Today's Political News from Oregon Watchdog.com

TriMet:  Transit patrols work

February 4 − Despite a recent rash of high-profile assaults involving MAX riders, bus drivers and passengers, crime reported on TriMet’s MAX lines is down dramatically – even with a growing transit system – according to statistics provided by the region’s mass transit agency. Back in 2005, 780 crimes were reported along the MAX system, dropping to a low of 413 crime reports in 2009. And that’s the same year the system grew with the additions of WES commuter rail and the Green Line, bringing the number of MAX and rail stations from 64 to 89, said Mary Fetsch, TriMet spokeswoman. Crime reports did increase to 471 the next year in 2010. But that 14 percent increase is much lower than the 39 percent increase in the number of MAX and rail stations added to the system. Residents along the MAX Blue Line, which runs from Hillsboro through Gresham, have historically blamed local crime on the light-rail line. They say the trains give criminals a quick means of escape and an easy way to swoop into other cities, commit crimes and make a clean get-away.  Read more...

Federal money allocated for eastern Oregon forest projects, to create more than 200 jobs

February 4 − Malheur Lumber Co. in John Day has come close to going under. Despite being perched on the edge of the Malheur National Forest, timber sale reductions have made it hard for the mill to operate on a steady basis. "We've had some close calls the last few years," timber manager Mike Billman says. "It's been tough." That's why announcement Thursday of a $48.4 million allocation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was particularly welcome in the eastern Oregon community. "Awesome," as Billman describes it. The department, which includes the Forest Service, will provide money to two projects on the Malheur and Fremont-Winema national forests. The funding will help restore more than 422,000 acres of "dry side" forests and will retain or create more than 242 over 10 years.  Read more...

In Southeast Portland, a dispute between Warner Pacific College and its neighbors has faded

February 4 − On a Saturday evening last August, hundreds of people gathered on the lawn in front of the AF Gray building at Warner Pacific College in Southeast Portland. Bands played, the popcorn was free and when it got dark, the family-friendly movie “How to Train Your Dragon” was shown on a big screen. Warner Pacific had worked with the Mount Tabor and South Tabor neighborhood associations, Friends of Mt.Tabor Park and Portland Parks & Recreation to bring the movie to its campus. It was a conciliatory offer in a neighborhood relationship that has been marked in recent years by anger, suspicion and accusations of dishonesty. “I think we all saw that as a real positive gesture,” said John Laursen, a member of the neighborhood association board. The college has also loaned neighbors the use of its parking lot and meeting rooms. Kevin Bryant, Warner Pacific’s vice president for institutional advancement and external relations, attends the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association’s monthly meetings. And the college is helping Franklin High School raise money to replace its track.  Read more...

New, larger Safeway store coming to Southwest Barbur Boulevard in Portland

February 4 − The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the '50s, the Safeway store at Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Capitol Hill Road fronted directly onto the sidewalk. It was later demolished to make way for the current store, which is set back behind a large parking lot. This summer, the 21,665-square-foot store will be demolished and replaced by a 62,925-square-foot structure close to the sidewalk. The current store sits on a relatively small piece of land and to make the expansion possible, Safeway bought two adjacent residential properties. In late January, the city council granted Safeway’s request to change the zoning of these lots from residential to commercial, allowing the construction project to go ahead.  Read more...

Debris from Japan tsunami headed to West Coast, the only question is when?

February 3 − If anyone knows tsunami debris, it would be the folks at the Port of Brookings Harbor. So far, they've cleaned up about four pickup loads of local rubble generated from the tsunami that destroyed their harbor last March, said Port Director Ted Fitzgerald. And there's still at least another truckload worth to be hauled away. Now, they're wondering how much more to expect from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated eastern Japan last year. "We're waiting to learn what we can," Fitzgerald said. "If there is a forecast I am glad to hear it. I don't know if anyone is even keeping track of where it is." There is. And they are. But after that, the details get a little murky. "No one knows when and where and how much of it will arrive, or whether it will arrive or not," said Tomoko Dodo, senior consul with the Japanese Consulate in Seattle. "The Japanese government has set up an interagency task force involving all the relevant ministries, and it is now conducting research about the amount of debris that washed out and may be floating in the ocean."   Read more...

No Doritos for the seagulls if new Parks Department rules approved

February 3 − Oregonians who share bits of their sandwiches with the gulls along the Oregon coast would be rule breakers under ideas the state Department of Parks and Recreation is considering. New rules would prohibit feeding wildlife to protect animals from food that's bad for them or makes them dependent and from hazards such as getting hit in parking lots. The Daily Astorian reports the idea is among several the department has held hearings about. The commission overseeing the agency is expected to consider the rules in April.  Read more...

Oregon students show startling rate of absenteeism

February 3 − Nearly 1 in 4 Oregon students are chronically absent from school, with 130,000 missing at least 10 percent of school days during 2009-10, jeopardizing their odds of learning to read or graduating from high school. Those findings, in a study commissioned by the national school attendance advocacy group Attendance Works, were released Thursday to call attention to the problem and motivate schools to do more to identify and help students who miss a lot of school. It's not just high schoolers who are truant, the study found. Some of the highest rates of chronic absenteeism were found among kindergartners and first-graders. Most of those students, particularly those from low-income families, will suffer lifelong effects from missing so much school, even if they attend school regularly in later grades, said Hedy Chang, Attendance Works' director. The study, performed by the economic research firm ECONorthwest, suggests that Oregon kindergartners and first-graders may be significantly more likely to miss a lot of school than those in other states.   Read more...