News

The holidays are a time for family, friends, warm meals, gifts—a break from the daily hassles of life. However, not everyone in the Portland metropolitan area is so fortunate; many are homeless and in desperate need of food and shelter during the winter months. During the holidays, there is a particular need for able-bodied volunteers at local nonprofit organizations to provide for the less fortunate.

There are faith-based organizations such as the Portland Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army and the Father’s Heart Street Ministry. Secular organizations include Outside In, the Red Cross, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Hands On Greater Portland. The holiday season is a great opportunity to lend a hand to such organizations and the people they serve.

Staff and volunteers at Portland State’s student-run radio station are reeling from the death of longtime KPSU DJ Judith Gennett, who died of cancer on Thanksgiving morning.

Friends and colleagues at KPSU say they will celebrate Gennett’s memory the best way that they know how—through music. On Saturday, Dec. 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. KPSU will broadcast a memorial radio program for Gennett at kpsu.org and 98.1 FM.

Gennett’s involvement in college and community radio dates back to 1995, and she had been involved with KPSU since 2002.

The Occupy Portland movement continues to promote its message, even after facing police intervention and eviction. The group, which was evicted from their Lownsdale and Chapman Squares encampment last month, now plans to occupy a new space somewhere in Portland beginning next week.

According to media releases from Occupy Portland, the general assembly approved plans to move to a new occupation space. The location is to be decided after their town hall meeting at the First Unitarian Church on 1011 SW 13th Ave. and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 3.

On Tuesday, Nov. 29, crews began construction on TriMet’s first solar-energy project at South Terminus, the southern substation at the end of the Yellow and Green MAX lines. The project centers on the installation of 253 solar panels, produced by SolarWorld in Hillsboro, at South Terminus as well as on the neighboring signal-communications building at Southwest Jackson Street near the PSU campus. Construction is expected to last about a month and cost approximately $366,000.

The funding for TriMet’s solar project came from money left over from the MAX Green Line project as well as TriMet’s partnership with Portland General Electric. Additional support, in the form of rebates from the Energy Trust of Oregon, is expected to cover 35 percent of the solar project’s costs.

The Oregon University System released its Fall 2011 enrollment fact sheet for the seven OUS institutions, which shows a 12.2 percent increase in the number of international students enrolled.

The number of international students is at an all-time high of 6,387 students, 1,923 of which are from Portland State. The University of Oregon boasts the largest number of international students of all the OUS campuses with 2,116 students.

Today, Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith and TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane will meet to determine the fate of Trimet’s YouthPass program, which allows Portland Public Schools students currently enrolled in high school to ride public transportation for free during the school year.

Since the state legislature decided that the program’s major source of funding, Business Energy Tax Credits, would no longer be allowed to finance student transit costs, the future of TriMet’s YouthPass program has been uncertain.

As a somewhat soggy peace and quiet returns to our downtown parks, officials are gathering estimates of the financial impact of the Occupy Portland movement.

The Portland Police Bureau, Portland Parks and Recreation and the Regional Arts and Culture Council are including overtime, repairs and cleanup costs in the estimates.

Chapman Square and Lownsdale Park, home to the Occupy Portland movement from Oct. 6 to Nov. 13, are now fenced off and awaiting restoration and repairs. The city is in the process of assessing the damage to the park, but Mike Ross, public information officer at Portland Parks and Recreation, expects the damage to fall between $50,000 and $100,000. The city is looking at reseeding and irrigation, structural, plumbing and electrical repairs. Ross is unsure when the estimates and repairs will be completed.

The City of Portland is considering following the lead of thousands of Americans who took part in Bank Transfer Day on Nov. 5, switching their accounts from large, corporate banks to smaller, not-for-profit credit unions. Mayor Sam Adams agreed at a Nov. 14 city council meeting to consider a responsible banking resolution that focuses on using local banks for public funds. However, he was quick to note that the city’s largest investment is already held with a local bank—Umpqua.

Todd Olson, the coordinator of Move Our Money Oregon, raised the issue at the city council meeting. The newly formed organization was inspired by Move Your Money, the L.A.-based non profit behind the campaign for the nationwide Bank Transfer Day. The local group’s mission according to its Facebook page is to urge local governments to immediately look for ways to divest as much money as possible from Wall Street banks.

Nov. 3 marked the re-instatement of TriMet’s Night Stop program.

The program allows riders to be dropped off at “a safe location along the route other than a designated bus stop to get them closer to their destination,” according to a press release from TriMet.

The program, which has been in place for decades, is called a night stop during the dark winter months. During lighter months, undesignated stops requested by riders are called courtesy stops.