Crime Stoppers: Robber Puts on
Apron and Goes to Work
See Page A2
Follow the Lives of Five Local
Women of Courage andVision,
See Metro Inside
CL lie
Volume XXXI
Number 13
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March 28,2001
Oregon Takes Measures Against Outbreak
Search Teams Find Plane
Wreckage in Scotland
LONDON— Search teams have spotted
wreckage and a body in the Scottish High­
lands where two U.S. F-15 jets were re­
ported missing, the Royal A ir Force said.
The wreckage, identified as an F -15, was
found near the summit o f the4,296-foot Ben
Macdhui, the tallest peak in the Cairngorm
mountains.
‘Gladiator’ Wins Best
Picture
LOS A NGELES— Gladiatorwon five
Academy Awards, including best picture
and acto r— Russell Crowe. Julia Roberts
won the best actress trophy for her por­
trayal o fa law assistant in ErinBrockovich.
Comair Pilots Strike
HEBRON, Ky.— Comairpilots went out
on strike early after talks for a new contract
with the regional airline broke off. The
airline, which also flies under the name
Delta Connection, canceled most o f its
flights in preparation for the strike.
Michigan State, Arizona
Make Final Four
ATLANTA— The Michigan State Spar­
tans defeated the Temple Owls 69-62 to win
the NCAA South Regional. Arizona bested
Illinois 87-81 to win the Midwest Regional
and complete the Final Four.
Louima to Get $9M in
Police Lawsuit
NEW YORK — A $9 million tentative
settlement has been reached in a lawsuit
brought by Abner Louima, the Haitian im­
migrant tortured in a New York C ity police
station in 1997. Under the proposal, Louima
would receive the payment but would drop
his demand for reform in the way the New
York Police Department deals with officers
accused o f crimes.
Foot-and-mouth Spreads
to Ireland
DUBLIN, Ireland — The first cases of
foot-and-mouth disease have been con­
firmed in Ireland, Prime M inister Bertie
Ahem said. Ahem ’ s announcement means
the deadly livestock disease has now been
detected in four European countries. The
disease is highly contagious, capable of
being spread even by the wind.
USDA Agents Sieze
Possibly Infected Sheep
GREENSBORO, V t.— Agents arrived
early to seize sheep feared infected with a
version o f the mad cow disease, flock owner
Houghton Freeman said. Freeman’s flock
is one o f two that has been at the center o f
a storm o f protests since the U.S. Depart­
ment o f Agriculture ordered that they be
seized and destroyed. The department says
the sheep, imported from Belgium, could be
carrying a disease akin to mad cow disease.
Brazilian Oil Rig Leaks
Fuel Into Atlantic
^ ^ ^ o r ffi^ u ^ ^ p r ë c c n d w n c w 'T ïë ^ lÔ M r v M jJ c ^ w iï^ m c w n ô u th iin tiD r ê â Î itM U c m M a ts n ïü ^ ta te s li^ ^ ^ fir ü liïs tF ^ n n M M Î j
unchecked early.
P hoto by D ave G iezync /P ortland O bserver
Foot-and month disease is getting very close
to becoming what animal health officials call a
panzootic a disease found throughout die
world. With the recent and rapid spreading
outback in the United Kingdom, only the con­
tinents o f Australia, Antarctica, and North
America remain free o f what Oregon’s star
veterinarian calls perhaps the worst disaster
that could happen to the livestock industry.
And Dr. Andrew Clark is notone toexaggerate.
Now it is up to everyone from cattlemen to
veterinarians to international travelers to help
keep foot-and month away from, the U.S. and
Oregon. In mid-February, the disease was first
reported northeast o f London by a veterinar­
B y R andy N eves and A be E sti . m ada . K G W
Eventually, you may need some plastic for
more than a new outfit or a meal in northwest
Portland. A fter 10 years, free parki ng is end­
ing at the shopping district on NW 23rd and
NW 21st streets. But instead o f installing
unpopular parking meters, the city transpor­
tation department wants to introduce a new
concept: computerized pay stations. Drivers
may have already seen them around down­
town Portland for the last six months. These
box-like contraptions take coins, but eventu­
ally, the city wants to purchase pay stations
that have the technology to accept credit or
debit cards.
Driving the pay station idea is the cramped
parking situation in the popular shopping
district. “This is what w e’re shooting fo r- the
ability to use something other than a roll o f
quarter, such as a debit card or a Master card,”
said Toby Widmer, from the city’s transpor­
tation department.
Pay stations on 23rd would be the first
radical concept to hit downtown Portland
in the shopping districts along M V 23rd and NW 21s' streets.
since double meters arrived in 1963. It would
also be the latest aesthetic innovation since
Portland's so-called meter maids donned new
fashions.
“It removes a number o f parking meters
and poles from the urban landscape," Widmer
said. According to results from a preliminary
survey, the public liked the pay stations-
once they got used to them. But you wouldn’t
know it, judging from some o f the responses
from NW 23rd shoppers on Monday.
Most o f them told KGW they didn’t like the
idea of paying to park. Others said they
wouldn’t come to NW 23rd as much if they
had to shell out more money for parking. With
PGE Park expected to draw record numbers
this spring and a streetcar coming through in
the summer, northwest Portland needs some­
thing to relieve the parking crunch, said pizza
entrepreneur Phil Geftner. “Hopefully people
will be more induced to use mass transit,” he
said. If the city can find a bidder, the parking
stations could sprout in northwest Portland
within a year.
Concordia Students Participate in GM Internship
IA S *
U.S., Asian Leaders
Discuss N. Korea
I
S tory C ontinued on page A6
S ee R elated A rticles on
B usiness P ages B2
Parking Crunch Drives City Proposal to Install Pay Boxes
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil— The state oil
company Petrobras said some o f the 300,000
gallons o f diesel fuel on board the P-36 oil
rig that sank had apparently already started
to leak. A cleanup flotilla o f 11 ships with
floating barriers and oil-dispersing chemi­
cals surrounded a slick at the spot 75 miles
o ff the coast where the 40-story-tall rig
sank.
SEOUL, South Korea — U.S., Japanese
and South Korean offic ials met to coordinate
their policy on North Korea, amid growing
concern in South Korea that the new Ameri­
can stance on the North might derail their
own engagement with Pyongyang. During
talks with South Korean President Kim Dae-
jung in Washington earlier this month. Bush
said he was skeptical of North Korea and
would not immediately resume talks on the
communist country’s missile program.
ian inspecting pigs at a slaughter plant. It is
believed the virus was introduced through the
feeding o f contaminated waste food to swine.
The disease quickly spread to two other coun­
ties, then exploded in a matter o f days to more
than 73 areas throughout Great Britain. A ban
on animal movements has been ordered. The
outbreak is serious enough that large events
and gatheruigs have been canceled, including
horse races and livestock shows. Even zoos
have been closed in hopes o f containing the
infectious spread o f foot-and-month disease.
Now other European counties have been
affected. While not seen in the U.S. since 1929,
multiple outbreaks in Asia, Africa, and South
America have been reported in the last couple
o f years. Foot-and-month is a severe, highly
communicable viral disease of cattle and swine.
It also affects sheep, goats, deer and other
cloven-hoofed ruminants. The disease is char­
acterized by fever and blister-like sores on the
tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and
around the hooves and between the toes. Most
affected animals recover, but the disease leaves
them debilitated, causing severe losses in meat
and milk production. It is not a food safety
problems, but a production problems.
Although humans are not susceptible to
foot-and-month disease, they can serve as
carriers. The virus can exist on a person’s
clothing or hair even respiratory system for
many days. That’s why anyone who has re­
cently traveled to the UK. needs to be aware
that they can unwittingly transmit the disease
Concordia students participate in an intership provided h\ Generili
colleges and universities fo r the best marketing plan
'otors As part of the program, they will compete with other
Pi«» to by M ark W ashington /P or i i . and O bserver
Concordia University has been invited to
partake in a unique project worthy o f special
attention. Joined together with one o f the
premiere automakers in the world, Concordia
has agreed to a partnership with General
Motors and Weston Buick Pontiac GMC.
GM, a U.S. leader in car, truck, and sport
u tility innovation, is allow ing several
Concordia students to serve as interns and
gain practical, on the job training while earn­
ing an education. Professor Eric Freeman is
heading the business brigade and providing
his students with a partnership and inside look
into operations at GM Die goal on behalf of
the two sides is apparent, for students at
Concordia to acquire practical experience and
General Motors to attract a younger, hipper
audience in which sales could increase and
provide a potential customer base for Weston
Buick Pontiac GMC. While working in sub­
group style, the students will combine their
efforts to form apresentation that will highlight
the whole campaign from start to finish.
The Concordia students (or 9 a m. Market­
ing) recently threw a carnival displaying the
newest product vehicles General Motors has to
offer, while conducting a food and clothing
drive for the Union Gospel Mission on the
Concordia University campus. Before GM
hands over the entire budget, 9 a m Marketing
must propose its marketing plan to representa­
tives from both GM and Weston for approval.