Stars Align for Benson Wellness
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Married to the stage, each other Ty and Cassandra Boice plan for life after Post5 Theatre — SEE LIFE, B10 PortlandTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPERTribune • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COMrib • PUBLISHEDu TUESDAY AND THURSDAY The U.S. Postal Questions remain about Post Offi ce land deal Service operates this retail post By STEVE LAW But Hales may have some con- lion more to build parks, sewers, offi ce in the The Tribune vincing to do with the other four water lines and roads and subsi- Pearl District Cost, affordable city commissioners, who all dize affordable housing. Then plus a regional Mayor Charlie Hales and raised tough questions about the the city would offer sites to de- mail distribution housing, use of Portland Development Com- plan at a recent work session. velopers to build 3,100 multifam- facility for mission leaders are gung ho The current plan is for the ily units — including 645 afford- Oregon and about a brewing city deal to PDC to pay $80 million to buy the able apartments — and office Southwest PDC funds at buy the sprawling U.S. Postal 14-acre Post Offi ce complex on space for up to 4,000 workers, in- Washington mail Service property in Northwest Northwest Hoyt Street and fund cluding a 400-foot-high office deliveries. Portland — even if it requires a new mail distribution center See POST OFFICE / Page 3 TRIBUNE PHOTO: heart of debate the city to take out a big loan. elsewhere, then at least $35 mil- JONATHAN HOUSE Republicans call 2015 Legislature a wasted session Meanwhile, lawmakers ap- Four speak at proved a requirement for paid sick leave and barred employers forum, outline hopes from asking about criminal his- for next session tory on job applications, al- though they still can raise the question during interviews and By PETER WONG conduct background checks. The Tribune “This past session was a tough one in terms of anti-business Republicans hope to turn sentiment,” says Rep. Bill Ken- some of the policy shortcom- nemer, R-Oregon City, who has ings they saw in the 2015 ses- spent seven years in the House sion to their political advan- and 10 in the Senate. tage when they compete with Davis says such measures will Democrats next year for con- have little effect on larger busi- trol of the Oregon Legislature. nesses with the staff to carry out Four Republican legislators, the new requirements, but who spoke at a forum sponsored “we’re adding on and piling on by the Tualatin Chamber of (small) employers.” Commerce and Wilsonville Area Democrats lead Republicans Chamber of in the Senate, 18-12, and in the Commerce, laid House, 35-25, their largest mar- out their criti- gins since 2009. Republicans will cisms of what aim at whittling those margins, if the Democratic not winning outright majorities, majorities did in the 2016 elections. and didn’t do. Kennemer was the top Repub- They also lican on the House Business and talked about Labor Committee, and Sen. Kim what’s ahead KENNEMER Thatcher of Keizer, whose dis- Benson Principal next year, in- trict reaches north into parts of Curtis Wilson cluding a re- Washington and Clackamas protested as a newed effort to counties, was on the Senate young Roosevelt STARS ALIGN FOR BENSON increase Ore- Workforce Committee — the High School gon’s minimum panels that originated many of student to wage and po- those bills. create the tential ballot Thatcher says, however, that state’s fi rst initiatives, small-business opposition school-based WELLNESS CENTER backed by helped Republicans modify or health center in unions, to raise turn back some of those bills. 1985. Now, as Convention to celebrate 30 years of personal and THATCHER “You made a big difference. principal, he School’s innovative corporate in- The employers were showing up gets to make school-based health centers in Oregon come taxes on higher earners. at the hearings,” she says. “Some way for one at health clinic will About 100 people attended at of them passed anyway, but I will centers in the state, certified under his own school. Oregon School-Based Health the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. tell you it could have been Alliance will celebrate the 30th year the Oregon Health Authority and While Oregon’s unemploy- worse.” TRIBUNE PHOTO: open in January since Roosevelt High School capable of everything a primary ment rate is dropping and the Lawmakers did not advance to JONATHAN HOUSE became the first in the state to care office can do — including labs By SHASTA KEARNS MOORE have a school-based health center. and diagnostic equipment. state’s tax-supported general a vote in either chamber an in- The Tribune OSBHA Community Affairs Otto says the clinics are mostly fund and lottery proceeds are crease in Oregon’s minimum Director Rafael Otto says the group run like small businesses, typically rising — a 13 percent increase in wage, which at $9.25 per hour is When school counselor Amy had been a loose network dating to at no cost to the school district. the current two-year budget — the second-highest statewide Henry fi rst arrived at Benson Poly- the 1990s, but officially formed as OSBHA’s annual conference will they say the state school fund rate in the nation. However, a technic High School two years ago, a nonprofit in 2006 under a slightly run Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, could have been even higher work group is considering House she was stunned to discover a lack different name. Oct. 9, at the Oregon Convention than it was. Speaker Tina of mental health services on site There are 72 school-based health Center. “I consider this Kotek’s proposal for a student population of about session a missed “This past to raise it in stag- 1,200, including the four alternative “How do I get one of those?” prove school attendance, reduce the opportunity,” says es to $13 for the programs housed there. It turns out, through a lot of hard need for parents to miss work, and Rep. John Davis of session was a 2016 session, “I got here and we had no mental work, partnerships and lucky breaks. improve medical outcomes for chil- Wilsonville. tough one in which starts in health services at all,” Henry says. In January, the 1,400-square-foot dren who are less likely to miss the The state school February. In fact, 30.8 percent of Benson stu- Benson Wellness Center will open to appointment. For Benson, which fund, which pays terms of anti- Lawmakers al- dents say they have suffered academ- offer medical, mental and behavioral draws its student body from across the lion’s share of business so put a two-year ically because of missing school for health services under the auspices of the Portland Public Schools district, school district oper- hold on cities and medical and mental health appoint- Oregon Health & Science University. the travel time associated with doc- ating costs, did in- sentiment.” counties from ments. Henry successfully lobbied for tor’s visits can be an even bigger bur- crease 10.9 percent — Rep. Bill Kennemer, passing their own Henry, the longtime Portland Pub- mental health services from Mult- den. from $6.7 billion to R-Oregon City measures requir- lic Schools employee, called the dis- nomah County beginning last year; it The Multnomah County Health De- just shy of $7.4 bil- ing employers to trict offi ce to fi nd out why Benson also will be housed in the new center, partment already employs 50 staff to lion. But Davis says that total in- post work schedules in advance. didn’t have any mental health staff. along with up to seven other health run 13 school-based health centers, cludes $220 million for all dis- A bill to do so statewide did not Administrators explained that it was care professionals, depending on de- nine of which are in high schools. Al- tricts to provide full-day kinder- advance in the session. because the magnet school didn’t mand. exandra Lowell, school-based health garten, which started this fall. Meanwhile, lawmakers passed have a school-based health center. With the convenience of a doctor’s program manager for the county, Davis says lawmakers also bills requested by Gov. Kate Looking back, Henry says her next offi ce at school, school-based health- could have done more for the question was probably rather naive. care advocates say the centers im- See CLINIC / Page 2 state’s seven universities. See FORUM / Page 3 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that re ects the QB CONCERNS stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR 516204.092915 NEW EXHIBIT NOW OPEN A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Tuesday, September 29, 2015 School City, county to divest Notes fossil fuel bonds School notes is a collection of in the country,” McKibben ex- education news around Portland. Local action joins plained that the purpose of the E-mail news tips to shasta@ worldwide campaign to fossil fuel divestment movement portlandtribune.com. is to “break the power” of the fos- divest of oil, coal, gas sil fuel industry. Big oil, coal and UP to build $30 million gas companies continue to building thanks to Dundon- By STEVE LAW thwart major policy changes The Tribune needed to avert dramatic climate Berchtold gift change, he said, such as taxing The University of Portland The Multnomah County carbon emissions. plans to build a new Dundon- Board of Commissioners vot- The city of Portland and Mult- Berchtold Institute for Moral ed last Thursday morning to nomah County, McKibben said, Formation and Applied Ethics bar county investments in fos- will now join the likes of Stan- after Board of Regents mem- sil fuels, hours before the ford University, CalPERS, the An- ber Amy Dundon-Berchtold Portland City Council agreed glican Church and hundreds of and her husband made a $15 TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE to put 200 major coal, oil and other universities, churches, pen- million donation to the North Benson High School counselor Amy Henry, in the site of the new Benson Wellness Center with Principal gas companies on the city’s Do sion funds and luminaries who Portland Catholic university.