Portland News and Events for May 19-25, 2016

The NAACP Vancouver #1139 Monthly Meeting

DATE: 5-21-16

TIME: 10:00-12:00

WHERE: P U D Building 1200 Ft Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA

SPEAKER: Dean Hurst, Representative, Washington State Human Rights Commission

Meeting is free and open to the public.

For questions, call 360-883-1995, Dorothy Stennis

Library Branches to Host ‘Northwest Mixtape: Hip Hop Culture and Influences’

The Multnomah County Library will host two upcoming discussions with journalist and author Donnell Alexander on the secrets behind hip hop in the Pacific Northwest. He will look at what makes Pacific Northwest hip hop unique, provide context for the history that brought mainstays such as Sir Mix-A-Lot, Cool Nutz, and Macklemore into being, and explore how hip hop has influenced social, artistic, and political life in the region.

Donnell Alexander is a storyteller and editor who coproduced the 2009 animated short Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No and authored the memoirGhetto Celebrity (2003) as a personal, elongated addendum to the 1997 essay “Cool Like Me: Are Black People Cooler than White People?” He has served as a staff writer at LA Citybeat, ESPN: The Magazine, LA Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and the Chico News & Review.

These conversations are made possible by The National Endowment for the Humanities Fund ofThe Library Foundation and Oregon Humanities.

The first discussion will take place at 6 p.m. May 24 at the Kenton Library and the second will take place at 6:30 p.m. June 7 at the Albina Library.

For more information, visit http://oregonhumanities.org/programs/2015-16-catalog/northwest-mixtape/1252/.

Community Cycling Center to give 100 Bikes to Kids in East Portland

This spring, 100 children will receive bicycles, helmets, and bike safety education at the Community Cycling Center’s Bikes for Kids event.

The Community Cycling Center, known for its annual Holiday Bike Drive in December, created the Bikes for Kids event so that children can experience the joy, freedom, and health benefits of bicycles during the prime biking season. By locating this event in East Portland at Rosewood Initiative, the Community Cycling Center offers a neighborhood-focused event for East Portland families to receive bicycles.

To support the Community Cycling Center and events like Bikes for Kids, the Center accepts donations of gently-used bicycles at their bike shop, located at 1700 NE Alberta Street in Portland. To learn more about how to volunteer or to make a donation, visit www.CommunityCyclingCenter.org.

City of Portland Noise Review Board Announces Two Board Openings

Portland’s volunteer Noise Review Board currently has two open positions, available beginning June 1. The board is seeking applications for construction representative and community member at-large positions.

The Noise Review Board is responsible for advocating for the Portland Community in noise related policy making decisions. “As Portland’s population becomes denser, the need to address quality-of-life issues like noise strategically is increasingly important,” says Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the Office of Neighborhood Involvement in which the Noise Program is situated.

The Noise Review Board engages the community around issues related to garbage trucks, construction, and special events to strike a balance between noise-generating activities and the desire for livable communities. The Board also reviews applications for noise variances, in which members of the public ask to vary the code for projects and special events.

The Board is comprised of five members, including three community member at large positions, a representative from the construction industry, and a professional in the field of acoustics. Volunteers serve on the Noise Review Board for three-year terms, and Board members may serve a maximum of two terms. The Noise Review Board meets once a month, on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m

For an application to volunteer, please visit http://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/37423.

Applications must be received by 5 p.m. May 26.

Portland’s New Southern Breakfast Restaurant Celebrates Grand Opening

Sweet Jam, a new Portland-area hip breakfast restaurant, will make its grand opening to the public Thursday. The restaurant invites guests to enjoy a full bar, music and an extensive menu of wonderful food.

With a southern influence throughout the restaurant, Sweet Jam is the only destination in the Portland and Beverton area that offers live entertainment, a daily breakfast menu and bar, as well a dog friendly outdoor patio.

Sweet Jam is located at 8775 SW Canyon Lane, Portland. Hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m and Saturday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patrons can choose from many different entrees including Sweet Jam’s famous fried chicken and waffles, several different omelets, banana foster pancakes and shrimp cheese grits.

Successful restaurateur, Frank Taylor is the owner of the steakhouse Portland Prime and now Sweet Jam.

Chef Jerry Nottage traveled to Portland to help bring the new restaurant concept to life. Nottage created the menu to bring a southern flare to Portland.

Sweet Jam Portland is the first of many more planned restaurant locations throughout the United States. Taylor and Nottage hope to open more locations in Michigan, around Texas, and another in Portland.

Stocked with a full bar, Sweet Jam will offer Happy Hour every Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Live musical entertainment will be featured on Saturday and Sunday mornings and select evenings. Additional information on Sweet Jam is available at www.portlandsweetjam.com.

For more Portland and Seattle area events, see the Community Calendar.