*
Jefferson Dancers
A Thin Line
Between Love
And Hate
Jefferson dancers set
spring performance .
season.
Metro, page BI
Drama Spotlights
Alternative To
Youth Violence
Martin Lawrence comic
thriller, A Thin Line,
premiers.
PÆS features drama
ydcusing on alternatives to
[youth violence.
Entertainment, pageB3.
Family, page B4.
e |Joi*tlaitó (IP*
® l First Interstate And Wells Fargo Merge
Officials Promise Customer Friendly Changeover
T
US West Sanctions
The Public Utility Commission tightened
regulatory control over US West because o f
complaints about its telephone service. The
phone utility had pricing flexibility to deal
with increased competition in exchange for
meeting more stri ngent serv ice deli very stan­
dards. But customer com plaints rose in O r­
egon 460 percent in three years, and starting
May I, the com pany will have to rebate 100
percent ofprofits, above the approved rate o f
return, to its customers instead o f splitting
the profits 50-50. The com pany will have to
lend cellular phones to custom ers whose
requests for first telephone lines are not met
within five business days. It will also have to
credit customers whose telephone service
doesn’t work.
Dole Claims
Republican Nomination
Senator Bob Dole won the California,
Washington and Nevada primaries to clinch
the Republican nomination for president.
Holding 1198 delegates. 202 more than he
needs. Dole said in celebration, “A new
America is in our reach.” Pat Buchanan, the
last o f D ole’s Republican opponents con­
ceded the nomination in and headed home to
plan his next step. Dole, losing patience with
Buchanan’s dem ands to shape the party plat­
form, said, “The longer he just hangs in there
the more he helps Bill Clinton.”
i
he nations eighth largest bank
opened for business Monday
when Wells Fargo & Co. com­
bined with First Interstate Bank.
W e lls O ffic ia ls stre s s e d th e $ 12.1 b il­
lion m e rg e r, th e la rg e st in h is to ry , w ill
c a u se n o d is ru p tio n in s e rv ic e fo r th e
6 0 0 ,0 0 0 O re g o n ia n s d o in g b u sin e ss w ith
F irs t I n te rs ta te .
N o O re g o n b ra n c h e s w ill c lo s e ; c u s ­
to m e r a c c o u n ts w ill b e a u to m a tic a lly
c o n v e rte d ; ch e ck s, c re d it c a rd s and A TM
c a rd s w ill be h o n o re d ; a n d c u s to m e r
s e rv ic e p h o n e n u m b e rs w ill re m a in th e
sam e.
N ew C h e c k s m ay n ot be a v a ila b le for
se v e ra l m o n th s, b ut F irst In te rs ta te A T M
c a rd s ca n be u sed at 2 ,4 0 0 W ells F arg o
A T M m a c h in e s.
T h e re a re no c h a n g e s p la n n e d fo r c e r ­
tif ic a te s o f d e p o s it, r e tire m e n t a c c o u n ts,
lo an s o r b u sin e ss a c c o u n ts . L o an c u s ­
to m e rs s h o u ld c o n tin u e to m ak e p a y ­
m e n ts as u su a l. A ny a d d itio n a l in fo rm a ­
tio n to h o ld e rs o f b u s in e s s a c c o u n ts w ill
be m a ile d .
F irst N a tio n a l B ank o f O re g o n b e g a n
o p e r a tin g in O re g o n in 1856. T h e n am e
w as c h a n g e d to F irs t In te r s ta te in the
197 0 s an d its h e a d q u a r te rs m o v e d to
L os A n g e le s. It w as th en th e b ig g e st
bank in th e sta te W ells F a rg o , a fa m ilia r
nam e in th e h isto ry o f th e o ld w est,
—
LaVerne Hampton, cusomer service manager, conducts business as usual Monday at First Interstate Bank on Martin Luther
king Jr. Boulevard. Photo by Mark W ashington
o p e r a te d e x p re s s o f fic e s in O re g o n u n til
ju s t a f te r th e tu rn o f th e c e n tu ry .
I h e 4 0 -s to ry F irs t In te rs ta te T o w e r
w ill a p p a re n tly u n d e r g o a flam e c h a n g e .
be sold.
B a n n e rs w ith th e new n am e w ill be
h u n g at b r a n c h e s th is w ee k a n d b r o ­
c h u re s a b o u t th e m e rg e r are a v a ila b le .
Portland Averts Teacher’s Strike
Food
Stamp
Benefits
Decreased
Cigarette Recall
Not Needed
Federal health investigators said last week
that the 8 b i 11 ion c igarettes recal led by Ph i 11 ip
Morris USA last year were no worse than
any others and that the recall distracted
I attention from the real dangers o f smoking.
The $100 million recall was prompted was
prompted after smokers reported coughing I
i l l
: Collins to leave Genesis j
Hre
,
Phil Collins is leaving Genesis after 25
years with the band. The drummer and vo-
I calist announced that he will do music for I
I
barring cameras in the courtroom should not
apply to this case, because under the 1990
law, the government must consider victims I
rights and give them access to all proceed- I
j
i
Zulus Protest
In South Africa
Z ulu n atio n alist in trad itio n al garb
marched in Johannesburg to com mem orate
the bloody protest just before the historic all­
race elections, Fifty people wcrekilled March
28, 1994, at a protest against the election o f
Nelson Mandela. Zulus led by Mongosuthu
Buthelezi and his Inkatha Freedom Part)'
still want Mandela and the African National
Congress to grant them a certain am ount o f
autonomy, I he ANC accuses Buthelezi o f
seeking “despotic powers.” The rivalry be­
tween the two parties has been deadly and
jeopardized the'effort to end apartheid.
EDITORIAL
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I I life 4
Dominique Glover (above), second
grsdm at James John Schoo! in 3i.
Johns (right). Portland schools still face
budget problems.
■ Lawyers representing survivors o f the
O klahom a City bombing filed a motion say­
ing they have a right to watch the trial on
closed circuit television under the federal
victims act. The motion said federal laws I
ings. The trial o f Timothy McViegh and
Terry Nichols may begin later this year in j
I Denver.
IB O
È P
A
.. w
íil
movies, “some jazz projects and o f course
my solo c a r e e r T h is means G enesis will be
looking for a new member for the first time
since Peter G abriel's departure in 1975. The
group has sold more than 80 million albums
since then.
Bombing Survivors
File Suit
Ml U h t’l M
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& IM S
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88
and laryngitis. Government officials said the
complaints were caused by prolonged sm ok­
ing-
I
P
ortlanders woke up Monday last
T he teach ers had rejected the school
week preparing for a teachers
b o ard 's last offer — 0.5 percent this year and
strike. Instead, the early morn­
3.66 percent next year. It m eant giving up
ing news announced a tentative settle­
some sabbaticals and leaves along som e steps,
ment.
T eachers had been w orking w ithout a co n ­
tract since July.
Earlier, the school board had voted to cut
$15 m illion from their budge,. I, meant cu t­
ting 500 jo b s and elim inating special p ro ­
grams. There was no money to meet the
teacher’s dem ands.
M ayor Vera Katz got invoked, announced
$9 m illion in em ergency help. She allocated
$2 million for athletics and school police, but
put no strings on the other $7 million.
aw ards for education and experience.
T uesday afternoon there was a contract on
the agenda for the teach er’s m eeting at M e­
m orial C oliseum instead o f a strike. Ninety-
six percent o f 3610 teachers agreed to the
term s o f a three year contract that gave them
most o f what they w anted: a 2 percent retro­
active raise this year, another 1.5 percent plus
an increase for further education the next,
and, the third year, no less than a 2 percent or
more that a 3 percent increase.
A firs, year teacher with a basic bach elo r’s
degree will earn $25,020, up from $24,650,
and a teacher with a m aster's degree and five
y e a r’s experience will go from $33,408 to
$34,107.
In addition, they keep the rules o f senior­
ity, an important issue for the teachers. T u ­
ition reim bursem ents, professional im prove­
m ent funds, access to students behavior
records and increased planning tim e are also
included. They gave up sabbaticals through
1997-98
“ This is a good contract,” one teacher
yelled as she left the closed meeting.
However, not everyone was happy. “ It’s a
Continued to page
nnual readjustment of food
stamp allotments will begin
April 1.
T he a d ju s tm e n ts w ill re su lt in so m e
re c ip ie n ts s e e in g a slig h t d ro p in th e ir
b e n e fits.
B e n e fit c o m p u ta tio n s are re fig u re d
ea ch A p ril b e c a u s e o f lo w e r u tility
b ills d u r in g th e w a rm e r m o n th s. A d ­
d itio n a l fo o d sta m p s a re p ro v id e d
d u rin g w in te r b e c a u s e o f h ig h e r h e a t­
ing b ills.
The exact am ount o f the decrease will
vary from fam ily to family. Food stam p
grants are determ ined based on income,
expenses, and fam ily size.
The change will no, affect Senior and
D isabled Services D ivision clients w hose
benefits are determ ined using an average,
year-round utility figure. The change also
will not affect recipients who use actual
utility costs in com putations, or who have
no utility costs.
M ore than 136,000 households, many
o f them low -incom e w orking families,
receive food stam ps in Oregon. The aver­
age am ount o f food stam ps per family is
'¡165 per month. The program is adm inis­
tered by A dult and Family Services, a
division o f the O regon D epartm ent o f
Human Resources.
Congressional Democrats Fight for Minimum Wage Hike
ight Republican Senators, in­
Senate
o
c n m c ¡ M
v i ajority
a j o n i y leader
le a u e r Bob
n o n Dole has giv-
giv
cluding Oregon's Mark Hatfield,
en no indication that he would schedule a
joined Democrats last week in
vote on the measure, so the only choice the
backing a proposal that would force
D em a ocrats have is to tack i t on to other
vote on raising the minimum wage from
legislation. Holding a vote on the issue was
$ 4 .25 an hour to $5.15 an hour In two
such an uncom fortable prospect, that D ole
45-cent increments over the next two
brought the Senate to a halt for three hours
years. The tally was five short of the 60
w hile he tried to figure out a procedural way
votes needed.
to avoid one.
E
Bill Clinton blamed the Republican lead­
ership for barring efforts “to give 10 million
Am ericans an im m ediate pay increase ”
HOUSING
HEALTH
D e m o c ra ts in the H o u se w ere th w a r t­
ed 2 2 8 -1 9 2 in th e ir a tte m p t to b rin g th e
m e a su re to a v o te
EDUCATION
O p p o s itio n in th e
M FTR H
S E C T IO N
R e p u b lic a n c o n tro lle d H o u se
is
n rn h n .
v id i s u e ie r m in a tio n to u se th e issu e to
d if fe r e n tia te th e ir a g e n d a from th e R e ­
p u b lic a n s M an y tra d itio n a lly D e m o c ra t­
ic w o rk in g -c la s s v o te rs h av e s w itc h e d
o v e r to th e R e p u b lic a n P arty . T h e m in ­
im um w ag e m ay b e a key issu e in w in ­
n in g back th e ir a lle g ia n c e .
We re very please with the vote," said
SPORTS
FAMILY
, .L i.
o i~v /-»
Sen. I om D aschle, D -S.D .. Senate m inority
leader. Sooner or later this will pass . We
hope it happens som etim e in the next few
w eeks. O ur R epublican colleagues cannot
have it both w ays.”
M ore than 12 m illion people earn the
m inim um wage. Polls show that th ree-q u ar­
ters o f A m ericans support an increase in the
m inim um wage. C ritics say it will cu, back on
jo b s, w hile supporters o f the increase say
w ithout it, buying pow er will drop to a 40-
year low
Q on
VANCOUVER
CLASSIFIEDS