Eric Norberg, Editor & General Manager Brian Monihan, Publisher Sandy Hubbard, Independent BEE      Advertising Representative Molly Filler, Page Design Jaime McClaren, Accounting Eric Norberg:     Sandy Hubbard: Call: 503 / 232-2326    Text: 971 / 407-7942 fax: 503/232-9787 text: 503/757-0014 "Community Classifieds" want ads: 503/620-7355 Circulation/subscriptions: 503/620-9797 Accounting/Billing: 971/204-7712 CMG Media Editorial and Sales Address: 1837 S.E. Harold Street Portland, OR 97202-4932 Remit bill payments to: Accounts Receivable Department P.O. Box 45, West Linn, OR 97068 e-mail: ReadTheBee@Outlook.com March, 2025 - Vol. 119, No. 7 Scroll down to read this issue! Memories of THE BEE's first 100 years! In 2006, THE BEE celebrated its centennial of serving Southeast Portland!  A special four-page retrospective of Inner Southeast Portland's century, written by Eileen Fitzsimons, and drawn from the pages of THE BEE over the previous 100 years, appeared in our September, 2006, issue. Click here to read the special centenary retrospective! _________________________________________ BEE SUBMISSION AND AD DEADLINES Next BEE is our April issue, with a deadline of March 20, 2025. (The May issue has an ad and copy deadline of April 17.) INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? CLICK HERE FOR RATES AND INFORMATION!      ____________________________________ Want to subscribe to receive the PRINT version of THE BEE in the mail? Email circulation@pamplinmedia.com -- or telephone 503/620-9797, during weekday business hours. Residents of the 97202 and 97206 ZIP codes can register to receive it FREE in the mail by registering HERE! Elsewhere, the 12-issue annual print subscription is $45 per year (includes digital version) for addresses anywhere in the United States.. International rates are available; inquire via the e-mail address or the telephone number two lines up!  _________________________________________________________________________ Daily news!  The Portland Tribune is updated a number of times every day, to bring you the latest news of the Portland area and Oregon.  Click on the banner at left to read the Tribune online! THE BEE has a second website -- searchable for past stories.  The content for the current month includes what is on this one, presented in a different format.  To visit our newer website, click the banner at right! GDPR NOTICE: The owner of this website, www.ReadTheBee.com, collects no information on this site from any visitor, and never has. After southbound S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard was closed down to traffic, the street filled with police vehicles and crime-scene tape as the fatality investigation proceeded. (Photo by David F. Ashton) Speeding cyclist dies on S.E. McLoughlin Blvd By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE Ask any resident near McLoughlin Boulevard living between S.E. 17th Avenue in north Westmoreland and Ochoco Street south of Sellwood, and they’ll tell you motorcyclists and drivers at any hour – but more often after dark – gun their engines at the 17th stoplight, and scream southward to the Clackamas County line, often at speeds approaching or exceeding 100 m.p.h. There is no public evidence so far that the victim of a fatal motorcycle crash on McLoughlin near the Tacoma/Tenino overpass was specifically engaged in this bizarre ritual, but officers did say afterward that it appeared that both speed and alcohol had definitely been factors in the accident. The police were summoned by reports of a motorcycle crashing on McLoughlin on Sunday night, February 9th; Central Precinct officers were dispatched at 7:32 p.m. Arriving, they found the severely-injured motorcyclist and his smashed bike just south of the overpass, in the southbound lanes. An ambulance and paramedics arrived soon afterward, and attended to the adult male motorcyclist. Although he was rushed by ambulance to a local hospital, he was pronounced dead. During the subsequent investigation, all southbound McLoughlin Boulevard traffic was diverted off the highway at the exit between Westmoreland Park’s Sckavone Stadium and the Les Schwab store – and vehicles were blocked from entering McLoughlin from the onramp at Tacoma Street throughout the evening. With the thoroughfare closed, as many as 13 officers, PPB Major Crash Team investigators, and Forensic Unit workers labored at the scene to gather evidence. Their analysis revealed that apparently no other vehicle was involved in the crash – and that, as mentioned, alcohol and speed were believed to be factors in the incident.  On February 12, officials revealed that the deceased motorcyclist had been identified as 36-year-old Richard L. Headley, of Portland. If you have information about this particular crash, please email the investigators at – crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov; and mark it to the attention of the Traffic Investigations Unit, referring to Case No. 25-35709. If you drive, please be reminded that S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard (State Highway 99E) has a 45 mile-an-hour speed limit there for a reason – and although there’s limited access to it in that stretch of the highway, there still are some entrance points in the two miles between 17th and Ochoco where someone could innocently turn onto the boulevard and startle an oncoming speeding driver into a deadly swerve. This QR code will also take you to that exclusive special webpage where you can sign up to get THE BEE for free, if you live in the 97202 or 97206 ZIP Codes. If you never have gotten it free, or if you used to, or even if you still do (until now) – the ONLY way get it free by mail, starting with the April issue, is to sign up for our new and updated mailing list NOW! Want to get THE BEE free in the mail monthly? ACT NOW! By ERIC NORBERG Editor, THE BEE Many people over the years have told us, “my neighbor gets THE BEE free in the mail, but I don’t. Can I?” And what we have always had to say is that we bought a database from the U.S. Postal Service a long time ago, and we still use it to mail THE BEE. The list was designed to focus on the defined areas of the two ZIP codes 97202 and 97206 that best reflected the heart of our service area…back then. But the database is old, and times have changed. There are many addresses where people live that are just not in that database; and while our readership has grown in size and enthusiasm over the years as our news coverage of Inner Southeast met their needs, there are still people who want it and do not get it in the mail, and there are others who don’t want it, but do receive it. That old database is just no longer adequate to serve our readers in Inner Southeast Portland. So now we are going to fix it. This is a MAJOR operation, in which YOU play a critical part! Our new ownership, CMG Media, has approved building a NEW database of readers who specifically asked to get the newspaper free in those two ZIP codes. And everybody who reads THE BEE and wants to receive it – EVEN IF YOU ALWAYS HAVE – must now respond right away in order to do so! Starting with the April issue, we are scrapping that old database and switching to using the new one that you will be providing for us with your own registration!  Those who receive the April issue in the mail, except for those who already have a paid subscription, will ONLY be the people who register with us right now to receive a free copy in the mail at your address.  And if you don’t sign up in the first couple of weeks of March, we may not be able to start your free mailing of THE BEE until the May issue – because it takes a little while to convert your registration into a mailing address in our system. We still plan on making free copies available in stores and on our remaining newsstands around the area – but if you do want it in your mailbox each month, you really do have to act NOW.  After this March BEE, everyone does need to sign up for a new FREE subscription in order to keep getting the paper in the mail, or to start getting it if you haven’t. So just how do you do this?  It’s easiest to do it with an exclusive special webpage right here – https://bit.ly/get_the_bee_delivered The other methods you can use are either not available at all hours, or else may get swamped with the number of people trying to register! But if you prefer signing up some other way than online, keep trying via the method you prefer until you succeed. Your BEE depends upon it!  If you want to do it by phone, call our circulation team at 503/620-9797. Our circulation department is staffed Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  If the line is busy, call back; if you get voice mail, leave a message. Some readers may prefer to sign up by mail. You can drop us a postcard asking for the free BEE by mail, with your name and complete address, or you can look for a coupon in the paper to fill out and mail to us. No money is involved for this subscription if you want it mailed to an address in the 97202 and 97206 ZIP codes! (For everywhere else in the United States, a year of THE BEE by mail is $45.) We’ll pay the postage for you in our local circulation area, since we’ll know that every copy is going to someone here who really wants to read it. Again, though, don’t put this off.  Register RIGHT NOW, while you’re thinking about it – so you won’t miss anything we’ll have for you in the April BEE! If the PPS $1.83 billion bond passes in May, Cleveland High School may indeed be rebuilt, but with a smaller footprint. And the familiar classic entrance on Powell Boulevard may no longer look like this. (Photo by David F. Ashton) On, then off, now Cleveland High renovation is back ‘on’ again By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE After taking off the table their plans to rebuild Cleveland High School and two others from the ground up on December 2, as reported in the last issue of THE BEE, the Portland Public School District appears to have confirmed that Cleveland High, Jefferson High, and Ida B. Wells High may, indeed, be rebuilt. That’s what came out of PPS Board Meeting on February 11 – but only after the district unanimously agreed to a resolution to cut costs for future building modernization projects. So, good news and bad news: It’s back on, but with big budget cuts. Cost-cutting categories include reducing the square feet of the buildings, altering sustainability values, and changing equity-in-contracting goals. But, so far, exactly how they’ll manage to slash building costs by about $20 million, down to $40 million for each project, so a one-third cut – while still providing modernized campuses for the students – remains to be seen. Trimming the building budgets is part of the PPS Board’s process as it finalizes its $1.83 billion bond request to voters on the May 2025 ballot. So far, any date for another Cleveland High School Community Design Workshop to review these plans has not yet been announced. We’ll continue to follow this story. At his meeting with constituents the Sellwood Community House, Portland District 4 City Councilor Mitch Green took notes as he listened to their ideas and issues. (Photo by David F. Ashton) ‘District 4’ City Councilor Mitch Green comes to Sellwood to chat By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE Although most of his Portland City Council District is comprised of all the neighborhoods west of the Willamette River, and he himself lives in deep Southwest Portland in the “West Portland Park” neighborhood, Portland District 4 City Councilor Mitch Green, PhD, decided to spend some time in the piece of his district east of the Willamette – an “office hours listening session” in the front room of Sellwood Community House on Friday, January 31. It’s worth noting that he was the first of the three District 4 Councilors to choose to have a Southeast public meeting after the election last November. “Instead of opening a ‘District Office’, I’ve decided that, on a rotating basis, I’d have ‘office hours’ in different areas of the district I represent, so people in these communities know that they can have access to me more easily than trying to go down to City Hall,” Green explained. “As part of the City’s charter reform, Councilors are actually talking to people, in person if possible.” He acknowledged that the Sellwood, Eastmoreland, and Reed neighborhoods, as well as the City of Portland portion of the Milwaukie Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighborhood, are indeed substantially different than the thirty other neighborhoods on the west side of the river. “This is the very first location where I’m holding what I’m calling a ‘District Day’,” Green told THE BEE. “I came here because I heard, very clearly, concerns during the campaign from folks who live over here on the east side of the district, that they might be forgotten about. “They thought they would be kind of ‘lost in the noise’ because there is so much of District 4 is on the west side,” Green went on. “I wanted to make sure that I was very intentional about having a presence over here – and Sellwood is kind of a central location for these few neighborhoods in my district east of the river.” Keep bringing Bureau issues Even though City Commissioners no longer have the responsibility of running the Bureaus, their days are still busy, Green said. “Because, while we’re not running Bureaus anymore, we are briefed by the Deputy City Administrator, the Mayor, and the Bureaus themselves, on major issues in the city. This is both for awareness, and to lead up to potential City Council decisions regarding potential funding or policy changes. THE BEE asked if City Councilors can bring specific issues from residents to the Bureaus. Green responded, “Yes! In fact, I think that is the intention of this. The City Charter provides very explicit power to the City Council to ask investigatory questions regarding the Bureaus. “But, if we feel we need to be more proactive than just gathering general information, we can simply introduce a resolution that asks for a report on a certain aspect of a Bureau’s operations – be it funding, accounting, oversight, or whatever we may have a specific concern about from our constituents,” Green said. Issues in Inner Southeast As he earlier mentioned, one of the main concerns posed by Inner Southeast Portland neighbors who found themselves assigned to District 4, during his political campaign, was whether or not residents are going to have a voice in City Hall as part of the District 4 coalition. “Other issues I heard were about public safety, homelessness, housing affordability, and maintaining infrastructure.” While keeping these matters in mind, Green acknowledged he also must be occupied at this time of year in the budget process. “Under State of Oregon law, the Portland City Council, as a whole, is the ‘budget committee’,” explained Green. “We have a Finance Committee that ‘works ahead of the budget cycle’ to make sure that City Council has its own independent view of how much of our public dollars should be devoted to which type of programming.” And, being a member of the Finance Committee, Green said he intends intend to bring a “fiscal stewardship view” to items that impact the health of the City’s budget and the effect on ability to deliver core services. Opposes across-the-board cuts Considering that the City of Portland’s budget deficit is expected to exceed $100 million, far surpassing the $27 million projected in a recent General Fund forecast, we asked Green how he’ll approach that challenge. Does he advocate across-the-board budget cuts, or cutting the budget for some city services and programs more than others? Green responded, “I generally oppose across-the-board cuts. “Here’s my reasoning: If we have a ‘structural [budgetary] problem’ – and I believe we are in a structural [budgetary] crisis now – then we need to adjust programs and engage in that fiscal stewardship, or pruning exercise. It’s too early in the process for me judge which programs and areas to hold harmless, because I haven’t seen the City Administrator’s initial proposal.” With that, he turned to others waiting at Sellwood Community House to speak with City Councilor Green and share their thoughts with him. Green said he welcomes being contacted. Here’s how you’d do it: City Councilor, District 4 Mitch Green 503 / 823-4359 (his desk) councilor.green@portlandoregon.gov portland.gov/council/districts/4 City Councilor, District 4 Chief of Staff Maria Gabrielle Sipin (They/She) maria.sipin2@portlandoregon.gov 971 / 710-4076 (cell) The tracks tell the story: After skidding out in the snow near the top of the hill on S.E. 45th Avenue in Brentwood-Darlington, this bus got stuck in the intersection – and then awaited help from TriMet. (Photo by David F. Ashton) Valentine snowstorm turns Inner Southeast Portland white By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE Exactly as predicted by the National Weather Service, the “Snowstorm of 2025” swept across our neighborhoods on Thursday morning, February 13 right on time. Due to more than a week of low overnight temperatures, both the pavement and the ground had chilled – so when the snow began falling, it didn’t melt away. The day before, the Portland Public School District, and many private and parochial schools, sent out notices that the start of school would be delayed. But, overnight, as weather forecasters stuck to their predictions of significant snowfall, the schools cancelled classes for the day – and then also on the following day, Friday, Valentine’s Day – due to the weather. Meteorologists proud of forecast During the second day of the storm, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) Portland Weather Forecast Office Meteorologist Tyler Kranz cheerfully granted a telephone interview with THE BEE. Asked how the NWS so accurately forecast the snowstorm so far in advance, Kranz accepted the question as a complement, replying “It’s because numerical weather modeling has improved every year; and these improvements are showing up in our forecasts. “And, we were fully staffed up for this event, allowing us to take ‘the deep dive’ into all the model data available – having the personnel resources here to look at all the data helps provide accurate forecasts. “Also, we have really great ‘observations’ nowadays, such as satellite and radar – plus thousands of ‘weather spotters’ in the region who make reports when weather changes begin to happen,” Kranz added. “Knowing where it is actually snowing, and having freezing rain or sleet, helps us adjust our forecast as needed, in real time.” Why it snows: Wet meets cold In simple terms, snowstorms are caused by moist air colliding with cold air, Kranz pointed out. “In this case, cold east winds developed, blowing in through Columbia Gorge into the Portland Metro area, and out to the coast. With the cold air in place over Portland, a low pressure system came in from the west. Then, moisture, rotating round the low pressure area, traveled up from the south. “First wave on Thursday, providing up to two inches of snow,” continued Kranz. “Then in ‘round two’ of the storm, moist air came up north, causing the overnight freezing rain and snow we saw on Friday morning.” Kranz said their “weather models” pointed to rain over the weekend that would scour out the remaining out the ice and snow – again, an accurate forecast. That’s the science of what happened. But what it was like here on what is, so far, Portland’s only snow of the winter, is reflected in the various pictures we took of those two days as we roamed around Inner Southeast Portland, some of which are in the slide show below! Image:  Comments? News tips? Click here to submit! Trying to remember or locate a BEE advertiser? Click here to e-mail us, and we'll help! Fair warning:  We have so many great photos on page 2 this month, it may take a moment or two to load on slower connections!  Now, prepare to enjoy what we have for you on page 2! READY TO TURN TO PAGE 2 -- FOR "MORE NEWS"? Click here! Note to readers: At some point, this, our original Internet website, may be replaced at this web address by our new website, as part of the Community Newspapers group. At that time, you will still be able to access this, our original -- and smartphone-friendly -- website, if you save this address:  www.sePDXnews.com. Right now, it takes you to our newest website; if you ever find our newest website appearing at www.ReadTheBee.com, you will then be able to find this old familiar website at that "sePDXnews" address.  And, you'll still have your choice of which one to visit! Entire contents © 2025, THE BEE; Carpenter Media Group, all rights reserved. insurancedirectory.org