Sunrise Rockwood Charter School, Click to enlarge

Starting in April, demolition will begin to make way for construction of a new three-story, 53,000 square foot building for the Sunrise Rockwood Charter School at 19034 SE Stark Street in West Gresham.

The new 700 student K-12 school will have twenty-eight classrooms, a student commons, administrative offices, auditorium, food services, plus covered and open outdoor play areas.

Rockwood Community Development Corporation, the project's developer, says the Corbett Charter School Association has agreed on a lease to create the new school, which will border E. Burnside and S.E. Stark Street along the MAX Blue Line.

The success of the nationally acclaimed Corbett Charter School, which shares school buildings inside the Corbett School District, has created a waiting list of new students (mostly from east Multnomah county) wanting to enroll in the highly successful program. High demand and lack of space is one of the reasons for building the new school.

Construction on a new sub-acute care addition, and a new residential facility, are set to begin in March at Albertina Kerr Centers Gresham Campus, 722 NE 162nd Ave. Work on the project is expected to be completed in July.

The 6,000 square feet of new space, a new exercise area and parking lot improvements will allow the facility to serve approximately 25% more children and families.

Laminated Root Rot. Click to enlarge

Laminated Root Rot and Nadaka Nature Park Abel Gebrezgi and Jim Labbe Audubon Society of Portland

INTRODUCTION
Laminated root rot (LRR) is a fungal pathogen, Phellinus weirii, also known as yellowing ring rot. (LLR gets its name from the lamination of the decayed wood (see photo above). This fungus is widespread in Southern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, northern California and western Montana.). It is one of the most damaging root diseases amongst conifers, especially firs and cedars, in the Pacific Northwest. Douglas fir, Mountain hemlock, Western hemlock, Grand fir, and Pacific silver fir are highly susceptible to infection by this pathogen. Pine species like Western white pine and Ponderosa pine and larch are more resistant to it while hardwoods are immune. The fungus was first discovered in 1914, on Western red cedar in Idaho. The first reported case in Douglas fir was in 1940, at Cowichan Lake, British Columbia.

BIOLOGY The mycelium of LRR doesn’t grow in the soil and the spores do not spread by wind like most fungal pathogens. Infection occurs when roots of healthy trees grow in contact with infected roots.

Click to enlarge

After initial contact with a living root, the mycelium grows on the bark, extending only a few inches into the surrounding soil. The mycelium penetrates the host through the injured bark and advances along newly infected roots. Symptoms include crown yellowing and thinning, distress of cones, red-brown staining of outer heartwood, and separation of annual rings. Less discernible is the root rot which eventually decays the roots, destabilizes the tree, and leads to death and toppling. In addition to the loss of mature trees within a stand, LRR creates potential hazards from tree fall especially in small urban parks. The number of cases of the LRR disease has increased substantially with the presence of fire suppression and resulting dominance of Douglas-fir and Grand fir.

The Wilkes East Neighborhood board has created a draft transportation policy for consideration by its members. The policy addresses our local transportation needs as well as regional needs that impact our neighborhood. Read more

Questions, comments or to get involved contact info@wilkeseastna.org.

"Name Your Price" Cat Adoption Special! The Multnomah County animal shelter has become overrun with cats and kittens so they’re asking the public to help out with foster care or adoptions.

The shelter has the capacity to hold 90 cats but they currently have 115. Shelter officials are pleading with the public to step up, bring a cat into your home.

The shelter also continues to offer its “Name Your Own Price” special discount for cat adoptions. Multnomah County Animal Services is located at 1700 W. Columbia River Highway (Get Map) in Troutdale.

Nadaka Nature Park, through a partnership with Gresham, is awarded a $523,000 grant for park improvements

OUTLOOK PHOTO: JIM CLARK Nadaka Park. Click to enlarge

Source: Gresham Outlook, August 2, 2013 The state has awarded a $523,000 grant to fund improvements at Nadaka Nature Park in Gresham’s Wilkes East neighborhood. "It is unbelievable," said Lee Dayfieid, who cried, laughed and screamed when she heard the news last week that the park, through its partnership with the city of Gresham, won the $523,480 grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

The money means that the little-known and once-neglected forested area in the middle of the city can become a full-blown neighborhood park complete with community gardens, a nature-based play area, picnic shelter and improved walking trail.

Click to download

Find out what's happening     in your neighborhood   INSIDE THIS ISSUE Albertina Kerr to expand facility Draft Transportation Policy Boys & Girls Club assumes PAL Nadaka Community Festival Aug 3 National Night Out Aug 6 Nadaka Nature Park/Garden Project WENA General Meeting, Aug 26, 7PM

Download your full-color newsletter here. Now with clickable links!

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.

Looking for a past issue? Check out our newsletter archive here.

Got a story to share?
Wilkes East residents are encouraged to submit articles for the newsletter. Articles should be limited to 300 words and may be subject to editing. Send articles by email to: info@wilkeseastna.org, or by postal mail to: PO Box 536 • Fairview, OR 97024.

Stretch your grocery dollars at the farmer's market

Enjoy the best produce, flowers, and plants starts direct from the garden.

Healthy and fresh
Farmer’s markets are a fantastic source for fresh, seasonal, locally produced foods and artisan products. Plus, you'll find great activities and fun for the whole family. Come experience the markets. Meet the vendors. Meet local cooks. Enjoy the freshest produce and products. Make your own statement in support of local food.

Portland's east side Farmer's Markets

• Fairview Farmers' & Artists' Market
• Gresham Farmers Market
• Hollywood Farmers' Market
• Lents International Farmers' Market
• Lloyd Farmers Market
• Montavilla Farmers Market
• Parkrose Farmers Market
• Portland Farmers Market
• Troutdale Farmers' and Artists' Market

(Complete details on these area markets below)

You'll find plenty of root vegetables, braising greens and lettuces, and of course plant starts for your own vegetable garden.

Bring your reusable shopping bags and plenty of small bills, though some of the markets will trade you a credit/debit card for wooden tokens that all vendors accept, which can be easier to handle than cash. We've indicated those markets that accept EBT or other food assistant coupons.

Get ready for another summer of increased air traffic as PDX airport runway construction resumes, again

Work is planned to reconstruct Taxiway C and repair the south runway this spring through fall 2013 at Portland International Airport (PDX).

Planned is the full reconstruction of the eastern portion of Taxiway C, which provides aircraft access to and from the south runway. The south runway repair will replace concrete that was damaged after a military jet’s tire failed, causing its landing gear to scrape the runway. Temporary repairs are already in place.

Taxiway C reconstruction work will run from April 1 through mid-October. Repairs are planned for the south runway from approximately April 15 to May 31, and again from August 16 to September 29. The runway will be open between June 1 and August 15 to help accommodate peak summer traffic.

While no major flight schedule delays are expected, airport neighbors should expect increased flights over some airport neighborhoods during the south runway closure.