See why you should order your tickets NOW for year’s musical at David Douglas High School, starting its run on December 4 …

All of the townspeople – especially the girls – are enamored with Conrad Birdie (Sam De Roest, playing the lead role of the ’50’s rock star about to be drafted) in their production of Bye Bye Birdie, opening for a limited run on December 4.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
For the first time ever, the timeless musical Bye Bye Birdie will take the stage at David Douglas High School (DDHS), opening on December 4.

Instead of grumbling as they rake, see why this family has so much fun with their leaf pile that they invite neighbors and friends over to play …

Esme Zehava flies through air before plopping in the fluffy leaf pile – this is her fifth jump of the afternoon.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
So many Portlanders love their trees – but hate the leaves that fall when the cold autumn winds blow. They grumble as they rake, blow, gather, and tote the brown, crusty remains of the summer’s lush green canopy to collection sites.

Take a look at the photos and you’ll see why tickets to this rock-and-rolling show, set in the late 1950s, is a hit with audiences – and why you should reserve your tickets right now …

Conrad Birdie (Sam De Roest, playing the lead role of the ’50’s rock star about to be drafted) makes all the young gals in Sweet Apple, Ohio, swoon – as he sings his hit “Honestly Sincere” in the David Douglas High production of Bye Bye Birdie, running this weekend and next.

See why families come from all over greater Portland to take a ride into history along Oaks Bottom. And, find out why volunteers are working to make sure these steam locomotives have a future …

The ground shakes as the Southern Pacific 4449 locomotive – owned by the City of Portland, and which drew the Bicentennial Train around the country in 1976 – powers up for a nighttime Holiday Express run along Oaks Bottom. (We wish you could see this photograph in large-screen, full resolution!)

See how Portland Fire & Rescue’s prompt response kept a burning van from setting this disabled woman’s home ablaze …

Thanks to a neighbor’s prompt call to 9-1-1, and fast response from Portland Fire & Rescue Station 25 and Station 11, this van fire didn’t turn into a tragedy.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The victim of a late-night fire on December 11 sat on a bench in her yard with her cane in hand as she watched Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) firefighters wrapped up their hoses and stow their equipment on their rigs near the modest home at SE 57th Ave and SE Carlton St. in SE Portland.

Multnomah County health officials say the Avian Flu is undoubtedly coming. There’s no vaccine for it. People will die from it. And there’s nothing the government can do to help you. Read and learn what steps you must take to protect the life and health of your family ‚Ķ

Jessica Guernsey Camargo, MPH, Project Supervisor, Pandemic Influenza Community Engagement, telling a SE Portland group there is no cure, nor prevention, for the coming Avian Flu. “The fact is, the only real way of managing the pandemic is through citizens taking personal responsibility.”

It sounded like an explosion, when his car flipped and tore through a utility pole, neighbors say. See why running from the cops – or from an OSP Trooper – can end up as shown in our exclusive photos …

This Chrysler 3000 has driven its last mile. Amazingly, the driver took off on foot after it landed here.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Not many folks were out for a drive, late at night on December 14, as a thick, freezing fog crept in over much of East Portland.

Discover how ballroom dance instruction, of all things, helps Sacramento Elementary students become better students and future citizens …

Ballroom dance instructors Daniel Hutchison and Rachel Lidskog demonstrate skills they teach.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Nasty wintry weather didn’t keep about 20 parents from coming to a special assembly at Sacramento Elementary School in the Parkrose School District, just before school let out for the Holidays.

Just before the fifth graders filed into the gym, instructor Daniel Hutchinson explained, “Today we’re going to have a ballroom dancing demonstration, showing what our students have learned during the past eight weeks. They’ve learned several different dances styles they’ll showcase here today.”

Attention outer East Portland: Read this article and see why you should plan to see this wacky character, when she brings her outrageously funny show to Midland Library at the end of January …

Little guest Lana helps Mz. Pearl try to get her madcap act right.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Some entertainers haul in a truck full of props and equipment used in their act. Not so with “Mz. Pearl’s Variety Show”. Using minimal props, Pearl enchanted the children and entertained the adults at her January 17 show at the Woodstock Branch Library.

Discover why – thanks to a whole lot of folks, including a Portland City Commissioner – outer East Portland’s tree canopy expanded during one January morning …

One of the event’s prime organizers, Powellhurst/Gilbert’s John McDonald, finishes bracing a newly planted tree with Friends of Trees crew leader Rachel Larson at Gilbert HydroPark.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
For the first time ever, the Powellhurst/Gilbert and Lents Neighborhood Associations sponsored a two-neighborhoods-wide planting event with Friends of Trees on January 17.

“We’ve planted 15 trees at the Gilbert HydroPark alone,” said Friends of Trees crew leader Rachel Larson. “Overall, throughout the neighborhoods, we’ve planted 50 trees.”

Here’s why you should plan now to come see this powerful story presented by the Parkrose High School Thespians, starting February 26 …

The Parkrose High School actors practice a scene from their new play. A slave girl who did a little more than just dabble in the occult, Tituba (Kylie Simmons), professes her faith in God – and accuses other village women of witchcraft – to Reverend John Hale (Jason Newman), an expert in occultist phenomena.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
For their winter season production, Parkrose High School Thespian Troupe 1783 is taking on the challenge of presenting The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

Don’t pass up seeing this powerful story presented
by the Parkrose High School Thespians, now playing.
It closes March 7 …

Slave girl Tituba (Kylie Simmons) tends her witch’s brew, as village girls dance with wild abandon – in defiance of their parents wishes.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The Parkrose High School Thespian Troupe 1783 winter season production is the dramatic classic written by Arthur Miller, The Crucible.

The sparsely-decorated sets and evocative lighting focus audience members’ attention on the story, based on actual historical events surrounding the 17th Century Salem Witch Trials.