Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 10

Statesman Journal PAGE i i is it 1 EDITOR: KATHY SHELDON 399-6801 TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1998 Commission and US West had agreed in principle on the timetable and penalties in a meeting Dec. 31. The phone company reported last week that it had met the first benchmark. The utility reported 445 overdue orders for new service last month, 54 below the target and 39 percent fewer than in November. US West also kept the number of orders more than 30 days overdue to 113, 37 below the target.

"Faced with significant fines, US West has accomplished more in one month than it accomplished in a year," said Ron Eachus, PUC chairman. "If verified, we're very pleased for the progress, but US West isn't out of the woods yet. They have a lot of service quality problems, and we're watching carefully to make sure the company isn't improving on held orders at the expense of other areas." The commission can terminate the agreement if US West's level of service in resolving consumer trouble reports within 48 hours drops below 90 percent. Ninety percent is US West's current level of performance. The PUC expects US West to move toward the state standard of 95 percent.

As recently as November, US West had nearly five times the number of held orders allowed by commission rules. The goal of the agreement is to bring the company's held orders in line with commission rules by Sept. 30, 1999, and bring critical held orders, those over 30 days, down to an acceptable level. A miss by more than 20 percent could cost the phone company $900,000 a quarter. The Associated Press State regulators Monday formalized an agreement that sets benchmarks for US West service improvements and threatens fines of up to $900,000 per quarter if the targets are missed by more than 20 percent.

The Oregon Public Utility Cqv. John TODAY 10 a.m.: Meeting with community leaders at Mulnomah County Library in Portland. 11:15 a.m.: Visit to rjepartment of Environmental Quality. 12; 15 p.m.: Speech to Hispanic Champber of Commerce, EJenson Hotel, Portland. 1 :30 p.m.: Meeting with Hispanic middle and high school students at Dairy Queen in Portland.

2 p.m.: Meeting with teachers, counselors and principals to discuss challenges facing Hispanic youth, Harold Oliver Intermediate School, Portland. 2:30 p.m.: Meeting with Hispanic parents in Portland. 3:30 p.m.: Meeting with local school leaders at Whrtaker Middle School in Portland. WEDNESDAY 8 a.m.: Cabinet meeting. DECEMBER CEACli'JE Tank cleanup rules threaten gas supply throughout state Police mistake air tool for gun, shoot suspect PORTLAND A man brandishing what turned out to be an air chisel tool was critically wounded by police gunfire Monday night.

Officers said they thought the tool was a chrome- or silver-plated handgun. Police had responded to a report of a domestic dispute bout 7:20 p.m. A woman at an apartment complex in southeast Portland told police her ex-boyfriend, against whom she has a restraining order, had threatened her, waving a silver or chrome gun in her face, police Lt. Cliff Madison said. The man had left by the time police arrived, but two officers caught up with him a block away, Madison said.

They ordered him to stop, but he refused. The man was in critical condition Monday night at OHSU Hospital, Madison said. His name was not released. BODIES IN DRAIN VICTIMS OF HOMICIDE PORTLAND Two men whose decomposed bodies were found in a drain pipe along the Columbia Slough were victims of homicide, a deputy state medical examiner ruled Monday. One was shot in the head; the other died of "homicidal violence of an undetermined type," said Dr.

Karen Gunsen, a deputy state medical examiner who did autopsies Monday morning. The cause of the second man's death could not be determined because the body was headless. COMPANY PROPOSES ON-SITE SCHOOL BEAVERTON The president of Sequent Computer Systems Inc. wants to open an on-site elementary school for employees' children, with the Beaverton School District providing teachers, curriculum and materials. If the idea proposed by Casey Powell becomes reality, it could be the first such business-public education partnership in the Northwest.

The Beaverton School Board plans to discuss the idea at its March meeting. District officials already have begun studying the possibility of operating a satellite school on the Sequent campus. A decision on whether to proceed is at least months away. A state replacement deadline is likely to force closure of many small rural stations. The Associated Press For Dan Summers, the prospect of environmental cleanup costs forcing the shutdown of the only gasoline station in his rural hometown means more than just a half-hour round trip for a fill-up.

"There's too much government regulation in just about every aspect of our lives," said Summers, an excavation contractor in the southwestern Oregon community of Holland. Summers is not the only motorist who could be running on empty. The Oregon Gasoline Dealers Association estimates that up to half the state's 1,500 stations many of them in rural areas could close this year because they can't afford to meet federal regulations requiring them to replace underground tanks. "We think virtually every small, mom-and-pop station will end up shutting down rather than replacing tanks," said Mike Sherlock, executive director of the association. Federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations adopted in 1988 gave station operators 10 years to replace their tanks.

The aim is to end soil and groundwater contamination from leaky tanks. The deadline is Dec. 22. George McElroy, owner of the Holland Store, said there isn't much he can do to keep his gaso ill i The Associated Press LOOKING FOR LEAKS: John Grimes checks the top of one of several double-walled gas tanks that were recently installed at a Texaco station in Portland. The new tanks are designed to contain surface spills.

itol activities TODAY 8 a.m.: Administrative rules hearing, Room 137. 8:30 a.m.: Construction Contractors Board meeting, HR E. 9 a.m.: Interim Senate Committee on Trade Econoomic Development, HR F. 10 a.m.: Campaign Finance Reform meeting, Room 257. 1 p.m.: Private Activity Bond Committee, HR D.

1:30 p.m.: Senate Subcommittee on Business and Labor, House Workers Comp Task Force, joint meeting, HR F. 4 p.m.: Legislative Council on Oregon Quality Education meeting, HR C. WEDNESDAY 8 a.m.: Financial Corporate SecAdministrative Rules Hearing, Room 137. 8:30 a.m.: Landscape Contractors Board, HR E. 9 a.m.: Interim House Committee on Trade and Economic Development, HR B.

9 a.m.: Public Employees Benefits Board meeting, Room 343. 10:45 a.m.: Salem Area Catholic School rally, front steps. 1:30 p.m.: Joint Interim Legislative Committee on Information Management Technology, HR F. MEMEZZ3 CONFERENCE ON AGING SCHEDULED IN EUGENE The 1998 Governor's Conference on Aging will be Feb. 8-10 at the Eugene Conference Center.

I Registra-s tion dead- line is Fri- I day, and the fee is n2- $80. 1 Financial assistance is available to low-income students and senior citizens. Call (800) 282-8096. Speakers and participants include Fernando Torres-Gil, Elizabeth Kutza and Norma Paulus. WESTLUND WILL JOIN EMERGENCY BOARD House Speaker Lynn Lund-quist announced that Rep.

Ben Westlund, R-Bend, has been appointed to the Legislative Emergency Board. Westlund replaces former state Rep. Bob Repine who resigned to become director of the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department. CANDIDATES CONSIDER LEGISLATIVE RACES Two more candidates have moved ahead with plans to run for office this year. Michael R.

Cloonan of Lebanon has filed for representative in the 4th District. He is a Republican. Richard S. Pope of Portland has filed a prospective petition for senator. He is an independent.

The Statesman Journal welcomes Information from State ot Oregon agencies for its agenda and personnel Items. Photos accompanying personnel Items will be used as space permits and will not be returned. Information should be brought to the newspaper at 280 Church St. N.E. or mailed to the Statesman Journal at P.O.

Box 13009, Salem, Ore. 97309 or faxed to 399-6706. RETAILERS FACE line business from folding at the end of this year. The state has helped 81 stations pay for tank replacement costs, with $6.4 million in grants, and more aid may be on the way. The state Environmental Quality Department, which administers the tank cleanup program, wants to spend another $2 million, to help 20 to 25 stations.

The Legislative Emergency Board, which handles budget matters between legislative sessions, is to consider the request in April. The plan would pay 75 percent of costs, to a maximum of $85,000 per station. In the Eastern Oregon community of Unity, population 105, there's just one gas station and the next station is about 35 miles away. Larry Stratton, owner of Strat-ton's Store in Unity, said small operators are in a quandary when they look for tank replacement financing. "The bank wouldn't loan because the tanks are in the ground, and they'd be responsible for the cleanup," Stratton said.

Mike Kortenhof, tank program manager for the DEQ, said the plan is aimed at keeping fuel available in rural areas. A station has to be at least 5 miles from its nearest competitor to qualify for aid. A station that also includes a store or post office, for example, gets higher priority for state help. The department estimates as many as 100 stations may be eligible for aid. Donna Ramsay, owner of the Antelope Store and Cafe in Ante- DAVID STEVES CAPITAL WATCH paigns and tighten the rules for initiative petition circulators all fine and good, but not the stuff that usually gets unions worked up.

The passage in the measure that's sure to be nearest and dearest to the unions' hearts is one that says any conflicting campaign-finance measure on the November ballot would be void if this one gets more votes. I asked one of the petitioners if the real purpose of the measure is to disqualify a separate Size-more-backed initiative that would cripple the unions' fund-raising machinery by banning them from collecting campaign money from their members through automatic payroll deductions. "That's kind of the idea," says Clackamas County teacher Virginia Markell, a member of the HOURS: II M-F I) SAT. Salti 583-7545 Sitverton I73-29SS Kalw 585-7551 Dallas 82H155 Woodburn 981-1875 iMcasttr 3(3-9214 Sublimity 768-344S I lope, said community residents will face 70-mile or more drives for gas if she has to close. "We're 35 miles from everywhere," she said.

Ramsay said she is waiting to Unions counter Sizemore measures with their own 1 SLIDE TRAPS HIKERS; GROUP RESCUES THEM BONNEVILLE Ten hik-lers were trapped when a landslide covered 300 feet of the popular Eagle Creek Trail about a half-mile from the trailhead at Eagle Creek Hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge. No one was injured, but Hood River County Sheriff Joseph Wampler shuddered Monday when describing the slide, which struck Sunday night. The slide stretched 700 feet from top to bottom. Four people clambered out over the downed trees, mud and rocks tangled in the slide. But authorities enlisted the Crag Rats, a Hood River-based mountain rescue group, to rescue the remaining hikers.

The Crag Rats, themselves wearing helmets, put protective helmets on the hikers and rigged safety lines so they could get out, the sheriff said. The trail was closed and won't reopen until the ground dries out enough for it to be cleared and rebuilt, said Stan ilinatsu, recreation program manager for the U.S. Forest Service office in Hood River. Statesman Journal news services Public employee and teacher unions must have decided that the best defense is a good offense. That would explain the latest step in their strategy to fight off a pair of Bill Sizemore-backed ballot measures: Push measures of their own that would cut the heart out of Sizemore's.

Of course, that's not the way one of the union strategists behind this push puts it. "I would call it offering alternatives to the voters," said Tim Nesbitt, who works for the umbrella organization that includes the Oregon Public Employees Union. Both union-backed measures have a long way to go; they were just filed last week and have yet to be approved for petitioners to circulate. But they seem to have their main target, Sizemore, concerned. "It sounds like they are playing a new game.

They're trying to trick the voters," said Size-more, a limited-government advocate and likely Republican candidate for governor. The "Fair and Open Elections Act" would step up disclosure requirements for political cam- Oregon Education Association teachers union, which is backing the measure, along with several other public employee unions. The other union-backed measure goes after Sizemore's proposed initiative requiring a two-thirds supermajority for any voter-passed tax and fee increases. The unions' alternative: an initiative that would require a two-thirds supermajority for any ballot measure that requires a supermajority. "This is not to confuse voters, but to give them reasonable alternatives," said Nesbitt, executive director of the Oregon State Council of Service Employees.

Maybe not, but combined with all the Sizemore initiatives headed for the ballot, this Sizemore vs. the unions war being waged in the initiative process could leave voters' heads spinning come November. Opts out of pension If state Rep. Patti Milne succeeds in her bid for Marion County commissioner, it won't be nearly as lucrative a move as I indicated in a column last Tues see if state funds become available. But she said there's another hitch, because station owners also are required by the federal rules to buy $1 million in liability insurance.

day. The Woodburn Republican is one of several term-limited lawmakers looking to keep their public-service careers alive and who could jack up their pension benefits in the process. It turns out that for Milne, at least, that won't be the case. That's because she chose not to be in the Public Employees Retirement System. "This was a very conscious decision on my part not to be involved in it, so I don't want the world thinking I am," she said after calling to set me straight.

"I didn't want to vote on anything that I might benefit from. It's a conflict of interest, and I just want to keep my life as simple as possible." This is a decision that comes with quite a price. Had she put in four years at the full Marion County commissioner salary, then collected a pension for 20 years, she stood to receive about $204,000. David Steves can be reached by phone at 399-6615, by fax at 399-6663 or by e-mail at dstevessalem.gannett.com. Business Help er 588-0467 Ext.

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