New coach, new plan Bruce Barnum takes over at Portland State — SEE SPORTS, B12 PortlandTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY TribunePAPER • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY Underdog activist makes bid for PPS school board seat and volunteer of 15 years, an- board, as well as the policy and has not declared whether he’ll New blood may nounced to the Tribune this budget decisions the board run for re-election, and did not week that he’s running for the makes for the next four years. return an email from the Tribune change voting bloc, Portland School Board in May. All board members are volun- by press time. leadership culture His candidacy — plus up to teers and represent the geo- Either way, Rosen says he has three potentially new board graphic zone in which they live. a strong base of supporters from members in other races — has Rosen, 54, whose children his advocacy work over the years, By JENNIFER ANDERSON the potential to bring a major graduated from and attend Cleve- and has been talking with people The Tribune power shift to the seven-member land High School, is running for during the past six weeks to hear board. the Zone 7 position in Southeast about what they expect from TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE Mike Rosen, a Portland Pub- A new dynamic could signifi - Portland. Longtime schools activist Mike Rosen will run for the Portland School lic Schools parent, watchdog cantly alter the culture of the The incumbent, Greg Belisle, See ROSEN / Page 2 Board in May, hoping to unseat incumbent Greg Belisle. City, others burn with ideas to raise cash for fi re bureau sented a laundry list of money- Medical services raising ideas last week to the among offers, but none City Council, including plans to transport 9-1-1 callers to clinics save 26 fi refi ghter jobs instead of hospital ERs, and ask- ing paramedics to visit frail se- niors in their homes or even se- By STEVE LAW nior care facilities. The Tribune One of the most intriguing ideas was to beef up fi re bureau Doctors won’t do house paramedic staffi ng so that Amer- calls, but what about a fi re- ican Medical Response could fi ghter trained as a paramed- trim its staffi ng levels. The am- ic? bulance company has talked That’s one of many innovative about sharing $1 million a year of ideas being fl oated at City Hall as its resulting savings with the fi re the Portland Fire & Rescue bu- bureau. reau drums up ways to earn Commissioner Dan Saltzman, money from its emergency med- who oversees the bureau, said ical services. the city could spend $150,000 a “I can’t believe that in five year to get back $1 million a year years the Portland fi re bureau from AMR, and he seemed eager will be the only uncompensated to do that deal as soon as possi- player in the medical system,” ble. Mayor Charlie Hales said at a Portland City Council work ses- Not so fast TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ sion last week on money-raising But the AMR deal, as with Traditional Christmas displays and music attract thousands of people to The Grotto’s Festival of Lights. ideas for the bureau. other ideas fl oated by Janssens, Hales was referring could take several years to city fi refi ghters who to put into practice. In ferry many residents to The pilot some cases, Janssens hospital emergency said, the bureau must rooms after they call test that’s use pilot tests to demon- Survey challenges 9-1-1; the city gets noth- the most strate “proof of con- ing for the service while far along cept,” showing that its Oregon’s reputation private ambulances innovative practices will charge more than $900. involves save money for hospi- as ‘unchurched’ Hales and others see diverting tals, medical insurers new possibilities for 9-1-1 callers and the federal Medi- RELIGIOUS YES, Portland Fire & Rescue care system. Then, it to earn money for its from costly must convince those en- emergency medical ser- ERs to visit tities to share some of vices as the fast-evolv- the savings with the fi re ing health care system their bureau. seeks ways to cut costs doctor or Thus, any savings and reduce needless may come too late to hospital stays. There’s an urgent- spare the 26 fi refi ghters also a greater urgency care clinic whose jobs are on the for the fire bureau to line. raise money now, be- instead. “There’s no low-hang- CHURCHGOERS NO cause it faces the loss of ing, quick-to-pick fruit,” By JIM REDDEN churched state in the nation. 26 fi refi ghters “laid off” by Hales said Randy Lauer, the Oregon The Tribune Although “unchurched” might in the 2013-14 budget. Their jobs general manager for American be an exaggeration, a 2013 survey were spared when the city land- Medical Response. Overtly religious signs of by the Barna Research Group ed a two-year, $4.5 million federal Other fi re bureaus across the the holiday season are every- found Portland has the second- grant, but the money dries up nation have been experimenting where this time of year. highest percentage of adults who The number of next December, so Hales must with new roles for fi refi ghters, They include public displays of have not been to a worship cere- those plug some money into his next particularly their EMS pro- Nativity scenes and Hanukkah mony in the past six months — 43 budget to save those positions. worshipping at See FIRE / Page 3 menorahs, performances of percent compared to the 44 per- the First Fire Chief Erin Janssens pre- Handel’s Messiah and gospel mu- cent in San Francisco. Congregational sic, and an exhibit of the painting But, the Catholic shrine in Church in “Holy Family with Saint Mary Northeast Portland known as downtown Magdalen” by El Greco at the The Grotto annually hosts what Portland has Portland Art Museum. is thought to be the largest declined over the The amount of such faith- Christmas choral festival in the based imagery and events runs world. The Festival of Lights, years, but most counter to Oregon’s national which runs from the Friday after Oregonians reputation as the most un- Thanksgiving to Dec. 30, attracts consider thousands of people every night. themselves Five indoor concerts are sched- religious or uled each evening in the 600-seat spiritual. chapel, which is internationally TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO known for its cathedral quality acoustics. The Grotto Carolers are touched by that,” Topper portant in their daily lives. also perform traditional favorite says. Dr. Will Deming, a theology Christmas carols throughout the The popularity of the Festival professor at University of Port- evening. of Lights illustrates some fi nd- land, says the meanings of the Father Jack Topper, the former ings in a comprehensive survey terms religion and spirituality director and now rector at the conducted by Portland-based have changed in recent years. Grotto, believes the popularity is DHM Research. “Religion used to mean main- related to the purity of the Christ- Although many Oregonians stream institutional religions, mas message. are suspicious of religion, most mostly Christianity, and spiritual- “No one is preaching or trying nevertheless consider them- ity was thought to be a personal to convert anyone. It’s all about selves religious or spiritual. Four trait,” sayd Deming, who has the meaning of Christmas, which in 10 identify themselves as mod- taught at the North Portland uni- is peace and joy on Earth. In to- erately religious, while two in 10 versity for 22 years. “But now TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO American Medical Response would shrink its payroll — and share some day’s work, with all the violence, identify themselves as very reli- religion has taken on a social that means something to a lot of gious. And nearly half of all Ore- of the savings with the Portland fi re bureau — under one proposal See RELIGION / Page 2 people. And many of our visitors gonians feel religion is very im- announced last week. “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the FEAST ON THIS stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE LIFE, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, December 18, 2014 Religion: Prejudic e doesn’t reign in O regon ■ happen anytime soon. Only 18 survey shows most religious Or- Independents (48 percent). Re- ple who do not believe in God or a those people how much their be- From page 1 percent believe religion and spiri- egonians belong to mainstream publicans are five times more higher power. Seventy-seven per- liefs infl uence their views on 16 tuality will become more impor- religions. According to the De- likely than Democrats to say they cent believe atheists can live issues ranging from same-sex justice meaning, which more tant over the next 10 years. Half cember 2014 survey, 27 percent of fi nd religion “very” important in moral lives, even though they do marriage to public transporta- people find acceptable. And, feel it is unlikely, and 27 percent respondents identify with such their lives (54 percent vs. 11 per- not fear God’s judgment. And 64 tion. The issues that are infl u- thanks to the Internet, it’s easy to are neutral. Protestant beliefs as Baptist, Lu- cent). percent do not believe that a per- enced more than average: same- see that a lot of people are spiri- Those fi gures are based on the theran, Methodist, Episcopal, or There also is a geographic di- son must believe in God or a high- sex marriage, poverty, abortion tual seekers.” 2103 Oregon Values and Beliefs Presbyterian.