CEASE-FIRE
IN BOISE
FOLLOW-UP
Housing Our Families has pulled the plug on Fargo Row.
Joan Miggins, interim executive director of the embattled
community-development corporation, announced the agency's
intention to pull out of the contentious North Portland
rowhouse project at a mediation session with Boise neighborhood
residents and business owners last week. The announcement
came the same day that HOF was featured on the cover of
WW ("
The Battle of Boise,"
March 17, 1999).
The proposed project, which included low-income rental
housing units on a vacant lot across from the Boise-Eliot
Elementary School, inspired a virtual uprising in Boise.
Neighbors demanded that HOF clean up its act before
embarking on a new project, complaining about drug activity
in and around HOF's Betty Campbell building.
HOF's decision drew praise from neighborhood critics.
Terrell Garrett called the move "a great concession
on their part" and said it was "very well received."
But not everyone's cheering. "It's a very frustrating
state of affairs for us," says HOF's former partner,
developer Thomas D. Walsh, who owns the lot. Walsh (son
of former Tri-Met boss Tom Walsh) had proposed a joint
development of nine units on the Fargo lot and another
six units on nearby HOF property at Northeast 10th Avenue.
HOF's withdrawal means the project is dead.
What happens next? Walsh isn't sure. "We take a beating
is the short answer," he says. WW was not able
to reach HOF for comment, but a source says the group
plans to press ahead with its own development on the
10th Avenue property.
--Chris Lydgate
HE
GOT SCREEN
Luckily for the Blazers, Greg Anthony had a better
night in the Rose Garden than he did at the Academy
Awards Sunday night.
For the third year, www.nba.com published Anthony's
Oscar picks. The point guard is more fan than critic
(for example, he declared Elizabeth, Life
Is Beautiful and Shakespeare in Love each
to be his favorite flick), but he's clearly a dedicated
moviegoer.
Anthony predicted winners in six categories: best picture,
best actor and actress, best supporting roles and best
director. He shot just 33 percent, correctly pegging
starlet Gwyneth Paltrow as best actress and James Coburn
as best supporting actor.
But prior to the awards, WW asked Anthony to
choose winners for six lesser-hyped categories: foreign
film, original and adapted screenplays, film editing,
art direction and cinematography. He fared much better,
nailing four.
Anthony didn't get to watch the Oscars because the
Blazers hosted the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday night.
Perhaps inspired by the Tinseltown gala, Anthony stepped
up to the part of leading man in the Blazers' 91-75
win. Putting in his best performance all season, Anthony
shut down NBA leading scorer Allen Iverson and scored
11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He must have
been feeling the exuberant vibe of one of his favorite
actors, Roberto Benigni.
--Christina Melander
BANKING
ON SYMPATHY
Steelworkers know that walls crack when enough
pressure is applied to a structure's weakest point.
Their union is trying to apply that same logic to an
ongoing battle against Oregon Steel, which has failed
to rehire some workers who went on strike at the company's
Pueblo Colorado plant in 1997.
The steelworkers' campaign has been unsuccessful to
date, so the union is employing a new tactic: It's asking
the labor-friendly, left-leaning Portland City Council
to cancel its banking contract with Wells Fargo, a big
lender to Oregon Steel.
The strategy seems a bit serpentine, but it just might
pay off.
The city pays Wells Fargo almost $10,000 a month for
a variety of banking services, ranging from electronic
payroll deposits to automatic debt payments. When the
five-year contract expires on June 30, the city will
be comparison shopping for banks.
Normally the contract goes to the lowest bidder. But
city investment officer Dave Smith says the City Council
has the final say and can take labor politics into account.
Steelworkers representative Paul Bogart has been lobbying
city commissioners to do just that. He says he's had
cordial reactions from Charlie Hales, Jim Francesconi
and Erik Sten. Mayor Vera Katz says she's interested
in the steelworkers' pitch. "I'm going to hedge a little
because I need to know the relationship of Wells Fargo
to all this," says Katz.
Bank spokesman Tom Unger says Wells Fargo has been
unfairly targeted. He says the company's business principals
would not allow it to cancel service to one customer,
such as U.S. Steel, just because another customer, such
as the City of Portland, urges it to do so.
--Bob Young
WHY,
THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW...
HOUSE BILL 4010 * RELATING TO BLEEPIN' BEEPIN'
SPONSORED BY CARL DEL BALZO
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE
STATE OF OREGON:
SECTION 1: Whereas Oregonians have the right to
walk past parked cars without threat of surprise, shock
or concern:
(a) Devices that employ a car horn to signal
the activation of a remote auto-locking system shall
be banned in Oregon.
(b) This law shall be effective immediately.
All current owners of cars with such devices have a
period of 60 days to have them deactivated or modified
so that the activation of the remote alarm is signaled
by flashing headlights or another silent method.
(c) All dealerships will be required to make
the required changes to ensure that current and future
autos sold in Oregon meet the requirement as outlined
in Section 1(a).
SECTION 2: The penalties for violating this
law shall be established as follows:
(a) For car owners, first-time offenders must
complete a diversion program covering manners, common
courtesy and noise abatement. A test will be given.
(b) Repeat offenders will be forced to relinquish
their vehicles to a government-approved mechanic who
will "neuter" their remote unlocking devices at the
owners' expense. They will also be required to stay
home during the Rose Festival.
(c) Car dealers violating the law will pay fines
totaling 5 percent of the sticker price of any vehicles
not in compliance with this law. They must also attend
the diversion program and post signs on their properties
stating: "Not in compliance with public standards of
civility and courtesy."
This week's amateur legislator, Carl Del Balzo, wins
dinner for two at Sweetwater's Jam House.
Send your proposals to WW Law Contest via fax
([503] 243-1115), e-mail (jschrag@wweek.com)
or snail mail (822 SW 10th Ave., Portland OR 97205).
corrections
An item in last week's
Scoreboard
credited a Navy destroyer with delivering the final blow
to the
New Carissa. In fact, the Mark 48 torpedo
that sank the cursed freighter was deployed from the
USS
Bremerton, an attack submarine.
Also, in this week's Play story on surfing ("Point
Guards," page 68), we give an incorrect Internet
address for the Oregon Surf Page. The correct URL is:
www.teleport.com/~forwejo/.
WW regrets the errors.
