| Oregon update j
Today Wednesday Thursday
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IN BRIEF
Oregon alcohol vendors
confiscate more fake IDs
SALEM — Oregon businesses li
censed to sell alcohol are getting bet
ter at spotting fraud.
More than 1,800 false IDs were
confiscated by liquor licensees last
year, an increase from 1,200 in 2003,
Oregon Liquor Control Commission
officials said.
Regulatory Field Director Linda Ig
nowski said the agency has made stop
ping the proliferation of fake IDs a
higher priority than it did in the past.
“We are assisting licensees and their
security staff to identify false IDs more
readily and they’re becoming more
aware of the problem,” she said.
Woman survives car crash
over Portland bridge
PORTLAND — A woman whose
SUV crashed through the guard rail
of a downtown bridge, plunged 60
feet into the Willamette River and
then sank another 55 feet to the riv
er’s bottom said she is amazed to
have survived.
“You’re in a car going off a bridge
— you think you’re done,” Melissa
Borgaard told The Oregonian.
Her harrowing experience occurred
Saturday as she was driving across the
Morrison Bridge, one of several bridges
spanning the Willamette River in
downtown Portland.
Borgaard was speaking on her
hands-free cell phone with her sister
making dinner plans when she lost
control of her vehicle on the rain
slick bridge.
The vehicle smashed through the
guardrail, plunged off the span and to
the bottom of the river.
“I struggled a little bit with my
seatbelt and I thought “This can’t be
it,”’ said Borgaard, of Vancouver,
Wash. “I thought, ‘OK, where am I
at? I need to figure out where my
seatbelt is.’”
She was able to unbuckle her seat
belt, and apparently got out of the car
through a smashed windshield — al
though she doesn’t remdtnber every
thing that happened.
Before she knew it, she was kick
ing her way to the surface, gasping
for air.
Several people with cell phones
had called 9-1-1 after seeing the SUV
plunge off the bridge.
Floating on her back, she could
hear the cheers of a crowd that had
gathered on the river bank.
She could also hear sirens. “Please
let them be coming for me,” Bor
gaard, 31, recalls telling herself.
She was plucked out of the river by
a dive team rescue swimmer from the
Portland Fire Bureau.
Oregonians unwilling to
abandon landline phones
According to a statewide survey of
2,406 households conducted on be
half of the Oregon Public Utility Com
mission, Oregonians are not willing
to go completely wireless. Regular
landline telephone service still has a
strong following.
Although 67 percent of Oregon
households reported having at least
one cell phone, about 79 percent of
respondents said they were unlikely
to switch exclusively to cellular in the
next six months.
Youth baseball league's
equipment target of thieves
PORTLAND — Thieves targeted a
youth baseball league over the week
end, stealing field maintenance
equipment which had been gathered
piecemeal by parents.
Dean Jennings, a volunteer for the
Southeast Portland Babe Ruth Baseball
League, said it took years for parents to
gather the few pieces of power equip
ment used to maintain the fields.
Among the equipment stolen from
the league’s shed were a lawn mow
er, an edger and a pitching machine.
Parents have been doing the up
keep on the ballfield because the
Portland Parks Bureau was forced to
trim its maintenance budget.
“We’re going to have fathers bring
ing their little power mowers to do
the work,” said Jennings. “There will
be no way to drag the field. ”
Portland General Electric
suitor stays a 'dark horse'
PORTLAND — Of the potential
suitors for Enron-subsidiary Portland
General Electric, a group dubbed the
Oregon Mutual Development Co. has
so far received little notice.
But the group — made-up of for
mer PacifiCorp employees as well as
experts in finance and utility law —
has quietly moved into a position
that could make it a contender for
possession of Oregon’s largest utility.
Two public purchase efforts by
the state and by the City of Portland
have made headlines for weeks, es
pecially after the Oregon Public Util
ity Commission nixed Texas Pacific
Group’s $2.35 billion bid for PGE
earlier this month.
Last week, Oregon Mutual secured
the services of New Harbor, an in
vestment bank that specializes in
utilities. Meanwhile, the state Legis
lature began considering a bill that
would allow the group to buy PGE
through the issuance of “securitized
bonds,” a financing structure which
became popular in California during
the electricity deregulation.
But in spite of all its progress, Ore
gon Mutual remains a dark horse. The
other two public purchase offers have
had a long head start. And some are
concerned about Oregon Mutual’s
links to cross-town utility PacifiCorp.
The backers of the plan stress they
will hold no stock or equity position
in the venture.
Small town of La Pine
installs first traffic light
LA PINE — A bit of the big city is
coming to La Pine. The town south
of Bend is getting its first traffic
light, according to Deschutes Coun
ty officials. But because of a land
survey discrepancy, the light won’t
be installed at the intersection of
Huntington Road and First Street
until next year.
“1 think the light is going to have
a real impact... especially on people’s
perceptions of La Pine,” said Gary
Judd, traffic engineer for Deschutes
County. “La Pine is a very fast-growing
area, and some people just don’t
understand that it’s becoming a
little city.”
La Pine is a rural town of about
5,800 residents just under 30 miles
south of Bend.
Four-way stop signs will be in
stalled at the intersection this sum
mer to address traffic problems until
the stoplight is installed.
Patti Oatman, a receptionist at the
La Pine Community Clinic — on the
northeast corner of the intersection
— said something needed to be done.
“It’s the worst spot ever,” she said.
The county plans to widen both
Huntington Road and First Street to al
low for left-turn lanes. But first, land
survey discrepancies that were discov
ered in the 1970s must be resolved.
Sometime in the 1950s, the sur
vey corner first placed in La Pine in
the early 1900s was moved 13 feet
away. When the error was realized,
the county did not require landown
ers to relocate their developments.
Today, the two landowners affect
ed by the discrepancy — owners of
the community clinic and an ACE
Hardware store — are cooperating
with Deschutes County and expect a
resolution soon.
The traffic light will cost $300,000.
Bi-Mart will pick up part of the tab,
and Deschutes County will pay for
the rest.
“I think most of us around here
could see it coming,” said John
Pinckney, co-owner of the hardware
store. “It was inevitable.”
— The Associated Press
College writes cell phone
policy to prevent cheating
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY — One of Oregon’s
community colleges will soon begin
regulating the use of cellular phones
on campus.
Linn-Benton Community College
has been taking both staff and stu
dent input on its proposed police for
on-campus cell phone use.
But a rough guide has already been
hammered out and Dean of Health
and Human Services Jim Bell said he
does not foresee any radical changes.
Bell said the policy was inspired by
concerns that cellular phones, partic
ularly those with text-messaging ca
pabilities, might be used for cheating
on tests.
Cell phones with imbedded cam
eras could also be misused to invade
student privacy in locker room or
restroom settings.
Already, a number of professors
have informally banned cell phones
from their classrooms because the
sounds can be a nuisance.
The draft guidelines, Bell said, are
an attempt to present these concerns
to students and inform them of
school expectations.
“I’m not a big rule person,” Bell
said. “But I think all institutions need
some kind of guidance, and I think
this policy will serve a useful purpose
in helping people understand the pa
rameters and expectations that exist. ”
Like similar policies adopted by
high schools, colleges and other in
stitutions across the country, the lat
est version of the community col
lege’s draft policy asks that camera
cell phones be turned off and not
used in locker rooms, restrooms and
other parts of campus where
privacy is expected.
Cell phones in classrooms may be
on but must be silenced or on vibra
tion mode only. Students must leave
the classroom to respond to calls.
The guidelines would also ban stu
dents from using cell phones during
any test, quiz or student assessment.
When students return from spring
break, college officials will hold two
more meetings to discuss the guide
lines. Then the proposed policy will
be turned over to the administration
for final approval, Bell said.
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