariadne Garden will have a few starts for sale

as well. Tables will be setup outside on the basketball courts at Sabin Elementary (SE entrance).

7-8pm---The SCA will be presenting some concepts for how to repurpose the Sabin Triangle. Architects will be on hand to present their designs and Sabin will be asking for your input so please join us! The presentation will take place in the Sabin School auditorium and Whole Foods will provide delicious refreshments.

8-9pm--- If you want to help make your neighborhood a better place for everyone, this is your chance. We will be hosting elections to the Sabin Community Association board. Board members for July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012. The SCA and this community need your help!

If you’re interested in serving on the SCA Board for 2011-2012, please contact Austin Peterson, President, 503-519-6447 or sabinpresident@gmail.com, or Barbara Conable, Secretary, 503-283-9636 or barbconable@hevanet.com.

Designing the Heart of Sabin: Sabin Makes the News!

Designing the Heart of Sabin
By David Sweet


There is a triangle of land on the corner of 15th and Prescott. A Century ago it was the terminus for the Irvington-Jefferson Streetcar Line that ran all the way from SW 18th and Jefferson. Now it’s a slab of concrete with no particular use. What could it become? Please join us as we dream together about the future of this public space.

The Sabin Community Association’s general meeting, Monday, May 9, at Sabin School, will be devoted to a discussion of design options for the “Sabin Triangle.” There will be a social hour and plant exchange at 6:00, and the meeting begins at 7:00. Architect, Mark Nye will bring drawings of some design options for this space. Please come and help us create a community place that could become the heart of Sabin.

The Oregonian posted the following article about our community design project:
Portland neighborhood's efforts to re-imagine Sabin Triangle show how city should work

http://mobile.oregonlive.com/advorg/pm_100844/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=8C83D86F36CB64B96C447B66A43ED192?contentguid=3HCxs1xI

Letter to the Editor: Stop the CRC!

The CRC or Columbia River Crossing project as it now stands is fiscally wasteful, environmentally degrading and has manifested into a 10 billion dollar monstrosity. We, as Portlanders, have long stood fast against highway projects that cripple our budgets and diminish our quality of life. This bridge will carry 12 lanes and encourage sprawl and further pollution and nothing for us.


There are proposals to seismically retro fit the current bridge and bring light rail and pedestrian/bike lanes and this would be a far more sensible alternative. A retro fit would cost less than 100 million and create a great number of jobs. Large scale new projects have been shown repeatedly to create fewer jobs for our investment because of start up costs and consulting fees.

Imagine 100 million versus 10 billion. Imagine that much more money to invest in education, social services, public transit and other socially conscious endeavors. Only 9% of bridge traffic is commercial; the bulk of drivers are commuters who live in Vancouver and drive to work in Portland. A better use of those funds would be to encourage light rail and bus use with fare subsidies and park and ride stations.

We do not need a new boondoggle bridge. We need to preserve and protect our region from sprawl and pollution. Visit the website Stop the CRC for more info.

By William Youngren

Want to know how to be a good neighbor?

Check out this article on http://ouvcommunityoutreach.org/stories/supportive-neighbor-checklist/

Won’t You Be My Neighbor: Supportive Neighbor Checklist


This is an ongoing checklist of ideas from neighbors. Five tips appear in every issue of The Pulse, the Community Outreach quarterly e-newsletter. If you have ideas about ways to connect and make a friend of your neighbor, please email your suggestions to outreach@ourunitedvillages.org.

Suggestions from Neighbors:
1. Say hello
2. Borrow an egg
3. Host a neighborhood swap and share
4. Clean up litter in a 2-block radius from your home
5. Exchange books with each other
6. Swap seeds with a neighbor
7. Set up a BBQ in your front yard

There are 40 ways listed in this article. For more, see this site: http://ouvcommunityoutreach.org/stories/supportive-neighbor-checklist/

Friends of Trees Planting -- Saturday, March 12 -- ORDER TREES / VOLUNTEER

It's time for the annual Friends of Trees Sabin Neighborhood Tree planting! The event is next Saturday on March 12, 2011 at Holladay Park Church 2120 NE Tillamook St at 8:45 am -1:00pm It's too late to order tree for this year's planting, but we would love volunteers. This is a really fun family event. The day starts at 9:00am with bagels, juice and coffee. You will join a planting team who goes through the neighborhood helping to plant your neighbors trees. And guess what? The holes for the trees are already pre-dug the week before. You will get a little dirty and learn the proper way to plant and stake a tree.

After wards there will be lunch provided to refuel you for the rest of your Saturday. This is a great way to get to know your neighbors and get dirty on Saturday morning.

How else can you help?

Volunteer roles include:
- Planting crews
- Help with food/refreshments. Help serve or contribute a crockpot of soup or chili
- Truck drivers (we need open bed trucks to carry trees to homes)
- Helping with registration

Please contact Lisa Johnston-Smith at sabin@plantitportland.org for more info.

Report from PSU Presentation on Coyotes in NE Portland (3/3/11)

Two to three hundred people crowded into a Grant High School room at 6:30 on Thursday 3 March to hear a representative from the Audubon Society of Portland talk about coyotes in our Alameda, Sabin, King, and Cully neighborhoods. Though in the past rare west of the Cascades, coyotes have been with us here for seven or eight years, mostly keeping to themselves and feasting on rats, raccoons, goose eggs, and insects, probably to our benefit, but in the last five months Northeast coyotes have changed their behavior, killing backyard chickens and small pets, walking the sidewalks, sleeping in streets, and playing with off leash dogs in parks. A second grade class at Alameda Elementary has been tracking their sightings, inspiring Barbara Brower, geography professor at Portland State University to follow up on their work and try to understand what is happening. Last night, some of her students were present with surveys to learn more about residents’ response to the more visible presence of coyotes.

Presenters emphasized that coyotes are here to stay. If removed from a territory, they return, traveling as much as sixty miles a day. Only the alpha pair mates under ordinary circumstances, but, if they are killed or threatened, all the other coyotes in the pack mate, too, and litter size increases. Extensive study of the hundreds of Chicago coyotes shows that if coyotes are exterminated in a territory, others quickly come from outside to take their place. Therefore, our only recourse is to “restore instinctive behavior” in the animals by refusing to feed them and aggressively making noise, waving arms, and stamping feet to scare them back into hiding if they approach. 

Experts believe that the changes in coyote behavior in our neighborhoods may have come from feeding the coyotes. Some residents of Alameda defiantly feed the coyotes forty to fifty pounds of cat food every night, making the creatures comfortable to come into yards and onto porches. One resident described how a coyote who had killed his chickens ate them on the roof of his garage but left the remains on his front porch. Jeff Cogan is proposing a county wide no-feed ordinance with a hefty fine for anyone caught voluntarily feeding coyotes.

Other recommendations are to keep pets indoors, secure garbage cans and compost bins, remove fallen fruit from yards, eliminate opportunities for rats to breed in your yard, never approach coyotes but instead scare them away, remove unnecessary brush, and install motion sensitive lights or water jets.

Coyote attacks on humans are rare and usually result from human attacks on coyotes. The only known death caused by coyotes was a two year old whose parents had been feeding coyotes. Rabies is rare in coyotes in Oregon. Dogs are a much greater threat to humans than coyotes, but the behavior changes are troubling and need to be discouraged.

Community Forum feedback and next steps

Thank you to those who attended the Grant Cluster Enrollment Process Public Forum last Thursday, 1/14.  An eyeball guesstimate puts attendance at about 250 participants, many of whom engaged in small group conversation and written exercises to offer feedback to PPS on the school reconfiguration options and boundary changes for Sabin, Alameda and Beaumont schools.  The comments have been compiled and are available on the PPS website: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/system-planning-performance/5072.htm (first 4 links in right-hand column).

The next steps in the process are as follows:

• January 20 @ Sabin, 6pm: Final BAC Meeting and recommendation[s] to Superintendent
• Week of January 24: Superintendent's recommendation
• January 27 @ Beaumont, time tbd: Community Meeting on Superintendent's recommendation
• February 2: Recommendation to the Board Ad-Hoc Committee on School Assignment Program Initiation and Reconfiguration
• February 7: Board Vote

www.SabinParents.org -- Learn more and share your views

To shed additional light on the Sabin School enrollment process, a couple of Sabin parents spent last weekend developing www.SabinParents.org, "a place to gather facts, share opinions, and advocate for the students of Sabin School."  Please visit the website to learn what your neighbors are saying and to join the conversation.

Sabin School Enrollment Process Update

Dear Sabin Community Members,

Please come to the Community Forum to discuss the Sabin School boundary and enrollment process.  We need the voice of Sabin residents to be heard.

Thursday, January 13

6 to 8 pm

Beaumont School (4043 NE Fremont)

As a member of the Boundary Advisory Committee working on these issues, and as a Sabin Community Association board member, I encourage all Sabin residents and school community members to attend Thursday's meeting.  Two options will be presented at Thursday's meeting, they are simply described by PPS as follows:

Blue Option  

• Boundary change between Alameda and Sabin.  As a result, Sabin receives 25 additional incoming students per year, and fewer are assigned to Alameda.
• Sabin becomes a K-5 school that feeds to Beaumont, increasing Beaumont’s neighborhood enrollment.

Orange Option

• Boundary change between Alameda and Sabin. As a result, Sabin receives 25 additional incoming students per year, and fewer are assigned to Alameda.
• Sabin remains a K-8 school, and Beaumont has a smaller neighborhood population.

The blue option would help to increase Beaumont's enrollment, which is sorely needed, but in the near term it would leave Sabin with many fewer students than it currently has, which would lead to resource cuts.  A concern is that this may lead to a downward spiral for Sabin that is hard to pull out of.  Therefore, it is to preserve the integrity of Sabin School in the near- and long-term as a viable and thriving school for which we must advocate.   I think that two options exist to do this, either keep Sabin a K-8 or demand that PPS commit extra resources to Sabin during this "growing period" as a K-5  Please come and advocate for a strong school and a strong Sabin community.

Thank you,

Clay Veka

Sabin Community Association representative to the PPS Grant Cluster Boundary Advisory Committee

Green Building Questions Answered Here!

Metro, the City of Portland , Multnomah , Washington and Clackamas Counties want to ensure you know about their joint community resource the Regional Green Building Hotline. The Hotline provides practical and impartial information about green home strategies, resources and incentives for new and existing commercial and residential projects in the region. We’ll answer your questions about ways to reduce your carbon footprint, renewable energy, indoor air quality, salvage, training workshops and more. The Hotline is a bridge to the information, programs and local resources to help you be as green as you would like to be.

Inquiries are welcomed from homeowners, renters, real estate professionals, non-profits, contractors, students, developers, business owners and design professionals in the tri-county area. It is the Hotline’s intent to inspire callers (not overwhelm!) to incorporate as many sustainable choices, either material or behavioral, into their projects as possible. The Hotline can also help callers overcome barriers and obstacles they have around green building.

A great place to start is right where you are, know which resources are available and take it one day at a time. How can you get money back on my stormwater/sewer bill? What actions can you take to save on your home energy use? Where can you tour a green home? When is the next class on rain gardens? What is the WaterSense label? How can I retrofit my house to age-in-place? Can I get a rebate for planting a tree? Call us!

The FREE Regional Green Building Hotline can help! 503.823.5431
http://www.buildgreen411.com/
we tweet! @greenhotline
join us on Facebook: Green Development Resource Center .

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on the Hotline at 503-823-5431.

Best wishes,
Valerie Garrett

Sabin School News

Dear Sabin Community Members,
I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season, and an opportunity to spend time with friends and family. I want to inform of two important upcoming events:

Sabin Middle School Orientation Night
Want to know more about the strengths of our Middle School program? Curious about our International Baccalaureate Programme? Our middle school teachers and I will give an overview of our outstanding program.

This will be held on Wednesday, January 12 from 6:00-7:00 PM in the Sabin Auditorium. This is open to all community members who are interested in our wonderful program. Please RSVP to Rachel at 503-916-6181.

Grant Cluster Enrollment Process
Portland Public Schools is currently exploring options to develop a stable enrollment plan for the following Grant Cluster schools: Alameda, Sabin, and Beaumont Schools and ACCESS program.

PPS will hold a community forum to provide input on options for balancing enrollment across these 4 schools on January 13 from 6:00-8:00 PM at Beaumont Middle School.

Please contact me at 503-916-6181, or by email at adauch@pps.k12.or.us if you have any questions.

Yours in education,
Andrew Dauch, Principal

More Sabin School News

Sabin SUN School Classes
New and exciting adult and family SUN School Classes for 2011! (See Community Calendar for schedule.)

FAMILY OPEN GYM – Mondays, 5:30-6:30
ADULT YOGA – Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30
ADULT ZUMBA – Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30
(childcare provided)
FAMILY FUTSAL – Fridays, 4-5:30

Kindergarten Round-Up
If you have prospective Sabin School student, please join us for one of our two informative presentations and tours to get a first-hand look inside the school and classrooms. Presentations are Tuesday, February 1st at 9am and 6pm. Additionally, school tours will be available for prospective families at 9am each Friday morning, 2/4 – 3/4.