Category Archives: community resource

EV Charging Station Opens on NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd

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From PDC:

On Wednesday, June 8, at noon, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) will unveil a new electric vehicle charging station and solar canopy on a PDC-owned parking lot at 3620 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The grid-tied solar canopy, one of only two of its kind in Portland, was constructed by EV4 Oregon, which markets it as an Energy Transfer Merchant (ETM™); it is owned by Lease It Inc. The canopy was built locally, using photovoltaic panels manufactured by Hillsboro-based SolarWorld, and is available from North Coast Electric in Portland.

The canopy has two Ecotality Blink Level-2 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations available for community use, with the capacity to fully charge six electric vehicles per day. The Blink commercial locations form a critical component of the charging public infrastructure to be developed by Ecotality as project manager of the EV Project.

“This project exemplifies innovative work that creates local green jobs and at the same time, enhances the community and reinforces our support for neighborhood economic development (pdf),” said Mayor Sam Adams. “It joins nearby businesses Yeebo and Conexiones, recent PDC clients, in demonstrating our ongoing commitment to neighborhood investment.”

William P. Emberlin, president of Lease-It Inc., expressed his enthusiasm to be a part of the progressive move toward renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest. “This solar canopy/charging station makes an important contribution to reduced oil consumption without adding additional stress to the electrical grid,” he said. “As a local business person I consider ownership of an ETM™ a good investment, and I hope to add more locations throughout Oregon and Washington.”

The installation represents the continued deployment of the charging station infrastructure necessary to support the continued roll out of electric vehicles. The charging station will be able to service cars such as the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan LEAF and a variety of electric vehicles under development by Drive Oregon companies.

For further information on Portland’s progressive EV strategy, please visit the city’s electric vehicle website, Chargeportland.com, powered by PDC.

Urban Farm Collective Seeks Donations

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From Kickstarter.com:

The Urban Farm Collective began in 2009, educating, growing and sharing food in inner NE Portland, Oregon and exchanging produce exclusively via a barter system. The first year we grew on just one lot; by the next year we’d grown to four sites.

This year, we have been accepted as a project of Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust and have the opportunity to take on five new plots, bringing our total garden space up to more than 1/2 acre.

If we are able to transform these new lots into gardens, this would create something that as far as we know exists nowhere else in the country: a non-profit urban farm, exchanging produce to participants via barter and donating significant amounts of fresh, local produce to the community at large.

Volunteer gardeners and land owners are already on board; all we need is the money to transform the lots. The money will go toward purchasing irrigation systems, tools, greenhouse supplies, path and fence building materials, water catchment systems and harvesting supplies.

Urban Farm Collective video/contribution website
Urban Farm Collective site

Community Cycling Center Announces “I Ride” Bicycling Campaign

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From the Community Cycling Center:

The Community Cycling Center is excited to announce the debut of the “I ride” campaign, a celebration of all who ride bicycles in our community, made possible through a grant from Kaiser Permanente’s Special Initiative Fund. The campaign features many of Community Cycling Center’s program participants who are champions and role models that have been working hard to promote bicycling in their neighborhoods. The “I ride” campaign will be displayed on bus benches located at 15 intersections in north and northeast Portland from May to October.
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King Neighborhood Clean-up Day This Saturday, June 4

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It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for–the day the dumpsters show up outside the police precinct and you can get rid of that clutter filling the bowels of your basement or lurking under that blackberry bush in the yard. The dump rates are reasonable and all proceeds go to charity.

9:00-1:30, 449 NE Emerson $15/car, $25/truck.

Accepted items are: wood, EXCEPT yard debris, electronics, scrap metal, reusable items for donation to charity, household waste, EXCEPT kitchen waste, NO hazardous waste.

King NA Supports Juneteenth Forward at MLK/Alberta

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At the May meeting of the association, Woody Broadnax, the organizer of one of the two Juneteenth events in Portland this year, asked for KNA support. This will be the first year for the Juneteenth Forward event and it will be held where the longstanding Juneteenth event was last year. That older event will take place at Jefferson High School this year. Mr. Broadnax asked for KNA support for his use of the PDC owned lot for the event and sought an unspecified financial contribution.

At its special board meeting at Reflections Coffee on May 21st, the KNA board voted to write a letter of support to the Portland Development Commission for the use of the location. KNA, which has yet to develop an income stream other than a $1000/year outreach stipend, declined to provide any financing to the event.

Click here for the letter.