” . 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