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M A R K YOU
Edition
C A L E N D A R S TODAY
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CITY OF
PORTLAND
JOB FAIR
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M ark W ashmcton /T he P or tland O bserver
Judge Honored on New Post
Judge Adrienne Nelson (center) is honored during a reception hosted by Portland Community
Reinvestment, Inc., on her appointment to the Multnomah County Circuit Court, the only African
American woman on the bench in Oregon. Also pictured during the Friday celebration were (from
left) Vicki Guinn, Deena Pierott, Lynnette Jackson and Maxine Fitzpatrick.
Fair Weather
Bikers Unite
As the sky drips more sunshine
than rain, many Portlanders are look
ing at their bikes for the first time
since Septem ber. As a year-round
bike com m uter, I keep a m ental list
o f the reasons w ell-intentioned
people stay off their bikes during
cold and wet months. As leaf paste
and gritty rain are once again held
at bay. I’ve com piled another list
for w ould-be com m uters in need of
a final push:
You w ant fair w eather? Y ou've
got it. You w ant safety in num bers?
Celebrate National Bike Month and
Bike to W ork Week (m ore info at
bikeportland.org). On Friday. May
17, Pioneer C ourthouse Square is
the place to dip your toes into bike
culture. Follow ing organized rides
from five Portland parks, bikers will
meet at the square at 7:30 a.m. to 9
a.m. for free breakfast, tardy slips
and bikey entertainment. New com
from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., follow ed by a
dance party from 8 p.m. to midnight.
On Friday mornings break up
y o u r c o m m u te a c r o s s th e
W illam ette, with free breakfast on
the B ro ad w ay and H aw th o rn e
b r id g e s ( fo r m o re in fo v isit
shift2bikes.org).
Once M ay’s brouhahadiesdow n,
sum m er biking only gets better,
when PedalPalooza kicks o ff June
9. The exhaustive list of bike fun
goes on and on, with pedal potluck
picnics, noonday rides, midnight
m ystery rid es, the M ultnom ah
County Bike Fair on June 24...
m uters will be justly rew arded with
And one final need: you want a
a draw ing for prizes (hint: a new backache from riding lopsided due
bike).
to your fat w allet? Y ou've got it.
I’ve also taken the liberty o f an Just watch your wallet grow as you
ticipating needs you d idn’t even pass the gas pumps. Ditching your
know you had:
car this spring co u ld n 't be m ore fun
Bike Swap Meet, Sunday, May for you if I gave you a clow n nose,
14 - C om e for the buying, selling and y o u 're likely to pass some
and trading ju st about anything clowns on bikes if you ride enough
bike-related, stay for the beer drink this summer.
ing and dancing, at Free Geek (1731
Sarah Blount is a reporter for
S.E. 10lh Ave). The sw ap meet is the Portland Observer.
DEMANDS Test TriMet
con tin u ed
fro m Front
andcleanerengines, produce fewer
em issions, and their battery pow er
make them ideal for a stop-and-go
use. TriM et is still in theexperim en
tal phase with the buses, with hopes
to phase out conventional buses,
although Young said they have no
im m ediate plans to do so.
W hat the transit agency cu r
rently prefers is biodiesel, an alter
native fuel that advanced beyond
the testing stage a few m onths ago.
Last month TriM et converted all
210 door-to-door LIFT buses for
disabled and elderly passengers to
a blend o f 5-percent biodiesel and
95-percent diesel.
B iodiesel’s greatest virtue may
be its dependency on vegetable oil
and used cooking oil from local
restaurants and food m anufactur
ers, com pared to an unpredictable
global petrol supply.
T riM et d o esn ’t have specific-
plans to convert all o f its 61 I com
m uter buses, but is considering
fueling the regular fleet with a small
blend by the end o f the year.
In the m eantim e, it prom ises to
stick with their supplier, Salem-
b ased S e Q u e n tia l B io fu e ls, a
biodiesel refiner and the first local
biodiesel m anufacturer in Oregon.
"Purchasing it locally is most
im portant," said Peggy LaPoint, a
TriM et spokeswoman. "W ecan get
it cheaper out o f the M idwest, but
that benefit is offset by other eco
nomic and environm ental costs."
As alternative fuels gain m o
m entum , TriM et faces another big
agenda in term s o f light rail expan
sion to Clackam as and W ashing
ton counties, and an overhaul in
the heart o f the city - the dow n
town bus mall.
By now , m any so u th east re si
d ents m ay feel left o ut o f all the
M AX fun, but c o n stru ctio n along
1-205, w ith six and h a lf m iles o f
track and eight statio n s, w ill soon
connect the G atew ay T ransit C e n
ter to C lackam as T ow n C enter.
R iders can ex p ect to catch the
M A X to o r from C lack am as to
P io n eer S quare in less than 40
m in u tes, by S ep tem b er 2009.
A nother project, the W ashing
ton County C om m uter Rail, by
passes Portland all together, co n
centrating on a 14.7-mile Beaverton
T ransit Center and W i Ison vi I le con
nection along the 1-5 and highway
217 corridor. Construction for one
o f the nation's few exclusively sub
urban connections begins this year,
with an estim ated com pletion in
2008.
As for dow ntow n's makeover,
called the Portland Mall Light Rail
Project, things will get ugly before
they improve. The bus service along
Southwest Fifth and Sixth Avenues
was state-of-the-art in 1978, but
looking to the future means revital
izing the avenues, adding MAX
service from Union Station to Port
land State University and extend
ing auto/bike lanes dow n the entire
length.
The project begins in January
and reopens Septem ber 2(X)9, but
tension is already m ounting, with
criticism o f diverted bus traffic,
business accessibility and safety
during construction.
T riM et sp o k esw o m an M ary
Fetsch alleviates these concerns,
prom ising quick construction that
affects three to four blocks for two
months at a tim e, instead o f the
entire mall all at once.
“We learned from the Interstate
M A X ," Fetsch said. “A ccessibil
ity to b u sin ess th ro u g h o u t the
project is a key focus.”
^Jnrtlanb (O bserver Established 1970
Thursday, May 11,2006
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P o rtla n d , O regon
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our w eb site: portlandonline.com Ibhr
or ca ll (503) 823-4400
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