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Maith 29. 2006
C o ach F ire d
M etro
Pilots Coach Michael Holton
sees career on bluff end
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See Sports, page B6
SECTION
o m m u n ity
C a l e n t i a r
Habitat Barbecue
s» ,:
Enjoy a great barbecue and G os­
pel music at Beale Street NW
BBQ, 10721 N.E. Sandy BIvd., on
Sunday, April 9 from 1 p.m. to 3
p.m. Suggested donation is $5,
and 15 percent o f food sales goes
tow ard Portland’s Habitat for
H um anity’s hom e building ef­
forts in Louisiana.
fitliMMli., ttfg,
Chinese Medicine
P ortland C om m unity C ollege
offers a four-w eek noncredit se­
ries in discovering Chinese medi
cine, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on
W ednesdays, starting April 5 in
room 235 o f Grant High School
Cost is $69, for more inform ation
call 503-978-5205.
Women in NAACP
Amatur racers take a curve during the Les Schwab Late Night Drags held at the Portland International Raceway in north Portland. For a $20 fee. racers of all abilities
can compete a safe environment.
W om en in N A A C P m eets from
10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the first Sat­
urday o f each month at the Ameri­
can Red Cross Building, 3131 N.
Vancouver. For questions, call
503-249-6263.
Temper Need
for Speed
Business Meeting
Safe alternative to
illegal street racing
N orth/N ortheast Business A s­
sociation meetings are on the
first M onday o f each month from
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Albina Com m u­
nity Bank, 2002 N.E. M artin
Luther King Blvd. M orning net­
w orking m eetings are the third
W ednesday o f each m onth from
7 :3 0 to 9 a .m .a t the Blazers Boys
and Girls Club,525ON.E. Martin
Luther King Blvd.
For those w ho feel the need for speed. Late Night
Drags is gearing up for its sixth season at the
Portland International Raceway in north Portland.
Beginning in April, racers o f all calibers can put
their two- or four-w heeled dragsters on the track and
com pete against others all night. Races are held on
most Friday and Saturday nights beginning at 6 p.m.,
and runs through October.
"W e are in a new era o f horsepow er in street cars
right now," said Mark W igginton, PIR track m an­
ager. “ It’s best to let people experience that perfor­
mance in a place that’s safe, where there’s no cross
traffic, pedestrians or the rest o f the accidents-in-
waiting that you find on the street. And it isn’t just
»for the racers. It’s for their families, their boyfriends
or girlfriends, and people w ho ju st want to see the
excitem ent o f fast cars on the track.”
But it wasn ’ t always like this. Officer David Sessum
o f the Portland Police Bureau said prior to 2000,
____________________________________________________________________illegal street racing was a constant problem on
Free College Outreach
The first Saturday o f each month,
from 12p.m. to2p.m „ high school
students can get free help from
O regon State U niversity on pre­
paring for any college at the Matt
D ishm an Com m unity Center, 77
N.E. Knott St.
Lead-Safe Remodeling
Workshop
M etro offers a free w orkshop,
household lead test kit and home
im provem ent manual for do-it-
yourselfers w orking on homes
built before 1978 on Saturday,
April 8 from 10a.m. to noon at the
Historic Kenton Firehouse, 8105
N. Brandon Ave. No registration
required.
Get Wet at Portland Parks
All March, spring break extended
h o u rs at C o lu m b ia , M a tt
D ishm an, Mt. Scott and South­
w est Com m unity C enter pools.
O pen from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. with
open sw im tim es starting at 1
p.m. Register for spring classes
by calling Portland Parks and
Recreating at 503-823-5130.
Elephant Party
A truck burns rubber in one o f the heats at Portland International Raceway's Late Night Drags. The events are a safe
alternative to illegal street racing, opening up the PIR track to racers o f all shapes and sizes from April through October.
Send O ff fo r New Orleans Musicians
(
•»
In the days following H urricane Katrina,
Portland sent out a call to New O rleans jazz
I m usicians — you are w elcom e here. Seven
m onths later, N O LA 2PDX - the tem porary
program created by the Portland Jazz Fes­
tival and A zum ano Travel to support the
m usicians w ho responded to the invitation
| - is sending them o ff in style.
The NOLA2PDX Finale featuring Devin
Phillips and New O rleans Straight Ahead
will be held on Friday, April 7 from 7 p.m. to
continued
Technology at Work
TriMet tests fans to save
fuel costs
“ S olutions and S erenity” for
an y o n e a ffe c te d by an o th e r
person’s drinking. Every T ues­
day at 7 p.m.. Trinity Episcopal
C ath ed ral, 147 N .W . 19,h at
E verett. F ree, e n te r thro u g h
courtyard. For more information,
call JuliannaTassone at 503-367-
6115
Creative Space For Dance
Aurora Dance Studio, 5433 N.E.
30th, offers an array o f classes
for children, teens and adults at
all levelsof ability. Call 503-249-
0 2 01 o r v is it o n lin e at
w w w .hevanet.com /auroradance
for more information.
•S community service
Billy Reed’s to host
special concert
on page BS
Al-Anon Meeting
f
on page B6
11 p.m. at Billy R eed ’s, 2808 N.E. Martin
L uther King Jr. Blvd. A private reception to
meet the artists will be held from 6-7 p.m. The
finale is open to the public with a $5 cover
charge to off-set program expenses.
O v er th e co u rse o f six m onths m ore
th an 50 N ew O rlea n s m u sician s traveled
to O regon as part o f ja zz festival program .
A dozen m u sician s have d ec id e d to m ake
C e leb rate E lephantastic! I t’s
Packy’s 4 4 'h birthday party. S at­
urday, April 8 and 9 from 10a.m.
to 4 p.m. at the O regon Zoo.
B irthday cake for everyone,
Packy too! Cake served at 2 p.m.
free with zoo admission. For more
information, call 503-226-1561.
years
. -
continued
TriMet Maintenance Trainer Mark Tellis inspects the six electric fans retrofitted to a test bus. By running electri­
cal fans instead o f a standard fan that runs on belts and hydraulics. TriMet hopes to see a 5-7 percent increase
in fuel economy.
1
1
On the outside, it looks like an ordinary TriMe
bus, but under its engine panels is a one-of-a-kini
cooling system that makes it unique in the transi
industry.
TriMet is the first in the nation to combine cutting
edge technologies from the racetrack and military
field in a bus that should get better fuel economy anti
require reduce maintenance.
For the next eight months, the bus is testing
military components and NASCAR racecar cooling
technology to potentially boost fuel economy by 5 to
7 percent and reduce maintenance costs. Switching
the engine and transmission cooling systems over to
electrical motors should produce the fuel gains.
Traditionally, bus-cooling systems work off hy­
draulic and coolant pumps powered directly by the
diesel engine. The original equipment cooling system
draws up to 50 horsepower off the engine, draining
power and fuel efficiency.
Six variable speed electric fans, an electric vari­
able speed water pump and an electric mixing valve
are computer controlled to deliver optimum heating
or cooling to the bus' engine, transmission and
heating systems.
One of the agency’s goals is to reduce costs by
commercializing technology that has both military
and commercial uses.
T