Politics dictates quick solar action here

In the current issue of The Hillsdale News, I reported that Portland school district officials and local leaders don't feel a rush to install a large photo-voltaic array of solar panels in order to supply electricity to Rieke Elementary School.

The site that the school district officials and solar consultants have in mind is on the highly visible slope just above Bertha Court (see above rendering). But some folks wonder whether that’s the best site for the industrial-looking 200 foot-by-50 foot array.

They are saying, let’s slow down and consider other sites and possibly more attractive panels.

Earlier I had reported that the installation had to be completed before the end of the year because lucrative federal tax incentives expire then. But those conferring around the table at the school district office last Wednesday were certain the feds and Congress would extend the tax incentive program for wind and solar power. There would be time for careful siting deliberation.

The incentives have started a boom in alternative energy projects, which have zero carbon emissions in a world of warming hurt.

What politician in his or her right mind wouldn’t continue the tax incentive program?

Quite a few, starting with Congress and Bush administration energy officials, according to Thomas Friedman’s column in today’s New York Times. The government is stuck in the same short-term, quick-fix mind set demonstrated by presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton, writes Friedman.

Both candidates are advocating a federal gas tax vacation this summer, which will only contribute to the carbon spewing.

Enough with the Band-Aids already. As Friedman reminds us, we have a global problem on our hands.

In Hillsdale, intransigence in Washington, D.C. means forging ahead here. Like it or not, we need to move on the solar project under tight, politically dictated time constraints.

The result may not be pretty aesthetically, but by promising to provide 60 percent of Rieke’s energy without polluting the environment, this project has other, more important, attractions.

Happy TV-Turnoff Week!

This from the on-line newsletter of Rieke Elementary School's PTA:

SCREEN FREE WEEK IS HERE! April 21-27.

Click. Click. Click. That's the sound of televisions and other screens being turned off in our neighborhoods for Screen Free Week!

Reasons for turning off the screens:

1. Obesity: television watching is basically a sedentary activity, which is frequently accompanied by mindless snacking, which leads to obesity.

2. Advertising: TV programming, even "educational" programming, exists to sell you stuff.

3. Violence: the entertainment industry's criteria for what level of violence is appropriate for what age group has changed radically in the last 30 years. Youth, who are exposed to TV and video game violence increasingly accept the use of violence to solve problems.

4. Brain Development: TV is a passive activity, and there is some evidence that watching too much TV, or even any, at an early age, permanently alters the brain, thus shortening attention spans.

5. Imagination: TV and screens hinder the development of imagination. The absence of images requires a child to use his or her imagination to create the image. The greater a child's imagination is, the greater his or her ability to understand abstract concepts and develop imaginative solutions later in life.

6. Time: television and computer games can take up an enormous amount of a child's time. American children watch nearly three hours of TV everyday, time they might have spent playing with friends, reading, exercising, or creating.

So, turn off the TV, DVDs, video games, and computers (except for looking up something for reference, or for homework), and find different things to do! Enjoy the extra time you will have, and have a great week!

For more, visit TV-Turnoff. org

A Start on Solar

In the current issue of the Hillsdale News, I've written a story about the possibility of Rieke Elementary School having its own photo-voltaic panels by the end of this year. Yesterday Steve McGrath of Commercial Solar Ventures, and Catherine Diviney, the solar specialist for Portland Public Schools, scrambled up the slope above Bertha Court to assess the site for the 200-foot-long solar array. The panels would provide 60 percent of Rieke's electricity.

McGrath reported that the site would work although it isn't perfect. The exposure isn't perfectly oriented to the south. A slightly less steep grade would be better, he said. Still, he gave it a thumbs-up.

An open house to discuss the installation with the community members will likely be held in June. Topics of discussion include the appearance of the panels and whether they would reflect into the nearby Watershed.

The rendering (below) of what the $800,000 - $850,000 panel array might look like on the hillside was made by Brian Sheehan of the Portland Planning Bureau. The stop sign is at the corner of Bertha Court and Bertha Boulevard. The Healy Heights tower is in the distance.

The Intrusion of Time

John Wardin’s grandfather, Gustav, made a purchase one hundred years ago that shaped the future of Hillsdale. Gustav bought the Fulton Park Dairy shown here in 1905.

Earlier this week I met with John to look through a family album of old photographs. Together we gamely tried to imagine the perspectives of the photographers.

Of all the photographs, this one is the most striking because of its panorama. We are looking east from the hill where St. Barnabas Church is today. The view stretches from what was Hoffman Road (today Vermont Street) on the right to Capitol Highway on the left. The Fulton Park Dairy is dead ahead.

Intrigued by the view, I set out this afternoon to try to find the spot the photographer stood on. I wanted to update the photo.

One hundred years got in the way. Utility lines, houses, streets, trees, cars. One shot was partially blocked by the roof of a Jeep Cherokee. Another was crisscrossed by apple tree branches. Rooftops were everywhere. I considered climbing up on one to find the right angle, but then thought better of it.

So here’s the best I could do. Wilson High School is now in the distance. Rieke Elementary School is on the right. On the left is the Hillsdale Shopping Center, still owned by the Wardin family. The squirrel skittering across a utility wire is a new arrival.


But if you look closely, you see a glimpse of Hoffman-turned-Vermont on the right. A tree or two on the horizon may have survived 100 years.

And as the contours show, the place will always be “as old as the hills.”

Two Tell-tale Signs in Hillsdale

Today, the day these photos were taken, is December 22, or in the haphazard typography of the above sign, 12 22.

(Note the grab-bag assortment of letters — yes, that "A" has a reverse accent over it; yes, that's an umlaut over the "U". Notice the careless spacing and word arrangement.)

The advertised fund-raising event was 11 days ago, but the sign, now a billboard for a local pizzeria, is unchanged. It is, in essence, cheap, ugly advertising on public property. Some 30,000 commuters see the sign each workday.

The school district still has no policy about such advertised fund-raisers or about where and how they are promoted. Despite the money they raise, they are clear commercial intrusions into our schools.

Contrast the above Wilson High sign and its ungainly "lollipop" design and its dated, neglected content, with the message and design of the nearby Rieke Elementary School sign.

What's the message, stated and aesthetic, of each? Which school has its priorities straight? Which school cares about and has thought about its "public face"?

You be the judge.