July 23, 2013

The Right Brain Initiative and the King School are showcasing young student photography at the North Portland Library this summer.

The Right Brain Initiative is a partnership among public school, local government, foundations, businesses, and the cultural community.  The program, managed by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, works to transform learning for all children through the arts, creativity, innovation, and whole-brain thinking.

The library will showcase black-and-white images of local first and second graders and their neighbors.  All of the artwork was done by students at Northeast Portland's King School.  King was selected for the Turnaround Arts initiative, a public-private partnership of the President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities - chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Stop by the library this summer to enjoy the artwork and learn more about the project!

Student Art Show Reception

July 23, 2013  5 - 7pm

North Portland Library Community Room

512 N Killingsworth

King School students will showcase photography at North Portland Library

Casey Parks in The Oregonian

July 24, 2013

The Portland Water Bureau (PWB) is excited to launch “Sprinkler Times,” a water and money saving irrigation application for smartphone users.

The new app is free and easy to use. From your smartphone, you can determine the best time to most efficiently turn on your automatic sprinkler system to keep your outdoor space like an oasis.

This cool and helpful tool will walk you through your individual landscape to calculate how much water each zone needs based on your zip code, type of plants, soil, and sun exposure. Don’t worry, if you are not a smartphone user, you can take advantage of this helpful tool by using the online program from your tablet or desktop computer.

For more information about the Sprinkle Times, visit their website at www.SprinklerTimes.com. Get free access to the irrigation app by visiting the Portland Water Bureau Website to get a promotional code.

Save water, save money, stay green!

July 24, 2013

This morning, City Council welcomed Becky Blumer, Executive Director at Hands On Portland, Christa Thoeresz, Community Relations Director for the Portland Timbers, and Timber Joey to proclaim August 4 – 10, 2013 as Portland Timbers Stand Together Week!

Stand Together Week is a call to action by the City, the Portland Timbers, and our community partners to inspire people to give back through community service. The week-long celebration brings together nearly 1,000 volunteers from our community in an effort to support local, mission-driven non-profits.

Last year Stand Together Week totaled 1,454 hours of service hours. This year, participate in close to 30 projects and give back to your community!

Community projects include building homes, tending gardens, restoring local parks, pulling ivy, painting schools, and much more.

To find an event or sign up to volunteer for Portland Timbers Stand Together Week, visit the Hands on Greater Portland website.

Portland Timbers Stand Together Week Proclamation

All together now: Timbers, Thorns prep for service week

Andy Giegerich in The Portland Business Journal

July 25, 2013

Yesterday, the Portland City Council approved $95,000 in grant funding to support 12 local community groups for the Bureau of Environmental Services Community Watershed Stewardship Program (CWSP).

CWSP projects support our City’s green infrastructure by providing a range of environmentally friendly functions including rain water filtration, water quality improvement, stream restoration, pavement removal, watershed data collection, and flood mitigation.

The Community Watershed Stewardship Program supports innovative neighborhood projects that help us manage the City’s stormwater. Each dollar we invest in a community partnership leverages three dollars in volunteer time and in-kind contributions.

Since the beginning of CWSP in 1995, the program has granted more the $867,000 in watershed projects, helped generate more than $3.3 million in volunteer time and other in-kind contributions, and brought together over 40,000 volunteers. The program has also facilitated the planting of nearly 136,000 native plants, enhanced close to 65 acres of natural area, and restored more than 52,000 feet of stream banks.

Programs like CWSP have made Portland a national leader in environmental stewardship.

Congratulations to this year’s grant recipients.

July 26, 2013

This morning, Nick welcomed students from the Middle East and North Africa to City Hall.

The students are studying at Portland State University thanks to a U.S Department of State / Middle East Partnership Initiative grant. The grant brings 18 undergraduate leaders from 14 different Middle East and North African countries to study civic engagement and community leadership in the Portland Metropolitan region.

Nick talked with the students about Portland’s unique commission form of government, his work as a legislator, executive, and judge for the city all wrapped in one, and the future of Portland.

Thank you to Dr. Kevin Kecskes and Dr. Christopher Carey from PSU for connecting us with these great future international leaders.