Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from March 2003

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from March 2003

Multnomah County Circuit Court reporters hit hard by budget cuts.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Multnomah County Circuit Court employee Jennifer Wiles is out of a job. And she isn't alone. Wiles is one of 14 court reporters at the courthouse officially laid off this past Saturday due to budget cuts that...

New, growing threats make insurance hard to navigate.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl In addition to recent increases in insurance premiums for commercial properties, building owners now have new and growing threats like mold and terrorism to consider. Following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York...

Work continues on West Side Combined Sewer Overflow project.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Nestled away in Northwest Portland's Industrial District, amidst warehouses and factories, work continues to progress on the Nicolai Shaft portion of the West Side Combined Sewer Overflow project. "When the...

Report touts new approach to ODOT's bidding process.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Oregon would benefit from conducting more transportation projects through partnerships with private companies, a state committee says. In a recently released report, the Innovative Finance Advisory Committee,...

Oregon architecture firm looks to Washington for projects.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Giffin Bolte Jurgens, a Portland-based architecture firm specializing in health care projects, recently reported that it's in the process of designing over $100 million in health care projects, all in Washington....

Leasing activity picks up at Beaverton's newest mixed-use development.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl The turn-around at The Round, Beaverton's newest mixed-use development, continues with a new office lease and steady condominium sales. Galois Connections, a Beaverton technology company, announced last week it...

Remodeled homes highlight weekend tour in Portland.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Despite fears about pending war and still-high unemployment, Americans continue to spend money on home fix-ups, a trend expected to push to record numbers attendance for an upcoming tour of Portland metropolitan...

Vanport Square developer looking for anchor tenant.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl The search is on for an anchor tenant to get things rolling on the Vanport Square project, a three-block, mixed-use development planned for inner Northeast Portland. "This is the most vital step in getting phase 1...

Portland's Green Building Division to report progress.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough The city of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development's Green Building Division will report to Portland City Council today regarding the program's progress throughout its short existence. "We're reporting on...

Lake Oswego High School construction breaks ground.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough A groundbreaking ceremony for Lake Oswego High School took place on Friday. School board members, students, parents and staff were present at the event, as well as representatives from LSW Architects, J.J. Henri...

Sunnyside Road widening project running on schedule.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Construction workers and drivers are almost ready to switch sides on a widening project on Southeast Sunnyside Road. Since the project started in early summer of last year, crews have focused their work on...

Portland Opera to move to east bank of Willamette River.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After 14 years of leasing space in Southwest Portland, the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre will soon have its own digs, but it's going to mean a move across the river. The opera will purchase the former KPTV 12...

New leader takes reigns at Portland office of Trammell Crow.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After searching for nearly eight months, the Portland office of Trammell Crow Co. has found someone to take the helm. Lindsay H. Gordon will take over immediately as city leader and principal. In this role,...

Lake Oswego Village sold to GMS Realty.
March 7, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After a lightening-fast stint on the market, the 86,608-square-foot Lake Oswego Village has been sold to California-based GMS Realty LLC for $12.3 million. The Albertsons-anchored shopping center, located in the...

Workshops teach safety, health at occupational safety conference.
March 7, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Over 1,000 people crowded into the Oregon Convention Center this week for the Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference. The conference, which began on Tuesday and continued through Thursday,...

Sheet metal workers are graduate apprenticeship program.
March 7, 2003... Byline: Dan Carter It took five years of class work and 9,000 hours of on-the-job training. That's what 50 commercial and residential sheet metal apprentices accomplished to graduate, or be "turned out," tonight to become full-fledged...

Bureau of Immigration and Customs looks for new Portland office space.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl The city still has its sights set on the historic federal building at 511 N.W. Broadway St. and the federal bureaus that inhabit its floors are officially looking for a new home. Formerly called the Immigration and...

Crises test Port of Portland's communication skills.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Most companies have a standard plan for getting the word out about good news, from record-breaking profits to a market expansion. But when a crisis hits, a basic plan forces a shift to crisis mode, a situation in...

Women in Construction Week comes to Portland.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough With events and activities having already taken place across the United States and Canada, the sixth annual Women in Construction Week is scheduled to take place in Portland next week. Sponsored by the National...

ODOT sets date for St. Johns Bridge closure.
March 11, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga The Oregon Department of Transportation is edging closer to a definite date for a seven-week closure of the St. Johns Bridge. Max J. Kuney Co., a Spokane, Wash. firm acting as general contractor for the $33...

Oregon OSHA adopts new masonry wall bracing rules.
March 11, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Simply put, construction sites for masonry workers in Oregon are about to become less hazardous. With safety concerns mounting, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division revised its existing rules...

Commentary: Humor in business: From gambling to compensation.
March 11, 2003... Byline: Jim Penn With all the crises in our society today, it's downright difficult to write humor, but I found a couple of things that should amuse you. It's funny (and ironic) that the Grand Ronde tribe has offered to help Portland...

Smith & Bevill Jewelers ends search for new home.
March 11, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After a decade of searching, Bill Bevill has found a new home for his business. Smith & Bevill Jewelers Inc. will soon move into a local landmark on Southwest Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Built in 1974 to house...

Outdated Hillsboro bridge to be replaced.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga A $4 million bridge project in Washington County is still up for grabs for general contractors looking to fill summertime work schedules. The county needs to build a new structure to replace the circa-1949...

Work on cultural arts center continues.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Efforts to remodel a former Hillsboro church into the Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center are progressing despite a funding shortfall. Work on the former Trinity Lutheran Church, located at East Main...

Hillsboro planning commission to consider proposal to build Wal-Mart.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl A proposal to put a Wal-Mart in Hillsboro will go before the city's planning commission for the third time tonight. Wal-Mart wants to build a 142,865-square-foot store and a 12-acre parking lot on the corner of...

Vancouver contractor joins in state Capitol seismic renovation.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Rich Riegel Not all projects done by a general contractor involve construction and renovation. Vancouver, Wash.-based Merrill Contractors Inc. is lending its expertise on a $101.2 million seismic upgrade at the state Capitol in...

Architectural Foundation of Oregon elects new leaders.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Rich Riegel The Architectural Foundation of Oregon has elected its officers and new directors for 2003. In his second term as president, Gary Reddick, a member of the American Institute of Architects, is a principal with Sienna...

Commentary: Learning from leadership: How to recognize a non-leader.
March 12, 2003... Byline: Bernard Levy There are many definitions of leadership. Most have value but, in this speeded-up world, we often ignore them and support smooth operators who talk and act in the short-term. A true leader learns from history and uses...

Commentary: Just what is an investor to do during these times?
March 13, 2003... Byline: Judith McGee President Bush just gave his speech on his Iraqi position and intent to follow through on the war. Businesses are frozen with uncertainty. The equity markets are stuck in a rut. People are anxious and fearful. "I...

Mill Pond Village utilizes brownfield site in Astoria.
March 13, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Leave it to a resourceful city economic development department and an imaginative developer to come up with a scheme that transforms a vacant and contaminated mill site into a ritzy, upscale neighborhood. What began...

Renovation planned for Northeastern Oregon building.
March 13, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough For over 80 years, the Enterprise Mercantile and Milling Co. Building has been a landmark in the rural Northeastern Oregon community of Enterprise. The building, which once operated as a full-service mercantile...

DA offers advice to help contractors fight crime.
March 14, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga If Multnomah District Attorney Michael Shrunk could offer one word of advice for the general contractors trying to prevent break-ins and thefts on job sites, it would be this: prevention. The need for...

Kruse Woods V office building gets first tenant.
March 14, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough As construction on the $33.9 million Kruse Woods V office building in Lake Oswego continues, the building's owner, Equity Office Properties Trust, announced it has signed the first tenant for the building. Lime...

Bond issue touching all Estacada schools.
March 14, 2003... Byline: Dan Carter In 2000, nearly 60 percent of the citizens of Estacada voted for new and better schools for their city. The effects of the $25.4 million bond issue -- the largest one ever passed by the school district -- are now...

Seminar focuses on funding for public projects.
March 14, 2003... Byline: Daily Journal of Commerce With the past wealth of private building projects in Oregon shriveling to a trickle in recent years, a growing number of architecture, engineering and construction companies in the state have shifted their...

Klamath Reclamation Project headgate replacement nears completion.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Rich Riegel The Oregon project that drew national attention as a battle between farmers and fish is nearing completion as the region prepares for the upcoming irrigation season. Slayden Construction Inc. is reaching the final...

Donation aids Portland's architectural preservation.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga A nonprofit group's quest to create a center dedicated to preserving Portland's architectural past recently received a $1,000 boost, courtesy of the owner of a local remodeling company. Tom Kelly, president...

Architectural Foundation of Oregon to offer $40,000 in grants.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Even a sluggish economy could not keep the Architectural Foundation of Oregon from raising record funds last year. The AFO, which began as an arm of the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects...

Sheet metal apprentice program a winner.
March 18, 2003... Byline: Dan Carter The Sheet Metal Local 16 Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee was the overall award winner in last weekend's annual second-, third- and fourth-year apprentice competition at the Local 16 Sheet Metal Training Center in...

Pacific Tower apartments nears completion.
March 18, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough With its ascension now complete, the Pacific Tower apartments is currently undergoing final interior and structural finishes in preparation for a May opening. The 16-story structure, located in Northwest...

Commentary: Don't forget your thumbs in bodybuilding - Use that remote!
March 18, 2003... Byline: Jim Penn Coming out of my usual early morning funk, resulting from lingering "sleep bunnies" and hard-to-pinpoint pain from sleeping in wrong positions, I turned on the TV before the continuing depressing economic news and the...

Oregon Dept. of Transportation to close lanes, bridges for repair work.
March 18, 2003... Byline: Daily Journal of Commerce The upcoming nighttime closure of the St. Johns Bridge, which begins March 25, has grabbed the most public attention in roadwork news headlines lately. But the Oregon Department of Transportation is...

Hillside Community Center construction project is moving along quickly.
March 19, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough With the first phase of a project to construct a 580-square-foot multipurpose room for Northwest Portland's Hillside Community Center now complete, the next phase is poised to begin. Phase I of the project took...

Commentary: Wisdom from and for the ages in this time for reflection.
March 19, 2003... Byline: Bernard Levy If I was Jim Penn, I would probably say, "Now is the Thyme for Sage advice from Rosemary (Wisewoman) and Basil (Thinkingman). I'm not Mr. Penn. I treat our current predicaments that have resulted from lapses of truth,...

Senator suggests using highway fund for education.
March 19, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga If it comes down to fixing roads or funding education, Sen. Frank Shields, D-Portland, says there's no choice. "Some highway maintenance can be deferred until the economy picks up," Shields said. "A child's...

Keller Auditorium to undergo remodel.
March 19, 2003... Byline: Rich Riegel A $750,000 remodel project, made possible by a donation from the Richard B. Keller family, is set to begin at Portland's Keller Auditorium. Located on Southwest Third Avenue between Market and Clay streets in...

Colliers International cleans up at Soc. of Industrial & Office Realtors awards event.
March 19, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Brokers from Colliers International took home top honors at the Portland chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors annual awards event. The breakfast - held Friday at the Oregon Zoo's Cascade Crest...

Local firm sees rise in security projects.
March 20, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough With a code orange terror alert in effect for the third time since Sept. 11, 2001 and war with Iraq looming, attention to security issues continues to increase around the nation. Locally, Architects Barrentine....

Portland's Fire Station No. 1 is part of real estate development plan.
March 20, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl The Portland Development Commission has voiced initial support for moving the Portland Fire Bureau's Fire Station No. 1 in order to create a large residential development adjacent to the Skidmore Fountain. The...

Pro bono work priority for Univ. of Oregon law students.
March 20, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga James McCurdy headed to the University of Oregon's School of Law two years ago armed with what he calls the "trite, white-male, middle-class dream." The dream -- to make a positive impact on society -- isn't...

Engineering program enables local students.
March 21, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough When Elliot Apatov, an independent teacher, set out to build a 200-square-foot storage platform in Gregory Heights Middle School, located in Northeast Portland, the last thing he expected was to find out that he...

Clark County bridge work closes freeway.
March 21, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga A portion of Interstate 205 in Washington's Clark County is off limits to drivers this weekend as crews begin work on a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will include some of the longest girders ever used on the...

Land Conservation & Development Comm. approves industrial UGB land.
March 21, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl The Land Conservation and Development Commission yesterday approved five industrial land sites recommended as part of the expansion of the urban growth boundary. The regionally significant industrial areas include:...

Williams & Dame compete for Tacoma project.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Portland development gurus Homer Williams and Dike Dame are finalists vying against a California firm for the opportunity to develop two waterfront sites in Tacoma. Williams & Dame and Danville-based Nearon...

Oregon State Univ. engineering programs merge, look to future.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough With the recent merger of its Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and its Department of Computer Science, Oregon State University hopes to become one of the top 25 engineering schools in the nation....

Oregon Graduate Institute celebrates 40 years with event.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Rich Riegel In the early 1960s, with Sputnik focusing attention on space exploration and science education, then-Gov. Mark O. Hatfield ordered a study on the feasibility of a graduate science education center in Oregon. Less...

Commentary: Treating children in and out of the family business equally.
March 25, 2003... Byline: Bob Stein If you own a family business, chances are you expect your children to eventually succeed you in owning and running the business. And as a parent, you probably want your estate divided among your children as equally as...

Port of Portland taps Nike exec for marine terminals post.
March 25, 2003... Byline: Daily Journal of Commerce Nathaniel Ruda will leave a three-year stint as director of global transportation at Nike Inc. to accept a position as head of marine terminals for the Port of Portland, the agency announced last week. ...

Residents help developer protect job site from theft, vandalism.
March 25, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga When Hoyt Street Properties began plans to create 3,500 new residential units and about 150,000 square feet of retail space in a 34-acre area called Hoyt Street Yards, the development company compiled a list of...

Commentary: Entrepreneurial opportunity: Adequate housekeeping.
March 25, 2003... Byline: Jim Penn I was stuck in the bathroom last week with nothing but my wife's April issue of Good Housekeeping to read. I tried to recall the last time I was caught under similar circumstances; it was 20 years ago. Don't get me...

Finalists present bold aerial tram designs.
March 26, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After months of hype about the aerial tram, Portlanders got their first glimpse of what the proposed people mover might actually look like. The four finalists in the international design competition presented their...

Expo highlights popularity of log homes.
March 26, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Gregory Bagarozy is quick to tell people not to expect any log cabins of the "Abe-Lincoln-in-the-back-woods" variety at the Log Home and Timber Frame Expo, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Portland Expo...

Commentary: A critical view of the issue: Let's turn Oregon around.
March 26, 2003... Byline: Bernard Levy Most newspapers do a reasonable job of reporting the news. It's not always timely, but I realize that resources are limited. And, there's so much to cover. My difficulty with news coverage is consistency. I figure...

Oregon State Univ. engineers create transparent transistor.
March 27, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Several years of research has finally paid off for a group of engineers at Oregon State University. The engineers recently announced that they have created a transparent transistor using zinc oxide. The...

Seattle firm wins Iraqi port Umm Qasr contract.
March 27, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Stevedoring Services of America, a Pacific Northwest company that leases and operates Terminal 2 at the Port of Portland, is preparing to send a group of its employees to Iraq to oversee operations at the port of...

Portland chooses aerial tram design team.
March 27, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Los Angeles and Zurich, Switzerland-based Angelil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholl will design Portland's future calling card and innovative people mover, the aerial tram. The announcement, made yesterday at city hall, was...

Commentary: But the real question is: Are we ready for inflation?
March 27, 2003... Byline: Judith McGee In personal finance, planners consider interest rate and return assumptions, your personal marginal tax rate and inflation key assumptions in preparing retirement plans for their clients' futures. Inflation has been...

Portland's Naito Corp. to receive national award.
March 28, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl After more than 80 years of business in Portland, Naito Corp. will be honored by the Japanese American National Museum for its achievements as a successful Japanese American business guided by three generations of...

Dental office features unconventional design.
March 28, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough Complete with original wood floors, exposed ceilings, a fully functional art gallery, aromatherapy candles and therapeutic background music, Pearl District Dental is changing many of the notions associated with a...

Interim director named for Portland's Bureau of Development Services.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Cody McCullough After officially gaining control of the Bureau of Development Services Wednesday, Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard named Ray Kerridge, a 24-year veteran of the Portland building department, as the interim...

Cracks in Snake River Bridge confound ODOT.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga Two weeks after the state closed a bridge in Eastern Oregon near the Idaho border, engineers for the Oregon Department of Transportation are scratching their heads over what caused cracks in the structure. ...

Hillsboro's AmberGlen campus signs four new tenants.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Liberty Mutual, Northwest Logic Inc., Zhone Technologies and Cascade Semiconductor Solutions are the latest companies that will soon call Hillsboro's AmberGlen home. Located on Northwest Cornell Road west of 185th...

Landscaping strategy key for commercial building owners.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Aimee Curl Members attending the Institute of Real Estate Management's monthly luncheon last week learned something important -- turf and trees can survive side by side. Judging by the audience's nervous and knowing laughter...