THE "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR" ARE BELOW THE EDITORIAL From The Editor A great start to our new FREE mailing of THE BEE By ERIC NORBERG Editor, THE BEE In the March issue of THE BEE, we announced a total restart of our 30-year-old policy of mailing our newspaper free to residents in sections of Inner Southeast Portland. This was motivated by the fact that the broad and un-targeted mailing list we’d acquired from the USPS three decades ago is now quite out of date, and doesn’t include many people who did want to get THE BEE. Postage costs for mailing THE BEE have nearly tripled in the 25 years your editor has been at its helm, and if we’re to succeed in the future we need a mailing list of ONLY the people in the 97202 and 97206 ZIP Codes who really do want to receive it, and we must leave out any people who had been getting it but, for whatever reason, really didn’t want it. The result will be a more affordable, more relevant, and more responsive mailing list. And the first reports from our Circulation Department, here at CMG Media, were enthusiastic – thousands of people had already taken advantage of getting THE BEE free by mail in just the first three weeks of March, including many who had long wanted to receive it, but never were included in the old mailing list. One reader took it on herself to send many emails to friends and acquaintances telling them about the new opportunity to get this newspaper free by mail! One thing that I realized from the start was likely to be a problem, is that many of the people who already were getting the paper by mail might assume their status on our mailing list was secure – not understanding that they would no longer receive it, and would have to sign up for free in order to continue – even though in our front page article on the subject, that part was in capital letters! A good friend of mine was among those who misunderstood that, and when he found out the truth, he hastily signed up – and then told me he’d gone around his neighborhood pointing that out to others. So it’s a certainty that some people who have always gotten THE BEE free by mail did not receive this issue because of that misunderstanding! And now, of course, I can’t tell them why – because this explanation is in the first issue which they didn’t receive! Hopefully, they will pick up one of the many extra issues we’re printing this month for newsstand and in-store availability, and will read this – and then will join everyone else in signing up to start getting THE BEE free in the mail once again starting in May. But if you run into anyone who is wondering why they didn’t get this newspaper as usual in April, I hope you will tell them! AND LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: The offer to join our new mailing list was NOT a one-time offer in March! We will be continuing to build our new and more responsive mailing list as the months go by, so it won’t be too late to add your name to our list, and join the happy thousands who now get their BEE free each month in the mail! Let me remind you again of the various ways you can do it.  (First, and very importantly, you must live in ZIP Codes 97202 or 97206 to receive this offer. Anyone anywhere else certainly can subscribe for a low $45 a year – and that does include some additional digital benefits.) So just how do you sign up for this offer?  It’s easiest to do it with our exclusive special webpage, right here – https://bit.ly/get_the_bee_delivered – or you can use a smartphone, scanning the QR code appearing directly below, which will also take you there. The other methods you can use are either not available at all hours, or else may get swamped by 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 with a phone call, you can reach 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. Send it to BEE Circulation at the company’s mailing address – P.O. Box 45, West Linn, OR 97068 – or, you can find the coupon in this paper to fill out and mail to us. Once again, I want to thank you very much for continuing to read THE BEE. Your support is the one and only reason this 119-year-old newspaper is able to continue to be here as a resource for you! Also, please thank our advertisers, whose ad dollars in the paper pay the costs of mailing it to you each and every month. Bottom line: If you live in either the 97202 or 97206 ZIP Codes, we’ll mail this newspaper to you free – but you won’t get it unless you sign up for it. So please do! This QR code will take you to a 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 but no longer, 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! Letters to the Editor (Courtesy of Chris Norman) Rails under the pavement in Sellwood Editor, The current Sellwood sewer construction work revealed old trolley car rails today (Feb. 27) on 13th Avenue between Umatilla and Harney Streets. Rails along 13th have been found between 18 and 24 inches below the street surface. Chris Norman via e-mail EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, the old trolley car rails seem mostly to still be under the pavement in Inner Southeast Portland, and street excavations keep turning them up. In Sellwood, they seem to be buried at a decent depth; on Milwaukie Avenue in Brooklyn they are less than an inch under the pavement, and as you drive north on that street you will see the asphalt coming off in places, revealing those steel rails underneath. Thanks for the photo! This is Lesser Celandine. Its shiny leaves and waxy flowers are quite different from Dandelions! (Photo by Eric Norberg) “Lesser Celandine” popping up all over Editor, We need everyone’s help in eliminating a serious threat to our lawns and gardens. It’s showing up in many public places, too. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has long been concerned about the spread of invasive “Lesser Celandine”. This time of year, it is easy to find Lesser Celandine growing in many yards in Eastmoreland and elsewhere in Inner Southeast Portland. With its shiny deep green leaves and bright yellow flower, it looks like a lovely wild plant – BUT, it is not. This invasive and hard-to-kill weed spreads rapidly, replacing native species of ground cover, then dies off early in the summer leaving bare ground, prime for soil erosion. (It usually will be back, even more widespread, the following year.) Each infestation poses a threat to our yards and gardens, and quickly spreads to neighbors’ yards and gardens as well. Help keep your own yard and your neighbors’ yards free from this invasive species. Here are some useful resources: "Invasive Plant: Lesser Celandine," a guide published by the City of Portland Environmental Services Department. “Lesser Celandine – All About” brochure, a deep dive by the 4-County Weed Management Area “Ghastly invasive weed blooming all over southeast,” a recent BEE editorial. How to identify Lesser Celandine: Winter: Lesser Celandine normally emerges in January. The plant has a rosette (flat circle) of dark green shiny leaves that are round or heart-shaped February-March (now): Plants will flower from February to mid-March. The bright waxy yellow flowers bloom much earlier than most other flowers, and are 1-2 inches across Spring: After flowering, the stems and leaves die back in April and May. Lesser Celandine spreads by making a lot of tubers and bulblets. Each is ready to become a new plant, wherever spring rains wash them to. Summer-Fall: No stems or leaves are visible, but your boots can carry seeds in the mud. How to remove Lesser Celandine: The plant reproduces both above and below the surface. After displacing other plants, it dies off in late spring, leaving the topsoil to be eroded by summer irrigation and fall rains. Therefore, timely removal is key: Manually: Dig the entire plant out, including all the roots. Dispose of it in the garbage, not in the green bin! Herbicide: February and March treatments work best (now) but must be done in good weather – be certain the herbicide you use will actually work on it; most do not. Eastmoreland is blessed with many large deciduous trees which form an excellent habitat for Lesser Celandine. The ENA had Lesser Celandine professionally manually removed from the greenway in Reed College Place. We encourage our neighbors to eliminate this noxious weed in their own yards to prevent spreading. Michael Hilburg Robert McCullough Eastmoreland Letters to the Editor may be submitted via e-mail by clicking HERE. All letters to the editor are subject to editing for clarity and available space, and all letters become property of THE BEE.   Comments? News tips? Click here to e-mail us! Note to readers: At some point, this, our original Internet website, will 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 that 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! READY TO MOVE ON TO THE COMMUNITY STORIES AND CALENDAR OF EVENTS ON PAGE 4?   CLICK HERE! X X X X X For our Thanksgiving 2023 editorial in appreciation of dogs, and in memory of the dog shown in the photo -- Sable, a long-haired German Shepherd who lived in Southeast Portland -- CLICK HERE