News

Freshwater mussel

Volunteer Opportunity Last year the Johnson Creek Watershed Council partnered with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation to conduct surveys for native freshwater mussels in Johnson Creek — with your help, we want to continue this work.

Spots are filling up quickly so RSVP today! All ages welcome. Saturday, July 16* — Gresham Woods Saturday, August 6th — Ambleside Saturday, September 24 — Bundy Reserve Time: 10:00am-1:30pm

Searching for freshwater mussels

Volunteers will learn about the biology and ecology of native freshwater mussels, and the many ways in which these animals benefit water quality and fish habitat. Native mussels are sensitive to pollution and disturbance, so exploring mussel distribution and the age structure of mussel beds provides insight on the biological conditions of Johnson Creek. Native Western pearlshell mussels were found in both stream reaches surveyed in the upper watershed, and native floaters were present in the lower watershed.

The event represents a unique opportunity for the general public to assist with field research

Road repairs, 165th & NE Russell Click to enlarge

Street Repairs Underway, Now through Fall 2011 Pothold Hotline Available Beginning this week and through the Fall five hundred individual street sections will be repaired within the boundaries of the City of Gresham.

Increased funding = More neighborhood repairs
Twenty-five percent of the five hundred scheduled repairs this summer will be residential. This is all made possible due to the increase in the gas tax and licensing fees. In total $3 million dollars will be spent on this project. In the past Gresham has only had $1 million dollars available at a time to repair city streets.

Got a Pothole? Give'm a Call
An adjunct to this project will be a Pothole Hot Line. Call 503-618-2626 to report potholes in your area.

Homes needed for 3 girls and 1 boy, ages 12-15 When: Jul 22-Aug 5, 2011 Where: Your Home! Gresham, OR Download Host Family Application (below)

Sharing Our Cultures

Thank you for your interest in hosting a high school exchange student from our Sister City of SokCho, South Korea. This is one of our two active student exchange student programs, with SokCho sending students to the Gresham area every other year opposite of the years students from Gresham travel to SokCho. The students come during the summer break approximately July 22rd through August 5th

UPDATE: Prowler strikes June 2 Neighbors Beware Sometime between 9PM Monday May 23rd and 6AM Tuesday May 24th a prowler ransacked several cars in the Capri Terrace area stealing receipts, vehicle manuals, registrations and insurance cards.

The next morning neighbors woke to find discarded items strewn across their lawns by the thief as he moved from house to house searching for unlocked vehicles. Locked cars were undisturbed and no car alarms were heard.

At 167th & NE Hoyt the thief ransacked several cars from three adjacent properties, rummaging through the glove compartments and throughly checking underneath and in-between the seats for items with name & address information.

The Gresham Police was called to the scene Tuesday morning after neighbors realized they had been robbed overnight.

Kia Selley (linkedin)

"A passion for the built environment.." Kia Selley, most recently a development advisor with the Portland Development Commission, has been hired as the City of Gresham's new Urban Design and Planning Director.

Because of the unique combination of skills Selley brings to the job, City Manager Erik Kvarsten has also asked her to oversee the Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal area.

Selley begins work June 13.

At PDC, Selley managed budget and expenditures for the Convention Center Urban Renewal Area, and provided oversight for community infrastructure, district-scale plans and real estate development projects.

A landscape architect by training, her professional background also includes comprehensive planning, development planning, development review, urban design streetscape projects, design-guideline development for transit-oriented development, permitting for complex construction projects and affordable housing.

Click to download

Summer 2011 Newsletter is here. Download your copy today. INSIDE THIS ISSUE Nadaka Community Festival Disc Golf, Columbia View Park Reynolds 2011-12 Budget Recycling TV’s and Computers HB Lee MS, Sun Outdoor Club Nadaka Happenings 2011 Saturday Family Walks & Rides and more...

Download the full-color edition here!

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.
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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.

Jordan Beehler, Eagle Scout Click to enlarge

What began as a bird house project quickly turned into a passion Making A Difference Wilkes East resident Jordan Beehler is a young man with a warm smile who's interested in making the world around him a better place -- not only for himself, but for others in his community too. Jordan, an Eagle Scout with Boy Scouts of America Troop 606 is a senior at Central Catholic High School in Portland and plans to attend Oregon State University this fall.

In August 2010 Jordan began work on his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project. This project is the opportunity for an Eagle Scout to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of the community. This is the culmination of the Eagle Scout candidate's leadership training and requires significant effort on their part.

For his project Jordan choose to improve Nadaka Nature Park

The City of Gresham is a community partner with a new state-wide program, Clean Energy Works Oregon. Clean Energy Works Oregon, (CEWO), is a non-profit program created to assist homeowners with transforming their homes to be more comfortable and energy efficient.

Energy efficiency improvements in reach.  This All-in-One solution provides:

• No-money-down, easy financing
• One-to-one assistance
• Simple qualifications
• Repayment of loan through the utility bill
• Protects homeowners from rising energy rates

Expert guidance from start to finish
Qualified homeowners receive an extensive energy audit by a trained building expert, retrofit work conducted by a certified contractor and access to low interest rate financing.

Up to $3700 in Instant Rebates*
*Instant Rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to change without prior notice, are non-transferable and will only be available for qualified program borrowers for a limited time. Instant Rebates include federal, state and local resources and standard Energy Trust cash incentives. Instant Rebates end May 15th!

TO APPLY visit Clean Energy Works Oregon, http://www.cewo.org

Clean Energy Works Oregon is public-private alliance with Energy Trust of Oregon, utilities, financial institutions, local communities and contractors.

Gang graffiti at Nadaka Nature Park 175th & NE Pacific, Gresham OR

Quick Resources Gang Hotlines Graffiti Resources Graffiti Removal Report Graffiti Online

Neighbors express frustration with the escalating situation.

With the arrival of spring comes a surge in graffiti vandalisim as area street gangs mark their turf.

When you mention the topic of gangs in Portland, most people think of Bloods and Crips, the overwhelmingly black gangs that arrived here in the late '80s. But that's all changed.

The Rise of Mexican Gangs

As the African-American gang problem has slowly been brought under control, its Hispanic counterpart has quietly grown. In the early '90s, African-American gang members outnumbered Hispanic gangsters in Oregon by a ratio of 9 to 1. Two decade later that ratio has reversed.