from The Oregonian
SEPTEMBER
Washington County sheriff's deputies respond to a call for help in unincorporated Washington County, north of Tigard, after reports that a drunken teen armed with a pocket knife is breaking windows and threatening himself and others. Within about four minutes of the deputies' arrival, a Tigard police officer fires nonlethal beanbag rounds at 18-year-old Lukus Glenn. Then two sheriff's deputies shoot him to death. In October, the county district attorney's office upholds the officers' actions, declining to send the case to a grand jury.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
2006: Highlights, lowlights and other Dubious Distinctions
from The Oregonian
Sweet, sad, big, small, infinite, fleeting. News in Washington County covered all the adjectives in 2006.
The year was as sweet as the 12-year-old Murrayhill ballplayers who ventured across the country and came oh-so-close to winning a world championship. And it was as sad as sheriff's deputies killing Lukus Glenn, an out-of-control teenager, outside his Tigard-area home.
A fatal plane crash jeopardized the future of the Hillsboro air show. Then last week, show organizers snagged the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for 2007.
In Beaverton, the conjunction of two small animals --a cat and an iguana --caused an apartment fire.
Some sagas seemed never ending: Nike versus Beaverton, county Fair Board versus fair boosters. Other stories were fleeting: A Hillsboro teenager got in trouble for pulling his socks up high.
And some stories are becoming all too familiar. Three of the county's young men died in military service in Iraq.
Here's our recap of the moments that made us smile, cringe or cry over the past year --with hopes that we'll see more of the first in 2007.
Boys of summer: Murrayhill Little League took fans on a wild ride when the 12- and 13-year-olds became the first Oregon team in 48 years to earn a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The team ended up in third place.
Top cops: The Beaverton Police Department was one of three winners worldwide of the Webber Seavey Award, recognized for its identity theft and fraud prevention program. The department shared the honor, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Motorola, with the District Police in Nalgonda, India, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Win some: Wal-Mart won approval from the Cornelius City Council to build a supercenter on North Adair Street.
Lose some: After a monthslong battle, Wal-Mart's plans to put a store in the Cedar Mill area ultimately were rejected by the Beaverton City Council.
Putting the "wall" in Wal-Mart: A Forest Grove official offended neighbors in Cornelius when he suggested building a 600-foot wall next to a proposed Wal-Mart to keep shoplifters and thieves out of his community. "The implication is people from Cornelius are going to be stealing things and running into Forest Grove," Cornelius planner Catherine Sidman huffed.
Good intentions, bad timeliness: New city manager David Waffle praised the Cornelius City Council in January for posting its newsletter on the Web in both English and Spanish. He noted, however, that the newsletter currently posted was a year old.
Best sense of humor: Waffle started a weekly online briefing he called "Hot Off the Griddle."
Oh, that trip to Hawaii: Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and Sen. Bruce Starr and Rep. Derrick Kitts, both R-Hillsboro, were among legislators who got in hot water when it was revealed they violated state law by not reporting trips to Hawaii paid for by beer and wine distributors in 2002 and 2004.
It's not the Big Island, but . . . Rep. Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, acknowledged that he failed to report a 2003 trip to Idaho paid for by Idaho Power Co.
Best proof history repeats itself: Al Young lost his May primary bid for Metro councilor after it came out that he owed the county nearly $13,000 in back taxes. Young, a former state representative from Hillsboro, got in trouble in 1989 for owing $25,000 in back taxes on some of the same property.
Dogs gone: Organizers of a dog show expected to draw 2,000 dogs and twice that many people pulled out of the Washington County Fair Complex after they found out the Oregon International Airshow was scheduled for the same July weekend at neighboring Hillsboro Airport.
A fair to forget: Opus Northwest dropped out of a deal to redevelop the county fairgrounds. Company officials said two years of community bickering about what should happen with the property made their job impossible.
Sir Lancelot to the rescue? A Renaissance festival company proposed a 20-year lease to put on a medieval fair, including jesters and jousters, at the fairgrounds. The deal could be worth $500,000 annually to the county.
Most animated undertaking: Nike founder Phil Knight announced plans to build a 30-acre campus in Tualatin to house his animation studio, Laika Entertainment.
In other film news: DVD rental company Netflix Inc. announced it would move its customer service operation from the Bay Area to Tanasbourne.
Best hero, confectionery division: Jake Stubbs, a Glencoe High senior, used the Heimlich maneuver to save a classmate choking on a Jolly Rancher lollipop.
Best heroes, fire division: Kevin O'Keeffe and Peter Bradshaw of Aloha were honored for saving a neighbor's life in an early morning fire. The men pounded on the front door and rescued the wheelchair-dependent resident, who was in bed, before firefighters arrived.
Best hero, primatologist division: Jane Goodall, the celebrity primate expert, named Washo Shadowhawk, a Beaverton teen, as one of her heroes for his volunteer work with Roots & Shoots and the Oregon Zoo.
The Crips, the Bloods and the Socks: Hillsboro school officials sent sophomore Luis Vargas home in October for pulling his socks to the knees, a look they say is sported by local gang members. "I don't dress like this all the time," Vargas said. "I wear nice shirts and pants. But when I wear shorts, I pull up my socks. That's just an outfit I have."
Who knew world records were like potato chips? Hillsboro set a new Guinness World Record in August for the most people wearing balloon hats at one location: 1,874. The milestone stirred hopes of fresh conquests. "We want to have more records in Guinness than any other city," said Mayor Tom Hughes, mentioning clown noses as one possibility.
High price of government screw-ups, Part I: The federal government agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield and his family $2 million for the emotional toll they suffered after the Aloha lawyer was wrongly jailed in connection with the deadly Madrid, Spain, train bombings of 2004.
High price of government screw-ups, Part II: Beaverton's legal bills approached $500,000 in its fight with Nike over public records related to annexation. The tab could grow considerably in January, depending how much of Nike's legal bills a Washington County judge orders the city to pay. The same judge ruled that city officials were in contempt of court for withholding records.
Tired of being like Mike: Allen Heckard, 51, of Northeast Portland filed suit in Washington County seeking more than $800 million from Michael Jordan and Nike founder Phil Knight. Heckard claimed his resemblance to the NBA star had denied him "the right to live a normal life." A few weeks later, Heckard dropped the suit.
The show must go on: A vintage British jet fighter crashed seconds after taking off from the Oregon International Airshow in July. The crash killed the pilot, destroyed one house and damaged three others near Hillsboro Airport. After months of debate, air show organizers vowed the show would return next summer and announced in December that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels would be the headliners.
Best real-life Mr. Chips: Intel donated nearly $207,000 to Washington County public schools to match volunteer hours its employees contributed. The company also donated 200 Gateway laptops valued at $350,000 to a pilot technology program at four schools, including Tom McCall Upper Elementary School in Forest Grove.
No velvet Elvis: Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette earned $165,002 when it auctioned a donated painting from its Hillsboro store. What was thought to be cheap yard-sale art turned out to be painted by Frank Weston Benson, a French-trained American impressionist.
Most valedictorians: Westview High School named every senior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average a valedictorian: 75 students shared the honor.
Most new combinations: Tigard High School had to change 2,000 locker combinations after a 17-year-old student hacked into the school's computer system and posted locker combinations online, along with teachers' home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail passwords.
Easing the road to college: In February, the Beaverton School District became the first in Oregon to pay for all its high-schoolers to take ACT exams, which most colleges and universities accept for admission. Nearly 9,000 students took the tests.
Easing the road to, um, Wilsonville: Construction started in October on a 14.7-mile commuter rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville.
Most generous: Voters in the November election agreed to open their wallets, passing bond measures in the Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts, as well as county levies to pay for public safety and libraries.
Worst news for homeowners: Residents of three Cedar Hills manufactured home parks, totaling 218 spaces, joined mobile home owners throughout the county in finding out they would lose their spaces in the next year. Development pressure makes the land more valuable for other uses, but it's often impossible to find new sites for older homes.
Little people, big audience: TLC, The Learning Channel, made stars of Helvetia residents Matt and Amy Roloff and their four children in a cable reality show called "Little People, Big World." By the end of the year, more than 1.6 million viewers were tuning in to watch the adventures of the family that includes three members who have dwarfism.
Little people, big accident: A pumpkin-chunkin' event turned dangerous for the Roloffs when a trebuchet, a catapultlike machine used to launch pumpkins, injured their 9-year-old son and the man who helped build the device.
Worst dating strategy: An Aloha woman was sentenced to probation and community service after she called 9-1-1, wanting the name of the deputy who had knocked on her door after neighbors complained her music was too loud. The 45-year-old woman told the emergency dispatcher the deputy was "the cutest cop I've seen in God knows how long." The deputy returned and arrested her for improper use of the 9-1-1 emergency system.
Worst spurned lover: Albertson's managers asked a customer to quit coming to the Peterkort store after his attentions and love letters made a clerk uncomfortable. The thwarted Romeo responded by slashing tires on 56 cars in the parking lot.
Sweet, sad, big, small, infinite, fleeting. News in Washington County covered all the adjectives in 2006.
The year was as sweet as the 12-year-old Murrayhill ballplayers who ventured across the country and came oh-so-close to winning a world championship. And it was as sad as sheriff's deputies killing Lukus Glenn, an out-of-control teenager, outside his Tigard-area home.
A fatal plane crash jeopardized the future of the Hillsboro air show. Then last week, show organizers snagged the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for 2007.
In Beaverton, the conjunction of two small animals --a cat and an iguana --caused an apartment fire.
Some sagas seemed never ending: Nike versus Beaverton, county Fair Board versus fair boosters. Other stories were fleeting: A Hillsboro teenager got in trouble for pulling his socks up high.
And some stories are becoming all too familiar. Three of the county's young men died in military service in Iraq.
Here's our recap of the moments that made us smile, cringe or cry over the past year --with hopes that we'll see more of the first in 2007.
Boys of summer: Murrayhill Little League took fans on a wild ride when the 12- and 13-year-olds became the first Oregon team in 48 years to earn a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The team ended up in third place.
Top cops: The Beaverton Police Department was one of three winners worldwide of the Webber Seavey Award, recognized for its identity theft and fraud prevention program. The department shared the honor, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Motorola, with the District Police in Nalgonda, India, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Win some: Wal-Mart won approval from the Cornelius City Council to build a supercenter on North Adair Street.
Lose some: After a monthslong battle, Wal-Mart's plans to put a store in the Cedar Mill area ultimately were rejected by the Beaverton City Council.
Putting the "wall" in Wal-Mart: A Forest Grove official offended neighbors in Cornelius when he suggested building a 600-foot wall next to a proposed Wal-Mart to keep shoplifters and thieves out of his community. "The implication is people from Cornelius are going to be stealing things and running into Forest Grove," Cornelius planner Catherine Sidman huffed.
Good intentions, bad timeliness: New city manager David Waffle praised the Cornelius City Council in January for posting its newsletter on the Web in both English and Spanish. He noted, however, that the newsletter currently posted was a year old.
Best sense of humor: Waffle started a weekly online briefing he called "Hot Off the Griddle."
Oh, that trip to Hawaii: Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and Sen. Bruce Starr and Rep. Derrick Kitts, both R-Hillsboro, were among legislators who got in hot water when it was revealed they violated state law by not reporting trips to Hawaii paid for by beer and wine distributors in 2002 and 2004.
It's not the Big Island, but . . . Rep. Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, acknowledged that he failed to report a 2003 trip to Idaho paid for by Idaho Power Co.
Best proof history repeats itself: Al Young lost his May primary bid for Metro councilor after it came out that he owed the county nearly $13,000 in back taxes. Young, a former state representative from Hillsboro, got in trouble in 1989 for owing $25,000 in back taxes on some of the same property.
Dogs gone: Organizers of a dog show expected to draw 2,000 dogs and twice that many people pulled out of the Washington County Fair Complex after they found out the Oregon International Airshow was scheduled for the same July weekend at neighboring Hillsboro Airport.
A fair to forget: Opus Northwest dropped out of a deal to redevelop the county fairgrounds. Company officials said two years of community bickering about what should happen with the property made their job impossible.
Sir Lancelot to the rescue? A Renaissance festival company proposed a 20-year lease to put on a medieval fair, including jesters and jousters, at the fairgrounds. The deal could be worth $500,000 annually to the county.
Most animated undertaking: Nike founder Phil Knight announced plans to build a 30-acre campus in Tualatin to house his animation studio, Laika Entertainment.
In other film news: DVD rental company Netflix Inc. announced it would move its customer service operation from the Bay Area to Tanasbourne.
Best hero, confectionery division: Jake Stubbs, a Glencoe High senior, used the Heimlich maneuver to save a classmate choking on a Jolly Rancher lollipop.
Best heroes, fire division: Kevin O'Keeffe and Peter Bradshaw of Aloha were honored for saving a neighbor's life in an early morning fire. The men pounded on the front door and rescued the wheelchair-dependent resident, who was in bed, before firefighters arrived.
Best hero, primatologist division: Jane Goodall, the celebrity primate expert, named Washo Shadowhawk, a Beaverton teen, as one of her heroes for his volunteer work with Roots & Shoots and the Oregon Zoo.
The Crips, the Bloods and the Socks: Hillsboro school officials sent sophomore Luis Vargas home in October for pulling his socks to the knees, a look they say is sported by local gang members. "I don't dress like this all the time," Vargas said. "I wear nice shirts and pants. But when I wear shorts, I pull up my socks. That's just an outfit I have."
Who knew world records were like potato chips? Hillsboro set a new Guinness World Record in August for the most people wearing balloon hats at one location: 1,874. The milestone stirred hopes of fresh conquests. "We want to have more records in Guinness than any other city," said Mayor Tom Hughes, mentioning clown noses as one possibility.
High price of government screw-ups, Part I: The federal government agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield and his family $2 million for the emotional toll they suffered after the Aloha lawyer was wrongly jailed in connection with the deadly Madrid, Spain, train bombings of 2004.
High price of government screw-ups, Part II: Beaverton's legal bills approached $500,000 in its fight with Nike over public records related to annexation. The tab could grow considerably in January, depending how much of Nike's legal bills a Washington County judge orders the city to pay. The same judge ruled that city officials were in contempt of court for withholding records.
Tired of being like Mike: Allen Heckard, 51, of Northeast Portland filed suit in Washington County seeking more than $800 million from Michael Jordan and Nike founder Phil Knight. Heckard claimed his resemblance to the NBA star had denied him "the right to live a normal life." A few weeks later, Heckard dropped the suit.
The show must go on: A vintage British jet fighter crashed seconds after taking off from the Oregon International Airshow in July. The crash killed the pilot, destroyed one house and damaged three others near Hillsboro Airport. After months of debate, air show organizers vowed the show would return next summer and announced in December that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels would be the headliners.
Best real-life Mr. Chips: Intel donated nearly $207,000 to Washington County public schools to match volunteer hours its employees contributed. The company also donated 200 Gateway laptops valued at $350,000 to a pilot technology program at four schools, including Tom McCall Upper Elementary School in Forest Grove.
No velvet Elvis: Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette earned $165,002 when it auctioned a donated painting from its Hillsboro store. What was thought to be cheap yard-sale art turned out to be painted by Frank Weston Benson, a French-trained American impressionist.
Most valedictorians: Westview High School named every senior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average a valedictorian: 75 students shared the honor.
Most new combinations: Tigard High School had to change 2,000 locker combinations after a 17-year-old student hacked into the school's computer system and posted locker combinations online, along with teachers' home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail passwords.
Easing the road to college: In February, the Beaverton School District became the first in Oregon to pay for all its high-schoolers to take ACT exams, which most colleges and universities accept for admission. Nearly 9,000 students took the tests.
Easing the road to, um, Wilsonville: Construction started in October on a 14.7-mile commuter rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville.
Most generous: Voters in the November election agreed to open their wallets, passing bond measures in the Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts, as well as county levies to pay for public safety and libraries.
Worst news for homeowners: Residents of three Cedar Hills manufactured home parks, totaling 218 spaces, joined mobile home owners throughout the county in finding out they would lose their spaces in the next year. Development pressure makes the land more valuable for other uses, but it's often impossible to find new sites for older homes.
Little people, big audience: TLC, The Learning Channel, made stars of Helvetia residents Matt and Amy Roloff and their four children in a cable reality show called "Little People, Big World." By the end of the year, more than 1.6 million viewers were tuning in to watch the adventures of the family that includes three members who have dwarfism.
Little people, big accident: A pumpkin-chunkin' event turned dangerous for the Roloffs when a trebuchet, a catapultlike machine used to launch pumpkins, injured their 9-year-old son and the man who helped build the device.
Worst dating strategy: An Aloha woman was sentenced to probation and community service after she called 9-1-1, wanting the name of the deputy who had knocked on her door after neighbors complained her music was too loud. The 45-year-old woman told the emergency dispatcher the deputy was "the cutest cop I've seen in God knows how long." The deputy returned and arrested her for improper use of the 9-1-1 emergency system.
Worst spurned lover: Albertson's managers asked a customer to quit coming to the Peterkort store after his attentions and love letters made a clerk uncomfortable. The thwarted Romeo responded by slashing tires on 56 cars in the parking lot.
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