Are you still worn down from all those scintillating political ads on TV? How about those political phone calls and surveys? Well, you can relax. Neighborhood Notes has factored all that in with this month’s Armchair Mayor selection. After two mayoral candidates in a row, we’ve decided to turn to the arts with folk musician and business owner Richard Colombo of Artichoke Music. Has it really been more than five years since more...

This is the second article in a series (read the first article) about how landlords and their present and potential commercial tenants can work together to create vibrant, livable neighborhoods. As a topic, the relationships between landlords and their tenants is a dicey one, because neither lessor nor lessee seem interested in speaking about it publicly. If there’s any grumbling, it's often whispered to friends, family or more...

This is the final installment in a series about the steps small business owners need to take before hiring their first employee. If you’ve already taken a hard look at your business and determined the right time to hire your first employee as well as figured thevalue your time, you’ve done the heavy lifting. "For a sole proprietor or someone who has a boutique, there's really not a lot invested in bringing in that more...

Event date: May 1, 2012 → May 31, 2012

Event location: The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon

The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon (FCCO) will host free spay/neuter clinics for feral and stray cats in the four-county area—Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, and Clark—throughout the entire month of May. Space is limited so call today! Why May? In the spring months, cats begin to breed and are more likely to produce kittens. Cats can reproduce as early as five months old, but can be safely spayed and neutered at two more...

Event dates: June 7th, 2012

Event location: Western Seminary, 5511 SE Hawthorne Blvd. and St. David of Wales, 2800 SE Harrison St.

Join business and neighborhood leaders as we design a more resilient future for our SE community. Identify and map out systems for energy, water, waste, food production and local economies. Come share your ideas as we collaborate in facilitated community building workshops designed to turn our visions into grassroots community sustainability projects. Sat. May 19th, 2012 Western Seminary, 10am - 2pm Lunch provided FREE & OPEN TO more...