Mummies are coming! YOUR ONLINE LOCAL Reloading Preserved humans, animals DAILY NEWS Winterhawks well-positioned part of big OMSI exhibit www.portlandtribune.com to make another run Portland — See LIFE, B1 Tribune— See SPORTS, B8 THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2013 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED THURSDAY Warner’s Grads: long ride Could Wapato Jail have ‘It’s really boosts a fi ve-star future? all up TriMet to you’ Board chairman Despite PPS turmoil, adds his credibility seniors move on with as agency struggles valuable lessons By JIM REDDEN By JENNIFER ANDERSON The Tribune The Tribune In the middle of TriMet’s In her years at Portland labor dispute, Amalgamated Public Schools, Keighley Transit Union 757 offi cials Overbay has learned a few and their supporters have fo- things. cused much of their criticism “I’ve learned how to write a on the agency’s general man- fi ve-paragraph essay in under ager. They 30 minutes, the best strategies have practi- for taking multiple-choice ex- cally accused ams, and Neil McFar- defi nitely lane of single- how to sac- “If I’ve handedly de- rifi ce sleep, stroying the games and learned regional tran- social time anything sit agency by to study for insisting on that last- about public WARNER service cuts, minute fi - education, fare increases nal,” Over- it’s that it’s and union benefi t reductions bay quipped to balance the budget. to the Port- complicated” But when McFarlane recent- land School TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT — Alexia Garcia, ly spoke about TriMet’s prob- Board last Lincoln High senior lems at a Hillsboro Chamber of Nine years after its completion, Wapato Jail still stands empty with no county plans for its future. A number of former prisons around Monday. Commerce gathering, he was the world have been turned into hotels, including the Oxford Malmaison (below), where cells have been turned into luxury rooms. She is one of not alone. He was joined by four valedictorians among Bruce Warner, the president of about 200 seniors who’ll gradu- the agency’s board. ■ ate from Benson Polytechnic For Warner, the trip to the Many dream of ways to use county’s white elephant High School on June 10. talk was easy. He moved to On Monday night, Overbay Hillsboro around 18 months First Thursday design was one of a whopping 111 vale- ago. But Warner says his ap- STORY BY dictorians from PPS’ 12 high pearance was meant to convey PETER KORN on the drawing board schools who came to be recog- the message ■ When the Portland Tribune nized by the board. One from that McFar- began asking local architects each school gave a short speech, “I think lane is not act- verybody knows for out-of-the-box ideas on thanking their teachers and transit is ing on his Wapato jail — com- Wapato, it started a commu- families and giving a glimpse own. pleted nine years nity conversation. As a result, into the mind-set of the class of crucial to Design Forum PDX and other “Neil is op- Eago at a cost of $58 local creatives have begun 2013. the erating with million but never opened be- planning a design charrette “I learned that success isn’t livability of the full under- cause Multnomah County they hope will culminate in a defi ned by the number of A’s on standing and couldn’t come up with oper- First Thursday event this sum- your report card or the number the region, support of the ating money — is a mess. mer. of digits in that scholarship you but TriMet board,” War- County spokesman Dave ■ Architects, designers and received,” Overbay continued. ner says. “We Austin calls it “a true alba- other professionals would be “It’s defi ned by the fulfi llment has a lot to respect what tross.” assigned to teams tasked with and happiness you find from producing big-picture ideas and do to he is trying to That’s the old news. Mark possible sketches for a remake pursuing the passions that you rebuild its make hap- Gustafson, Multnomah Coun- of Wapato. The evening would have in life.” pen.” ty property manager, prefers include a public discussion. At As polished as their remarks relationship ATU 757 of- to look forward. least one county offi cial, were, some of the valedictori- with the fi cials ques- “It would be a great bed Multnomah County Chairman ans were more candid than oth- tion whether and breakfast for McMe- Jeff Cogen, says he’ll be there ers about the turbulence the community, the board is namins,” Gustafson says. and ready to participate. district has seen during their and I want aware of ev- McMenamins isn’t inter- “I’m absolutely open to innova- high school career. erything Mc- ested in Wapato (more on tive ideas about what we could Three years ago, PPS re- to help that do to Wapato,” Cogen says. “It’s Farlane does, that later). But if Multnomah a shame and a waste to see it vamped its high school system happen.” however. County is ever going to get just languishing there.” in order to boost enrollment — Bruce Warner “When you go this albatross to take fl ight, across the board, turning Jeffer- to the meet- it’s going to take some cre- son into the Jefferson High — ings, you won- ative thinking. Which is why Middle College for Advanced der if the the Tribune asked a number Gustafson is probably ting in the occasional film a building (nearly 170,000 Studies and closing the Mar- board has even read what of Portland’s creative think- more familiar with Wapato, crew. That maintenance has square feet) doesn’t fall into shall Campus. Those 700 Mar- they’re voting on,” says ATU ers to consider how Wapato near North Portland’s Smith a price: the county pays more disrepair. shall students funneled into 757 President Bruce Hansen. might be reconfi gured so it and Bybee lakes, than any- than $300,000 a year just to That annual maintenance Madison, Franklin and Cleve- Since becoming board chair- could be sold or leased for an- body. He’s in charge of keep- make sure the pipes don’t land. man in February 2012, Warner other use. ing up the property and let- burst and the empty giant of See WAPATO / Page 2 has been more active and visi- See GRADUATES / Page 12 ble than any of his predeces- sors in recent memory. Among other things, he has personally signed guest editorials and let- ters to local media concerning such hot-button issues as Tri- Met driver overtime and the Drawing a line on ambulance services fi ght with Clackamas County commissioners on completing ■ Debate By STEVE LAW apply to the wound. the Portland-to-Milwaukie The Tribune Three minutes later, two light-rail line. rages on American Medical Response “We appreciate having a whether city It’s 2:40 p.m. on a sunny paramedics arrive via ambu- chair who understands our is- fi refi ghters Friday when a 9-1-1 dispatch- lance. sues and is so involved,” McFar- er notifi es Fire Station No. 1 There’s little chatter among lane says. or private that an older man fell and hit the six fi refi ghters and para- No one who knows McFar- fi rm should his head on the medics; everyone lane should be surprised by his respond to sidewalk in front seems to know ex- high profi le. Before becoming of Pioneer Place TribSeries actly what to do board chairman, he held a se- medical calls shopping center. FIRST OF TWO STORIES and who should do ries of increasingly pressure- The man’s head what. Next week: filled public positions in the is bleeding, but At 2:45 p.m., the state and region. They include Overkill? Is it a waste of AMR crew pulls it’s unclear if he resources to respond to executive stints at Hillsboro, had a heart at- 9-1-1 calls with a city fi re out a stretcher, Washington County, the Port- tack, seizure or engine with four fi refi ght- carries the man to land Development Commis- just stumbled. ers and an ambulance the ambulance, sion, Metro and the Oregon A minute later, with two paramedics? and drives him off Department of Transportation. a Portland Fire & to a hospital emer- In fact, McFarlane says those Rescue engine ar- gency room. Fire- jobs are what convinced him to rives and four fi refi ghters jump fi ghters clean the blood off the become TriMet board chair- out. One asks the man and by- sidewalk and head back to the man. Like other positions on PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JAIME VALDEZ standers what happened. One downtown fire station at 2:48 the board, he was appointed by Portland Fire & Rescue fi refi ghters Sam Mulder, Lt. Mike Wight and Monte Shirley load applies pressure to the man’s p.m. equipment into the fi re engine as a crew from American Medical Response carries a forehead to stem his bleeding. See WARNER / Page 11 patient into the ambulance. Another readies a bandage to See FIRE / Page 5 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune Governor gives ■ Get ready for Dull and Boring Day. Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a state measure Tuesday declar- deliver balanced news that refl ects the Boring notoriety ing Aug. 9 as the offi cial Dull and Boring Day celebration to mark the friendly international pairing stories of our communities.