Portland Winterhawks right wing Ty Rattie watched h

is teammates take control of the game during the first 40 minutes. In the last 20, Rattie stole the show.

Rattie recorded a hat trick on three third-period goals to lead Portland to 7-2 win over Spokane in Friday's Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference semifinals at Memorial Coliseum.

“For the first two periods I was thinking to myself, ‘Nothing is going right,’ ” Rattie said. “In the third period, my line stepped up and we got a couple good bounces.”

Rattie’s first score came 47 seconds after intermission. Portland opened the period on a power play, and with the one-man advantage, Rattie stationed himself a few feet in front of the crease. Defenseman Derrick Pouliot got the puck, faked a pass one way and slid it to Rattie, who slashed it past Cheifs goaltender Eric Williams.

About five minutes later, Rattie struck a second time. As the Winterhawks took control, Rattie again went to his spot near the crease. This time, he moved right to the rim of the crease as linemate Brendan Leipsic skipped the puck his way. A light tap was all Rattie needed to beat Williams once more.

Rattie completed the hat trick with another power-play goal at the 3:37 mark. The game had long since been decided, but the crowd of 6,172 still showered the ice with baseball caps.

“He’s one of those guys,” Portland coach Travis Green said. “When you need goals, he’s the guy you are going to go to. Anytime you get three goals in a period, it’s big for your team.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two goals for Portland, both in the second period. His second goal, at 14:44, gave Portland the lead for good at 3-2.

Taylor Leier and Derrick Pouliot had one goal each, and Pouliot had three assists, but Rattie’s three made the biggest splash.

Rattie has nine goals in seven playoff games this season. On Friday, he passed Randy Heath for most playoff points in franchise history.

“It’s pretty cool when you think of the amount of the players and the amount of championships that have been won,” Rattie said. “To be at the top of that group is an awesome feat and something I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.”

Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth saved 38 of 40 shots to make some history of his own in Game 1. His 38 saves earned him his 38th career playoff victory. That ties him with Cam Ward for the WHL record.

“Nice for him,” Green said. “Obviously, he has had a nice career with us. He has taken us far two times now. It is nice to see him get some recognition.”

Carruth will go for the record on Saturday night when the Winterhawks and Chiefs face off in Game 2, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Rose Garden.

Beards and playoff hockey. With the Winterhawks, according to goaltender Mac Carruth, nature has gotten in the way of one of the sport's most hardy traditions.

Only Carruth, who observed his twenty-oner on March 25, has the follicular maturity to wear one sans peach fuzz.

His teammates "can't grow one," Carruth claimed. "A couple of the guys are just going with mustaches, because their sides are a bit patchy.

"I feel obligated to let it go."

It's fitting, because Carruth is a veritable graybeard (his beard is actually a light brown) on a Western Hockey League club that is hoping to write its ticket to the Memorial Cup at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in late May.

The Winterhawks took another step Saturday night at the Rose Garden with a 3-0 victory to seize a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series with Spokane.

Carruth stopped all 27 shots by the Chiefs in becoming the WHL's career leader in goalie playoff victories with 39. In the process, he established a new Portland record with his fourth playoff shutout.

The most important thing to Carruth and his teammates is that they are now 10 wins away from their collective goal -- a WHL championship and a berth in the Saskatoon tournament that determines supremacy in North American junior hockey.

But pressed, Carruth will stop to take a whiff in the City of Roses and reflect on how far he has come in his four years with the Hawks.

In its 47 seasons, the WHL has seen a number of outstanding goalies come through its ranks. None has ever won more playoff games than the Shorewood, Minn., native, a fresh-faced rookie when he first donned the protective gear in the league at age 17.

"My first game was against Vancouver," Carruth said. "I still remember it shot for shot. Got lit up for seven goals. I thought to myself, 'Oh boy, what did I get myself into? Am i cut out for this?'

"But (coach) Mike Johnston put his trust in me. We worked on some things with (goalie coach) Tyler Love, and over the years, I've gotten better and better with Tyler helping me out."

Carruth has had his issues with temperament through his years in Portland. Opponents always tried to engage him in extracurricular stuff to get him rattled. For awhile, it worked. Not so much anymore.

"We've gone through a lot with Mac since he was 17," said Travis Green, Portland's acting coach through the WHL's suspension of Johnston. "He has matured a lot. He is a real focused individual, a real competitor. He has had a real good career with us."

The Chiefs had a few good scoring chances Saturday night, but either missed or had the puck gobbled up by Carruth.

"Mac was outstanding," said feisty winger Brendan Leipsic, who was too, with a goal and an assist. "He made some really big saves to keep us in there when we were up one or two goals.

"We keep getting performances like that from Mac, we're going to be really tough to beat."

Carruth was second in the WHL through the regular season with a 2.06 goals-against average. Part of that, of course, is that he played on the best team in the league, with a veteran defense in front of him and an offense that led the loop in goals scored.

"Goaltending's not an easy position," Green said. "You can be a great goalie and be stuck on a team where you don't have a lot of success. Or you can be a good goalie like Mac and be on a team where you have some success.

"But he has been a big part of our success. it's real nice to see him get those records tonight."

Carruth's presence has a calming effect on his younger teammates. He has been through the wars many times over, the regular in the nets as the Hawks reached the WHL finals in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

"It makes you feel better, maybe taking a chance or two, to know Mac's a veteran guy back there and can bail you out," Leipsic said.

Carruth, center Taylor Peters and defenseman Troy Rutkowski are the three overage players on Portland's roster this season. That leads to a little kidding, especially with a guy old enough to actually grow a full beard.

"Us three 20s are the old guys," Carruth said. "They kind of give you heat for being old and rickety.

"But it's all in good fun. Nobody gets picked on on our team. The young guys can chirp us, and us them. It's a good chemistry we have going."

Talent abounds. Portland's arsenal features four good lines, including the league's three top scorers in Leipsic, Ty Rattie and Nic Petan, along with the top quartet of defensemen in the league. The Hawks outshot the Chiefs 43-27, and the wired-in Leipsic-Rattie-Petan line could have scored a few more goals.

"A couple of shifts into the first period, I fed Ty and it went off the crossbar," Leipsic said. "We had a couple of other chances in the third period. In the second period, we were buzzing, too.

"In the playoffs, it's a game of inches. We missed a few but were able to come away with the win."

Most of the pressure generated at the net Saturday night came in the direction of Spokane goalie Eric Williams, who had 40 saves in a more than creditable performance. It's an advantage that helps the psyche of the guy minding the space between the pipes at the other end.

"Sometimes as a goalie on a team like this, you take a backseat as far as the limelight goes," Carruth said. "I seem to play a little bit better that way, when I don't have to think about too much."

Only one thing could have been better for Carruth in Game 2. In the closing minute, with the Chiefs having pulled Williams for an extra attacker, Carruth cleared the puck from behind the goal and sent it off the boards near mid-ice. It bounded off the glass and ended tantalizingly close -- perhaps two feet -- wide of the Spokane goal.

"One bounce here or there, it could have been in," said Carruth, who hasn't scored a goal in his WHL career. "But it wasn't meant to be."

A minor quibble on a night when Mac Carruth wrote his name into the record books of both the Winterhawks and the WHL. A night the grizzled graybeard won't soon forget.

kerryeggers@portlandtribune.com

Twitter: @kerryeggers

Portlands Latasha Mitchell rushes for more than 250 yards and scores three times in the 42-0 win

MILWAUKIE — The drizzly weather put up more resistance than the opponent Saturday night, as the Portland Fighting Fillies ran over the Tacoma Trauma 42-0 in the Women’s Football Alliance season opener.

The Fillies took the lead on their second possession with receiver Christy McAtee slicing across the field on 3rd-and-10. She gave a quick wave between the hashmarks, and rookie QB Rebekah Chee found her with a high dart that beat a Tacoma double team.

The team moved into scoring position when running back Latasha Mitchell broke around the left side for a big gain that put the ball inside the 5-yard line. The drive almost fizzled when Tacoma’s Zakiya Shaw delivered a hit in the backfield that popped the ball loose. Portland’s Ashley Kondziela pounced on it to maintain possession for the Fillies.

Two plays later, Chee sent a low pass through the middle on third down. Once again, McAtee was the target. And once again she came up with the grab, this time dropping to the turf and catching the ball at the goal line.

The Fillies wouldn’t waste much time finding the end zone again.

Portland got the ball back after linebacker Holly Custis delivered a jarring hit on the Tacoma QB, and Sonya Doolittle recovered the fumble near midfield.

Two plays later, Mitchell broke free 36 yards down the left sideline to make it 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Mitchell also scored on a pair of 62-yard breakaways in the second half and finished with 16 carries for 247 yards.

Mitchell found the Fillies after playing flag football in Washington D.C. the past five years. The fast start puts her on the radar for the league’s Rookie of the Year honors — an award that went to Fillies running back Lauren Robideau in 2012. She is not with the team this spring.

Fillies’ kicker Melanie Allen was perfect on four point-after attempts, but suffered misses on a pair of mid-range field goals.

Tacoma managed only two first downs and ran only a handful of plays on Portland’s side of the field.

The Fillies host the well-established Seattle Majestics at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Milwaukie High School. The Majestics defeated the Utah Jynx 47-18.

View a photo gallery from the game at ...

http://daveball.exposuremanager.com/g/april6_fighting_fillies_v_tacoma

Scoring summary

TACOMA 0 0 0 0 — 0

PORTLAND 13 8 7 14 — 42

First quarter

PRT — Christy McAtee 10 pass from Rebekah Chee (Melanie Allen kick), 3:51

PRT — Latasha Mitchell 36 run (pass failed), 1:19

Second quarter

PRT — Ashley Kondziela 2 run (McAtee pass from Chee), 5:26

Third quarter

PRT — Mitchell 62 run (Allen kick), 13:59

Fourth quarter

PRT — Tori Lopez-Redford 2 run (Allen kick), 14:40

PRT — Mitchell 62 run (Allen kick), 13:30

A decade ago, when Oregon faced one if its greatest-ever infrastructure challenges in replacing its failing bridges, state leaders knew exactly where to look to set priorities.

Today, we face a new challenge: Our aging, and in some cases obsolete, school facilities are reaching the end of their useful lives, and only strategic investment will solve the problem.

The problem is, we don’t know where to start.

When we replaced our bridges, we knew exactly what spans would get the greatest return on investment — what bridges were closest to failing, how much traffic they carried, how much it would cost to replace them.

We set a master list of priorities statewide, and we continue to chip away at it.

Even though school facilities are a local concern, we need a statewide strategy to support school facility needs and capital investment planning.

There are two bills in the Legislature that would do that — HB 2916 and SB 540 would establish a statewide task force on Capital Improvement Planning, and direct the Department of Education to establish and maintain a public facility information database that includes energy use, seismic ratings, education performance, operations and maintenance costs, enrollment projections and technology upgrade status.

Think of it as an Oregon roadmap for our school buildings.

This kind of work is being promoted by the Community Investment Initiative, a group of public — and private-sector community leaders helping create jobs by looking for new answers for 21st century challenges. We’ve partnered with seven school districts in the Portland region to develop a school facilities analysis tool.

That tool assesses school conditions while also factoring in performance and demographic characteristics. The Data Resource Center at Metro, the regional government, has provided the technology to help create this web-based tool.

If it were used statewide, it could help the Oregon Department of Education, because it factors in all of the facility areas outlined in HB 2916 and SB 540, and includes additional student demographic analysis.

The need to protect and enhance Oregonians’ investment in public school facilities is critical as buildings age and the need for technology enhancements increases.

The Initiative also believes that investing in infrastructure to support the creation of living-wage jobs is tied directly to supporting workforce development. This means fostering educational opportunities for all students, statewide, in fields with high employment potential is critical.

ECONorthwest analyzed Oregon’s high school graduating class of 2006 and determined that the percentage of high school graduates who completed a college degree by 2011 in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields was only 2.5 percent.

Given the growth of technology-related companies in Oregon, and the need for workforce development, increasing STEM educational opportunities for Oregon students, will help provide greater employment opportunities thereby increasing overall economic prosperity.

We’ve got plenty of jobs in STEM fields, and we’ll have more in the future, but Oregon is not educating many students in STEM programs.

Providing more STEM programs and making these opportunities more available, especially to underserved urban and rural communities, is imperative.

If not, Oregon STEM employers will continue to hire from outside the state to meet their work force needs.

Two bills also being considered this session include SB 498, which will increase training opportunities in essential STEM employment fields, and HB 2636, which establishes STEM leadership and grants statewide.

In order to deliver and increase STEM programs in all educational settings, we must address classroom readiness, and using a statewide facility analysis tool will help determine capital improvement needs to provide such programs.

The Initiative encourages support for these bills. Enhancing our investment in public school facilities statewide, and expanding STEM educational programs designed to increase human capital opportunities for all Oregon students, will directly benefit Oregon’s economy for years to come.

Joe Rodriguez is a member of the Community Investment Initiative’s Leadership Council, and is chairman of the council’s schools facilities committee. He is a former superintendent of the Hillsboro School District.

Just about every interested party has found — or soon will discover — something to detest in a state budget plan making its way through the Legislature that promises a substantial increase in school funding.

n Public employee unions already are scorning proposed changes to the Public Employees Retirement System, and plan a legal challenge if the reforms are adopted.

n School boards and administrators, on the other hand, warn that proposed PERS reforms fall far short of what’s needed to prevent them from cutting school days or laying off teachers in the coming year.

n Meanwhile, business people and higher-income individuals are wary of the as-yet-undefined “revenue enhancements” that again will target the same people who’ve been required to pay additional taxes in Oregon for the past several years.

Details of the budget plan, authored in part by state Sen. Richard Devlin,

D-Tualatin, have become less cloudy in the past two weeks. As clarity increased, so has the intensity of opposition to certain elements in the plan. From our viewpoint, however, any budget roadmap that has created so many enemies must have something going for it — namely balance.

Step toward PERS reform

We agree with critics who think the proposed PERS reforms are too tepid. We also are concerned that Democrats who control the Legislature appear determined to raise taxes — once again — on business owners. This state already has one of the highest tax rates on upper-income earners in the nation, and yet the Legislature feels compelled to return to the same well.

Eventually, this fascination with taxing the “wealthy” will damage the economy as business people choose to live elsewhere.

Our concerns about the budget proposal, however, are tempered by reality. The PERS reforms proposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber would have done more to slow the cost of a retirement program diverting too much money from schools and other services, but the governor’s plan isn’t likely to get sufficient support from fellow Democrats in the Legislature.

A more pragmatic plan being pushed by Devlin and other legislators would produce $455 million in PERS savings — as opposed to Kitzhaber’s $800 million. Both proposals include caps on cost-of-living increases for PERS retirees, but the legislative plan is more graduated.

Devlin also argues, with some persuasiveness, that his approach is more likely to withstand the unions’ legal challenges. Even if that proves to be untrue, the legislative plan is less risky, since it places a bit less emphasis on the state’s ability to prevail at the Oregon Supreme Court.

Imperfect, but realistic

On the positive side, the budget proposal developed by Devlin and state Rep. Peter Buckley, co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, would make important investments in local schools. At a funding level of $6.75 billion, K-12 schools would begin to recover from recent years of damaging cutbacks.

The $6.75 billion number won’t cure all that ails schools. As Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith noted in her 2013-14 budget message, the proposal turns the tide of state disinvestment in education, which has resulted in larger classes, shorter school years, school closures and reduced electives, but it does not restore those programs or educational opportunities.

The co-chairs’ budget is an imperfect solution to a complex problem. However, it continues the work started in 1995 and 2003 to rein in the growth of PERS, and it leaves open the probability that such work will need to continue during the next two or three legislative sessions.

Critics of this budget — and particularly the PERS proposals — can complain about whether it goes too far or not far enough, but in the end the Legislature must do what is possible. We believe the co-chairs’ budget has the greatest chance of actually becoming law and establishing a funding floor for public schools while also protecting higher education, human services and public safety.

Legislators should press ahead with the budget outline, knowing that when everyone is dissatisfied, they must be getting closer to an equitable solution.

Gordon Russell Middle School

Second trimester, 2013

Eighth grade

4.0 — Allison Chastain, Meg Cook, Lindsay Coutts, Ming Fung, Michelle Garcia, Monica Garcia, Emma Garfield, Tayler Haglund, Joely Hand, Bailey Kahan, Lacey Knutson, Britton Luker, Joy Macalanda, Brady Maynard, Alyssa McVay, Kelsey Menolascina, Sarah Meyer, Laura Molina, Timothy Naumets, Jackie Rivas, Laura Rizzo, Danica Salitore, Andrew Severson, Zander Standish, Natalie Tercek, Jake Thompson and Sarah Willhite.

3.5-3.99 — Pilialoha Ahina, Ashley Albelo, Benjamin Arthur, Emily Axtell, Madison Bauck, Samantha Bergeron, Gaby Bowman, Moyrah Brushwood, Marcus Butler, Yasmin Camacho, Robbie Cantrell, Colbie Carlos, Joanna Carrasco-Anica, Sydney Clay, Fulurans Dihzod, Alyson Dow, Perrie Eischen, Kayli Ellis, Rachel Fetters, Adam Fisher, Tommy Fornoff III, Hunter Frasier, Kalissa Gallagher, Makenna Gallagher, Emma Ingram, Taryn Jacobson, Marshall Johnson, Josh Jones, Helen Kim, Noa Kindred, Cameron Koford, McKaylah Kuhns, Kayla Lankford, Maribel Martinez, Chloe Mathes, Kiara McNeal, Dennis Nguyen, Peter Nicolae, Pricilla Olivares, Christian Ordway, Kyla Penrod, Dmitriy Prozapas, Wyatt Radke, Melanie Rivas, Melanie Roberts, Ariel Sangoquiza, Gabriela Santos De Jesus, Duncan Scott, Kyra Sexton, Madison Topaum, Phillip Tsukanov, Alez Valle, Sam Winczewski and Cieara Yates.

Seventh grade

4.0 — Vaimoli Bigler, Kailie Franco, Sarah Gernhart, Conner Grimes, Gretchen Heiser, Erich Hofmann, Alyssa McCurley, Kenna Perzel, Holly Severson, Adrie Slawik, Lauren Timzen, Anthony Wilkins and Autumn Wilson.

3.5-3.99 — Kassy Allen, Alondra Alvarez, Rachel Amadio, Jackson Batman, Jacob Biesterfeld, Anthony Bobrovnikov, Abigail Cohen, Caroline Corvese, Lacey Elwood, Estefany Garcia-Delgado, Sara Hawks, Henry Heiser, Grace Hildebrandt, Kiana Hytrek, Tessa Jenness, Jamisen Jette, Taryn Jones, Amelia Joy, Hayden Kehn, Lauren Kohlhepp, Tristan Kuzma, Rachel Loeb, Aileen Lor, Alayna Luna, Celestria Martin, Emily Nagel, Jimmy Nicholson, Benjamin Petryuk, Nicholas Pritykin, Jessica Romero, Gary Schmidt, Emma Stewart, Clayton Swank, Megan Ward, Tavish White and Karlee Wood.

Sixth grade

4.0 — Jennifer Bordine, Chloe Bowen, Cora Bruders, Lexi Cheney, London Christiansen, Melissa Cook, Isabella Crumpton, Kimberly Dawson, Josie Edmiston, Sophia Emerson, Kenzley Enyart, Lexi Heaton, Amber Ingram, Jenna Jette, Jaclyn Jimison, Sarah Kim, Cody Loeb, Noah Lowery, Kiley Maynard, Savannah Meyer, Jasia Mosley, Shania Nair, Sara Nasuta, Ella Neiwert, Khue Nguyen, Jordan Olsen, Shyloh Pekham, Darcy Pound, Makennah Ray, Hannah Rispler, Magi Sexton, Laura Stanley, Rachel Stanley, Andrew Tercek, Kyree Thames, Yiu Tran, Whitney Waddell, Alicia Zhang and Ben Zimmerman.

3.5-3.99 — Marwa Al-Baiaty, Jasmine Brown, RJ Connolly, Marquiss Cruz Katelynn, Doyle Tanner Dunsworth, Jared Eggleston, Zoey Erickson, Tayler Evi, McKenzie Ferguson, Tetiana Gamza, Adrian Garcia, Jennifer Gonzalez-Sierra, Reece Haney, Emily Herman, Luis Hernandez-Martinez, Savanah Horsell, Dylan Humphrey, Mahir Lisic, Carter Loeb, Kevin Lucas, Lisa Martin, Makyla Meeuws, Jacob Nonamaker, Christian Olivares, Vanessa Pocol, Chase Ramberg, Peyton Randol, Giovanna Schodrow, Savannah Serviss, Talen Stoner, Jenna Tate, Andrew Tatro, Eddy Tello Hernandez, Iris Van der Meer, Pashence Vescovi, Kelsey Williams, Milly Wilson, Haily Yates, Grace Yowell and Jennifer Zambrano.

Dexter McCarty Middle School

The following students were named to the second trimester honor roll at Dexter McCarty Middle School:

Sixth grade

4.0 — Julia Adams, Kate Alngog, Tyler Budge, Cameron Causley, Ben Cleverley, Makenna Cloutier, Grace Escutia, Fidel Flores Lopez, Dylan Frank, Robert Galindo, Jesus Garcia, Connor Henkle, Abby Hernandez, Ally Luna, Ian McMurray, Sydney Nielson, Estella Ortiz, Ariyana Sanchez, Jayden Sare, Yuliya Stoyanova, Alaina Valkenaar, Isaac Weaver, Nicolina Williams, Joel Yasin and Sam Zhou.

3.5-3.99 — Noah Anderson, Blake Bieker, Natalee Buskirk, Ricardo Castro, Jared Davis, Marissa De Anda, Trevor Dowdy, Carissa Farley, Seth Gatlin, Tyson Gradwahl, Jack Havrilla, Ashley, Hinojosa-Vejar, Savanna Johnson, Madelyn Jones, Tiffany Jones, Czara Liu, Natalie Lopez, LaDaiyce Lovan, Steven, Lua Hernandez, Brynna Lutz, Roly Mariano-Gonzalez, Natalie Marshall, Christiana Matheny, Harmony McCullough, Abby Morris, Jarod Navarrette, Destiny Ogbeama, Kate Olvera-Molina, Lily Ritz, Marian Roshdy, Ajaypal Samra, Humberto SanLuis Cervantes, William Schumacher, Ben Schumacher, Kayley Sebastian, Samuel Shulga, Savannah Smith, Alexander Stone, Seraleena Vang, Elian Vasquez Cortes, Elly White, Tess Wix, Taylor Wyant and Elizabeth Yuzko.

Seventh grade

4.0 — Kaitlyn Allison, Sarah Barnhart, Bailey Bates, Jenna Bures, Conner Glenn, Devyn Haley, Isaac Klementis, Emma Loftin, Zoe Morillo, Jorden Moss, Victoria Myers, Caleb Podarelu, Tyler Pond, Ethan, Porter-Hughes, Daniel Rangel, Liliana Rekdahl, Ezra Samperi, Hannah Warren and Trenten West.

3.5-3.99 — Emy Abdelmalak, Michelle Arroyo-Juarez, Melodee Beltran, Janely De Los Santos-Bustamante, Gabe Detles, Kendra Fairbanks, Brandon Fajardo, Lance Hartung, Amy Lor, Jessica McCaslin, Shelby Moran, Keira Norwood, Carina Nunez-Rojas, Wyatt Peoples, Portia Perkins, Rian Ragnone, Kiana Rodriguez, Ariana Silva, Hannah Thorsen, Beka Traver, Edgar Trejo-Hernandez, My Tungkongnuch, Ellie Vandenberg and Chloe Vaughn.

Eighth grade

4.0 — Jaymen Beall, Charissa Billings, Austen Carpenter, Gabe Carsner, Destiny Cha, Chelsea Davis, Denisse Delgado-Munoz, Joanna Eckhardt, Dillon Foglio, Avey Gradwahl, Nathaniel Hamilton, Garrett Henkle, Noah Huggett, Bryn Lasher, Leala

Machuca, Corrine Nelson, Jena Patel, Tyler Pederson, Chloe Sprauer, Elizabeth Stuart, Eve Vang, Maya Walbridge-Hoeft and Vincent Wu.

3.5-3.99 — Liuda Bobu, Gabrielle Bosso, Stephanie Cortes-Flores, Alex Cuevas, Michelle Duffey, Caleb Fast, Joshua Fojas, Samuel Fortune, Michaela Francois, Miranda Gab, Max Gatlin, Mackenzie Gibbs, Artem Glodyanu, Hannah Hemstead, Spencer Jacobs, Tyler Kruckman, Susie Leon, Tyler Linch, Mikayla Long, Maria Lopez-Gutierrez, Jordan Madary, Dosjanee McCloyn, Kadon Meigs, Peter Melton, Alexis Meza, Ani Moss, Kelly Norris, Ben Peachey, Valeria Perez-Salazar, Kaitlin Pettit, Gisela Rodriguez Lopez, Alejandro Rojas-Carrillo, Jayda Ruiz, Mercedes Rupert, Ethan Shupp, Brooke Smith, Kaylee Stilwell, Avery Sundberg, Aris Vlad, David Woung and Angelica Yuzko.

Library story time features fair housing rights

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon and Cleveland High School drama students are partnering for a story time presentation in Troutdale about fair housing rights.

April is Fair Housing Month, the 45th anniversary of the signing of the federal Fair Housing Act, that protects our civil rights in housing.

The event will be held at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Troutdale Library, 2451 S.W. Cherry Park Road.

In honor of the anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, signed into law April 11, 1968, the event features a variety of library readings throughout the area.

Council representatives will be available to speak with families after the event. The council also will offer copies of a statewide poster. For more information, visit fhco.org or email dhess@fhco.org.

Bemis to address high school leaders

Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis will address high school leaders at the Mt. Hood Conference Workshop from 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday, April 29.

The Mt. Hood Conference includes Barlow, Centennial, Central Catholic, David Douglas, Gresham, Reynolds and St. Mary’s Academy. Bemis will

speak about being a school leader and school community. 

Help KNOVA, eat at Taqueria Rico Taco

The KNOVA Parent-Teacher Organization in the Reynolds School District is holding a fundraiser all day and all week April 14-20.

When patrons bring a KNOVA flier with them to Taqueria Rico Taco, 111 S.E. 181st Ave. at Burnside in Gresham, 25 percent of total sales will go to the group.

The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, orders to go and drive-through service.

Patrons are encouraged to make copies of the flier and bring friends and family to help support fundraising efforts to purchase a laminator for the KNOVA teachers.

For more information, visit knovalearning.com.

Health sessions offered for low-income families

United Way has asked for help recruiting low-income, uninsured Multnomah County residents to attend a listening session about health.

The session will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, on the fourth floor of Catholic Charities, 2740 S.E. Powell Blvd., Portland. Childcare and a light meal are provided. The first 25 participants will receive a $25 Fred Meyer Gift Card.

To participate, you must be 18 years or older and have no health insurance or qualify as low income.

The Gresham-Barlow School District has voted to move forward its school bond measure plans for the November 2013 ballot.

At its Thursday, April 4, meeting, the board voted to finalize ballot measure language to seek voter approval of a $210 million bond measure.

The bond would fund school renovations plus security and technology upgrades throughout the district. The board will vote on the ballot language at its July school board meeting.

On Thursday, March 7, the board accepted the recommendation by an advisory committee to proceed with a bond election.

While the advisory committee recommended taking the measure before voters in May 2013, the board favored waiting until the November 2013 ballot.

School board members voted to direct staff to craft the language and an explanatory statement for the November ballot.

The bond would rebuild the almost 100-year-old Gresham High School, repurpose West Gresham Elementary School and consolidate Deep Creek Elementary School and Damascus Middle School into a kindergarten through eighth-grade model.

Additionally, all schools would receive safety and security improvements, upgrade buildings that average 40 years old, improve career technical education and STEM classes (science technology, engineering and mathematics) and allow for increased enrollment and full-day kindergarten.

ARMY

Army Reserve Pvt. Kerri A. Peetz has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C.

Peetz is the daughter of Kimberly Renolds and the stepdaughter of Clark Reynolds, both of Portland. A 2012 graduate of Gresham High School, Peetz is the granddaughter of Cynthia Peetz-Yochim of Gresham.

AIR FORCE

Air Force Airman Katherine C. Eischen graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Eischen is the daughter of Claire Eischen of Kihei, Hawaii, and George Eischen of Gresham,.

She is a 2012 graduate of Sam Barlow High School.

A 20-year-old Mt. Hood Community College student from El Salvador took the stage with former President Bill Clinton and Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert on Saturday night, April 6.

Glenda Maribel Alfaro Salmeron, a student in Mt. Hood’s SEED program, finished second in the Clinton Global Initiative University’s Commitments Challenge, held at Washington University in St. Louis. A surprise party was held in honor of Alfaro and her seven Mt. Hood classmates who attended the conference Monday, April 8.

“When I walked out and people were clapping, I felt very proud,” Alfaro said. “We didn’t win, but our effort was 100 percent, and it feels really good to be here still representing my family and country, MHCC and the SEED program. This experience is like a dream. I’m still so surprised and excited.”

The SEED program brings young leaders from rural areas of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to the United States for two-year technical training programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and administered by Georgetown University.

For her project, Alfaro committed to replenishing nutrient-poor soil and stimulating agricultural production through composting in her hometown, Jardins de la Nueva, El Salvador, a village of 100 people.

This November, she will return to El Salvador to distribute composting bins to 12 families and teach them the basic procedures for composting at home.

As the only community college in the competition, MHCC went head-to-head against some of the most esteemed schools in America, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke and Columbia universities.

“I’m overwhelmed with pride for Glenda and our entire local, national and international community that has supported this effort,” said Nikki Gillis, SEED program coordinator. “What a dream for her and the other seven students from Mt. Hood who attended the conference!”

Mt. Hood Community College has announced the tenth president in its 47 years, Debra Derr.

The college Board of Education approved Derr as the presidential finalist Saturday, April 6, after a public forum and second round of interviews.

The president of North Iowa Area Community College, Derr has held senior administrative positions at Mt. Hood Community College and Clackamas Community College.

“We are impressed with Dr. Derr’s credentials and strong connection to our college and community,” Board Chairman Dave Shields said in a press release. “Her leadership style is highly inclusive and participative. She is prepared to help move MHCC forward as it meets a number of important challenges, such as sustainable funding and graduation goals.”

Derr began her community college career as an adult returning student more than 30 years ago. She served as a senior administrator in Oregon and Wisconsin before becoming president of North Iowa Area Community College.

Derr received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Linfield College, a master’s degree in counseling from Portland State University and a doctorate in community college and higher education administration from Oregon State University.

She has experience working with students who have disabilities, along with advising and counseling, teaching psychology and student development courses and administering student affairs programs.

With college president Michael Hay retiring June 30, 2013, a search committee including students and employees had selected Debra Derr, Suzanne Miles and Jacob Ng as finalists.

After Miles came under scrutiny as interim chancellor at Pima Community College, she dropped out of the running Wednesday, March 20.

Mt. Hood Community College serves more than 30,000 students each year and offers more than 70 two-year degrees, certificate programs and transfer options.

Chamber Calendar

Connect with Success AM Meeting, 7-9 a.m. Friday, April 12, Gresham-Barlow Web Academy, 1426 S.E. Fifth St., Gresham.

Connect with Success AM Meeting, 7-9 a.m. Friday, April 19, hosted by the American Cancer Society at Oregonians Credit Union, 247 E. Powell Blvd., Gresham.

Learn at Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, Greater Gresham Baptist Church, Rock Room, Building A, 3848 N.E. Division St., Gresham. Learn the variety of ways different generations view their place of business, with the discussion topic “An Inside Look at How Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomers View the Workplace.” Scheduled guest speakers include Amber Cochran and Danielle Gonzalez, with Little Genius Montessori, and Dawn Loomis, from Mt. Hood Community College. Event is free for chamber members; or a non-refundable $15 charge for future members. Registration is required. For more information or to register, call the chamber office at 503-665-1131.

Ambassadors, 7:30-8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 18, Elmer’s Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner, 1590 N.E. Burnside Road, Gresham.

Gas company issues scam alert

Officials with NW Natural are warning customers of a new scam circulating that, at the moment, appears to be targeting minority-owned businesses.

Customers have reported receiving phone calls from someone informing them they have a past due balance that needs to be paid immediately with cash to avoid having their service shut off. The caller directs the customer to go to a Western Union outlet and provides them with a phone number to call for details on where to wire the cash payment.

None of the NW Natural customers who have received the bogus calls had past due bills. While the scammers appear to be aimed at businesses, officials with the gas company warn residential customers to be wary as well. Customers with past due balances may be contacted by NW Natural for payment collection, but the company will never ask a customer to wire money.

If you receive a questionable phone call, officials ask that you try to get the phone number for the caller and report it immediately to NW Natural Customer Service, as well as your local police department.

For more information, call NW Natural at 800-422-4012.

Local eatery makes top 100 list in national publication

For the second year in a row, Tortilleria y Tienda De Leon’s has wowed a national publication with its homemade, authentic Mexican fare.

The April issue of Travel and Leisure Magazine placed Tortilleria y Tienda De Leon at No. 9 out of 100 places in America where visitors can eat like a local. Judges were most smitten by the restaurant’s Cactus Salad.

Last year, Food Network host Rachael Ray named Tortilleria y Tienda De Leon to her list of eateries with the best tacos in the nation.

The restaurant is at 16223 N.E. Glisan St. For more information, call 503-255-4356.

Boring bed and breakfast is a place where worlds collide

The guest books at Fagan’s Haven bed and breakfast in Boring extol the hospitality and serenity of both the venue and its proprietor, Jane McClain.

But one of the acknowledgments closest to McClain’s heart isn’t in a book. It’s handwritten on a paper napkin.

“One of my regular guests comes out here to escape,” McClain said. “She has a high-pressure job and stays here two or three days every so often to sew. After she left one time, I found a note on one of the tables in the studio. It said, ‘Your world means the world to me.’ One of these days I’ll get around to framing it because that meant a lot.”

The cozy bed and breakfast inn, off Highway 212 in the Damascus city limits, is as welcoming and laid-back as its owner. It’s not easy to find, nestled in an established residential neighborhood, and may well live up to its reputation as “the best-kept secret in Oregon.” But area quilters who hole up for weekends in the detached 1,000-square-foot studio know it well. So do McClain’s “regulars,” who return time and again for her farm-like breakfasts, nearly 1 acre of serene landscaping and brace of ducks for companionship.

Yet the main attraction is probably McClain herself. She exudes a Mother Earth type presence, feeding her Muscovy ducks by hand and tending to a small garden.

A paralegal by profession, McClain is also a longtime quilter, with a background as colorful and varied as the vibrant patterns on the handmade quilts adorning her home. In her lifetime, she has worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon in Montana, at a baby carriage factory and slaughterhouse in Australia, and raised and shown American Staffordshire terriers (pit bulls) in the southern United States.

These days, her wanderlust somewhat tempered, she prefers to open her home to those who bring the world to her.

McClain, 65, was born in Lusk, Wyo. The daughter of a long-haul truck driver, she spent her early years living out of a suitcase until her father laid down roots in Lusk as a local attorney. McClain grew up not far from the house where her father was raised, which, in hindsight, might have predicted her future.

“The old house where Dad grew up was called the Fagan House,” she said. “My dad always told me he would buy that house for me, if I agreed to live in it. I told him no way was I going to live in Lusk. Oddly enough, it’s now a bed and breakfast.”

McClain married her high school sweetheart, Dick, in Arlington, Texas, in 1969. The couple promptly moved to Sydney, Australia, and later to Dawson, where their daughter Mikki was born in 1972. The family returned to the United States in 1973, living in Montana and Texas, before purchasing their first home in Artesia, N.M., in the mid-1970s.

Succumbing to her father’s broad hints, McClain returned to school in the late 1970s to study pre-law. She completed her undergraduate degree in 1982 and was accepted into law school at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. But after graduating in 1986, she found herself a single parent and in need of a change in scenery.

“My sister, Joyce, and I had taken a trip together a few years earlier, right before I started law school and she got married,” McClain recalled. “At the time, our lives as we knew them were going to change, so we took a trip to Alaska. It was one of those times where every time I got off the plane, I knew I could live there. All my sister would say was, ‘I would visit you here.’ Except Nome. She refused to visit if I moved there.”

McClain packed up her daughter and moved to Anchorage. She went to work for the Alaska Office of Special Prosecution and Appeals, with the understanding that a permanent position was contingent upon receiving her license. McClain lost interest in becoming a licensed attorney, however, when attempts to pass the bar didn’t go so well. Instead, she found success as a paralegal, which she continues to do part-time for a firm in downtown Portland.

But juggling a career and a young child left McClain with little time to sew and quilt, a common passion she and Joyce had shared since childhood. Plus, with Joyce in Oregon and McClain in Alaska, times spent together stitching were few and far between because of the geographic barriers.

“I sent my sister an email one day, after I had a dream,” McClain said. “It was something about a place where she could come over, we could sew and I would cook and vacuum up her loose thread clippings. My sister said, ‘That sounds nice. Where is it?’ I told her it was in my head.”

In 2004, while visiting Joyce, who lived in Gresham at the time, McClain decided to test the real estate market to bring her vision to reality. Her criteria was a home suitable for a bed and breakfast, but one with a “rumpus room or bonus room” large enough for groups of quilters or crafters. After looking at 14 houses, McClain and Joyce found the ranch-style home on Hollyview Terrace in Boring.

“The garage had been turned into a bonus room and I thought that would work for a studio,” McClain recalled. “But then the owner asked if I wanted to see the shop, an outbuilding behind the house. They were going to turn it into a welding shop, but hadn’t done it yet. I could see the potential, and that’s when I knew this is where I needed to be.”

McClain returned to Alaska, leaving her sister in charge of securing the licenses and permits required to open an in-home business. She managed part of the renovation project long-distance, finally moving into the home in 2006.

Fagan’s Haven offers three guest rooms, two with sliding doors leading to the backyard and one with a private bath. The rooms are named for the landmark areas important in McClain’s life — New Mexico, Wyoming and Alaska — and decorated with family heirlooms and native artifacts. Each bed is covered with a quilt handmade by McClain or her guests, while welcome baskets in each room hold toothbrushes and other essentials guests might need. Bookcases brim with a wide assortment of movies and books for guests, and a small nook off the kitchen offers coffees, teas and between-meal snacks.

But McClain’s studio is nothing short of nirvana for quilters. Extra sewing machines, irons and ironing boards, along with walls of design books and additional “quilting toys” are available for use by guests. Two 8-foot-square design walls allow quilters to hang their work as they experiment with a quilt layout. The interior is flooded with natural light, through skylights and an 8-foot-by-12-foot sliding door and window framed by quilts made by McClain’s mother. On a clear day, Mount Hood appears to be within reach through the oversized window.

McClain designed Fagan’s Haven to be a place where her world and that of her visitors collide. It’s a homey oasis that sends guests back to their world in better balance after spending time in McClain’s world.

“People come to a bed and breakfast for the home atmosphere,” McClain said. “And that’s what they get here —my stuff is around, and this is my home. You will never leave hungry, the coffee’s always on and you’re always welcome. My favorite guests are the ones staying here at any given time.”

If you go

Who: Fagan’s Haven bed and breakfast inn

Where: Off Highway 212 in Boring

What: Three guest rooms and 1,000-square-foot studio for quilters and crafters; McClain serves a continental breakfast Monday through Thursday, with a full farm breakfast of homemade fare Friday through Sunday; room rates run from $65-$85 per night. Advance reservations are required.

Call: 503-658-2010.

They are subject of probes into permit approval of former mayor's accessory structure

Two Troutdale city officials are on paid administrative leave in the wake of ongoing investigations into a controversial building constructed by former Mayor Jim Kight.

Building official Dick Bowman and Rich Faith, community development director, have been placed on “non-disciplinary, paid administrative leave,” said Troutdale City Manager Craig Ward.

Both leaves are the result of last summer’s City Council initiated investigation into a 2,000-square-foot building that Kight had built next to his house on Jackson Park Road while he was mayor.

Kight has emphatically insisted the building is a city-approved, legal accessory structure that does not qualify as a house. He uses it as office space to manage his rental properties.

Troutdale city councilors, however, called the building a house, complete with an unfinished basement. The council commissioned an independent investigation conducted last summer, which the council said showed that Kight misled city staff and took advantage of the city’s permitting process to get the building approved even though it violates city codes by being a house.

The structure is next to his existing house on Jackson Park Road, and the property that both buildings are on is zoned as single-family residential.

Kight’s property is along Beaver Creek, an off-shoot of the Sandy River, and as such is in a flood plain. Dwellings in a flood plain can’t have basements — and Kight’s structure has an unfinished basement, two offices, a bathroom and a kitchen.

Last summer’s investigation was forwarded to numerous government agencies that oversee everything from zoning to state licensure of city officials to flood-plain issues, including the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Those agencies are conducting their own investigations into the structure and the process under which it was built. It’s those investigations that have resulted in Bohlmann and Faith being placed on leave.

“The public is rightfully concerned how the city of Troutdale will address the issues raised by the investigation into the structure on former mayor Kight’s property,” Ward said. “Further follow-up research is under way to examine processes followed throughout the permitting and inspection of this structure. Pending the outcome of our further research Dick Bohlmann, the building official, and Rich Faith, the community development director, have been placed on non disciplinary paid administrative leave.”

As for Kight, he is no longer mayor. Residents last November voted him out of office. And last month, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission — a seven-member citizen commission that enforces government ethics law — agreed to conduct a formal inquiry into the structure.

It has scheduled a meeting about the investigation on Aug. 23.

Penalties could range from a letter of “education” to a maximum civil penalty of up to $5,000, although some outraged residents have suggested that the city order Kight to tear the structure down.

Elmer Eichler

March 10, 1937-April 3, 2013

Gresham resident Elmer Eichler died Wednesday, April 3. He was 76.

Visitation will be held from noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at Gresham Memorial Chapel, followed by a funeral service at 2 p.m. Private interment will be at Willamette National Cemetery.

Elmer was born March 10, 1937, in Portland to Henry and Pauline (Albert) Eichler. He was raised and educated in Portland, graduating from Jefferson High School.

He served in the United States Army as a teletype operator stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. After his honorable discharge in 1962, Elmer worked for Coats and Clarks as a shipping and receiving clerk.

Elmer is survived by his sister, Florence Smith of Gresham; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Gresham Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. The family suggests contributions to the American Heart Association.

Robert J. Rossmiller

Sept. 30, 1924-April 5, 2013

Troutdale resident Robert J. Rossmiller died Friday, April 5. He was 88.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at St. Henry Catholic Church, 346 N.W. First St., Gresham. Military Honors will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 15, at Willamette National Cemetery.

Robert was born Sept. 30, 1924, in Pomona, Calif., to Joseph and Helen (Schmelze) Rossmiller. He enlisted in the Navy March 1943 and served during World War II. While in the service, he met and married Yvetta Laughlin. Robert worked as an aerospace machinist.

He was preceded in death by his sister and a daughter. Robert is survived by his wife, Yvetta; sons, Joe Rossmiller and Michael Rossmiller; daughter, Roberta Cockeram; sisters, Mary Figlioli and Janet Millsap; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Gresham Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.

Benjamin H. Thomas

March 19, 1924-April 1, 2013

Gresham resident Benjamin H. Thomas died Monday, April 1. He was 89.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, April 12, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 1015 S.E. 182nd Ave., Portland. Private interment will be at St. Anthony Catholic Cemetery.

Benjamin was born March 19, 1924, in Lebanon, Ky., to Benjamin and Anna Louise (Wathan) Thomas.  

In 1942, Ben married Margaret Bible in Walla Walla, Wash. In 1943 he enlisted with the United States Army, participating in the Normandy invasion. Ben was honorably discharged in 1946.

He worked for 39 years as a pressman in the advertising department for The Oregonian, retiring in 1989.

Margaret died in 1981. In 1984, Ben married Vivian Boggan, who died in 2006.

Ben is survived by his daughters, Sherrel Thomas and Paulette Fisher; sisters, Eleanore Rickle and Molly Thorten; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Gresham Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.

Julian F. Gildersleeve

Feb. 12, 1991-April 2, 2013

Former Gresham resident Julian F. Gildersleeve died Tuesday, April 2, in Salem. He was 22.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, April 12, at Gresham Memorial Chapel, 257 S.E. Roberts Ave., Gresham.

Julian was born Feb. 12, 1991, in Portland to Jon Gildersleeve and Katherine Melo. He was raised in the Portland and Gresham areas, attending Pathways High School in Gresham.

Julian loved his furbies, music and movies. He enjoyed shopping, walking and biking.

He is survived by his mother and father; brother, Lucas Sipe; grandparents, Richard Richard Sandra Melo; and an aunt, uncles and cousins. 

Gresham Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.

Emilie Jo Jackson

June 29, 1943-April 2, 2013

East County resident Emilie Jo Jackson died Tuesday, April 2, in Portland. She was 69.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Gresham United Methodist Church, 620 N.W. Eighth St.

Emilie was born June 29, 1943, in Moline, Ill., to Donald and Eula (Diamond) Jackson.

Emilie attended public schools in Rock Island, Ill., and graduated from Augustane College. She was a member of the Black Hawk Hiking Club and a volunteer at a children’s museum. 

In Oregon, Emilie was a member of Gresham United Methodist Church.

Survivors include her husband, John Andersen; sister, Susan Jackson; her brother-in-law; and a niece and nephew.

Bateman Carroll Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Financial help is available for residents struggling to pay recent rent increases resulting from Gresham’s new $7.50 a month fee for public safety and parks.

Human Solutions has teamed up with the city of Gresham to offer aid through a rental assistance program designed to help low-income families and individuals living in Gresham pay the fee.

Starting Feb. 1, the city adopted a $7.50-a-month utility fee to raise enough money to prevent more cuts to police, fire and park services. Since most property owners are passing the fee onto tenants in the form of higher rent, the city set aside about $25,000 for assistance to low-income families and partnered with Human Solutions to allocate the money to residents.

Qualified applicants can receive a one-time rent assistance payment of up to $90.

Families that have applied for assistance are extremely grateful for the help, said Jean DeMaster, Human Solutions’ executive director. “They say it’s really making a difference in paying bills,” she said. “They don’t have enough money for rent, food and utilities. In many cases, we also give them assistance for their utilities bills.”

She expects interest in the rental fee assistance program to increase over time as more people see that their rent is going up when their leases expire.

The new fee went into effect in February and applied to all households and businesses in Gresham. A new one-time-only yearly surcharge on business licenses also took effect in February and costs businesses $2 per employee with the first 50 employees being exempt.

Together, the fee and surcharge will raise $3.5 million for public safety and park services before the temporary fee expires June 30, 2014. By then, residents will have voted in May 2014 on a five-year levy to replace the fee and surcharge.

To qualify for rental fee assistance, residents must live in multi-family housing, such as an apartment, and have documentation that their rents went up as of Feb. 1. They also must not receive a utility bill from the city of Gresham, and household income must be below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

Residents can apply for aid at the Human Solutions Rockwood Office, 124 N.E. 181st Ave., Suite 109, between 3 and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by appointment. Human Solutions can be reached at 503-548-0200.

Applicants must provide income verification for the last 30 days, proof from a landlord of a rent increase of at least $7.50 a month, picture identification or another form of identification for each adult in the household (to avoid duplicate aid) and a signed copy of the rental agreement.

— Mara Stine

It’s an honor whose winners include state and local heavy hitters, such as Edith Green, Fred G. Meyer, Glenn Jackson and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr.

Now, East Multnomah County’s very own Jean DeMaster joins the list of 85 Portland First Citizen Award winners.

“There are all these people of prominence,” said DeMaster of the prior winners. “And then there’s me.”

For 40 years, DeMaster has worked in social services as an advocate for the homeless, underserved and poverty-stricken. She’s spent the past decade serving as executive director of Human Solutions, an East County-based agency dedicated to helping low-income and homeless families and individuals become self-sufficient by providing affordable housing, employment and family/social services.

So it’s both appropriate and ironic that DeMaster — who has helped provide emergency, transitional and affordable housing to thousands — is being honored with an award presented by a professional organization whose members serve homeowners.

“This award is all about civic involvement,” said Kathy Querin, chief executive officer of the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, which will present the award to DeMaster during a banquet in her honor Wednesday, April 10.

The Portland First Citizen Award was created in 1928 by the Portland Realty Board, now called the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, to honor civic achievements and business leadership with the community.

“Jean had done such incredible work in her community. As Realtors we recognize that home ownership simply isn’t available to everyone. The number of people she has helped shelter is incredible. Her dedication is practically unsurpassed,” Querin said.

Last year, more than 90,000 people and families in outer East Portland and East Multnomah County received services through Human Solutions — everything from short-term emergency rent assistance to avoid eviction to job training to help paying a utility bill.

On any given night, Human Solutions provides housing or emergency shelter for approximately 730 homeless people in more than 240 families.

DeMaster, who is 66 and lives in the Wilkes West neighborhood, found out she’d received the honor two weeks ago when Carla Piluso, president of the Human Solutions’ Board of Directors, asked to meet with her.

At first, DeMaster was a nervous, since it’s a bit like getting called into your boss’s office for a chat.

But when Piluso told DeMaster she’d been selected from 40 nominees as the 2013 Portland First Citizen, DeMaster was shocked.

“I was totally stunned — to tell you the truth, I was just stunned,” DeMaster said.

While under DeMaster’s leadership, Human Solutions has gone from a small rental assistance agency to one of East Multnomah County’s largest charities, serving more than 7,000 households a year.

DeMaster partnered with 30 churches to develop a shelter/aid network for homeless families. One congregation in Parkrose even teamed up with Human Solutions to use parts of its church as a shelter for homeless families during cold and wet winter months.

During her tenure with Human Solutions, DeMaster has worked for seven years with local, state and federal government agencies along with businesses, development partners and community representatives to create a center where low-income East County residents could access various services under one roof, near the light-rail line and in one of the area’s poorest neighborhoods.

In October 2011, the $19.2 million Rockwood Building opened just north of Northeast 181st Avenue and East Burnside Street.

It includes 47 units of low-income housing, 15 of which are for previously homeless families, as well as office/facility space for seven nonprofit human-service agencies, including Mt. Hood Head Start, Loaves & Fishes, The Wallace Medical Concern, LifeWorks Northwest and Metropolitan Family Service, and Mt. Hood Community College.

A former educational assistant will spend four months in jail and must register for life as a sex offender after pleading guilty to having sex with a high school student in 2008 and 2009.

Amy Barnes Dial, 42, of Portland on Monday, April 8, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sex abuse for having sex with a boy who was 17 at the time of the abuse, said Det. John Rasumssen.

She did not work directly with the victim, but was employed for 10 years as an educational assistant in special education classrooms at four elementary schools in the Centennial School District, said Wendy Reif, spokeswoman for the Centennial district. Dial worked as the junior varsity cheer coach for Centennial High School from 2004 to 2006, but stopped working for the district at the end of the last school year, Reif said. But she could not comment on what ended Dial's employment other than to say she was not placed on paid administrative leave.

The case came to the attention of Gresham police in 2009, when another teen reported it, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Don Rees, who prosecuted the case. “She was known to hang out around the high school football players a lot,” he said.

Through her employment with the district, Dial came into contact with the victim, whom she often texted, Rees said. The abuse went on for more than a year and ended after he was 18. She was prosecuted only for offenses that took place before he became a legal adult since those are the ones that are illegal, Rees said.

Back in 2009, when police heard about the case, the victim refused to cooperate with investigators and didn't want to press charges. With no corroborating evidence, the police had no case, Rasmussen said.

Four years later, in June 2012, the victim approached detectives regarding the abuse, and police resumed their investigation

Dial began her 120-day jail sentence Monday, April 8. She is scheduled to be released July 20, after which she must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life, can't work with children and will be on probation for five years.

It was a strange sight – a trio of people loading an airplane propeller into a truck at a Pleasant Valley gas station early Tuesday, April 9.

But that's what a caller at 7:18 a.m. reported to police, who responded to the suspicious activity at the Space Age Fuel at Southeast Foster and Jenne roads, said Sgt. Pete Simpson, Portland Police spokesman.

While on the way there, officers from Portland's East Precinct discovered that Troutdale police officers had just taken a report of an airplane propeller stolen from a vehicle at the Holiday Inn Express in Troutdale.

At the gas station, police stopped the suspects' truck – a 1992 Ford F250 pickup – took three people into custody and recovered not one, but two stolen propellers.

The victim of the Troutdale theft arrived and confirmed that the propellers were his, so police returned them to the owner.

Police arrested all three suspects – Donald Paul Olson, 31, Michael John Anderson, 44, and Stefanie Nicole Anderson, 30 – and booked them into the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Michael Anderson is being held on allegations of first-degree aggravated theft and possession of burglars tools.

Olson is being held on an allegation of first-degree aggravated theft and Stefanie Anderson is being held on an allegation of first-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated theft.

Simpson said the arrests wouldn't have been possible without the alert 9-1-1 caller who “recognized that the suspects' behavior and possession of an airplane propeller was unusual in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood of Southeast Portland.”