Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, February 04, 2009, Black History Month, Page 2, Image 2

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    îh'Î J n r t la u ô (n b e e ru c r B l a c k
Page A2
H lS tO fy
M o n t h ___________________________ February 4, 2009
Ask Deanna!
Real People,
Real Advice
t „ m l t i l i ’
co lu m n
know n fo r
re a lity h a ie tl
subjects!
Dear Deanna!
My husband o f seven years left me for
a younger woman. He dogged me and
broke my heart but I’m over it. The
problem isnow with this woman. H e’s
putting her through the same dram a
he put me through and she calls me for
advice. T he first tim e 1 tolerated her
because she caught m e o ff guard. I’m
at the point where 1 ’ m ready to tel 1 her
she reaped w hat she sow ed but 1 ca n ’t
do it. W hy? —Leslie; Boston
Dear Leslie:
You can definitely say she got what
she deserved. 1 guess your husband
saw the grass w asn’t greener on the
other. W hen she calls again, let her
know in your sw eetest voice you ap­
preciate her seeking your advice but
you had enough dram a from both o f
them to last a lifetime. Share some
w ords o f w isdom that if a m arried man
cheats on his wife, h e’ll cheat on any­
body and keep it moving.
A WES commuter train accepts passengers at the Beaverton Transit Center during its ceremonial first run
on 14-7 miles o f track serving Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville. The new mass transit option is
a project o f TriMet, Washington County, Metro, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the four
communities.
WES Commuter Rail Opens
Connecting
Wilsonville to
Beaverton
After nearly 15 years in the making,
the state’s first com m uter rail line
opened for regular service M onday.
T riM et’s W ES (W estside Express
Service) com m uter rail is a 14.7-mile
line that provides weekday rush hour
s e rv ic e b e tw e e n th e c itie s o f
B eav erto n , T ig a rd , T u a la tin and
W ilsonville.
“W ES will provide fast, convenient
com m uter service to an area that is
difficult to serve with traditional bus
service,” said TriM et G eneral M an­
ager Fred Hansen. “By utilizing active
freight tracks forcom m uter service we
were able to make use of an existing
resource while adding a new travel
option for our riders.”
C ongressm an D avid W u added,
“O nce again O regon is proving to the
country that we are a leader in public
transportation. We were so far ahead
o f the gam e that some people in the
past ad m in istra tio n b eliev ed this
project could not becom e a reality.”
Wu said he was looking forward to
seeing m ore and more people begin to
use W ES as a safe, environm entally
friendly and enjoyable way to com ­
m ute every day.
The W ES service schedule calls for
the first train to leave W ilsonville at
W hatt0 Eat?
co n tin u ed
fr o m f r o n t
ethnicities.
L arg e c h a in sto re s h av e
2010. Interestingly; the report eaught on to this trend and also
m entioned thafrAfrivan-Ameri- offer up selections of-natural
cans are the biggest consum ers<-eats.
u
o f organics com pared to other
But Rohter said the national
5:19 a.m. and arrive in Beaverton at
5 :46 a.m. The train will operate every
30 m inutes during weekday rush hour
for a total o f 32 trips a day.
Trains travelanaverageof37 mph,
with a top speed o f 60 mph over the
14.7 miles
Bus service will connect to each o f
the stations; W ES will also connect
to M A X Blue and Red line trains in
Beaverton. In W ilsonville, riders can
connect to bus service within the
city, to Salem and Canby.
The fare for boarding WES is $2.30,
the price o f aT riM et All-Zone ticket.
The com m uter line also provides free
W i-Fi and about 700 Park & Ride
spaces at four o f the five stations,
with parking lim ited to 24 hours.
chains “m ostly sell co n v en ­
tional foods with some organic
an d n atu ra l fo o d s, an d w e
mostly sell organic, natural, and
local foods with som e conven­
tional foods."
; W hat’s also innovative for
New Seasons is its em phasis on
supporting local producers o f
natural and finer foods. It seeks
Dear Deanna!
W hen m y h u sb an d and I w ere to ­
g eth er he took ex cellen t care o f our
kids. N ow that w e’re d iv o rce d he
has am n esia and fo rg o t he has o b ­
lig atio n s o f ch ild su p p o rt an d health
care. D o n ’t g et me w rong, I still care
fo r him but now 1 have to go through
so m uch stress to get him to help me.
I have legal d o cu m en ts o u tlin in g
his resp o n sib ilities. H ow long do 1
w ait before tak in g him th ro u g h the
co u rt sy stem ? —Allison Kramer;
Omaha, Neb.
Dear Allison:
D aycare bills, tight clothes, and hun­
gry stom achs d o n ’t have tim e to wait
for daddy to grow up. At this rate,
your kids will be senior citizens col­
lecting a pension before your ex-hus-
band steps up to the plate. T he court
order that he violated gives you front
row seating w ith a judge. If he has no
sym pathy or concern for his children’s
w elfare, then you need to handle your
business and take him to court at
lightning speed.
Ask Deanna is written by Deanna M.
Write A sk D eanna! at the email
askdeanna 1 @ yahoo.com or 264 S.
LaCienega Blvd. Suite ¡283 Beverly
H ills,
CA
90211.
W ebsite;
www.askdeanna.com
Annual Fix-It Fair Saturday
A Portland Fix-It Fair, a free event
designed to save you money and
connect you to resources is sched­
uled Saturday, Feb. 7 from 8:30 a.m. to
2 p.m. at George Middle School, 10000
N. B urr Ave.
The Portland Bureau o f Planning
and S ustainability, in partnership
w ith other city bureaus, the Energy
Trust o f Oregon, Pacific Power, Port­
land General Electric and the P ort­
land D evelopment Com mission, hold
o u t e a s te rn O re g o n b e e f,
W illamette Valley wine, olive oil
from northern California, and
other regional vittles. The store
w ants to support regional be­
cause doing so keeps m oney
local, helps retain ÉMWM ition
in food, and the im pact-on the
environm ent mim i
“ It’s obvious to us tn a fif we
don't support our local food
growers, they're going to go out
o f business,” said R ohter o f the
buy local approach.
H aving a store stocked with
such fine goods has given New
Seasons a reputation that it’s
tooexpensi ve for Portlanders of
more m odest means. However,
Rohter said that this simply isn't
so- and he can prove it.
By periodically doing price
surveys betw een its stores and
other grocery options, Rohter
said he can docum ent that New
Seasons stocks enough o f the
conventional products (not lo­
cally produced or organic) that
a shopper could get the same
basket o f goods from New S ea­
sons and pay about the same as
they w ould at a national grocery
chain.
Barry Bushue, the president
o f the Oregon Farm Bureau, said
that he appreciates N ew Sea­
sons doing business with local
fam ily farms. He added that
people are more rem oved from
agriculture in their daily lives
than ever before, and sees in­
creasin g interest in farm er's
the fairs annually for neighbors to
talk to experts about how to spend
less and stay healthy.
E x h ib its an d h o u rly w o rk sh o p s
p ro v id e in fo rm atio n and reso u rces
fo r w a te r a n d en e rg y sa v in g s,
ho m e and p erso n al h ea lth , food
a n d n u tr itio n , c o m m u n ity r e ­
so u rces, recy clin g and y ard care,
lead testin g an d m ore.
Free lunch and childcare are pro­
vided.
m arkets and local food as a
yearning for som e sem blance of
a distant agrarian past.
"L ocal foods are here to
stay," quipped Bushue, w ho
said he expects there to b e ,a
steady m arket for local fi
"For us it's a questiono]
m u n ity fo o d secu rity .
Rohter, w ho points out that oil
prices could easily skyrocket
again- m aking locally produced
food the norm.
A side from reaching out to
regional food producers, New
Seasons has worked at being a
socially conscience local em ­
ployer, R ohter said.
said Julie Piper Finley, spokes­
person for Loaves and Fishes-
w hich runs M eals on W heels,
w ith a laugh.
She explained that her orga-
n y^jGc^neets a cut o f the profit
’ loaf o f sourdough
afth e store and that
(ca n donate to the
organization at checkout.
She added that N ew Seasons
em ployees are required to help
deliver food for the organiza­
tion, some on bikes. Rohter him ­
self drives a delivery route.
R ohter said that w ith the
econom y in the tank New Sea­
sons is w eathering it reason­
I t’s obvious to us that if we
don't support our local food
growers, they're going to go
out o f business.
He explained how his co m ­
pany actively w orks to keep its
w orkforce diverse in the way of
gender, race, age, and sexual
orientation. He also m entioned
that New Seasons has an inter­
nal m inim um wage o f $10 per
hour and pays benefits for its
em ployees.
New Seasons also shells out
10 percent o f its after tax profits
to local charitable causes like
M eals on W heels.
" I think w e're their favorite,"
ably well.
"W e're being more careful,"
he said, adding that it has put off
m ore capital projects, but hasn't
laid o ff any staff and is still on
course to open its 10th store on
H aw thorne B oulevard in 2010.
A lthough the future o f food
production in Portland and the
c o u n try m ay be u n c e rta in ,
R ohter seem s relaxed about
where his com pany is.
"The fact that we even exist
is a success," he said.
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