Turtle powerr
Lady Viking all-stars
Reptiles invade Forest Grove Library with helping hand and — SSee A3
Two players from Forest Grove head to senior all-star series. — See SPORTS, B1
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 • MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON CCOUNTY SINCE 1886 • WWW.FGNEWSTIMES.COM • VOL. 128, NO. 24 • 5O CENTS
NEWS-TIMES FILE PHOTO: CHASE ALLGOOD
The 57 bus line connects Forest Grove to Beaverton. Last year another mother complained about being kicked off the bus.
Another crying mom complaint TriMet passengers claim same driver involved as last time By LAURA FRAZIER The News-Times Less than a year after TriMet was in the national spotlight because of a bus driver’s attitude toward a mother and her crying child, the agency is investigating another incident of a mother and crying children allegedly forced off the Line 57 bus late at night on June 7. Three passengers who were on the bus at the time say it is the same driver who was involved in the incident last year. In September, TriMet driver Claudeen Hendren served a 10day suspension after she berated a young Forest Grove mother about her crying child. The young mother got off the bus in Hillsboro and several riders left in protest about what they viewed as Hendren’s unprofessional behavior. Now TriMet is investigating the latest incident in Forest Grove that has striking similarities to the case last fall. In the new incident, a woman and her four children (ages 2, 6, 11 and 13) were told to leave the bus at about 11 p.m. after an argument about a fare with a Line 57 bus driver. The mother and her children were in tears during the incident. TriMet won’t disclose the name of the driver until its investigation is complete. And officials with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, which represents TriMet drivers, also
TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT
WOMEN HAVE COME A LONG WAY,
MAYBE? ■ A century after suffrage, politics still an ol’ boys’ club
ELLEN ROSENBLUM
STORY BY
STEVE LAW
See TRIMET / Page 11
Suzanne Bonamici (above) became the sixth woman ever elected to represent Oregon in Congress in January, on the centennial of women’s suffrage here. She joined six men in the state delegation in Washington, D.C.
I
n 2012, the centennial of women’s suffrage in Oregon, it’s still a case of two steps forward, one step back for women seeking elective office. Sometimes it’s one step forward, two steps back. Portland judge Ellen Rosenblum makes history June 29 when she’s sworn in as Oregon’s first woman attorney general. In January, voters in Oregon’s 1st Congressional District sent Suzanne Bonamici to Washington, D.C., where she joined the state’s otherwise all-male delegation representing the state in Congress. In the May primary, Nena Cook was the top vote-getter for an open Oregon Supreme Court seat. If she wins a November runoff, the state’s highest court will feature three women out of seven justices, the most ever. But women’s electoral gains are still spotty here, leaving women far behind men in political power. The same week that Rosenblum takes office, Susan Castillo — the first Latina elected to statewide office in Oregon
KATE BROWN
— will step down as state school superintendent. Portland mayoral candidate Eileen Brady tanked in the May primary, after amassing the largest campaign treasury and a commanding lead in the polls, leaving two men to battle for the job of mayor in Oregon’s largest city. In Forest Grove, three of seven members of the city council are women. But the Washington County Board of Commissioniors is made up of five men. So is the Cornelius City Council. In Salem, the state senate is likely to lose two of its nine women after the general election in November. Sen. — Laura Coyle, Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, is stepping down, and both executive director of Emerge candidates to succeed her are male. Sen. Chris Telfer, ROregon Bend, was defeated by Tim Knopp in last month’s GOP primary.
“We are seen as a bellwether for progressive issues, but this is one area where we don’t quite make it.”
See WOMEN / Page 12
School board ratifies union contracts Oregon grant
pushes electric delivery trucks
Forest Grove’s teachers, classified workers agree to pay freeze, calendar cuts to ink three-year labor agreements By NANCY TOWNSLEY The News-Times In the last four hours of his tenure with the Forest Grove School District, Dave Willard scored a big victory: he told the school board he’d brokered labor contract deals with both of the district’s major employee groups. “We are going to approve these two contracts before the current one is over,” said Willard, who retired Monday after 11 years with the district, most recently as assistant superintendent and human resources director. A one-year extension of a prior labor pact with the district’s 306 teachers and 200 classified employees was set to expire Saturday. But three months of negotiations
INSIDE
between the district and its unions — the Forest Grove Education Association and the local chapter of the Oregon School Employees Association — bore fruit during the last week of school in mid-June, when each group’s members voted in favor of the agreements. Board chair Alisa Hampton said she was “thrilled” at the resolutions, which come at a time when the district is once again cutting days from PHOTO BY CHASE ALLGOOD the calendar and positions from its Forest Grove School Board chair Alisa Hampton and vice-chair Fred Marble voted employee rolls in order to balance a with their colleagues Monday to ratify new labor contracts with the district’s $49.1 million budget in 2012-13. “I think it’s monumental that you two employee unions. are bringing this to us tonight,” Hampton said to Willard, moments come for us.” half-percent cost of living raise is Teachers and classified workers built into the second year. before the board voted unanimously to ratify the agreements. “With accepted six unpaid furlough days Some teachers will get a partial so much in the news about employ- and a pay freeze in the first year of See CONTRACTS / Page 5 ee strikes, this is a fantastic out- their new, three-year contracts. A
Commentary ................... A4 Education........................ A5 Calendar ......................... A6
A&E ................................. A7 Obituaries ..................... A10 Home & Garden .............. A8
Sports ............................. B1 Classifieds ...................... B4 Weather .......................... A6
■ Program
announced at electric vehicle conference
By JIM REDDEN Pamplin Media Group Oregon government wants trucking companies to replace their aging diesel-powered vehicles with clean running electric ones — even though they can initially cost a lot more. State officials argue that electric-powered trucks actually cost less in the long run because they do not require diesel fuel and have lower maintenance costs. They are also better for the environment because they do not emit any pollution, including greenhouse gases. To help offset the higher pur-
CANVASSING A RANGE OF STYLES Two friends exhibit divergent visual art at Valley Art in July. — A7
See TRUCK / Page 13