I>age A3_______________________________ -—
Mandatory 10-digit
Dialing Delayed Eight
Months
9-2 1-99 (S alem -A P ) — O re g o ­
nians will have an extra eight m onths
to get ready for h aving to use area
codes in all phone num bers
T he sta te P u b lic U tility C o m ­
m issio n to d a y d e la y e d u n til O c to ­
b e r o f 2 0 0 0 a re q u ire m e n t that
p h o n e u se rs d ia l te n d ig its - in ­
clu d in g th e a re a co d e - fo r ev en
lo c al c a lls
three code area. T h e area in clu d es
P o r tl a n d , S a le m
and m o st
o f the rest o f north w estern O regon.
C o m m issio n e rs said th e y r e ­
lu c ta n tly ap p ro v e d th e a re a co d e
d elay b ec au se p h o n e c o m p a n ie s
a lre a d y h av e sp e n t m o n e y to te ll
c u sto m e rs ab o u t th e o rig in a l d ate
o f th e ch an g e.
T e n -d ig it d ia lin g w as to h av e
sta rte d n ex t Ja n u a ry 30 th . B ut
so m e P o rtlan d area b u rg la r alarm
c o m p a n ie s sa id th ey co u ld not
c o n v e rt all th e ir c u s to m e rs ’ s y s­
tem s by th a t date.
T en -d ig it d ialin g is n eed ed b e­
cause a new nin e-sev en -o n e area
code w ill take effect for new phone
custom ers in the cu rren t five-oh-
FDA Approves New
Breast Cancer Drug
Bv LAIJRAN NEERGAARD_________
O T he A ssociated P ress
W A SH IN G TO N (A P) - Breast
cancer patients w hose tum ors have
spread to the lym ph nodes w on a new
drug today that prom ises to im prove
their chances o f survival over one
com m on chem otherapy.
The Food and D rug A dm inistra­
tion today approved Ellence, know n
chem ically as epirubicin, for treat­
m ent o f node-positive, early-stage
breast cancer.
Some 180,000 American women
chem otherapy best for each indi­
vidual case.
The more lymph nodes w here can­
cer has spread, the m ore Bram w ell
e n c o u ra g e s try in g E lle n ce . F or
w om en with few er cancerous lym ph
nodes, she lays out all the differences
and lets them choose.
“M any feel the short-term toxic­
ity is w orthw hile even if it’s a sm all
absolute benefit,” she said.
E llence w ill be av ailab le in m id-
O c to b e r , a n d w ill c o s t a b o u t
$12,000 for a six -m o n th course,
the com p an y said.
are diagnosed with breast cancer each
year. About 75,000 o f them need "ad­
juvant chemotherapy” after surgery for
a tumor that has spread to the nearby
lymphnodes under the arm, said Ellence
manufacturer Pharmacia & Upjohn.
T ypically, doctors choose b e­
tw een two types o f chem otherapy.
O ne is called A C, containing the
drugs A driam ycin and cyclophos­
pham ide. T he other is called CM F,
for cyclophospham ide, m ethotrex­
ate and fluorouracil.
For patients and doctors, all this
m eans is m ore choice in picking the
Cemetery To Move
Grave Markers &
Caskets
Some Have Been Misplaced Since 1996
PO R TLA N D . Ore. (A P) - A na­
tional cem etery will relocate 68 grave
m arkers and eight caskets that were
m is ta k e n ly
m oved
by
groundskeepers in 1996.
W orkers w ere ren o v a tin g the
W illam ette N ational C em etery when
grave m arkers in four row s w ere in­
advertently placed one grave site re­
m oved from their correct location.
The m istake w as discovered last
m onth w hen cem etery em ployees
opened a v eteran 's grave to bury a
family m em ber. They found a sec­
ond casket w here only one should
have been.
Because o f the m isplaced m ark­
ers, eight spouses w ho have died
since the original m istake occurred
were placed in the w rong graves.
total grave sites involved in this ...
well, it ’ s an absolute m ess. M y m other
is very distraught over this. M y one
outstanding question is: W hy did it
take them three years to discover the
problem ?”
Evans said Devenney told him that
such a mistake has never happened
before at any o f the 115 cemeteries in
the national system.
Devenney said the error occurred
after heavy rains during the 1995-96
winter when crews went into Section Y
o f the cemetery to repair weather dam ­
age. Cemetery crews routinely make
such repairs during drier sum m er
weather.
Devenney said no decision on pos­
sible disciplinary action regarding
the incident has been made.
The m arkers w ill be relocated to their
c o rre c t p o sitio n s on T h u rsd a y .
"W e imm ediately sent all 68 families
a letter apologizing and notifying
them o f the error,” said cem etery
director Lucy D evenney w ho, so far,
h as m e t w ith f o u r fa m ilie s .
’’The fam ilies have been w onderful
and supportive o f us,” she said. "They
understand that people m ake errors.
But w e’re not m aking light o f this; it
should never have happened. O ur
em ployees feel a lot o f rem orse and
g rief for these fam ilies.”
M ichael Evans, w hose father,
H arry J. Evans, is in one o f the
m ism arked graves, said the m istake
had deeply upset his family.
”1 feel horrible about it,” he said.
"W hen I found out that th ere’s 68
September 22, 1999
ÿtortlanô ©bam ier
Robert Gassner Joins United Way
R obert G a ssn e r re c e n tly jo in e d
U n ited W ay o f th e C o lu m b ia -
W illam ette as a ca m p a ig n m a n ­
ager H e w ill c o o rd in a te fu n d ­
raising cam paigns in insurance and
investm ent c o m p an ie s an d labor
o r g a n iz a ti o n s .
P re v io u s ly ,
G a s s n e r w o rk e d as a s p e c ia l
p roject m an ag er, fo cu sin g on e d u ­
cation issu es, fo r tw o su c ce ssiv e
governors o f W est V irg in ia H e
recently ea rn ed a m a s te r’s d eg re e
in public ad m in istra tio n w ith c o n ­
centration in n o n -p ro fit m a n a g e ­
m ent, from P o rtlan d S tate U n iv e r­
sity. G assn er liv es in N o rth e a st
Portland. U n ited W ay fu n d s 150
health and hum an service program s
that stren g th en s fam ilies, in v est in
p o sitiv e e x p e rien c es fo r ch ild ren
and yo u th , en h a n ce se n io r in d e­
p e n d e n ce an d m e et e m e rg e n c y
needs in M u ltn o m ah , C lac k am a s
and W ashington C o u n ty in O regon
and C lark C o u n ty in W ash in g to n .
Secondhand Smoke
Threatens Children
Oregon Children Exposed Unnecessarily to this Toxin
A k iller lu rk s in o u r o w n b a c k ­
y ard and its n am e is seco n d h a n d
sm oke, ac co rd in g to an in te rn a ­
tional h ealth o rg a n iz a tio n ’s w arn ­
ing to parents. S eco n d h a n d sm oke
serio u sly d am ag es th e h ea lth o f
alm o st h a lf the w o rld ’s ch ild ren ,
acco rd in g to the W o rld H ea lth O r­
g an izatio n (W .H .O .)
Seven hundred m illion children
breath secondhand sm oke produced
by the 1.2 billion adults w ho sm oke
near them, according to a report pre­
sented by the W .H.O. at a recent
conference on health and the envi­
ronm ent in London. The report de­
“ W hat is positive about this op­
eration is that even though w e found
a 20% violation rate, that still means
that 80% o f the drivers are abiding
T he goal o f this o p era tio n w as to be
m ore visible to com m ercial vehicles
that travel the seco n d ary roads in
ea stern O regon.
Evidence show s that secondhand
smoke alters brain developm ent in
children and accelerates their onset
o f heart disease. Parents who d o n ’t
stop sm oking should protect their
children from secondhand sm oke by
never sm oking around them in en­
closed spaces like the hom e or the
car, according to Patron.
The O regon Q uit line, a toll-free
telephone call, is cessation-counsel­
ing service available to O regonians.
To quit tobacco for good, call: 1-
877-270-ST O P (E nglish), 1-877-
2NO FUM E (Spanish), or 1-877-
777-6534 (TTY).
Feds May Fine Oregon for
High Food-Stamp Error Ra
SA L E M , Ore. (A P) - Federal o f­
ficials have threatened to fine O r­
egon for m istakenly giving som e
people too m any food stam ps and
s h o rtc h a n g in g o th e rs la st y ear.
In a letter to state officials, U.S.
A griculture Secretary D anG lickm an
estim ated that O regon m ade over­
paym ents o f $22.6 m illion to some
food-stam p recipients and underpay­
m ents o f n early $4 m illion.
That gave Oregon an error rate o f
13.4 percent in fiscal 1998, exceeding
the 10.6 percent national average.
G lickm an said that if steps aren ’t
taken to fix the problem , the state
w ould be fined $1.4 million.
Jim N eely, deputy director o f the
state A dult and Fam ily Services Di-
ODOT Conducts Vehicle
Weighing Operation in Malheur County
O n S ep tem b er 8 an d 9, the O r­
egon
D e p a rtm e n t
of
T ran sp o rtatio n ’s M o to rC a rrie r E n­
fo rcem ent D ivision h eld a jo in t
S atu ration W eighing o p eratio n in
M alh eur C ounty. W orking w ith
the F ederal Internal R evenue Ser-
vice D iesel in sp ectio n team , the
tw o departm ents w eighed 401 co m ­
m ercial vehicles and perfo rm ed 23
safety inspections.
A fter w eig h in g 401 trucks. M o­
tor C a rrie r E nfo rcem en t O fficers
issued 80 citations, w hich am ounted
to a 20% v io latio n rate. Included
in the 80 citatio n s, 16 w ere w eight
vio lations, 41 w ere O D O T au th o r­
ity v io latio n s, 12 w ere size v io la­
tions, 7 safety v io latio n s, and 4
oth er infringem ents.
As a result o f the 23 safety in­
spections, enforcem ent officers put
7 d riv ers and 8 veh icles out o f se r­
vice. T he tw o-day ev en t produced
an o verall vio latio n rate o f 20% , a
30% d riv er violatio n rate, and 35%
vehicle v io latio n rate.
Inspection and w eighing opera­
tions took place along H ighw ay 201
north o f interstate 84, and south o f 1-
84. along H ighw ay 95 betw een Jor­
dan V alley and the B um s Junction,
and in the cities o f O ntario Nyssa.
A nother team w as dedicated towards
m oving betw een various locations in
M alheur County.
M ost o f the en fo rce m en t o ffic­
e rs ’ tim e is d ed ica ted to the in ter­
state system , w here a less than one-
p ercen t v io latio n rate is achieved.
tailed the im pact o f secondhand
sm oke on so m any children that it
"c o n stitu te s a su b stan tial public
health threat."
In O regon, 19% o f w om en use
tobacco during pregnancy, exposing
the developing fetus to a mix oftoxic
and carcinogenic chemicals. Among
children in O regon, 24% live in
hom es w here they breathe second­
hand smoke. A s a result o f inhaling
secondhand smoke, these children
suffer from increased asthm a, bron­
chitis, pneum onia and Sudden Infant
Death Syndrom e ju st like children in
the rest o f the world.
by the rules,” said D ick Carter, Mo-
to rC arn er Enforcement management
at the Farew ell Bend Point o f entry.
vision, said Tuesday that the errors
occurred partly because o f the state’s
aggressive efforts to m ove people
o ff w elfare and into paying jobs.
M any o f those people remain eli­
gible for food stamps after becom ­
ing em ployed, and it's more difficult
to calculate how m uch they are en­
titled to, he said.
N eely said his agency expected
to hear back from the USDA later
this m onth, and he hoped it would
allow O regon to spend the $ 1.4 m il­
lion on im proving its system track­
ing food-stam p benefits, instead o f
paying a fine.
A key law m aker said Tuesday he
was concerned that it was the third
consecutive year in w hich O regon’s
food-stam p error rate has exceeded
the national average.
Neely said the state ’ s welfare agency
was seeking to recoup the money.
“Som e o f that already has been re­
collected, and w e w ill continue to
pursue those collections,” he said.
"W here most o f the food-stamp
errors tend to get made is with w ork­
ing families that have fluctuating in­
come and resources, and therefore the
food-stamp benefit changes," he said.
Still, he was hopeful the state’s
w elfare agency will com e in below
the national food-stam p error rate
this year.
“W e are putting substantial re­
sources into im proving paym ent ac-
curacy," he said.
Now you can find us on
the world wide web
www.portlandobserver.net
A t le a s t t h a t ’s w h a t the control system com puters
at Pacific P o w er'sG ad sb y pow er plant thought. It was
actually a Saturday afternoon in early Septem ber 1998.
An off-line generator at the plant w as first on the
list for D avid Register's generation Y2K team to
have its com puter clocks set ahead as part of testing
for Year 2000 readiness. David, the Year 2000 Project
M anager at Pacific Power, is in charge of ensuring
that every piece of equipm ent at Pacific Power, from
fax m achines to pow er substations, functions as it
should January 1,2000.
That day at Gadsby, everyone w ho w as gathered
around the m onitors held their breath as the hour
finally flashed 12:00a.m. And then ...n o th in g
happened. The unit w as w orking exactly as it should.
Smiles quickly replaced the serious expressions of the
test team.
In the w eeks that followed, the generator
continued to o perate w ithout a hitch, even as its clock
w as set to other year 2000 test dates. So there w as no
need to test the other identical pow er units at Gadsby,
right? Wrong, the team decided. They continued to
test everything. M inor problem s w ere found on the
other tw o generators, b u t they were quickly corrected,
as retesting verified All system s passed the tests w ith
flying colors.
"H ere is a success story in tw o folds, says David.
"First, w e verified that system s will perform as
It was just before midnight, Dec. 31,1999.
expected in the vear 2000 and second, by finding small
glitches, w e confirm ed that our testing strategy is
the right one."
" Because of w ork like this, o u r custom ers can feel
confident that we will be conducting business as usual
on January 1. 2000." A nd beyond.
David Register an d Pacific P o w er's Y2K team.
Taking the m ystery o u t of the m illennium .
You can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
just call 1-888-221-7070.
# PACIFIC PO W ER
A PacifiCorp Company
Making it happen.
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