Page A2
April 12, 2000
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Police News/Vancouver
Statement by Mayor Vera Katz
• Regarding Escort Service Ordinance
U.S. Jets Bomb
Iraqi Air Defense
ISTANBUL, Turkey - U.S.
warplanes bombed Iraq’s air
defense system in response to
anti-aircraft fireoverthe northern
no-fly zone. U.S. and British
planes have been patrolling no-
fly zones in north and south Iraq,
set up in the aftermath o f the
1991 PersianGulfW arto protect
Kurdish and Shiite populations
from the forcesoflraqi President
Saddam Hussein.
Russia Will
Stay Course in
Chechnya
MOSCOW - Russia says it will
continue to battle rebels in
Chechnya despite a decision to
su sp e n d M o sc o w ’s v o tin g
rights in theCouncil of Europe’s
parliamentary assembly. The
assembly suspended Russia’s
voting rights and proposed the
suspension o f its membership if
it does not meet several demands
on C h e c h n y a , in c lu d in g
immediate talks with the rebels.
Assembly members have been
c ritic a l o f w h at they call
excessive use o f force and
civilian suffering in the Russian
cam paign ag ain st C hechen
separatists.
Company
Sequences
Human
Genome
W ASHINGTON - A private
company striving to map the
human genetic code reported
that it has completed a major
step in the project - sequencing
the genome. Celera Genomics o f
R ockville, M d., said it has
finished the sequencing phase
o f one person’s genetic code
and will now begin to assemble
the genetic fragments into their
proper order. The human genome
is a biological map lay i ng out the
exact sequence o f the estimated
3.5 billion pairs o f chemicals that
make up the DN A in each human
cell.
Greenspan
Defends Rate
Hikes
W A SH IN G T O N - F ed eral
R e se rv e C h a irm a n A lan
Greenspan defended the central
bank’s five interest rate increases
over the past 10 m onths as
necessary to keep inflation at
bay. W hileexpressing optimism
th at th e re c e n t u p su rg e in
productivity gains could be
maintained, Greenspan said the
central bank still needed to move
to keep the strong economy from
triggering rising cost pressures.
Judge considers
punishm ent for
M icrosoft
WASHINGTON - The judge
who ruled that Microsoft illegally
competed by taking advantage
o f its monopoly power set a
schedule to consider what kind
o f punishment to impose on the
softw are giant. U.S. District
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson
is scheduled to begin holding
hearings on the case on May 24,
sources said. He gave attorneys
for the Justice Department and
the 19 states suing Microsoft
until April 30 to submit their
proposed rem edies. Jackson
gave Microsoft two weeks to
respond to that proposal, and
the government another week
for a rebuttal.
“Sex escort services operating in the Portland area now number in the
hundreds. The Portland Police Bureau has documented that prostitution is
associated with escort businesses approximately 80 percent of the time. Just
weeks ago, Portland Police arrested an escort service owner for prostitution
in the Dunthorpe neighborhood.
“Prostitution is not a victimless crime and it is not a trivial offense. Closely
linked to prostitution activities are crimes involving drugs, rape, molestation,
kidnapping, child abuse, and other criminal conduct with a devastating impact
on women and children. Prostitution and the operation o f escort and lingerie
services have significant negative impacts on the livability of our city and the
safety o f our citizens.
“The personal escort/modeling ordinance passed by City Council in September
was an attempt to establish some regulatory tools which would help identify
and stop those people who persist in violating the criminal laws. Development
o f the escort ordinance was a long and arduous process. The legal issues are
complicated and the standards for regulating sexually oriented businesses
under the Oregon constitution are unique in the country. The City took pains
to refine the definition o f regulated activities to narrowly cover only those
persons or entities which sell a product which has or would reasonably be
perceived as having a purpose o f arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of
a patron.
“The ordinance was challenged in court immediately followine Council
approval. In court, the city introduced substantial evidence linking the sex
escort industry with criminal prostitution activities. Nonetheless, the trial
judge, a seasoned former prosecutor, ruled that the ordinance was invalid
under the Oregon state constitution.
“The City Attorney has carefully studied the judge’s decision and reviewed
the options with me. 1 am disappointed to report we found the judge’s opinion
leaves no room for effective civil regulation o f the escort industry, and that an
appeal would be futile given the courts; interpretation o f the Oregon
constitution.
“Instead, Police Chief Mark Kroeker will be looking at ways we can make
additional resources available to increase criminal investigations o f the local
sex escort industry. We need to address the abuse o f women and children and
degradation o f our community with the tools that the courts allow us to employ.
I am committed to using the tools that are available in the most aggressive way
possible and to continuing to look for creative ways to maintain and improve
the livability o f our City.”
Vancouver issues annual report
On Thursday, April 6, the City o f
Vancouver issued its 1999 Annual
report. The 20-page docum ent
highlights the accomplishments o f
the past year by various City services
and outlines plans for the current
year. Similartotherecentcommunity
Survey, the Annual Report is part of
the city's efforts to communicate with
residents as it embarks on a process
to update the C ity’s Strategic Plan.
“The Annual report is one way to
inform citizens about how we are
doing, how we hold ourselves
accountable and our future plan,”
says City Manager Veron Stoner.
The report identifies many positive
results and challenges facing City
services. In the area o f public safety,
both police and fire services met their
goals for how quickly they respond
to life threatening emergencies.
New park and trail development
projects are continuing at a steady
pace and sev eral eco n o m ic
development projects were approved
that will bring more residents and
jobs to the downtown area.
As noted in the Community Survey,
solving transportation infrastructure
need s and tra ffic c o n g e stio n
continues to be a challenge.
To address these issues, the City will
be involving citizens to identify option
as it develops a new cityw ide
transportation system plan this year.
“It is impossible to adequately cover
all o f what w e’ve done or plan to do
in a single document,” Stoner adds.
“This report is part o f our continuous
conversation with the community.
We hope the Public finds the report
to be a useful reference as well as a
way to hold the City accountable for
what we plan to do in the year 2000.”
Copies of the report can be obtained
by calling (360) 696-9821 or visit the
C ity ’s
w eb
site
at
www.ci.Vancouver.wa.us
Learn How to
Integrate Diversity into Your
Strategic Business Plan
Attend 2000 Diversity Summit: A One-Day Conference
on Workplace Diversity Issues
Wednesday, April 26, 2000
Featured Keynote Speaker: Television Personality Les Brown
Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, Oregon
8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
You m u s t register ($99 per person)
by A p ril 21, 2000. For a registration
packet, call (503) 464-2333. This is a
"m ust-do" conference for those who
want to unleash the power o f a
diverse, creative workforce within
their organization.
Recruit, develop and retain high-potential
minority and women employees. It’s
all part of 2000 Diversity Summit set for
April 26. Featured are leading national
and international speakers on diversity-
related issues.
Sponsored by
Portland General Electric
C o n n e c t in g
P e o p l e ,
P o w er
a n d
P o s s ib il it ie s
Vandals shoot out power
line insulators
• BPA offers up to
$1,000
fo r
information
T he
B o n n e v ille
Pow er
Administration is offering up to $ 1,000
for information leading to the arrest
and conviction o f individuals who
caused damage to a power line located
about five miles west o f Snohomish.
The damage to the pole and potential
loss or revenue due to the outage is
estimated at $ 15,000.
Vandals shot out insulators on BPA’s
Snohomish-Beverly Park 115,000-volt
line on April 1, causing high-voltage
transmission line to fall into another,
resulting in a significant power outage
on th e a ffe c te d lin e . B P A ’s
transmission line maintenance crews
repaired several insulators,
Service was lost to Beverly Park
Substation, which is operated by
Puget Sound Energy, due to the
vandalism.
“Not only are these senseless acts o f
vandalism costly, but they are also
dangerous,” reported Mike Berg,
security specialist for BPA, “Anyone
foolish enough to shoot at power
lines is taking a huge risk. Downed
lines can cause ground voltages that
can kill or seriously injure the vandals
themselves.”
Vandalism accounts for millions of
dollars in damage to the Northwest
power system each year. These costs
get passed on to customers and
ratepayers. Above and beyond these
monetary costs and inconveniences
are the p o ssib le disruption o f
essential services - for departments,
police and ambulance - that depend
on reliable service.
Since 1994, BPA’s Crime Witness
Program has generated hundreds of
tips resulting in dozens of arrests and
thousands o f dollars o f recovered
property, and most importantly,
deterrence o f future crime. In 1999, a
total o f 202 insulator units were
replaced, representing an 88 percent
decrease from the historic average of
1,723 units replaced each year priorto
the institution o f the program.
Cumulative saving since the program
began totals more than $2,000,000.
Informants can call toll free 1-800-
437-2744. The identity of informants
is kept strictly confidential.
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