(Tl. Page A2 e JJnrtktnù ©beeruer May 28. 2008 Initiative Fighting for Children’s Health continued from Front nize a need for addressing these types of issues, but have concerns about some of the specifics, includ­ ing a $10 co-pay for visits with a prim ary-care provider. Geri W ashington, a Multnomah Education Service District board m em ber representing north/north- east Portland and an organizer for Oregon Action, said the co-pay pre­ sents a continued barrier for low- income families. W ashington would prefer to see better planning to coincide with school districts’ budgets so that the e x p e c te d in c re a s e o f s tu d e n ts doesn’t create strain for facilities or teachers, which are allotted based on the previous year’s enrollm ent. The campaign allays concerns that the measure amounts to an unfunded mandate by allowing school districts to opt out of the program if school boards deem the coverage unnec­ essarily expensive. photo by R aymond R endi . kman /T iik P ortland O bserver Martin Rivers collects signatures for an initiative that would provide health insurance for students in Portland Public Schools. Signing (from left) are Sheridan Schlegel, Megan Anderson and Edyth Lee-Barnes. The proposal calls for city bud­ gets to cover the estim ated $4.05 million cost for the first two years of the health insurance starting in Feb­ ruary of next year, then school dis­ tricts would be responsible for 66 percent of the program. Petition organizers count on a voter m andate and the success of ¿he program’s first years for the political pressure of continued funding. With no exclusions for pre-existing condi­ tions, the program would subject phy­ sician-referred hospital services to an annual $7,5(X) deductible. Competitive bidding would recruit contracts with local private insur­ ers. The City of Portland would pay bidders a $50 monthly maximum for each child covered, and the contract stipulates that the rate would not increase annually more than the U.S. Consum er Price Index. “If the city votes yes, this is.what we want, then the city’s leaders have to respond, so you have the potential to take much of the politics out of it,” Deschaine says.. Vanport after 60 Years OLD TOWN. Ota Tbwn Pizza h as opened a second outpost dedicated to serving up our legendary pizza, an d we w ant you to be among* the first to call it your new-old favorite restaurant. M A K E H IS T O R Y A N D J O IN U S F O R O U R G R A N » O P E N IN G C E L E B R A T IO N ! J u n e 5, 2 0 0 8 5 - 1 1 pm 6201 NE M artin Luther King J r Blvd. Portland. Oregon 07211 503.200.5SS8 Door prizes a t 7, 8 & 9pm E ntertainm ent bv Ethos Music Center* D U RIN G J U N E A T O LD TO W N P IZ Z A V A N P O R T S Q U A R E * G u e s t s w i t h p roof o f zip co d es o f 9 7 2 1 1 . 9 7 2 1 7 an d 9 7 2 1 2 RECEIVE 20% OFF THEIR FOOD ORDER * G uests who presen t any past receipts from the original Old Town Pizza location RECEIVE 20% OFF THEIR FOOD ORDER sold will go to Ethos Music Center. v HBs k WI . .. . . , a Portland-based organization dedicated to the promotion of music and musk-based education for youth in underserved communities www.ethos-lnc.org . jh k o • .S " ' The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveys a levee near the Columbia River in early 2007. Data from these surveys help owners determine a levee's level of flood protection. Trees along some of the levees present an increased risk becuase they were not designed for this type of vegetation. continued from Front this year, despite the large amounts of snow last winter approximating the lead-up to Vanporf s demise. "The Vanport Flood was a combina­ tion of rain plus a lot of snow, and as far as conditions we’re having today, we certai n ly ha ve above-average snow con­ ditions—the fortunate thing is that we don't have the rain on top of the snow,” says Harold Opitz, chief hydrologist for the National Weather Service’s North­ west River Forecast Center. However, the predictability of flood­ ing may become even harder with global warming’s effects on weather patterns. “The risk boundaries are certainly going to shift,” Opitz says. "The cli­ mate-change baseline question is: What is that warming going to mean? At this point there are a lot of unknowns to us that we're investigating how to ap­ proach.” The Army Corps of Engineers has recognized increasing stakes for ac­ countability, first after Vanport, then 1,1 ÎLÎorthntb (.Observer USPS 959-680 after Hurricane Katrina. But limited funding, shared liability and techno­ logical unknowns continue to dog the agency to this day. Vanport was the result of a railroad fill giving way, and it’s possible the levy would have held without engi­ neering to include freight traffic. A similar situation can be found on the C o lu m b ia -sk irtin g N ortheast Bridgeton Road, which was built on an old levy not designed for street traffic. While the corps' annual inspections have determined such areas to be safe, the inspectors would much rather see money allocated for new levees than to constantly worry over tree roots, burrowing animals or human activities compromising integrity. Adding to the concern, the corps built most of the levees in the ‘30s and ‘40s but now shares oversight with local drainage districts. “While we don’t own them, nor are we responsible for the maintenance ot them, we can provide collaborative inspection and • recommendations,” Echols says. Established 1970 ----------------------------------------------- — ---------- 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 Charles H. Washington EoiTou.Michael Le ig h to n D istribution M anager : M a rk W ashington C reative D irector : P a u l N e u fe ld t A dvertising : K athy L in d e r Omer. 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