JA N U A R Y 6, 1999
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Volume \ \ \ l i l i . Number I
Happy Birthday NW
Natural <
Portland FOCUS
Check out Portland's best
Dee Baker, and a tribute
to theatre
N W Naural Gas Celebrates
it's 140th Birthday,
Oregon 's second-oldest
locally owned company.
See Metro, Section B.
BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO.
1610
Look For Our
Special Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Special Next
UU jpp/c/ University o f Oregon
Newspaper Section
mijE $ortlan& (Dliscruei,,
Community Members Welcome Newly Elected
Multnomah County Commissioner
Elizabeth Dole
Campaigns
'• ..
v
• I1
E liz a b e th D o le r e c e n tly an­
nounced her resignation as p resi­
dent o f Red Cross and plans to run
for presidency in 2000. She has
earned national prom inence and
p o p u la rity am ong R e p u b lica n s
with her appeal to w om en, her e x ­
p erience as secretary o f labor and
secretary o f transportation, and
her work for the Red Cross. Other
p ro sp ectiv e can d id ates running
against her are G ov. G eorge W.
Bush, V ice President Dan Q uayle,
Sen. Bob Sm ith, V ice President
A1 Gore and S tev e F orbes, the
publisher.
Euro Trading
The Euro currency had its first
day o f trading in the stock mar­
ket, faring w e ll by clim b in g in
value against other major curren­
c ie s. M illion s o f com puters had
to be reprogrammed throughout
the world to handle the new Trilbr
In Europe, euros are u sab le only
for electron ic paym ents and w ill
be av a ila b le as coin s and b ills
w ithin the next three years.
• • <•
« • ■
J'
♦
Improving Cuban
Relations
The U .S. governm ent has de­
c id e d to “ p ro m o te a p e a c e fu l
dem ocratic transition ” by in ject­
ing U .S . m oney, culture and ideas
into the iso la ted island. President
C linton is a llo w in g Cuban c iti­
zens to receiv e m illio n s more d o l­
lars from A m erican friends and
fam ily m em bers, allow them to
buy more U .S . food and m ed icin e,
perm it m ore d ir ect flig h ts b e ­
tw een the tw o cou n tries, renew
d ir e c t m a il s e r v ic e from th e
U nited States and let the B alti­
more O rioles and the Cuban na­
tional baseb all team p lay b all in
March.
Funding For Elderly
President C lin ton ’s new budget
proposal co n sists o f a $6 b illio n
package to help provide long-term
care for p eop le with chronic ill­
n ess or d isa b ilitie s. The in itia ­
tiv e p r o p o se s a tax c r e d it o f
$ 1 ,0 0 0 a year to p eop le who need
long-term care, w hether at home
or in an institution . It w ill serve 2
m illio n p eop le at a cost o f $3.5
b illio n , from 2000 to 2004.
as officially recognized as the Multonmah County Commissioner for District 2 representing Northeast Portland.
policy issues regarding poverty, afford­
B y Y ema M easho
able housing as well as the energy office.
ith room a full o f support­
“We share the same interest and issues
ers and friends, Commis
such
as poverty and affordable housing for
sioner-elect Serena Cruz
low
income
families,” said Sten, “and I
was sworn in on Monday as Multnomah
believe
it
is
important
that the city and the
County Commissioner from District 2.
county
have
good
working
relationship.”
The ceremony was held at the L.I.F.E
Being in charge of the energy office, Sten
(Low Income Families Emergency Cen­
added, I might go back to her for advice on
ter) in Northeast Portland where Cruz
the matter.
actively serves as a board member and
Although she began running for office a
previously held the presidency seat.
year after she entered politics, both Cruz
Her foremost supporter and colleague,
and Sten believe the time was right for her
City Commissioner Erik Sten, introduced
to make the move.
Cruz to attendees and Multnomah County
“When the seat opened, Sten encour­
DistrictCourt Judge John Wittmayer who
aged
me to get involved and I thought he
administered the oath o f office to her.
was
crazy,”
Cruz said. “However, after I
Cruz’s political career began two years
talked
to
a
lot
o f people, 1 decided to run
ago when she left the Ball Janik LLP law
because I wasn’t excited about the people
firm to work for Commissioner Sten.
W
«» a m
n i n n t n a f n r tin »
At 31, Cruz is the first Latino American
woman to hold the position. “She is very
young, energetic, passionate and has a good
vision for what this region can be like,”
said Mary Carroll, Cruz’s executive assis­
tance. The same age himself, Sten said that
it is important to have young candidates in
both private and public sectors.
She is ready for this office, remarked
Sten, because she inspires lots o f people
to get involved and to foster the Latino
community, which is the fastest growing
community in die region.
During her years with Sten, Cruz served
as intermediary between the Latino com­
munity and the commissioner's office
and hopes to continue to abridge the di­
verse community in her district.
In here speech during the formality,
committed to making her district ra­
cially, culturally and socio-economi
cally serviceable. Cruz said she plans to
be but jn communities, schools and busi­
nesses to provide services and listen to
them.
“It'is important to build a partnership
between the community and the county
to work together,” Cruz said, “we need
to be accountable for the community
and the community to the agencies.”
Cruz holds a masters degree in Public
Policy at Harvard University’s John F.
Kennedy School o f Government and a
law degree from the University o f Cali­
fornia at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall Schoo'
o f Law.
An additional profile on Commis
sioner Serena Cruz can be found in the
”
NW Natural Reaches A 140-Year Milestone
M ilitary Spending
Increase
President C linton is proposing
an increase in Pen tagon ’s budget,
the largest sin ce the m id-1980*s.
W ithin this new budget, Clinton
plans to increase spending for the
Department o f D efen se to nearly
$ 2 6 9 b il l i o n . P e n ta g o n a lo n e
w ould receiv e $12 b illio n for new
equipm ent, spare parts and raises
for the n ation ’s so ld iers, sailors,
airmen and m arines.
Oregon Health Care
Oregon’ s plan o f health care paii
for by government where the poor
would be required to jo in health
maintenance organisations and have
their care rationed has run into
problems. For the poor, access to
care has become more d iffic u lt
About >50,000 Oregonians are still
uninsured. The state has abandoned
its promise o f universal care that
wusdoeignad nearly five years age.
This 1918 phots shows a tugboat moving a gas holder to a site on the
Willamette River. Portland Gas & Coke (now called NW Natural) made gas by
carbonizing coal and stored it in giant holders. When the demand for gas rose,
the tanks would deflate and inject gas into underground pipes, which provided
fuel to local homes and businesses. NW Natural is celebrating its 140th
birthday on January 7.
In 1929, serviceman Conrad Teber used a motorcycle to service gas
appliances for Portland Gas & Coke (now called NW Natural).