Page A3
JUNE10, 1998
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Construction to Begin for
Portland’s New Paramount Hotel
With design approval in hand
and final perm its p rocessing,
W estCoast Hotels will soon begin
construction o f Portland, ( )regon's
new Paramount Hotel. Already,
demolition has taken place and the
construction site has been pre
pared. The projected three star,
three diamond property is targeted
to open in the summer o f 1999.
“We currently run two o f Port
land finest tour star, four diamond
hotels-the Benson Hotel and the
RiverPlace Hotel. We feel the
market really needs quality three
star accommodations," says Mat
thew M urphy, Executive Vice
President o f Marketing. “As it
stands, there’s few rooms avail
able in Portland f o r a $125 anight.
T hat's what the Paramount will
provide.”
The new Paramount hotel was
designed after its sister property,
which bears its same name in Se
attle. The original paramount was
developed and equipped with in
put from years o f feedback from
other hotel guests.
“With all its special touches,
Seattle’s Paramount has been met
with overwhelming success," says
Murphy. "Our Portland hotel has
taken that design one step further
with the input w e’ve received since
Seattle’s opening.’’ Some o f the
improvements Murphy refers to
include larger guest rooms and
larger bathrooms, each with a sepa
rate tub and shower.”
Centrally located in downtown
Portland, the hotel will offer 154
guest rooms, 1,500 square feet o f
meeting Space, a state-of-the-art fit
ness center and a restaurant. Tele
phones with data ports and voice
mail, in room coffee makers, hair
dryers, irons and ironing boards will
be standard features in all guest
rooms. W estCoast plans to fran
chise Blowfish Asian Cafe, cur
rently located in Seattle’s Para
mount Hotel and ranked one o f
Seattle’s Top Three New Restau
rants, and locate a second Blowfish
restaurant in the Portland Paramount
Hotel.
Old MacDonald
had a faro
Check for overhead
lines when moving
irrigation pipes or
equipment
lännen! Do Not Hit Powv
TEENAGE AUTO ACCIDENT FATALITIES
conditions or were exceeding the
posted speed limit.
“As June, July and August come
and go, the highest monthly totals of
the year occur,” says Macina. “That’s
why the insurance companies through
WI1S recommend the following sur
vival formula to teenage drivers.”
* Obey all traffic laws and drive
within the posted speed - a traffic
violation isjust a collision that didn’t
happen.
* Buckle up your safety belt every
trip and make sure all passengers do
the same. It's not only the law in
Oregon, i f s your primary protection
against serious injury. Car manufac
turers install a safety belt for the
number o f passengers that it is safe to
transport in that vehicle. Make sure
they all use those safety belts, even in
the rear. Sure, they may be uncom
fortable at times, not macho and
wrinkle your clothes, but the alterna
tive may be two weeks in the hospital
or crutches for six months, a seri
ously maimed friend facing years of
plastic surgery or, even worse, death
- so, why not start a habit for life right
now and buckle-up?
* Drive defensively - most colli
sions are caused by driver error and
are preventable.
* Choose not to drink and drive.
The legal age to purchase, possess or
consume alcohol is 21. Celebrate at
an alcohol-free, drug-free gradua
tion party sponsored by your school,
parents and community.
A recent study by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety shows
that the claim experience for U.S.
Teenage drivers, particularly 16-
year-olds, isn’t getting better but
worse. While enough data isn’t avail
able to assess why the death rate for
the youngest drivers is going while
rates are trending down among older
drivers, even older teenagers, some
hypotheses seem plausible:
* easier access to cars than ever
before,
* inexperience at driving, and
* driving more in high risk cir
cumstances - e.g. at night.
Unfortunately, the problem o f
deaths among 16-year-old drivers is
not going to decline without help
since the population o f 16 year-olds
will continue to grow through the
next decade.
Traffic safety advocates across the
country contend that a promising way
to reduce deaths among 16-year-old
drivers is to adopt graduated licens
ing systems that phase in driving
privileges in stages as young begin
ners gain more experience behind
the wheel. Such stages include six
months or more in a learning phase,
during which supervision is required.
Another six to a year in an intermedi
ate licensing phase, during which
unsupervised driving isn’t allowed
in high-risk situations - e. g. at night
or with other teens in the car.
Since 1996, six states-CA, FL, GA,
MI, NC and OH - have adopted pro
grams that include essential elements
o f graduated licensing. Data, now be
ing collected on the results, should
begin to draw a picture in early 1999.
Local Producer, House Of Umoja, And AYOS Wins
Regional, National And International Awards
G ra ss ro o t N e w s and
P o rtla n d ’ s House o fU m o ja
d o m e stic v io le n c e v id e o ,
“ D a tin g in the H ood: D o
m estic V io le n c e ,” re c e n tly
garnered in te rn a tio n a l and
n a tio n a l success.
“ D ating in the H o od” won
a s ilv e r medal in the 1997
S u m m it C re a tiv e A w ards
c o m p e titio n . The S um m it
Aw ards in v o lv e d F ilm and
V id e o e n tries fro m a d ve r
tis in g firm s and p ro d u c tio n
s tu d io s th r o u g h o u t the
U n ite d States, Canada, and
A u s tra lia .
In a d d itio n “ D a tin g in the
H o o d ” was a w a rd e d a
B ronze apple in the N a
tio n a l E d u ca tio n a l M edia
N e tw o rk F ilm and V id e o
c o m p e titio n . T h e A p p le
c o m p e titio n s are educa-
tio n a l vid e o and film p ro
ductio n s from the U n ited
S ta te s ,
M e x ic o ,
and
Canada.
“ D a tin g in the Hood: D o
m estic V io le n c e ” is a do
m estic vio le n ce awareness
and p re ve n tio n video. P ro
duced in August 1997 by
G rassroot News w ith the
ta le n ts o f 17 y o u th re
c ru ite d from lo cal social
service agencies.
Funded by the C ity o f
P o r t la n d ’ s
O p e r a tio n
ReFocus, “ D a tin g in the
H o o d 's ” p rim a ry c lie n t was
House o f Um oja w ith c o l
la b o ra tio n from the Youth
Gang Program , M ultnom ah
C o u n try V io le n ce Preven
tio n Program , the D e p a rt
m ent o f C o m m u n ity and
F a m ily S e rvices and the
D e p a rtm e n t o f J u v e n ile
Justice.
R e g io n a lly , G ra s s ro o t
News and the A lb in a Y outh
O p p o r t u n it y
S chool
(A Y O S ) placed fir s t in the
vid eo c o m p le tio n “ Best o f
the N o rth w e s t” fo r th e ir
vid e o “ C lo c k in g D o lla rs :
How to Keep a Job.”
T h is v id e o d eve lop ed
out o f Sum m er S chool
(1 9 9 7 ) where em ploym ent
re te n tio n ta ctics were e x
p lo re d , s k its created and
recorded on video tape. A d
d itio n a l s p o n s o rs h ip fo r
“ C lo c k in g D o lla rs com e
fro m G IF T F a m ily S e r
vices.
F o r m o re in fo r m a tio n
contact L a n ita Duke, P ro
d u c e r: G ra s s ro o t N ew s
(2 8 7 -9 0 7 4 ).
age 10
Use spotters when
operating trucks or
heavy machinery
INCREASE DURING SUM M ER MONTHS
“The month o f May marks the
beginning ofthe most dangerous time
o f the year for teenagers to be behind
the wheel o f an automobile,” warns
Marianne Macina, CPCU, regional
manager for Western Insurance In
formation Service (WHS).
“Automobile crashes are a par
ticular problem for your youth," she
says. “The life expectancy o f every
age group in the U.S. has increased
during the past 75 years except one -
- teenagers, whose death rate is higher
today than 20 years ago mainly due
to auto crashes.”
More than 5,500 American teen
age drivers are killed every year in
, traffic crashes, according to the Na
tional Safety Council. Here at home,
the Oregon Department o f Transpor
tation (ODOT) Traffic Safety Sec
tion preliminary statistics show that
Oregon teenage drivers (age 1 5 -1 9
years old) were involved in 11,608
crashes in 1997 - 93 o f these crashes
were fatal, 6,075 involved injuries
and 5,440 resulted in property dam
age only. Even worse, 110 people
were killed and 10,956 were injured
last year in collisions involving teen
age drivers in Oregon.
In Oregon, where it is state law to
“buckle up,” 154 teens (both drivers
and passengers) involved in acci
dents in 1997 were reported not wear
ing safety belts. Even worse, 79 o f
the teen drivers involved in acci
dents were driving impaired (drugs
or alcohol). Another 1,313 o f th e
Oregon teens involved in accidents
last year were driving too fast for
W /H i
eaii_______ _________ _____________
Kayleen, age 7
Always wear proper
safety equipment
Avoid power
lines when
clearing debris
Locate all power
lines before
pruning trees or
harvesting fruit
Jacilyn, age 12
utdoor electric safety is important to all of us —
O
especially this time of year when we’re outside more.
With the help of some of last year’s winners in Pacific
Power’s Electric Safety Contest, we wanted to make you aware
of some of the potentially hazardous situations you and your
kids can get into while working or playing outdoors.
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PACIFIC POWER
A PacifiCorp Company
I