February 28, 2001
www.portlaudobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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Eastgate Movie Screens Go Dark
Wild in the City
Portland Parks and Recreation’s
Outdoor Recreation Program, in col
laboration with The Audobon Society
of Portland, will visit Summer Lake
Park, a 24-acre community park dedi
cated to the city as a condition of
development of the Summer Lake and
Ari Green subdivisions. Call 503/823-
5132.
Learn to Meditate
Discover how meditation can sim
plify your life and deepen your sense
o f happiness. A meditation workshop
will be offered by the Sri Chinmoy
Centre for free. The event will be held
on Sunday, March 4 at the Portland
Downtown library, from 1:30 - 3:30
p.m. Call 503/450-9915 to register.
Evening Indoor Park
The only evening indoor park in
Portland - perfect for working par
ents! Join us every Tuesday through
March 13, 6 - 8 p.m. at Rice School
and enjoy slides, trikes, balls, and cars
in this parent-supervised play time.
For 50-cents per child, children up to
age 6 can enjoy a safe, relaxed, coop
erative playtime. Rice School is lo
cated at 6433 NE. Tillamook. Call
503/823-3661.
Dr. Seuss Birthday Party
On
T h u rsd ay ,
M arch
1,
McMenamins Kennedy School throws
a Birthday Party for Dr. Seuss. Stop
by Kennedy School from 6:30 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. for birthday cake and per
formances by the Phoenix Theater
group, whose actors will invite all
family members to join in honoring
the author with interactive, descrip
tive readings o f your favorite Seuss
tales. A free celebration. Call 503/
249-3983.
Protect the Salmon in
Your Yard
A free “Naturscaping for Clean Riv
ers” workshop will be held on Satur
day, March 10 at the Albina Youth
Opportunity School. The workshop
focuses on natural landscapes and
water-friendly gardening practices.
Each participant receives a workbook
and a native plant to start his or her
own natural garden. The free work
shop will be held at the Albina Youth
Opportunity School, located at 3710
N. Mississippi, from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Call 503/797-1842.
Oregon’s biggest movie theater has gone out o f busine: s. Regal Cinemas has been struggling with maintaining too many theaters over
the last few years and the Eastgate Theatre in southeast Portland has fallen victim to cutbacks. Company officials say a number o f the
employees will be offered positions at other theaters in the area. “Raiders o f the Lost Ark. " was the last flick fo r the Eastgate's giant
screens, selected by a vote o f employees.
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /P ortland O bserver )
Vehicle Law Class for
Bicyclists
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance,
located at 1117 SW Washington in down
town Portland will be having a free
vehicle law class forbicyclists on Thurs
day, March 15, from 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
For more info., call 503/226-0676.
(A P) — A report on critical steps needed
to clean up the W illam ette R iver lists 27 ac
tions, ranging from controlling pollution from
industry and farm land to financial incentives
to protect fish and w ildlife habitat.
“T he W illam ette R iver is in trouble,” said
the W illam ette R estoration Strategy. “W e are
w itnessing disappearing fish and w ildlife,
toxins and w astes in w aters, undependable
w ater supplies and continued habitat d e
struction.
“ M any natural resources are being used
beyond their ability to replenish them selves.
Population grow th and developm ent co n
tinue to put pressure on the land and w ater.”
O regon State U niversity President Paul
R isser w as chairm an o f the group o f environ
m entalists, farm ers, hom e builders, elected
and governm ent officials, business leaders
and others w ho m ade up the task force ap
p o in te d th ree y ears ago b y G ov. Jo h n
Kitzhaber.
R isse r p rese n ted th e fin al re p o rt to
K itzhaber at W illam ette U niversity, saying it
lays out a sound strategy for im proving the
riv er’s health and keeping the W illam ette
V alley livable.
“T here isn ’t a m iracle diet to m ake this
happen,” said K itzhaber, “'rh is is going to
require the equivalent o f a long-term com m it
m ent to good nutrition and exercise.”
T he report m akes a series o f recom m enda
tions intended to link grassroots salm on re
covery w ork w ith efforts to reduce pollution
and boost sum m er river flows.
T ask force sta ff estim ated the cost o f rec
om m endations ranged from $10 m illion for
education program s for housing developers
and citizen groups to hundreds o f m illions o f
dollars to cool w ater around dams.
C ritics said that w hile the report offers a
road m ap for solving the riv er’s problem s, it
falls short on recom m ending specific actions.
For exam ple, it calls forreducing toxic pol
lutants in the river but do esn ’t say specifi
cally w ho is responsible for the cleanup, how
it will be done or how long it should take, said
Je ff A llen, director o f the O regon Environ
m ental C ouncil, w ho also served on the task
force.
Allen said many specific actions were elimi
nated from the report because they couldn’t
get the support o f at least 80 percent o f the
task force’s members. “W e sidestepped many
o f the difficult decisions,” he said.
W hile the plan calls for no legislative ac
tion, the O regon E nvironm ental Council and
other conservation groups plan to press the
W illam ette R iver R estoration Act, which
w ould require the state to implement a number
A dog
available for
adoption shows
his good
behavior in
front o f
onlookers at
Lloyd Center.
The
Multnomah
County Animal
Control event
was held
Saturday to
kick o ff a new
Adoption
Outreach Van
to be used at
various
locations
thanks to grant
by Pet Smart
Charities and
donations from
area residents.
? 1
M u lin o
Saturday Forest Park
Hikes
Discover some of the 60 miles of
hiking trails in Forest Park. All hikes
are approximately seven miles long
with elevation gains of up to 1000
feet. These hikes are a great opportu
nity to get aerobic exercise, meet
people and take in some of Portland’s
own wilderness. Bring lunch, drink
ing water, appropriate clothing and
hiking boots. Call 503/823-5132.
Pacific Pow er custom ers w ill see an im m e
diate increase on their electricity bills, b e
cause o f a rate hike approved last w eek by the
O regon Public U tility Com m ission.
T he PUC approved a 3-percent hike, but
residential custom ers w ill only see a 2.55-
percent increase on their bills, an additional
$1.66 each m onth for a typical residential
custom er using 1,022 kilow atts o f electricity
each month.
“ W e’re in an extraordinary situation w ith
the m arket right now ,” said M atthew W right,
vice president o f regulation for PacifiCorp,
Pacific Pow er’s parent com pany. “W e need
som e relief.”
T he rate increase is the latest exam ple o f
how utilities in the N orthw est have reacted to
the soaring w holesale pow er prices. A n elec
tricity shortage and uncertain regulatory cli
m ate are the m ost-cited reasons for the m ore
than tenfold increase in w holesale electricity
prices in the past year.
B ut consum er and business advocacy
groups question w hether th e re’s convincing
evidence the increases are warranted.
“ W e have huge and gigantic doubts” about
w hether retail custom ers should bear the fi
nancial risk o f P acifiC orp’s w holesale pur
chases and sales, said Jason Eisdorfer, law
yer for the Citizens ’ Utility Board, a consumer
advocacy group.
Electricity rates also increase for busi
nesses, w ith the am ount depending on their
electricity consum ption.
Report Lists Measures to Restore Willamette River
Kayak/Canoe Tualatin
River Tour
Portland Parks and Recreation’s Out
door Recreation Program, in collabora
tion with The Audobon Society of Port
land and Tualatin Riverkeepers, will host
a leisurely kayak or canoe paddle along
the Tualatin River. This is a great trip for
the novice paddler to explore the riparian
forests along the river, as the water is
calm and the distances are short. Par
ticipants provide their own boats. Call
503/823-5132 for more information and .
to register.
Commission
Approves New
Power Rates
(P hotoby M ark
W a sh in g t o n /
P ortland
O bserver )
Pet Adoptions Go Mobile
(
ofactions, such as buying 50,000 acres o fk ey
fish and w ildlife habitat by 2010.
T he bill also w ould require dam s to be
operated prim arily to sim ulate natural stream
flow s, require all w ater users to report their
annual consum ption and raise fees for pollu
tion-discharge perm its.
R isser co u n tered that the rep o rt w as
“highly detailed,” and noted that it includes
a num ber o f steps that can be taken for each
o f the 27 action item s listed in the report.
K itzhaber praised the report and said it
provides a fram ew ork for getting diverse in
te re s ts w o rk in g to g e th e r to so lv e th e
W illam ette V alley ’s problem s, rather than
relying on regulation alone.
“I think w e’ 11 look back in 10 or 15 years and
see this report as one o f the high points in
O reg o n ’s legacy o f self-sufficiency and envi
ronm ental stew ardship,” the governor said.
Law Would
Remove ‘Squaw’
From Landmarks
he O regon Senate approved
tw o m easures T uesday that
w ill re m o v e th e w o rd
“ squaw ” from the nam es o f land
m arks and public property around
that state.
S enators agreed the w ord is d e
m eaning to w om en.
O ne m easure w ould urge the Sec
retary o f the Interior, the US Board
on G eographic N am es and the O r
egon G eographic N am es Board to
rem ove the w ord from various geo
graphic areas and sites.
The other m easure w ould require
cities and co u n ties to ev en tu ally re
nam e streets, public buildings and
parks that have the w ord “ squaw ” in
them .
The only vote against the tw o m ea
sures was cast by S enator Roger
B eyer.
The M ollala R epublican said he
thought the m easures w ould saddle
state and local governm ents w ith
unnecessary costs.
T