Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 Ah, November. The leaves are turning red, the air is clear and crisp, and the new phone books--new phone books!--are once again landing on our porches with a hefty, tripartite thud. But while Portlanders lick their index fingers in reverent celebration, our brethren in Washington County are wailing and gnashing their teeth--or at least they will be come the first snow day, once they realize that their schools have vanished from this year's Qwest Dex Blue Pages. That's right. Qwest Dex, publisher of the phone book and this week's Rogue, has banished all the numbers for the Banks, Beaverton, Forest Grove and Hillsboro school districts--more than 85 schools serving over 50,000 students--to the business section of the White Pages this year, while eastside districts enjoy their accustomed listing in the Blue Pages. "It's true, we're not listed in there," says Dan McCue, communications specialist for the 45-school, 33,300-student Beaverton district, which is now sandwiched between Beaverton Sanitary Service and Beaverton School of Beauty. "We've talked to Qwest, and there's nothing they can do about it." "It will complicate things, no doubt," says Steve Callaway of the 31-school Hillsboro school district, which serves 18,000 kids and is now rubbing elbows with Hillsboro RV Supply and the Hillsboro Senior Center. At first, Qwest Dex spokeswoman Danielle Jimenez characterized the change as a "new format." But later she conceded that the change was not deliberate but the result of a data-processing error. "We've taken every step to ensure that this will not happen in the future," she says. "One mistake is one too many." Jimenez vowed that the missing school districts will be reunited with the Blue Pages in the community pages issued in the spring. In the meantime, there's not much Qwest Dex can do to rectify the error, except to spread the word through "the media." Funny, that's exactly what we were thinking down here at Rogue of the Week.