14A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015
Legislature looks
to sSeed uS traf¿F
on highways
By JONATHAN J.
COOPER
The Associated Press
AP Photo/Noah Berger
Jason Wurtz campaigns Sweepee Rambo, a 16-year-old Chinese crested, in the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the
Sonoma-Marin Fair Friday in Petaluma, Calif. Sweepee won the runner-up award.
Deformed mutt is crowned World’s Ugliest Dog
The Associated Press
PETALUMA, Calif. — A
10-year-old mutt named Quasi
Modo, whose spinal birth de-
fects left her a bit hunchbacked,
is the winner of this year’s
World’s Ugliest Dog contest.
The pit bull-Dutch shep-
herd mix and her owner took
the $1,500 prize Friday night,
besting 25 other dogs com-
peting in the contest that ap-
plauds imperfection, organiz-
ers said.
Quasi Modo was aban-
doned at an animal shelter
before being adopted by a
veterinarian in Loxahatchee,
Florida, according to her bi-
ography posted on the con-
test’s website.
“My appearance can be
a little unsettling to some (I
have had grown men jump
on top of their cars to get
away from me because they
thought I was a hyena or
Tasmanian devil) but once
they get to know me I win
them over with my bubbly
personality,” her biography
said.
Two Chinese crested and
Chihuahua mixes named
Sweepee Rambo and Frodo
took the second- and third-
place prizes, respectively.
An 8-year-old Chihua-
hua named Precious received
the “spirit award,” honoring
a dog and owner who have
overcome obstacles and/or
are providing service to the
community. Precious, who is
blind in one eye, is trained to
monitor smells related to low
blood sugar levels and alert
her owner, a disabled veteran,
of the problem, her biography
said.
The contest, held at the
Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds
in Petaluma, California, is in
its 27th year.
The dogs are scored by a
three-judge panel in several
categories, including special
or unusual attributes, person-
ality and natural ugliness.
SALEM — Slow-poke driv-
ers in passing lanes on Oregon
freeways would sometimes
have to make way for motorists
with heavier right feet under a
bill approved Monday in the
state Senate.
The measure would desig-
nate the left lane on highways as
a passing lane when there isn’t
congestion, reTuiring slow driv-
ers to move over for faster-mov-
ing traf¿c.
Lawmakers, who have plen-
ty of experience commuting
to Salem, made clear that they
were knowledgeable about the
subject.
“We have all experienced in
our commuting life the terrible
frustration of having someone
get in the passing lane and ba-
sically park there,” said Sen.
Ginny Burdick, a Portland
Democrat who sponsored the
bill. “This morning, this very
morning, when I was commut-
ing there was somebody in the
left lane going just a little under
the speed-limit reading.”
When confronted with a left-
lane hog, frustrated drivers often
tailgate, pass on the right or zig-
zag through traf¿c to get around,
creating dangerous conditions,
she said.
Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby,
said he worried the bill would
increase congestion in other
Sexuality: Group plans to host
conference in the fall for educators
Continued from Page 1A
the Oregon Teen Pregnancy
Task Force
In an email to participants,
the task force mentioned how
“current conditions have
shifted the setting and our
ability to offer open, safe and
honest conversations about
sexuality.” The organizers
also stated they value their
relationship with the Seaside
community and could not
“in good conscience, hold a
conference when we believe
conference participants and
our Seaside partners may be
put in uncomfortable or un-
pleasant situations.”
A small group calling it-
self the “Stop the Seaside Sex
Conference” protested the
event last year, and “it’s no se-
cret to anyone” the conference
and portions of its content re-
ceived some negative media
coverage starting in late fall
2014, said Tiffany Tucker,
treasurer for the Oregon Teen
Pregnancy Task Force.
The task force responded
the content was aligned with
Oregon’s
Comprehensive
Sexuality (ducation reTuire-
ments as laid out in the Or-
egon Administrative Rules.
Additionally, the conference
was intended for educators,
health personnel, adminis-
trators, counselors, social
and youth service workers,
parents, clergy, teens, com-
munity members and others
wanting “to increase their
knowledge and skills in ad-
dressing adolescent sexu-
ality issues,” according to
the task force. The negative
press, however, “seeming-
ly impacted” those making
decisions on behalf of orga-
nizations, agencies and dis-
tricts about whether to send
people to the conference,
Tucker said.
“There were a lot of peo-
ple who were not able to
attend because people in
their school districts or de-
partments had decided not to
participate in the conference
this year,” she said.
The conference organiz-
ers set a benchmark for how
many registrants were need-
ed by a certain date in March
for the conference to take
place, since the conference
primarily is paid for by reg-
istration fees.
“The day we called it, it
was because there weren’t
enough people registered,”
Tucker said. A number of
people had unregistered, she
added.
The conference was “can-
celed period this year,” Tuck-
er said, adding they did not
just move it from Seaside.
What is next?
The Oregon Teen Preg-
nancy Task Force — whose
name still is tied to the
group’s original mission,
although its focus has since
evolved — remains the main
sponsor for the conference.
The group, which is run by
a five-member board mostly
based in the Portland area,
is “still very much trying to
figure what to do in future
years,” Tucker said.
She did not speak as to
whether or not the confer-
ence will be held in Seaside
again.
Calculating the econom-
ic impact on Seaside of the
conference not taking place
is difficult, Convention Cen-
ter General Manager Russ
Vandenberg said. The esti-
mated economic impact in
2014 was about $284,375.
That report is based on the
number of event days —
which was two — and the
number of attendees — 260.
The direct impact was cal-
culated to be $81,250, and
indirect impact was about
$203,125.
“The fact they did not
hold the conference in 2015
makes this difficult to calcu-
late because we don’t know
Protesters stand outside
the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center in April
2014. The group gathered
to protest the Adolescent
Sexuality Conference,
which group spokesman
Michael Kelly called “in-
appropriate for children.”
Protest organizers asked
protesters not to disclose
their names or speak to
the press.
how many attendees would
have attended, and the im-
pact is based on attendees
and number of days, not just
by holding a conference in
Seaside,” Vandenberg said.
In 2015, the convention’s
April numbers were low in
comparison to last year, ac-
cording to convention center
staff.
Daily Astorian File
Teen Wellness
Community members had
a different opportunity to
learn more about health and
wellness during the recently
formed Clatsop Teen Well-
ness Coalition’s Adolescent
Mind & Body Health Semi-
nar, hosted at Clatsop Com-
munity College in May.
The free conference’s
mission was “to inform par-
ents and educators about
evidence-based information
concerning teen health,”
according to a press re-
lease.“The intention behind
this is to educate those who
hold a position of authority
in the lives of teens in Clat-
sop County, be it parents,
teacher, counselors, etc. The
hope is to create healthy dia-
logue in the community that
will foster good choices in
young minds.”
According to Meredith
Payton, the coordinator of
the Clatsop Teen Wellness
Coalition, the formation of
the coalition and subseTuent
seminar “was to fill a void
in the absence of adolescent
sexual health information
within Clatsop County.”
“The cancellation did
play a role in our formation,
but our goal isn’t to replace
that conference,” she said.
“We hope to be the resource
in the community for par-
ents, educators and adminis-
trators about all things relat-
ing to teen sexuality.”
The group plans to host
another conference in the
fall for educators throughout
the coast, she said.
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Bales: ‘I would make the same call again’
Continued from Page 1A
Moving a mountain
In a notice Friday from the
city’s Public Works Depart-
ment, Reitman was warned
about the unauthorized place-
ment of a siJni¿cant Tuanti-
ty of straw bales in a public
right-of-way on Niagara Av-
enue near 12th Street and the
lack of a permit for the work.
She was given several hours
to remove the stockpile her-
self — an impossible task —
and was told the city would
move the straw if she did not.
The right-of-way debate
Tuickly moved into the back-
ground after Ames determined
the straw posed a ¿re hazard.
“I was expecting a small
pile of straw,” Ames said of
his ¿rst impression. “And I
found pretty much a sizable
mountain of bales of straw.”
The ¿re chief feared some-
one might accidentally Àip
a cigarette or match and set
the straw on ¿re, potentially
threatening homes and other
property.
lanes by discouraging people
from using the one on the left.
The bill encourages people to
speed, he said, and would in-
crease accidents.
“To inÀict this injury be-
cause you can’t get to work on
time because you get frustrated
with someone in front of you is
ludicrous,” Olsen said.
The bill would allow police
to ticket drivers in the left lane
who refuse to move over for
faster-moving traf¿c. It applies
to highways with a speed limit
of at least 55 mph and at least
two lanes in each direction.
The measure passed in a 23-6
vote. It returns to the House,
which approved it earlier this
year but must agree to changes
made in the Senate.
Another speed-related bill is
also still alive as lawmakers near
the end of the legislative session,
which could come as soon as
this week.
The bill would raise the
speed limit on rural stretches of
freeway in eastern Oregon. The
state’s top speed limit would
become 70 mph, up from 65,
on Interstate 84 between The
Dalles and Idaho. It would also
be 70 mph on Highway 95,
which connects Nevada and
Idaho through far southeastern
Oregon.
That bill, which includes
$735,000 for new speed limit
signs, is awaiting action in the
Ways and Means Committee.
“That’s what they pay
me to do, is look at things
like that,” Ames said. “And
it was a hazard based on
what we were expecting for
weather.”
Asked whether, in hind-
sight, he would still make the
same determination, Ames
was certain: “I would make
the same call again.”
Reitman thinks the city
made the wrong call.
“It’s categorically obvious
that they were in the wrong on
this,” she said.
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