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Head of the Class
Despite efforts to keep a tight lid on the names of potential applicants for the Portland Public Schools interim superintendent position, names keep bubbling out. The top prospect is Robert Ridgley, the retiring CEO of Northwest Natural Gas. As a former president of the school board, Ridgley has both familiarity with Portland's schools and business savvy--qualities board members have said they are looking for in a transitional leader. School board member Ron Saxton says he asked Ridgley to consider the post but didn't think he'd apply. WW has also heard that Mayor Vera Katz is hoping Ridgley takes the post. On Monday, however, the gas exec told WW that he's definitely not a candidate. Other names in the rumor mill include Beaverton Schools boss Yvonne Katz, state Department of Economic Development director Bill Scott; former state Rep. Delna Jones, Portland businessman Vern Ryles and even Secretary of State Phil Keisling. "Frankly, I've heard everything from a couple of principals to Neil Goldschmidt," says school board member Donna Jordan. Saxton, who heads the search committee, says the board has been talking to people but won't have a firm list of candidates for another week or two. At this point, he adds, "There are no eager candidates for this job." Saxton says the search committee is not limiting its search to people with education backgrounds, although other applicants may have some difficulty getting licensed by the state Teachers Standards and Practices Commission. Typically, when a new superintendent has experience in school administration, TSPC grants a superintendent's license after reviewing that person's credentials. If the new superintendent has less than five years experience, he or she may have to take a superintendent's test. But there is a loophole for non-academics: If the candidate has strong skills and experience outside of education, TSPC may grant a "license of accomplishment" as a substitute. Former Portland Superintendent Matthew Prophet, a retired Army general, was given such a license. It's not automatic that someone would be approved, warns Saxton: "We take on some risk if we decide on someone who doesn't make it." --EM |
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Follow-up:
Turning the Cheek Not even the pleas of a Catholic bishop could save Stephen Lamont Johnson from a fate that had already been foretold. After being convicted Oct. 2 of Robbery II by county jurors ("Promise Keeper," WW, Oct. 8, 1997), Johnson was sent to the penitentiary for 70 months under Measure 11, Oregon's mandatory minimum sentencing law. It turns out the robbery wasn't Johnson's first brush with the law. Although it didn't come out at trial, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office now says Johnson was previously charged on three occasions with robbery, twice in 1992 and once in 1993. On one occasion, he robbed a clerk at knifepoint, although no one was hurt. Does this background mean that Johnson deserves nearly six years in prison? Bishop Kenneth Steiner, who first met Johnson this summer, apparently didn't think so. According to court documents, in July, Steiner spotted the convicted robber walking down the street wearing Steiner's coat. This struck him as odd, because he hadn't seen his coat since June 21, when it had been stolen from his car along with a ring and a set of golf clubs. Steiner and Johnson struck up a conversation in which Johnson reportedly claimed he bought the coat for $20. Steiner offered Johnson $20 to get his coat back, and Johnson agreed to the exchange. Johnson must have made a good impression. On Thursday, Steiner made a trip to the courthouse to plead for leniency at the sentencing hearing. Measure 11, however, yields to neither church nor state. --MO |
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Follow-up:
SMACK IS BACK
Much like the illicit trade it tracks, the "Heroin in Portland" Web site disappeared from cyberspace last week, only to pop up at a different address, with a slightly different look. Though much of the site's anti-heroin street-talking soapbox is the same, the revisions demonstrate an awareness of libel laws. The old version included acerbic commentary, accusing owners of several residential hotels of turning a blind eye to the drug problem ("Heroin.com," News Buzz, WW, Oct. 1, 1997). In its place are simple lists of addresses of reported drug-dealing haunts. The new site also has a couple of additions. A mild disclaimer at the top of the page implies an awareness of its "objectionable" material. The site revamped its critiques of media coverage of drug issues. A recent Willamette Week cover story ("Soft on Drugs," WW, Oct. 1, 1997), for example, was panned: "Front page of a Portland shopper, Willamette Week, 'Soft on Drugs.' Not about drugs but some sort of comment on the criminal justice system. Not worth reading." The new site can be found at http://www.teleport.com/~aeneas/heroin.shtml. --RR |
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Killer AIR Bags
Most readers have probably heard about Garrick Scott-Case, the 7-year-old Chiloquin boy who died when his neck snapped under the force of an air bag that activated during a minor accident last week. But did the air bag really kill him? No, says Pamela Frankel, trauma coordinator at Oregon Health Sciences University hospital. "It wasn't the air bag," she says. "It was the fact that the child wasn't wearing a seat belt." Frankel and other trauma experts say air bags shouldn't be blamed for the boy's death. Frankel says The Oregonian headline following the crash--"Boy Killed by Air Bag the First in Oregon"--was misleading. Donald Trunkey, head of surgery at OHSU, also blasted the paper last week on KXL 750 AM. Trunkey said The Big O's story buried the fact that the boy wasn't belted; he told KXL that the paper's claim that the air bag was at fault was innacurate: "It's absolutely inappropriate to blame the air bag when it's not used in a proper way." Frankel and Trunkey say misleading headlines give air bags a bad rap. When you look at national statistics, they say, it's clear that seat belts--or the lack of them--are the real problem, particularly with kids. Air bags have deployed 1.5 million times since 1990, according to federal statistics. In 45 instances, children were killed. Of those, 33 were children ages 1 to 9, only five of whom wore some kind of seat restraint at the time of the crash. To Frankel, the message is clear: Always buckle up and never put a child in the front seat of the car. "Air bags work, and they work very, very well when they're used with a seat belt," says Frankel. "The air bag was never meant to be used alone." --EM
20-year-old Pests
Zoologist Theo Colborn has a theory. Forget dams, overfishing and cows. The answer to the Northwest's declining salmon fisheries may come down to the birds and the bees. Colborn suspects that toxic and synthetic chemicals found in river sediments may be ruining the fish's ability to reproduce. Colborn hit town last weekend to mark the 20th birthday of NCAP, the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. Colborn was a good match for the event. Her recent book, Our Stolen Future, supports what NCAP has been saying for years: Pesticides aren't healthy for humans, wildlife or the environment. Specifically, Colborn says, many pesticides contain chemicals that mimic hormones. Called endocrine disrupters, they fit into the receptor cells meant for hormones and seem to change the behavior, sexuality and reproductive ability of animals ranging from polar bears to humans. In the Northwest, scientists have noticed reduced testes and penis bones in river otters living in the Columbia River. "It's everywhere," says Colborn. "You just can't get away from this." Most environmentalists agree that endocrine disruption might be a factor in the decline of some fisheries--especially where salmon spawn in polluted rivers. But, they say, chemicals are only one factor. The issue of pesticides is near and dear to NCAP's heart. The Eugene group formed 20 years ago to oppose the Forest Service's practice of spraying Oregon timber stands with two herbicides found in Agent Orange and wound up winning a 1984 widespread ban on herbicide use on all federal forests in Oregon or Washington. NCAP has since focused on pesticide use in homes, schools and businesses, winning a 1996 federal court ruling requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reveal the identity of "inert" toxic ingredients in pesticide products. --EM |
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Dog Fight
For Portland Police Bureau public information officer Lt. Cliff Madison, it was the quote that would live in infamy: "A dog's no big deal." After Oregonian columnist Steve Duin used Madison's quote in a story about the off-duty Portland police officer who last month shot and killed George, the yellow lab, Madison and the bureau were flooded with hate mail and angry phone calls. "We've had more calls on that dog incident than we've had on any other issues I can recall," says police spokesman Officer Henry Groepper. Last week, animal activists even sent out invitations to a memorial service for George with Madison's quote juxtaposed against pro-animal lines from such revered figures as Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln. Problem is, Madison claims he didn't say anything of the sort. According to Madison, when Duin was sniffing around and asking questions about the dog-shooting incident, Madison was in his police car and didn't immediately have the answers Duin needed. Trying to be helpful, Madison said he would have no problem calling back with the information. "It's no big deal," Madison says he told Duin. That innocent line is something Madison frequently says to reporters. Madison says Duin tweaked it on the printed page to imply that the bureau harbors a callous attitude towards animals. Police Chief Charles Moose has backed Madison during the tiff, putting Duin in the doghouse among cops. Duin, meanwhile, stands by the quote. "I was quoting him exactly," Duin told WW. "He said specifically, 'A dog is no big deal.'" Duin also says he called Madison before his column was published to talk further about the quote and Madison didn't cry foul. --MO |
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