A week away from competing in a pageant, Jazmyn Xiong feels few nerves.

Jazmyn, 15, has been selected to participate in the 2013 Miss Jr. Teen Portland Pageant on Sunday, Feb. 24, at Glencoe High School, and will compete for thousands of dollars in prizes and specialty gifts.

The winner also will receive a six-day, five-night trip to Orlando, Fla., to represent Portland at the national competition.

“I’ve learned how to be professional and how to have a positive impact,” Jazmyn said. “When you meet someone, you want to make a good impression.”

A dancer since fifth grade, Jazmyn dances on the Gresham High School Rhythmettes and has recently made a foray into acting.

With a knack for the sciences — chemistry in particular — Jazmyn dreams of become a doctor or nurse.

While personality and interviewing skills are the top aspects each contestant will be judged on during the pageant, Jazmyn also will compete in casual and formal wear modeling routines.

“Some people think it’s all about beauty,” but it’s not, Jazmyn said. “It’s about being able to have confidence and finding who you really are as a person.

Another misconception, Jazmyn said, is that pageant girls could be snobby. On the contrary, Jazmyn has found her fellow contestants kind and friendly.

A week from the competition, Jazmyn is looking for sponsors to help cover her $495 entry fee. She is primarily looking for businesses, which will have their company names published in the pageant’s program.

Potential sponsors may call 503-875-0087.

Financial shortfall leads to impending closure of Police Activities League center in Gresham

It seems that all of East Multnomah County is reeling from the announcement that the PAL center in Gresham will close Friday, Feb. 15.

From politicians to police officials to parents whose children depend on the facility for after-school care, many were caught off guard by the news that due to financial difficulties, the center — at 424 N.E. 172nd Ave. — is closing.

But for the children who consider PAL a port in the storm of gang violence and poverty that mark their neighborhood, it’s a disaster.

“I really want it to stay open because it’s really like a lot of our homes,” said Izaya Glover, 14, of Gresham, who was just elected the PAL Center’s student body president. “It’s going to be really hard to leave this place.”

The Greater Portland Police Activities League Program late Tuesday, Feb. 12, announced that without additional funding it will be forced to close its Gresham center and its administrative office in the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct building on Friday, Feb. 15. The Beaverton PAL center will remain open.

“The ongoing reduction of governmental funding and the economic times have placed the organization in the position to need to make this difficult decision,” reads the program’s press release. It reportedly needs $20,000 to remain open, but ultimately would like $100,000.

Gresham’s center opened in 1994, building upon efforts already under way in Portland to provide after-school care, academic help and personal guidance for children and teens. Through a grassroots, community-based effort, it grew to include partnerships between all law enforcement agencies in Multnomah County, as well as the Beaverton Police Department.

The police partnership provided a steady stream of mentors that not only served as role models, but also showed children that police are people, too.

It also kept children in poverty-stricken, gang-plagued communities off the streets, with everything from sports camps to art programs.

Gresham also championed the cause by charging PAL just $1 a year to lease the city-owned building that became the PAL center, as well as the surrounding property.

“This partnership has undoubtedly helped cultivate productive lives for young people who may have otherwise turned to gangs or criminal activity,” Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis said. “PAL has played an important role in nurturing the lives of at-risk youth for many years.”

The building, originally an elementary school, became the Bud Monnes PAL center. Monnes was a longtime teacher and coach at Gresham High School known for looking out for and assisting students who needed a little extra attention, whether it was a new pair of shoes for basketball or lunch money.

His daughter, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was shocked when an Outlook reporter told her the center is closing.

“PAL was put there for a very important reason — to take care of those kids who really didn’t have a place to go,” said Monnes Anderson, who is now a local senator representing Gresham and East Multnomah County. “That’s so sad. I’m really sad to hear that.”

The closure narrows already limited options for after-school activities geared toward local at-risk youth. Gresham has entirely cut its recreation offerings. And with no city-funded community center, once PAL closes, it will leave little more than the Salvation Army’s Gresham Corps Community Center and school-based SUN programs to fill the void, Monnes-Anderson said.

“We really need to provide services to our youth,” she said. “We can’t just have one or two other resources. We need more.”

Former PAL Center executive director Maura White, who left the Gresham center in 2010, said she was stunned by the news.

“It just breaks my heart because we all know how great the need is out there, which is why we developed the youth program in the first place,” said White, who now volunteers at the Molalla PAL Center.

Back when White helped launch the Gresham program — what is now called the PAL Center — it was a city-owned building used to store records and files. Before that, it sat vacant as a fire-damaged elementary school after a molotov cocktail destroyed the gym.

In the nearly 20 years since the PAL Center opened its doors, Gresham’s Rockwood neighborhood, where the center is located, has become one of the county’s most densely populated areas with 70 percent of residents living in poverty. Its apartment complexes have become a haven for gangs and people displaced by gentrification in North Portland.

Through the years, children have come to rely on PAL for meals. The center daily serves breakfast and lunch to 80 to 100 children and teens, according to PAL’s press release about the pending closure.

“PAL has been a tremendous partner for many years,” Gresham Police Chief Craig Junginger said. “They have played a critical role in helping engage at-risk youth in productive activities, and we will certainly notice PAL’s absence if they are not able to find a way to navigate through their recent financial difficulties.”

Bemis said he is both deeply saddened and surprised by PAL’s abrupt announcement earlier this week regarding its financial struggles.

“It is still unclear to me how the organization got to this point, and because of that, it is not clear exactly what it would take for them to return to financial stability,” he said.

But the services PAL provided are vital to area youths, so the city is open to partnering with the program, or other youth-services organizations “that can demonstrate an actionable, sustainable, transparent long-term plan to make a positive impact on the young people in our community,” Bemis said. “If PAL cannot provide these services, we will actively work to find other partners who can step in to meet this critical community need.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 12 — the day after the news hit — PAL patrons lined 172nd Avenue holding painted signs and chanting “Save our PAL.”

Gresham resident Marvel Smith stood by, pumping her fist in unison with the children. Her four grandchildren go the center after school until their mother gets home from her job at a cell phone company.

“Without it (PAL), I can just see all these kids out here right now hanging out on the streets,” Smith said.

Tommy Rudd, who works at the front desk, said news of the closure brought the children to tears.

“I had one kid tell me yesterday that if PAL closes, he’s going to join a gang,” Rudd said. “Where are the kids going to go? We need help. We need help bad.”

And that’s where the newly elected student body president comes in.

Like a true leader, Glover has drafted a petition in the hope of keeping the center open.

“Maybe if I get enough signatures, someone out there will help us,” he said.

What if his efforts fail?

What will he do then?

“I really can’t tell you,” he said.

Like many of the children and teens who call the center a second home, Glover’s mother works until 5 p.m. So he needs somewhere safe and constructive to go when Walt Morey Middle School gets out.

“I’ll miss all my friends and the staff,” Glover said. “We’re all kind of a big family. It’s going to be hard to let this place go.”

The Clackamas County Commission last week voted unanimously to effectively take away the hammer the city of Sandy had held over the Boring community for years.

Twice (in 1998 and 2011) Sandy garnered support from Metro and Clackamas County to require a 50-foot-deep visual buffer of tall trees on the south side of Highway 26 in the Boring area. The idea was to shield development from the view of passing drivers.

But recently, people in the Boring area have spoken loudly through the area’s Community Planning Organization (CPO).

The commission heard the issue at a meeting last Thursday and decided to withdraw from the agreement with Sandy and Metro, effectively killing it.

After the meeting, Sandy Mayor Bill King said he was disappointed with the commission’s action.

“I believe they acted in error,” he said. “(Their knowledge) of what the agreement meant to everyone was based on misinformation.”

Boring CPO Chairman Steve Bates reminded the commissioners they have been in violation of state law since they moved ahead with an agreement that affected people who weren’t notified of the pact.

He also emphasized the literal meaning of the way the agreement was written.

“It is believed by many that these agreements (1998 and 2011) reassign the constitutional rights of your constituents to other jurisdictions without due representation,” Bates told the three commissioners present: John Ludlow, Martha Schrader and Tootie Smith.

When Bates mentioned that the 2011 agreement was formed without notifying anyone from Boring, Schrader reacted by blaming the county for not getting involved in that notification.

“But the piece of involvement should have come from the county, quite frankly, because we are your commissioners,” she said. “I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t here (she recently took office), but it is the commission’s job to work with other entities to ensure that you get full representation.”

Answering a question from Schrader, Bates said, “The (main) issue is property rights.”

“We have nothing against a green corridor,” Bates said. “We have everything against taking property from people without paying them for it.”

Commissioner Smith agreed with Bates on the property rights issue, speaking against what she said would definitely be the taking of private property by government, if the agreement becomes active.

But King spoke after the meeting, saying that false information affected the way the commissioners acted.

“Nobody is taking anything from anybody,” King said. “Nobody has to plant trees in front of their property until development comes through. It’s not going to stop a farmer from putting up a barn or keep anyone from staying in their house.”

King says the agreement was meant to be effective in the future — not now.

“All the people who would be affected (about 20 properties),” he said, “would end up selling to a developer down the line, and the developer would be the one required to plant trees. That’s a common condition of development.”

Sandy City Attorney David Doughman suggested there have been misunderstandings, and he contradicted Bates’ literal interpretation of the affected area.

Doughman said the agreement applies only to a short section of Highway 26 extending westerly from Highway 212 part of the distance to Gresham, and only on the south side of the highway.

Doughman encouraged the commissioners to slow down and allow negotiation to occur between the parties before taking action. He asked formally that the hearing be continued, but Chairman Ludlow did not respond to that request.

Bob Skipper, who has lived in the Sandy area for 68 years, agreed with Smith, saying, “It’s a fairness issue.”

“I believe I have the pulse of the community, having lived there that long,” Skipper said, “and they feel like it is being jammed down their throats — and that is not the way government should operate.”

Commissioner Smith said government should not take property without payment. In this case, she said it looks like government is imposing its view of what it thinks the world should look like.

Chairman Ludlow said he is a real estate broker and knowledgeable about property rights.

“These people were not (notified they were about to lose some rights to their property),” he said, “and that is just flat wrong.”

Schrader said she wants to hold a meeting of the minds between the Boring CPO and the city of Sandy.

“I still think we can work through these issues,” she said.

When withdrawing from the 1998 agreement came to a vote, it was a unanimous 3-0 tally, with two absent.

Another 3-0 vote set the 2011 agreement aside, but since 60 days’ notice is required, the motion was to “initiate a plan to terminate the 2011 agreement.”

Thanks to donations from members of the community, as well as some corporate fundraising hustle, the doors to the PAL “Bud Monnes” Youth Center in Gresham will remain open.

At least for a little while.

The Greater Portland Police Activities League Program late Tuesday, Feb. 12, announced that without additional funding it would be forced to close the center and its administrative office in the Portland as of Friday, Feb. 15. The Beaverton PAL center was to remain open, however, media reports indicate that officials with the city of Beaverton approved emergency funding to keep its center open for three more months.

Since the announcement, a total of $16,000 from the community has come in, allowing the center — at 424 N.E. 172nd Ave. — to continue to serve area children and teens, providing a place to study after school, socialize, recreate and stay off the streets.

“It's a stop gap,” said Mark McGinnis, the agency's new chairman of its board of directors.

The league cited ongoing reduction of governmental funding and the economic times as being to blame for the need to close the Gresham center, according to a press release. A statement from Executive Director Patricia Day TenEyck is noticeably absent from the release. McGinnis said she's been too busy trying to find donors and form community partnerships to comment on the center.

Gresham’s PAL center opened in 1994, building upon efforts already under way in Portland to provide after-school care, academic help and personal guidance for children and teens. Through a grassroots, community-based effort, it grew to include partnerships between all law enforcement agencies in Multnomah County, as well as the Beaverton Police Department.

It also kept children in poverty-stricken, gang-plagued communities off the streets, with everything from sports camps to art programs.

McGinnis credited individual donors, as well as board member Mike Casey, who appealed to Nike and its employees for contributions through an “inspiration run.”

More money — as much as $100,000 — is need to continue the center's operations in the long run, and an auction fundraiser set for Friday, Feb. 22, in downtown Portland. For details, go to portlandpal.org.

A Gresham man is behind bars, and four juveniles are in police custody, accused of luring a gay man to a local park, robbing him at gunpoint and beating him up.

The victim — a 24-year-old Clackamas man who the Outlook is not naming because he's a crime victim — went to Vance Park, in the 1400 block of Southeast 182nd Avenue, around midnight on Friday, Feb. 15, to meet a man he'd been chatting with through an online dating website for a sexual encounter, said Det. John Rasmussen, Gresham police spokesman.

He saw a person sitting on a park bench and thought it was the man he was there to meet. But when he approached the person, several masked men and one masked female came out of hiding and while displaying guns, punched and kicked the man.

The man he was there to meet also joined in on the attack, Rasmussen said.

They stole the victim's wallet, cell phone and other personal items before running from the scene.

The victim suffered minor injuries, such as bumps and bruises, and reported the attack to police.

Due to the large number of suspects and guns involved, a SWAT team responded to the scene. Police found two juveniles running from the area and detained them. Further investigation revealed that more suspects were at a nearby house in the 19400 block of East Burnside Street.

Officers arrested them and recovered two guns, both airsoft pistols, that were used in the attack, Rasmussen said.

Justin Simms, 19, of Gresham is being held on $260,000 bail at the Multnomah County Jail on allegations of second-degree robbery, third-degree assault and first-degree intimidation.

Three 16-year-old boys — two from Portland and one from Troutdale — as well as a 14-year-old Gresham girl also are in police custody on the same allegations. Police are not releasing their names because they are juveniles.

The intimidation charge stems from the victim being targeted due to his sexual orientation, which the suspects then used lure him to the park, Rasmussen said.

Police believe the group may have recently attacked other gay men using a similar ruse, possibly at Vance Park or the surrounding area. Detectives ask anyone who has experienced a similar attack to contact Det. Scott Hogan at 503- 618-3141 or call the Gresham Police tip line at 503-618-2719.  

“The Gresham Police recognize bias crimes like this often go unreported and encourage victims to call to report crimes against them or others,” Rasmussen said. “The utmost care will be afforded to protect the victim's identity.”

Despite stop-gap funding through February, questions about the youth centers financial woes loom large

The board of directors for Gresham’s PAL (Police Activities League) center announced Thursday, Feb 14, its lights would stay on the rest of February.

But at a rally Friday, parents, kids and staff members connected with PAL said they still felt in the dark.

“I felt deeply moved when my son got in the car and was crying to me, asking if I could save PAL,” Chris Johnson, the rally organizer, said. “I can’t save PAL, but we as parents and kids can make a loud noise and let these directors know we’re concerned and we feel like they basically left us in the blind.”

While the announcement that Gresham’s PAL center would remain open through February gradually trickled through the crowd, it did little to relieve concerns. Most PAL supporters said they felt anxious about the program’s uncertain future.

About 75 kids and parents marched up Northeast Glisan Street from 172nd to 181st avenues early Friday evening, carrying picket signs and chanting, “Save our PAL!”

“Let’s scream, hoot and holler and get people to honk,” Johnson said. “We’re here not just for our kids, but for everybody’s kids and the staff.”

Late Tuesday, Feb. 12, representatives from the Police Activities League of Greater Portland Area announced that without additional funding it would be forced to close its Gresham center and its administrative office in the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct on Friday, Feb. 15.

After donations poured in through PAL’s PayPal account and the City of Beaverton, the board said PAL, a program dating back to 1994, could stay open through the end of February.

But as of Friday evening, PAL had not notified many parents, who were still reeling from Tuesday’s announcement the center would close.

Two staff members, who wished to remain anonymous, said they'd received little communication from the directors, too. All they knew was PAL had enough funding to stay open through February.

Johnson said every development he’d heard about PAL this week came through the media, and he’d hoped for more direct, formal communication from PAL representatives. He and other parents are planning to create an involvement group with the board of directors next week so they “won’t be set in darkness anymore.”

“These are our kids,” Johnson said. “It’s disturbing to me that they didn’t come to the parents first.”

Parents such as Marlet Hurst, whose daughter Zahira, 11, has attended PAL since she was 7, said they would be more than happy to volunteer or solicit donations from community businesses. But they had no idea of PAL’s financial woes.

“Everything is word of mouth and they never asked us to help,” Hurst said. “Despite the way the building looks, despite that they don’t have the flat screen TV, despite that they don’t have the amenities the Beaverton office does, kids come here faithfully. It’s like a second home, or for some, a first home.”

Another parent, Kimberlee Peterson, said she’d been researching a number of grants and alternative funding sources and couldn’t wrap her mind around how PAL got to its funding predicament.

Parents and staff members said they hadn't heard any explanation for the financial problems, either.

Izaya Glover, 14, the PAL Center’s recently elected student body president, continued to circulate a petition that has gained 250 signatures and urged the public to donate through PayPal.

“We’re already halfway through a month,” Glover said. “I’m really gonna hate to see this place go.”

Jo Ann Lindenthal, executive director of Multisensory Learning Academy in Fairview, and her niece Sheree Lindenthal, who has two kids who frequent PAL, said the wondered if PAL kids and parents would have to rally each month to keep the center going.

“Kids need stability,” Jo Ann Lindenthal said. “This is rough and they are having a hard enough time. They need a little more to count on.

At the end of the rally, DeMya Nixon, Sheree Lindenthal’s 10-year-old daughter, handed a staff member a sandwich bag filled with coins she’d emptied from her piggy bank to help PAL.

"It's not about the money," Tommy Rudd, a staff member said. "It's about these kids."

A Clackamas County judge has scheduled a hearing on a complaint filed by a Damascus political activist who says a proposed ballot title doesn’t do a good enough job explaining the effects of disincorporation.

Judge Robert Herndon will hear the Monday, March 11, at the Clackamas County Circuit Court in Oregon City.

The hearing comes after a month-long wait by legal representatives for the city of Damascus to respond to the complaint filed on Dec. 31.

In the complaint, Dan Phegley of Damascus challenged the wording of a proposed ballot title that, if approved by voters, would disincorporate the city. His attorney, Bruce McCain, filed the challenge in Clackamas County Circuit Court on the grounds that the ballot title caption — Vote to Determine Whether to Disincorporate the City of Damascus — is insufficient because it doesn’t explain that disincorporation also would surrender the city charter and result in all city property being transferred to Clackamas County.

Phegley objects to the ballot title question — “Shall the City of Damascus be Disincorporated?” — calling it unfair, in part because it is too concise. The title can have as many as 20 words and Phegley thinks if more words were added, the title would provide more information, allowing voters to make better informed decisions.

For example, disincorporation will result in the loss of services now provided by the city, such as law enforcement.

The judge will decide how the proposed ballot title should proceed.

Once the issue is ironed out, proponents of disincorporation will have to wait longer before they can begin collecting the signatures needed to place the ballot before voters in November.

Damascus residents in 2004 voted to create a city out of the area’s 18,000 acres in order to have more control over how it is developed. Metro had expanded the regional growth boundary to include Damascus, earmarking it as a potential suburb ripe for development. But residents and city leaders have been unable to agree on a comprehensive plan, and Metro officials have said they overestimated growth projections for the Damascus area.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, among other things, two Damascus residents on Dec. 6 filed the paperwork to start the process of disincorporating the city.

Decision leaves no reserve cash to keep open youth center

The Greater Portland Police Activities League, which last week narrowly avoided closing the doors to its Gresham youth center thanks to community and corporate donations, used its endowment fund as a reserve fund last year to operate at less of a deficit.

Mark McGinnis, the newly appointed chairman of the league’s board of directors, said board members authorized using the endowment as a reserve fund, allowing $136,000 for use as part of the agency’s total revenue.

Even with the transfer, PAL operated in a $200,000 deficit last year, according to financial statements filed with the city of Gresham. Without the endowment funds, that deficit would have totaled $336,000 — or the equivalent of nearly half the program’s yearly total revenue.

Late Tuesday, Feb. 12, PAL announced that without additional funding, it would be forced to close the Bud Monnes Youth Center in Gresham, as well as its administrative office in North Portland on Friday, Feb. 15. The Beaverton PAL center was to remain open, however, media reports indicate that officials with the city of Beaverton approved emergency funding to keep its center open for three more months.

The news came as a huge shock to local parents, teens and children who use the Gresham center, located at 424 N.E. 172nd Ave., after school to study, socialize, recreate and stay off the streets.

By Thursday, Feb. 14, residents and corporate representatives raised $16,000, enough to keep the center open through the end of the month.

McGinnis cited reductions in government funding and securing fewer grants than it had budgeted as contributing factors to the sizable deficit.

“That is not inconsistent with other providers of similar services,” he said in an emailed response to questions about the budget. “For example, Boys and Girls Club reported a 16 percent decline in grants from 2010 to 2011. Our decline in grants was slightly greater. The reduced income and maintenance of a high level of services contributed to our higher deficit.”

PAL went from receiving $620,715 in government grants in 2010 to $475,143 in 2011, or a 23 percent drop. Meanwhile the number of children and teens served increased. PAL had 700 youth members, more than 130 daily participants in its youth centers during the school year and 210 participants during the summer in the 2007/2008 fiscal year.

It now boasts 1,000 youth members, and an average of 175 youths ages 8 to 18 a day at its centers. Of those children and teens, 80 percent of them attend schools in the Gresham-Barlow, Centennial or Reynolds school district. The other 20 percent come from Portland, David Douglas and Parkrose school districts.

In recent years, PAL introduced Friday night basketball for teens until 10:30 p.m., including a meal. On average, it drew 50 teens between ages 14 and 19, but some nights, as many as 80 teens attend.

But using its endowment fund as a reserve is a significant indicator of the tremendous financial woes PAL faced. Endowment funds are designed to provide investment principal that is to remain intact and invested to create an ongoing source of income for an organization. Typically, it can only be spent by an overseeing board in cases of exceptional financial hardship.

PAL’s Executive Director Patricia Day TenEyck has been unavailable for comment. McGinnis said she’s been too busy trying to find donors and form community partnerships to comment on the center.

But last week, she told The Oregonian that she “walked into a mess” in late 2010 when she took over as PAL’s executive director, replacing Maura White, who after 18 years with the organization, left for a job with the city of Portland.

“Not true,” White said. “I may have a messy office, but not messy books.”

Both executive directors saw deficits during their tenures, according financial statements filed with the city of Gresham,

White overcame a $102,000 deficit in 2007-08 by boosting enough revenue to end the next fiscal year ahead more than $39,000. The next fiscal year of 2009-10, her last with the organization, netted $1.02 million in revenue, but also ended with a nearly $75,000 deficit.

The next year — TenEyck’s first with the agency — it lost $179,402 in revenue, an 18 percent decline, to $822,691.

Last year, it dropped another 16 percent, or $132,135, to $690,556.

However, due to the infusion of endowment funds as a reserve, the agency’s total revenue came in at $826,556 — in keeping with the prior year’s total.

Meanwhile, the deficit TenEyck inherited snowballed. It doubled during her first year, growing from just under $75,000 to $151,691. And then it doubled again, reaching almost $336,000 in fiscal year 2011-12.

Fundraising also fell flat.

During TenEyck’s first year, the agency raised $12,206, about half of what was raised the year before. A golf tournament netted just $217 in profit. Last year, none was held, and the agency’s special events raised $22,000 less than PAL had budgeted.

Troutdale police arrested a man after a pursuit that ended in a crash and a foot chase.

Roy Binion, 44, a transient, is being held without bail on a U.S. Marshal's hold at the Multnomah County Detention Center. He also faces allegations of unauthorized use of a vehicle, felony and misdemeanor attempt to elude, reckless driving, and first- and second-degree criminal mischief.

Early Monday, Feb. 18, deputies with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office were alerted that a 1997 Mazda B2300 pickup stolen out of Hood River could be heading west on Interstate 84 toward Portland, said Lt. Travis W. Gullberg.

Patrol Sergeant Bryan White parked along I-84, just east of Troutdale, and saw the stolen truck at about 12:45 p.m.

White followed the stolen vehicle, which took exit 18 off of I-84 and headed toward Lewis & Clark State Park.

Within a few minutes, two Troutdale police officers joined White and tried to pull over the vehicle on East Columbia River Highway, just west of the Troutdale Bridge. The vehicle sped up and was soon traveling at a speed unsafe for the conditions, Gullberg said.

Out of concern for community safety, police stopped the pursuit near downtown Troutdale, but other officers soon spotted the truck near the Troutdale Airport.

The stolen truck then drove into a business parking lot on Northwest Graham Circle, through a cyclone fence and into a field behind the business. Then it continued to travel eastbound back onto Graham Road on the north side of the Troutdale Airport. Eventually it crashed into a concrete jersey barrier at Graham Road and Northeast Harlow Place.

The driver ran away from the truck, but deputies and Troutdale police quickly apprehended him. A short time later, the Portland Police Bureau notified deputies that Binion was wanted for questioning related to a Portland bank robbery.

OREGON CITY – Confidence and composure won out in the semifinals of the Special District 2 wrestling championships. The wrestlers who stayed cool and even-keeled under pressure were the ones to advance to the championship rounds.

In the 145-pound division, David Douglas’ Ricky Molinari stayed positive throughout his match against Centennial’s Connor Kurtz, and it made the difference. Molinari jumped out to a slim, early lead, but Kurtz fought back to tie the score at 6-6 in the third round. Molinari wasn’t worried. With less than one minute remaining, he earned a two-point takedown to slide past Kurtz.

“I knew I was going to pull it out,” Molinari said. “I’m way more conditioned than he is and I’ve worked harder than he has.”

In the other half of the bracket, Gresham’s Austun Long defeated West Linn’s Trent Porter by fall. To start the match, Porter was fired up and had all the energy. That gave him an early lead. All the while, Long showed no emotion and kept his wits about him. Halfway through the second round, Porter got tired. Long saw that opening and took advantage with a quick takedown, which he turned into a pin with 32 seconds remaining in Round 2.

“Half the battle is the emotional battle, so I try to stay optimistic,” Long said. “When I pushed the tempo, he got discouraged and down on himself, and that is what won me the match.”

Molinari would go on to win the title bout showdown by a 7-2 decision, as David Douglas dominated the tournament. The Scots crowned five weight-class champions and finished with 330 points, beating runner-up Oregon City by more than 70 points.

Look for extended coverage, including a list of all placing bouts, in the Tuesday, Feb. 19, print edition.

The Mt. Hood men’s basketball team stalled out for a key stretch of the second half and couldn’t recover during a 76-67 loss to SW Oregon on Saturday that ended their hopes of reaching the Northwest playoffs.

After falling behind by as many as eight points midway through the second half, the Saints found themselves back with a chance after Thomas Simien converted a three-point play in the paint to slice the margin to 60-57 with 8:08 left.

The window was open for Mt. Hood to slip in front, but the Saints missed back-to-back fastbreak opportunities.

That was only the start of the trouble.

With its season in the balance, the Saints went four minutes without a point.

SW Oregon wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard either, but the Lakers did enough on the defensive end to stay in control of the game.

Mt. Hood center Cody Mitchell ended the dry spell when he powered over the top of Dereck Miller to score two points on a baseline drive.

But the Saints were never able to shrink the gap to a one-possession game.

The Lakers sealed the victory by going 7 for 8 (.875) at the free-throw line over the final minute. Dexter Williams Jr. barely moved the net on his four makes.

The loss leaves Mt. Hood (5-7) in sixth place heading into the final week of the regular season.

Look for extended coverage, including a recap of the women's game, in the Tuesday, Feb. 19, print edition.

View a photo gallery from the games at ...

http://daveball.exposuremanager.com/g/feb16_mhcc-swo_mens_hoops

http://daveball.exposuremanager.com/g/feb16_mhcc-swo_girls_hoops

Relay points make David Douglas the top team finisher out of East County

Barlow junior Nick Thorne left Saturday’s 6A state swim meet a bit heavier than when he arrived. That was due to the pair of medals hanging around his neck on his way out of the pool — one gold, one silver.

Thorne went into the 200-yard medley race with the top qualifying time, but repeating the task in the finals was no easy task.

He held off Grant freshman Ethan Hanson to carry a slight lead through the first two laps, but Sunset’s Cole Hurwitz came on strong in the third leg, the breaststroke, to take over the lead.

Thorne responded to the challenge, closing ground quickly in the last freestyle lap and regaining the top spot coming off the wall at the final turn. He touched in with a school-record time of 1:51.93 — .21 hundredths ahead of Hurwitz. The same order that the two rivals finished at last year’s meet.

“I knew he’d be ahead into that last 50,” Thorne said. “I just wanted to get punch off the wall on that final turn and make up ground underwater. I popped up barely ahead, and I knew that I had it.”

Thorne finished his day with a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle (46.42), accounting for all 29 of Barlow’s team points.

Look for extended state swim coverage, including the small-school meet, in the Tuesday, Feb. 19, print edition.

PORTLAND — The Damascus Christian girls basketball team struggled to find the basket in the first quarter of Saturday’s Valley 10 league championship game, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.

The Eagles connected on just 2 of 17 (.118) attempts through the first five minutes, including misses on nine straight from behind the 3-point line.

The result?

Damascus held a 4-2 lead on the scoreboard.

“We just had to keep the pressure up, knowing that sooner or later the shots would start to fall,” Damascus coach Dave Wakefield said.

That margin quickly expanded when Valerie Wakefield faked a 3-pointer that drew a crowd of defenders, opening the door for teammate Cierra Warren to break down the center of the lane all alone. Wakefield hit her in stride with a perfect pass, and Warren took one step to the basket for a layup.

Damascus guard Ana Wakefield would dial up a pair of 3s before the quarter ended, and the Eagles were well on their way to a 53-23 blowout win.

Damascus (25-1) heads into the 1A playoffs as a heavy favorite.

The Eagles played No. 4-ranked City Christian three times during the season, and the closest challenge they faced was a 20-point win.

“It’s hard to beat a good team three times in a row,” Dave Wakefield said. “Our girls knew that, and they came out focused tonight.”

Look for expanded coverage from this game and others in the Valley 10 playoffs in the Tuesday, Feb. 19 print edition.

http://daveball.exposuremanager.com/Page

A Phone-A-Thon for reading curriculum

The Gresham-Barlow Education Foundation will hold a Phone-A-Thon Feb. 25-28 to benefit the foundation’s 2013 reading campaign.

During the event, high school students in the district will call parents and community members asking for donations. Proceeds will benefit reading curriculum for struggling students in the district and high school student groups.

The Gresham Outlook, Key Bank of Troutdale, Gresham Sanitary and Gresham Ford are sponsoring the event. Individuals who donate $40 or more will receive a $20 gift certificate for service from Gresham Ford.

To make a pledge, visit gbefkids.org.

Reynolds offers education summit

The Reynolds School District invites the public to an education summit from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the multipurpose room at Reynolds High School, 1698 S.W. Cherry Park Road, Troutdale.

Rob Saxton, Oregon deputy superintendent of public instruction, will speak about current education reform efforts at the state level. Superintendent Linda Florence will talk about the strategic vision for the Reynolds School District.

The content will be available in English, Spanish and Russian. The room has a maximum capacity of 300. In order to support attendees in proving feedback and adequate translation services, pre-registration is advised at rsdedsummit.eventbrite.com.

Endangered Species Day art contest

The Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest is accepting art created by students in kindergarten through 12th grade until Friday, March 15.

The International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) will select the 40 semifinalists from thousands of entries. Winners will be chosen in four categories, receiving plaques and art supply gift packs.

One grand prize winner will be honored with his or her name engraved on a special trophy, receiving a round-trip flight to Washington, D.C., with one guardian to attend a reception in May. The grand prize winner also will receive art supplies and a special art lesson from a renowned artist.

The Youth Art Contest is organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Coalition, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the International Child Art Foundation.

For more information, including judging criteria and an entry form, visit endangeredspeciesday.org.

Blumenauer visits Mt. Hood’s Early Childhood Center

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., will visit Mt. Hood Community College at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20.

Blumenauer will meet with administrators and tour the Early Childhood Center, which opened in September 2011. The congressman helped the center receive a $306,549 grant from the Department of Education to build and equip an outdoor learning space with a rope climbing structure, musical instruments, tricycle corral and tricycle path.

The center, a 21,000-square-foot facility that was funded through $6.2 million in federal and state grants, serves 184 children 6 months to 5 years old and serves 60 students enrolled in the early childhood education academic programs.

Adopt a pet this weekend

Petsmart Charities of Gresham will hold a National Pet Adoption weekend Friday through Sunday, Feb. 22-24, that will help benefit one of its new partner organizations, Second Chance Companions.

Second Chance Companions is a no-kill animal rescue nonprofit organization based out of Battle Ground, Wash.

Along with finding homes for countless animals, through small grant programs, Second Chance Companions has been able to assist pet owners in the cost of spay and neutering pets.

The organization also is a partner with Animeals, a group that provides pet food to individuals with pets who are using the Meals on Wheels program.

Recently, Petsmart charities has agreed to partner with Second Chance Companions to keep cats in their pet adoption area.

During the national adoption weekend, Petsmart will make $35 donations for every cat adopted. Additionally, the new pet parent will receive a booklet of coupons for discounts on pet care.

The cost of adopting cats from Petsmart varies from $35 to $100, based on the age of the cat (kittens are more expensive). All cats adopted through the organization are spayed or neutered, are current on their shots and have a microchip.

Visit SCCPETS.com for opportunities to adopt, volunteer or donate.

Meet East County city councilors

The Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center will hold a governmental affairs forum from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Persimmon Country Club, 500 S.E. Butler Road, Gresham.

The lunch event will feature the newest East County city councilors and a Q and A about business-related topics.

Speakers include Gresham City Councilors Jerry Hinton, Mike McCormick and Mario Palmero, and Troutdale Councilor John Wilson.

The cost is $20 for members and $35 for nonmembers (includes lunch). Registration is required by Feb. 22 on the chamber website, greshamchamber.org.

For more information, email gacc@greshamchamber.org or call 503-665-1131.

First Friday Art Walk slated

Troutdale hosts a First Friday Art Walk on March 1, featuring music, art and wine. Art Walk hours are 5-9 p.m., and most Historic Troutdale merchants along Historic Columbia River Highway participate in the event.

For more information, visit facebook.com/pages/Troutdale-First-Friday-Art-Walk.

Chess at library

Folks of all ages can come to the Gresham Library, 385 N.W. Miller Ave., from 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, and play chess or Chinese chess. Equipment is provided, and admission is free.

For more information, call 503-988-5387.

Marilyn Keller

St. Aidan Episcopal Church, 17405 N.E. Glisan St., will present its latest “Sunday at 3 p.m. Concert” with a performance by the Augustana Quartet, featuring vocalist Marilyn Keller, on March 3.

Along with Keller, the quartet features George Mitchell on piano, Kevin Deitz on bass and Ron Steen on drums.

Keller is a 27-year veteran of music and stage performance who sings jazz, gospel, r&b, pop and blues, and has performed in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Great Britain and America. Her voice can be heard on on multiple recordings, movie soundtracks, commercials, documentary narratives and demos.

Tickets are $18, $15 for students and seniors, and are available at staidans-gresham.org and at the door. For group sales (10 tickets or more), call 503-866-5572.

For more information, email Mark Jones at tickets4sunday@gmail.com.

First Friday

Troutdale hosts a First Friday Art Walk on March 1, featuring music, art and wine. Art Walk hours are 5-9 p.m., and most Historic Troutdale merchants along Historic Columbia River Highway participate in the event.

For more information, visit facebook.com/pages/Troutdale-First-Friday-Art-Walk.

“The Right Move,” a fundraiser to help keep the Bud Monnes PAL Youth Center open, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at 424 N.E. 172nd Ave., Portland.

The $5 admission and donations at the dance and music performance will go directly to PAL.

Hosted by “Lance,” the fundraiser will feature the following performers:

• Mighty

• Durante Lambert's Queen

• Isaiah Tillman

• Horizun

• Martin

• Work Dance Company of Eugene

• Swagged Out Boyz (PAL youth Encore program)

• PAL dance program

• Break dancers

For more information, visit The Right Move Facebook event page.

Night, Mother to run Feb. 22 through March 10

Sometimes the hardest bonds to keep are the ones made earliest.

Take the bond between a mother and daughter. Many a woman has counted a mother as her best friend and her worst enemy, sometimes in the same day.

The Nutz-n-Boltz Theater Company tackles the difficulties that arise when a clueless mother tries to save her despairing daughter from suicide in “’Night, Mother” a 1983 play by Marsha Norman about daughter, Jessie, and her mother, Thelma (referred to as “Mama” in the play).

Jessie’s father is dead, and she is epileptic and unemployable. Her loveless marriage ended in divorce, and her absent son is a petty thief and ne’er-do-well. She wants to end her life because she sees it as “unprofitable.”

The play won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and received four Tony nominations. “’Night, Mother” was also adapted to the silver screen in 1986 for a movie that Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft. Bancroft received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of Mama.

Rare combination

Kelly Lazenby of Gresham portrays Jessie in the Nutz-n-Boltz production and chose the play.

“As the artistic director of a small community theater, I do fight to find works that are not seen on stage all the time,” she says. “This play won all possible awards for drama and is written by a female playwright. Both of these criteria are rare enough for small theater, but this play is not only well-written — it is haunting and very real.”

Jessie, she adds, is a difficult person to understand.

“I am not sure, really, what motivates her,” Lazenby says. “She is a person who has accepted the fact that she has basically given up, but she also has some smarts as well as some good points. But she has so little self-worth that they aren’t noticeable.”

Lazenby shares the stage with West Linn’s Kim Berger, who plays Mama, a simple extroverted woman who craves attention.

“Although she is now a widow, she spent most of her adult years married to a man who did not love her and never gave her the time of day,” Berger adds. “Jessie has lived with Mama for years, but is a very shy, introverted person. Consequently, Mama turned to sweets — cakes, cookies, bags of candy — to try to fill the void she felt from being alone in a room full of people.”

One of Mama’s stranger qualities is her well-intentioned lying, Berger says.

“It is not beyond Mama’s capabilities to fabricate stories, just to get attention and a response from another person,” she says.

The problem is, Jessie doesn’t want the same kind of life.

“Years ago Mama accepted her life, such as it was, and settled into it,” Berger says. “She is now perfectly satisfied to watch TV, crochet and eat her peanut brittle, and it has never occurred to her that Jessie might not be as content.”

Mama is not the easiest of characters to portray, she adds.

“Mama has to switch back and forth — one moment being humorous and the next moment expressing great distress — everything from tremendous anger to extreme desperation,” she says. “It’s a fine line to walk for an actor to have to switch back and forth so quickly with it all.”

Questions, answers

The Sunday shows will feature a question-answer session with the audience after each performance, Lazenby says, noting she expects folks to query how Berger can play Jessie without weeping.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they ask about the process Kelly and I have gone through to find the emotional core of each of the characters,” Berger adds.

Both women say they have learned some heavy lessons from rehearsing the play and discussing it with Justin Lazenby, Kelly’s husband and the play’s director.

“I understand more about the disconnect that happens when your children grow up and become adults,” Kelly Lazenby says.

“They will never, ever stop being your child. But in this play, the mother and daughter have become strangers to each other, even though they live in the same house. They never really listen to each other.”

“I think the bond between mothers and daughters is very deep,” Berger says. “That doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to have their conflicts. But at the end of the day, I do believe most mothers would be willing to do anything, including sacrificing themselves, to save the life of their daughter.”

To have items listed here, send them to Dateline, The Gresham Outlook, P.O. Box 747, Gresham, 97030; email sbrown@theoutlookonline.com; or fax it to 503-665-2187 at least 10 days before the event.

Live Music

Eastside Bluegrass Series — 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at Freedom Foursquare Church, 660 S.E. 160th Ave. Old Circle, Hardshell Harmony. If you show up at 5:30 p.m., you can join in on a jam in the lobby, so bring your instrument. Eastside Bluegrass shows take place every third Saturday of the month. Suggested donation is $10 per person, with children admitted free. Plenty of parking is available. For more information, visit eastsidebluegrass.com or email eastsidebluegrass@yahoo.com.

Edgefield Live Music Series — McMenamins Edgefield, 2126 S.W. Halsey St., Troutdale. All shows are free, for ages 21 and older and are held in the Winery unless noted otherwise. For more information, visit mcmenamins.com/edgefield or call 503-669-8610.

• Hanz Araki, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19.

• Henry Hill Kammerer, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20.

• Solomon & Kale, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, Blackberry Hall.

• Sonny Hess, 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. Pilar French Duo, 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.

• Brady Goss, 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24.

• Skip vonKuske, 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25.

• Caleb Klauder & Sammy Lind, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Live Music at Celebrities — Celebrities Parkway Grill, 20725 N.E. Sandy Blvd., Fairview. No cover charge. Call 503-666-2027 for information.

• Jimmy Thompson Jam Session, 4 p.m. to midnight Sundays.

Open Mic Jam — Gresham Inn, 117 N. Main Ave. 8 p.m. Sundays. Hosted by Back Alley Jammers. For more information, call 503-661-1403.

Open Mic Jam — M&M Lounge, 137 N. Main Ave., Gresham. 6 p.m. to midnight, Sundays. Classic rock, blues, boogie blues, country, alternative, originals, acoustic, electric with live band. Sound system, drums, amplifiers provided. For more information, call 503-665-2626.

Karoake — 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Midnight Roundup, 345 N.W. Burnside St. For more information, call 503-489-5860.

• Dance instruction 8 p.m. Thursdays followed by dancing at 9 p.m.

• Muchmore Country, 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23.

Park Place Coffee — Live Music Saturdays. Free. All ages. For more information, call 503-808-1244 or visit parkplacecoffee.com.

Out & About

Troutdale Open-Air Market — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Depot Park Rail Museum, 473 E. Historic Columbia River Highway, Troutdale. Shop for organic produce, fine arts and crafts, food and one-of-a-kind items at Troutdale’s farmers’ market, located in downtown Troutdale. Visit windancemarkets.com.

Arts & Culture

First Thursday Concerts — Mt. Hood Community College, 26000 S.E. Stark St., continues its free first Thursday of the month shows in the Student Union from noon to 1 p.m. March 3: Vagabond Opera — European cabaret, vintage Americana, Balkan belly dance, neo-classical opera, old-world Yiddish theater are all contained within the sound of this six-piece local group. Through theatrical performances, lyrics in 13 languages and an eclectic repertoire, they “liberate opera” from its usual setting.

“Night Mother” — Nutz-n-Boltz Theater will present Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play “’Night, Mother” from Feb. 22 through March 10 at the historic Boring-Damascus Grange Hall, off Highway 212. This complex drama, featuring a damaged relationship between mother and daughter, casts Kim Berger of West Linn and Kelly Lazenby of Gresham, who play the show in real time, with no intermission. There will also be talk-back sessions with the actors on Sundays. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit nnbtheater.com.

“Passport to Adventure” — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Jan. 31, Gresham City Hall, Visual Arts Gallery, 1333 N.W. Eastman Parkway. Presented by the Gresham Art Committee. Info: greshamartcommittee.com.

“The Last Romance” — Sandy Actors Theatre, 39181 Pioneer Blvd., Sandy, presents a heart-warming comedy by Joe DiPietro. A crush can make anyone feel young again—even octogenarian widower Ralph. Relying on a renewed boyish charm, he attempts to woo the elegant, but distant, Carol, and embarks on the trip of a lifetime to regain a happiness that seemed all but lost.

Showtimes are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 8 to March 3. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 seniors and students and $10 children under 12. For more information, call 503-668-6834, or visit sandyactorstheatre.org.

A Clackamas County judge has scheduled a hearing on a complaint filed by a Damascus political activist who says a proposed ballot title doesn’t do a good enough job explaining the effects of disincorporation.

Judge Robert Herndon will hear the case at 9 a.m. Monday, March 11, at the Clackamas County Circuit Court in Oregon City.

The hearing comes after a month-long wait by legal representatives for the city of Damascus to respond to the complaint filed on Dec. 31.

In the complaint, Dan Phegley of Damascus challenged the wording of a proposed ballot title that, if approved by voters, would disincorporate the city. His attorney, Bruce McCain, filed the challenge in Clackamas County Circuit Court on the grounds that the ballot title caption — "Vote to Determine Whether to Disincorporate the City of Damascus" — is insufficient because it doesn’t explain that disincorporation also would surrender the city charter and result in all city property being transferred to Clackamas County.

Phegley objects to the ballot title question — “Shall the City of Damascus be Disincorporated?” — calling it unfair, in part because it is too concise. The title can have as many as 20 words and Phegley thinks if more words were added, the title would provide more information, allowing voters to make better informed decisions.

For example, disincorporation will result in the loss of services now provided by the city, such as law enforcement.

The judge will decide if the ballot title (as originally submitted) is sufficient as worded, or he could required a revision.

Once the issue is ironed out, proponents of disincorporation will have to wait longer before they can begin collecting the signatures needed to place the ballot before voters in November.

Damascus residents in 2004 voted to create a city out of the area’s 18,000 acres in order to have more control over how it is developed. Metro had expanded the regional growth boundary to include Damascus, earmarking it as a potential suburb ripe for development. But residents and city leaders have been unable to agree on a comprehensive plan, and Metro officials have said they overestimated growth projections for the Damascus area.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, among other things, two Damascus residents on Dec. 6 filed the paperwork to start the process of disincorporating the city.