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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2006)
” . 3 years 6 Wotr*-1 « See story, page A 6 of CAREERS & EDUCATION PCC student pursues dream in dance, sociology Local Service Honors Officer Navy Petty Of- licerMarcques N ettles was laid to rest at Willamette Na tion al C e m etery Sunday. Nettles, 22, a former Beaverton resident, died in Iraq last month. More than 200 family, friends and other well- wishers, including Gov. Ted Kulongoski, attended his funeral. See story, page A2. Bomber Kills 17 in Iraq A suicide truck bomber attacked a crowded market in Tai Afar, Iraq late Tuesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding 35 in a city cited b£ President Bush as a suc cess story in battling insurgents. U.S. officials had predicted insur gents would step up attacks to try to block a new Iraqi adminis tration. See story, Metro section inside anh (©bserlier www.portlandobserver.com Established In 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVI, Number 19 Rosa Parks School Named A new school under construc tion in the New Columbia neigh borhood of north Portland will be named Rosa Parks Elementary in honor of the civil rights leader after a 6-0 vote by the Portland School Board Monday. See story, page A2. Transgender resource offers education, support and a good read Sp ecial Edition ‘City of Roses' T1 Week ¡n The Review Library Breaks Isolation DEMANDS Test TriMet Wednesday • May 10. 2006 Adjusting to rising prices, expansion and alternative fuels S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver by With soaring gas prices, will TriMet fares increase again? Will we soon see more hybrid buses? And w hat's happening on the mass transit expansion front? Our public transportation agency is making adjustments and planning for the future as it tries to meet economic and envi ronmental demands and serve a growing population. According to a 2003 agency customer profile. 42 percent of Portland area adults use TriMet at least twice a month. A goal of boosting that figure to 50 per cent is unpredictable in many ways, but certainly the agency must accommodate new riders with better and broader service, while keeping the system at tractive and affordable. Tri-Met already has beefed up its general fare policy from 5- cent increases every other year, to the current practice of a nickel each September because of in creased demands. But high die sel fuels last year meant an ad ditional 10-cent increase last 1 photo by M ark W ashington /T he P or i land O bserver John Clark, a TriMet employee for 30 years, drives one o f the transit agency’s new hybrid fuel buses. January. The agency is currently review ing diesel prices, which shot up again last month, but they ’re subject to the same volatile market that keeps consumers guessing. “We will talk to our board at the end of May, and have a better idea at where diesel prices are," said Carolyn Young, TriMet’s executive director of programs and com munication. “If it stays in this range," she said, “then we’d have to consider another in crease beyond 5 cents.” TriMet’s dependence on diesel may be on the wane. In 2002, TriMet rolled out two hybrid-electric buses, which look normal in appearance except foragiant battery pack on the roof. These hybrids have a small diesel engine that powers an electrical generator, which in turn charges the battery pack. The batteries then power an electric motor that turns the wheels. Hybrids use smaller continued on page A3 Earl Woods Remembered l Veterans Build Giant Peace Symbol Near high traffic Rose Quarter Earl Woods, who was more deter mined to raise a good son than a great golfer and became the ar chitect and driving force behind Tiger W oods’ phenomenal ca reer, is being remembered after his death of cancer. He was 74. See story, page B6. Bonds Homers to 713 San Fran- ciscoG iants’ Barry Bonds hit his 713th career home run in Phila delphia Sun day and is one shy of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home run list. Hank Aaron is the all-time home run leader with 755. Voyage Ends at Beginning A New Yorker's attempt to be come the first black American to row solo across the Atlantic ended when his homemade boat sprung a leak hours after he left the coast of Africa on Sunday. Victor Mooney wanted to raise AIDS awareness and memorial ize the slave trade. There is now a giant peace symbol in the middle of Port land. The Portland chap ter of Veterans for Peace has adopted a site in Portland's high-traffic Rose Quarter for the new Portland Peace A peace symbol Memorial Park, situated on the east is fashioned into side of the Willamette River near the the early con Steel Bridge. struction o f The small park holding a 75- Peace Memorial foot peace symbol made o f turf is Park on the east part o f the c ity ’s "adopt a land side o f the scape” program, allow ing groups Willamette River to adopt untended green spaces near the Steel within the city to landscape and Bridge. maintain. The peace symbol will be sur rounded with colorful flowers, and a peace pole will be placed at the top of the circle. A dedication cerem ony is scheduled for M emorial Day, May 29. Veterans for Peace Chapter 29 said the purpose of the park is to memorialize all victims of every war. This includes civil ians of all sides, as well as military pawns the United States. The group said the memorial park is of foreign policy. It includes the people of Dresden, the citizens of Hiroshima, as well called a “peace m em orial" instead of a as the Vietnamese and American victims “war memorial" because war memorials of Agent Orange poisoning, and the people rem em ber only the soldiers of “our side" living with radiation sickness in Iraq and of a war, ignoring all others, glorifies their by S araii B lount T he P or i land O bserver J o f all sides. It sees no glory in these deaths, but only sorrow. The peace m e morial brings to bear the nobility and cour age o f peace work as opposed to m ilita rism, and endeavors to inspire visitors to pick up the mantle o f working for peace. Domestic Violence Response: Too Little Too Late Warning signs were there J= = r . J 2 - deaths, and thus glorifies the war they fought in along with the “nobility" of war itself. A peace memorial, on the other hand, represents the true human cost o f war: m ilitary, civilian, and future generations Looking back on the murder of Claudia Rhone, it’s not hard to wonder why more wasn't done to prevent her violent death. Rhone, 54, died on the front lawn of her Iris Court apartment on May 2, her north Portland home for more than a decade. She was well known in the close-knit commu nity, and neighbors were aware of a situ ation between Rhone and her ex-boy friend, Gilberto Pedroso, 63. The police had visited the complex just off North V ancouver Avenue and Sumner Street twice the day of her death. Claudia Rhone in front o f her Iris Court home last month, ju s t weeks before her murder on the front lawn o f her apartment. once in the late afternoon, when Rhone told officers Pedroso held a knife to her throat. Then again when neighbors called to say Pedroso was trying to break in through her window. Pedroso eluded the police during the first two calls, and by the time he con fronted Rhone in front of her apartment she only had the safety of a friend, Phyllis Jacob. According to Jacob, Pedroso ran after Rhone, screaming “I'm gonna kill you now" and then stabbed her several times. The police captured Pedroso on the third call, shortly before 11 p m But Rhone was dead. They charged her ex-boyfriend with the murder. People who knew the couple said Pedroso had a history of ha rassing, assaulting and stalking Rhone. Her devastated neighbors said they wished they could have done more, but her i death raises the question: Why wasn't she removed from the situation that night, and taken into safe custixly? Portland Police declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but C’apt. Ron Schwartz., commander of the bureau’s fam ily services division, said his unit did not respond to Tuesday's calls By the time Rhone’s situation had escalated. Schwartz’ officers were wrapping up the workday. "My unit only works I (X)hour shifts. 7-5 Monday through Friday,” Schwartz said. “The best case is we get it the next morning." The Domestic Violence Reduction Unit's eight officers and six shelter advocates handle 10,000 to 12.1XX) domestic violence reports each year. Multnomah County also runs a response team for high-risk cases in continued on page A2