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J UNE 26, 2013
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V OLUME XXXV, N O . 38
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
JUNETEENTH
Power
Rate
Hike
Attorney General
pushes back on
PacifiCorp increase
PHOTO BY JULIE KEEFE
T
Anita Koyier Mwamba and her daughter Ndalo, 11, attended the Juneteenth, "Unity in the Community" Celebration
at the Life Enrichment Bookstore on Saturday June 22. The event featured musical performances by renowned
songstresses Josephine Howell and Lady "A;" a presentation by former Black Panther and author Aaron Dixon;
storytelling, a step dancing demonstration, face painting, and free hotdogs and popcorn. The celebration was
sponsored by the African American Affinity Group. More photos on page 6
Military Looks at Sexual Assault
Joint Base Lewis McChord commits to crackdown on rape, abuse
By Adam Ashton
The News Tribune
JOINT BASE LEWIS
MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A
fast-developing sexual assault
prevention program at Joint
Base Lewis-McChord has the
Army mustering up new victim
advocates, spreading a ``zero
tolerance’’ message down the
ranks, and cracking down on
misbehavior in the barracks.
It’s intended to reverse a ris-
ing number of reported military
sexual assaults across the
Armed Forces that is fraying
relationships among service
members and causing lawmak-
ers to consider changes to the
Army’s justice system.
“When you have sexual
assault in the military, it breaks
down the fabric of trust in our
organization,’’ said Maj. Gen.
Stephen Lanza, who this week
canceled training activities for
the 20,000 Lewis-McChord sol-
diers under his command and
focused them on sexual assault
programs for a single day.
Lanza began the reforms last
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October when he arrived at the
base to launch the 7th Infantry
Division headquarters. He held
discussions with female soldiers
of various ranks who encour-
aged him to confront a culture
that seems too tolerant of sexual
harassment.
“We can’t have this in our mil-
itary,’’ he said this week.
Similar trainings are taking
place at the Army’s other instal-
lations.
Last month, the Pentagon
published a report showing a
rise in known sexual assault
cases from 3,192 cases in 2011
to 3,374 cases in 2012. The
same report suggested that as
many 26,000 military service
members faced unwanted sexu-
al contact but might not have
reported it.
Meanwhile, the military saw a
string of embarrassing cases
over the past year, such as the
prosecution of a one-star Army
general on sexual misconduct
charges stemming from his
affair with a captain and Air
Force commanders granting
See MILITARY page 3
he Attorney General this week chal-
lenged PacifiCorp’s nearly 15 percent
proposed rate hike, which comes after
several years of annual increases.
On its website, Pacific Power and Light
Company offers a grid of ‘rate increase pro-
jections’ indicating a 14.1 percent planned
raise for 2013; no increase for 2014; a 5.5
percent raise in 2015; 8 percent in 2016 and
6.5 percent in 2017.
The Utilities and Transportation Commis-
sion, which must sign off on the rate
increase, holds hearings in late August that
will give PacifiCorp the chance to weigh in;
the commission’s decision is expected no
later than December 2013.
Washington State Attorney General Rob
Ferguson’s legal team says PacifiCorp’s
2013 raise would drain an additional $42.8
million in revenue from Washington electric
customers.
“Public Counsel believes the rate request
is too high,” the office said in a statement.
Ferguson told reporters this week that
even though his turf is Washington State,
and PacifiCorp is based in Portland, Ore.,
it’s his job to push back on the energy price
hike to protect his state residents’ consumer
interests.
His staff reported that in March 2011, the
Washington State utilities commission
authorized a $38 million; in June 2012,
PacifiCorp was authorized to raise its rates
by another $4.5 million. PacifiCorp serves
approximately 132,000 electric customers
in Yakima, Walla Walla, Garfield, and
Columbia Counties.
Ferguson’s challenge echoes those of
other Western states’ consumer officials
over similar price hikes in states where
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, the multi-
national corporation owned by Warren Buf-
fet, has bought out local power utilities and
systematically brought consumer prices up
throughout the region.
“PacifiCorp operates in six states, so the
Attorney General’s Office wants to ensure
See POWER on page 3
House Bill Would Limit Teacher Raises
The Senate approved the bill June 13 but as of Friday, the House
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — As lawmak-
ers debate how to put up to $1 billion more
into public schools, Republicans in the Sen-
ate want to make sure that money doesn’t
support pay raises for teachers.
Democrats in the House oppose the bill,
which has already been approved by the
Senate, The Daily Herald reported in Sun-
day’s newspaper.
The measure, Senate Bill 5946, would
push most new education dollars toward
teacher training and hiring new teachers to
improve the reading skills and academic
performance of students. One part of the bill
would prevent school districts from giving
raises greater than the rate of inflation for
the next two years.
Senate Education Committee Chairman
Sen. Steve Litzow says the goal is to make
progress.
``Everybody expects by putting a billion
dollars more into education, you’ll get
results,’’ said the Republican from Mercer
Island. ``We’re going to be watching very
carefully.’’
The Senate bill had been called one of the
last stumbling blocks in reaching agreement
on a new budget in time to avert a partial
See TEACHERS on page 3