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Permit No. 1610
¡Tin' |Jort lattò (Olisi
Volume XXX.
Number 39
Wednesday
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.eom
University o f Oregon
Knight Library
Newspaper Section
Eugene OR 97403
50e
September 27, 2000
Ten-Digit Dialing Starts Sunday
B e g in n in g S u n d a y , p e o p le in th e 503
a re a c o d e , in c lu d in g all o f th e P o rtla n d
a re a , w ill n e e d to d ia l m o re n u m b e rs —
e v e n b e fo re m a k in g a lo c a l ca ll.
T h e re a re n o m o re n u m b e rs a v a ila b le
Twelfth Case of West Nile
Virus Reported
N EW Y O R K - A 52-year-old Staten
Island m an has becom e the 12th city resi
dent this year to becom e infected with the
W est N ile virus. T he m an, w hose identity
w as not released, apparently becam e in
fected in m id-A ugust but tried to fight off
symptoms including fever, joint and muscle
pain, and dizziness. T he m an rem ains le
thargic but is listed in stable condition.
N ew Y ork M ayor R udy G iuliani said.
Castro Rallies Cubans
Against U.S. Policies
H A V A N A - T housands o f people an
sw ered the com m unist governm ent’s call
to crow d outside the U.S. m ission and
protest im m igration policies it blam es for
last w eek’s dram atic departure o f a group
o f Cubans aboard a stolen plane. Presi
dent Fidel C astro presided over the rally
that had C ubans condem ning the “mur-
derous” C uban A djustm ent AcL The 1966
law allow s C ubans w ho reach U.S. shores
to apply for A m erican residency - an au
tom atic right not granted to im m igrants o f
any other nation.
th e p o p u la rity o f c e ll p h o n es, p a g e rs,
fa x e s and m odem s, hav e increased the d e
m and for numbers. But the main reason there
are no m ore num bers in the 503 area code is
the grow th o f new phone com panies pop-
Emergency 911 Won’t Change
Ten-digit dialing w ill not change the procedure for calling 911. C alls to Portland and
M ultnom ah C o u n ty ’s em ergency dispatch center w ill be answ ered as they always have, if
people dial the 3-digit 911. The only change is that the dispatcher will ask for your area code,
along w ith your phone num ber to confirm your call and location.
Em ergency personnel w ill have to dial 10 digits to follow up calls. H ow ever, the dispatch
center w as recently upgraded w ith faster equipm ent to speed the process up, according to
911 supervisorC olleen M cLaughlin.
in the 503 a re a c o d e , so n o w th e r e ’s 97 1 .
T h e n ew a r e a c o d e w ill b e m in g le d
th ro u g h o u t th e e x is tin g 503 c o v e ra g e
a re a a ro u n d P o rtla n d an d S alem . C la tso p
an d T illa m o o k c o u n tie s on th e O re g o n
C o a st w ill n o t b e a ffe c te d .
T h e P u b lic U t i l i t i e s C o m m is s io n
w a n te d p e o p le to s ta rt d ia lin g th e a re a
c o d e at th e b e g in n in g o f th e y e a r, b u t
ala rm c o m p a n ie s h a d to re p ro g ra m all
th e ir sy ste m s.
M o rriso n an d C o m p a n y , fo r e x a m p le ,
s till h as a b o u t 100 a la rm s to b rin g up to
d a te . “ Y o u h a v e to s w itc h m a n p o w e r,”
sa id R a lp h M o rriso n o f M o rriso n & C o.
“ I t ’s tim e c o n s u m in g .”
O re g o n ’s g ro w in g p o p u la tio n , p lu s
ping across the state.
W hen those com panies started business
in O regon they were given phone num bers in
blocks o f 10,000. Som e com panies now have
up to 2 5 0 ,0 0 0 p h o n e n u m b ers.
T h e P u b lic U tilite s C o m m issio n w ill
g et a p ro g ra m n e x t y e a r th a t w ill e n a b le
th e m to g et b ac k th o se u n u se d n u m b e rs.
B u t th a t d o e s n ’t h e lp b u s in e s s o w n
e rs lik e R a lp h M o rriso n . H e an d h is e m
p lo y e e s are ra c in g to re p ro g ra m a ll th e ir
c u s to m e r s ’ h o m e a la rm s. T h ey s till h av e
a h u n d re d to go.
PUC officials say th ey ’ve learned from
this and now give out num bers in blocks o f
a thousand. T hat m e a ns_.it w ill be another
nine years before we get another area code.
Central Eastside Streets
To Get Face-Lift
Thousands Flee Philippine
Assault
JO LO , Philippines - M ore than 36,000
villagers have fled their hom es to escape
a heavy m ilitary assault on M uslim rebels
holding 17 hostages on a sm all southern
Philippine island, officials said. U ncon
firm ed reports continued to grow o f civil
ian casualties and heavy dam age to vil
lages from the attack, w hich involved some
4,000 troops.
Some traffic delays expected
during construction
Tension Rises as
Yugoslavia Prepares to
Vote
PRISTIN A , Y ugoslavia - V oter here
seem ready to oust President Slobodan
M ilosevic, the central figure in the Kosovo
conflict, in elections. But political observ
ers fear that the m an w anted for w ar crimes
by the U.S. and its allies may still com e out
on top through vote-stealing or by stag
ing a political crisis.
Kraft Recalls Taco Shells
W A SH IN G T O N - K raft Foods an
nounced that it is recalling Taco Bell brand
taco shells nationw ide after tests con
firm ed the shells w ere m ade w ith geneti
cally engineered com that isn ’t approved
for hum an consum ption. The com , one o f
the least grow n o f several biotech variet
ies, is approved for use only in animal feed
because o f questions about w hether it
could cause allergic reactions in people.
Ronald's Going to Be
Serving McCafe Coffee
C om ing soon to a M cD onald’s near
you: gourm et coffee. A fter years o f serv
ing fancy coffee in 50 A ustralian stores,
M cD onald’s will begin to open M cCafe
co ffee shops in the U SA next year,
M cD onald’s C E O says. T he fallout could
be huge. Starbucks ow ns about h alf o fth e
n a tio n ’s 7 ,000 g ourm et brew stores.
M cD onald's has 13,500 fast-food restau
rants in the USA.
CIA Reveals Deep lies to
Seedy Side of Chile
WASH ING TO N - The CI A is admitting
for the first tim e the extent o f its deep
involvem ent in C hile, where it dealt with
coup-plotters, false propagandists and
assassin s.
Dialing a phone in the Portland area will require dialing an area code
starting Sunday.
< Photo by Micheál I.eighton/Portiand Observer)
Workers are adding Portlands historic street lights to east hurnside.
(Photoby Micheál I.eighton/Portiand Observer)
Kitzhaber,
Sizemore Debate
Measure 91
KOIN-TV to Provide
Live Coverage
KOIN-TV. in partnership w ith the League
o f W om en V oters o f O regon, is pleased to
announce it will host and televise the only
debate this election season betw een Oregon
Government John Kitzhaber and Oregon Tax
payers United Executive Director Bill Sizemore.
The Participants will square o ff over Oregon
Ballot M easure #91
If passed, the m easure w ould allow s tax
payers to fully deduct their federal income
taxes on their state returns. O pponents say it
wil I have far-reaching negative repercussions.
K O IN -TV will broadcast the Kitzhaber-
Sizem ore debate on Tuesday, O ct 10. from 7-
8 p.m ., originating live from K O IN -TV stu
dios. Because o f the im portance o f this issue
K OIN-TV will m ake the debate available by
satellite w ithout cost to all O regon television
and cable outlets outside o f the Portland area
that wish to carry the debate live or tape-
delayed The debate will also be stream ed in
its entirety on K O IN .com .
KOIN 6 News anchor JeffG ianola will serve
as moderator.
E ast B u rn sid e S tre e t fro m 6 lh A v
e n u e to 12lh A v en u e w ill so o n be g e t
tin g a lo n g -a w a ite d fa c e -lift. B e g in
n in g S e p te m b e r 18 new ca st iro n o r n a
m e n ta l s tre e tlig h ts w ill b e in s ta lle d at
th e in te rs e c tio n an d s te e l-b a s e d “ C o
b r a " s tre e tlig h ts w ill be in s ta lle d m id
b lo c k . In a d d itio n , n ew s tr e e t tre e s
w ill b e p la n te d ; e x is tin g tre e s w ill be
p ru n e d an d sh a p ed an d s id e w a lk s w ill
b e re p a ire d .
S im ila r w ork w ill tak e p la c e o n M a r
tin L u th e r K in g , Jr. B lv d . a n d G ra n d
A v e n u e s b e tw e e n M o rriso n an d M ain
S treets. C urb ex te n sio n s w ill b e added
to e n h a n ce th e p e d e s tria n e n v iro n
m ent.
D u rin g c o n s tr u c tio n , m o to r is ts
s h o u ld ex p e ct so m e in te rm itte n t lane
c lo s u re s and d e la y s S e p te m b e r 20
th ro u g h N o v e m b e r 30.
T h e w o rk is p a rt o f th e P o rtla n d
D e v e lo p m e n t C o m m is s io n ’s th re e -
p h a s e d s tr e e ts c a p e im p r o v e m e n ts
p ro je c t b eg u n in 1998. P h a se I w as
c o m p le te d in 1999
P h ase II an d III (d e s c rib e d ab o v e )
w ill b e c o m p le te d th is fall.
Messenger Senior Helping the Next Generation
BvI j EF. P eri - man forthf . R dhti am >O b » . rver
How does Betty Messenger spend her
golden years?
Helping those
two or three
g e n e ra tio n s
y ounger get
the message.
As a foster
g ra n d p a re n t
v o lu n te e r,
M essenger
tu to rs c h il-
drenatVemon
School as part
o f the School
fo r S u ccess
for All p ro
grams. JTiere
sh e w o rk s
w ith se v en
children in the
first and sec
ond grades.
learn in g v o cab u lary , learn in g the w rit
ing an d sou n d o f letters.
“I spend
20 m in u tes a P e tty M e s s e n g e r a n d s tu d e n t W a yn e F o rth a n
day
with
(Photoby Mark Washlngton/Portland Observer)
each c h ild ," she says. “ T he ch ild ren are
a ssessed to d e te rm in e w h ich re a d in g
group th e y ’re assigned to. T hen, i f th e y ’re
h av in g tro u b le, I give help. W e go in to
also see you in the store, and it’s neat to be
recognized ”
W hen summer comes. M essenger works
at the Providence Children's Center, work-
I
ing with different kids in a different way. “They
have medical problem s Most can’t speak, and
are fed through tubes. I read to them, wheel
them around and give them a little TLC.”
For this Messenger, and her fellow volunteers
ofthe FosterGrandparent Program, arepaidS2.55
an hour, plus a stipend tor meals at their work site
and transportation to it. In addition, they do group
field trips places such as Lincoln City and Kah-
Nee-Ta, and an annual picnic. The program is
administered by Metropolitan Family Services.
"It's an extremely viable and valuable pro
gram, "says Ron I aster, a memberoftlicprogram s
advisory board. Then? arc seniors on fixed in
comes who have talents and skil Is available and it’s
a perfect match.
They also receive aw arls forparticularly meri
torious service This year Messenger was so
honored.
A Portlander since 1943, she worked in the
insurance business before retiring. She has been
a foster grandparent for 15 years.
“She is so skilled at being a foster grandpar
ent," superv isor Turrella W oods says. “She is
one ofthe few that we can put in ju st about any
setting we need help with She’s made a huge
difference in the reading levels o f the children
she works with.”
“We could use more people to do tutoring,"
Messenger says.
"There are so many special needs."
y