Yes, another spring is here and we are still wearing our masks and continuing to social distance. Yes, another spring is here and the sun is out, flowers are blooming, trees are blossoming, we can turn the heat down and open our windows for fresh air. While we still follow all the safety protocols, we can socialize more and not feel so isolated. Many have received their COVID vaccines and are probably feeling a bit more empowered to feel safe, go out of the house and be more active.
Being less isolated is good for our health and well-being, but sometimes we need to be home even as things are changing and looking a little more normal. One of our best community resources for things to do at home is our City of Tualatin website, www.tualatinoregon.gov. On the home page under ‘Your Community,’ click on Parks and Recreation and then any one of the links on that page. Even though the Juanita Pohl Center is still closed, they have numerous online and virtual opportunities to take part in. Check it out and I’m sure you will find one or more things of interest.
If you are venturing out, did you know that there is a new piece of art in Tualatin Community Park? It is the City’s first ever outdoor public mural on the wall of the main picnic shelter. It was painted with the help of 90 community members over two weekends and funded by the Washington County Community Psyche Grant. It is a vibrant work of art for everyone to enjoy. How about a picnic in the park by the mural?
If you want to shake off the cobwebs, breathe fresh air and get those bones moving again, the City has several short and long park and pathway walks around the community. It’s a great way to get reacquainted with our natural surroundings. A short walk could be from Little Woodrose Nature Park on Boones Ferry to Lafky Park on Siletz, or Ibach Park to Lafky Park, both of which are under three miles. For a longer walk, there is Browns Ferry Park to the library, or Atfalati Park on Sagert to Browns Ferry Park, or Jurgens Park to the Tualatin Commons, each three to five miles long. You can find more on the City website. Make it a fun adventure and print out one of the scavenger hunt sheets on the site and have a friendly competition with your partner, your kids, your friends or walking group.
I’ve said it before and will say it again: the Tualatin Community has a ‘can do’ spirit. We can weather any storm, survive any catastrophe and bounce back from the pandemic. Because we are families helping families, neighbors helping neighbors, a helping hand, a friendly wave, a warm greeting – that’s what gets us up in the morning, makes us smile and gets us through the day. Be kind to yourself and make sure you smile and say hello to someone today. It feels good and I bet that someone will return the greeting. AND WEAR YOUR MASK!
In 2019 Tualatin joined other communities to become a Bee City USA affiliate. Bees transfer pollen between flowers, enabling plants to flower and fruit. Pollinators are keystone species in essentially every ecosystem on Earth, enabling the reproduction of over 85 percent of all flowering plants and 67 percent of agricultural crops. In addition to the honeybee, there are more than 20,000 species of bees globally, and around 3,600 species of bees native to the United States. With springtime here you can help sustain bees in our city by planting some of the following plants that attract bees and other pollinators:
Bee Balm has frilly flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden. Also known as Oswego Tea, this plant’s dark green leaves have a wonderful orange-mint scent when crushed. The flowers can be red, purple, white, lavender, or pink, and the plant does best in full sun to part shade with well-drained soil.
Joe Pye Weed, a favorite of butterflies, has vanilla-scented leaves and big domes of small, nectar-rich flowers in pink, purple, or white. It blooms in late summer and fall, can grow up to 8’ tall and is even deer-resistant. It prefers full sun and evenly moist, well-drained soil.
Hardy Fuchsia is a good plant to attract hummingbirds. It has long, tubular flowers that hummingbirds love. Most varieties bloom from late spring to frost — sometimes with multicolored flowers. Grow these in part sun to light shade depending on the variety. Be sure to keep the soil regularly moist, and feed them in early spring.
Volunteer Appreciation
The City of Tualatin had over 500 volunteers donate approximately 8,400 hours to the City of Tualatin despite the challenges COVID-19 brought us in 2020. Volunteers filled over 25 different positions, including:
Supporting the Tualatin Public Library’s Take-n-Make program, volunteering to read aloud to friends and family members through the Tween Reader program, and helping the library prepare for its new Makerspace by processing withdrawn items for donation.
Planting trees, shrubs and pollinator-friendly plants through the Put Down Roots in Tualatin program, as individuals, and as part of school and corporate groups.
Through do-it-yourself opportunities, including litter pick up, park clean up, and invasive plant species removal.
Hugging-a-Park — volunteering at a park or trail to complete trail building, install mulch, or landscape maintenance.
In the Juanita Pohl Center with special projects like wellness checks and holiday card/wintertime character letter writing.
During the summer through our TEAM Tualatin and Summer Teen Library programs.
Serving on boards, commissions, and foundations.
On behalf of the City Council, City staff, and the entire Tualatin community, I thank each and every one of our volunteers for your contributions.
State of the City
The State of the City will be virtual this year. It will be held on May 12 from 6 – 7 p.m. It will include all six city councilors and the Mayor, plus special guests. See and hear what was accomplished in 2020 and participate in the question-and-answer session after the video. Go to www.tualatinoregon.gov/citycouncil/state-city for more details of the event.
Alexandria Raquel Herrera will be graduating Summa Cum Laude with the Oregon State University Class of 2021. This June, she is receiving a degree of Honors Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Certificate in Medical Humanities. In the fall of 2021, she will be attending the University of Western States to begin a Doctor of Chiropractic program. She is a former 2017 Valedictorian Graduate of Tualatin High School who received the Navarrette Engineering Scholarship. Ms. Herrera would like to thank Ann Marie & Vance Navarrette and Ed Newbegin (Wade Manuf.) for their scholarship contributions that helped Alexandria be the first in her family to receive a university degree. She would also like to thank all of her teachers and administrators at Tigard-Tualatin School District for their support and encouragement all 12 years as a student.
If you are distressed by the amount of hair loss that you see in the drain when washing and combing your hair and are also seeing thinning of hair on your scalp, you may be one of many people affected by a condition known as alopecia.
The most common type of hair loss affecting more than 50 million men and 30 million women is a category known as androgenic alopecia (AGA). Recession of hairline often begins in the temples and can affect both men and women. Loss of hair in the crown is also typical for men. In women, this pattern of hair loss often begins with thinning and widening at the part line followed by progressive thinning on the top of the head. As the name implies, androgenic alopecia is caused by the increased production an androgen known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on genetically susceptible hair follicles which shortens the growing phase and increases the length of time between shedding and the start of a new growth phase. The hair follicle also changes and so the hair itself is replaced by shorter, thinner, non-pigmented vellus hairs.
Minoxidil, finasteride and hair transplantation are better known therapies for treating AGA. The success with treating with minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia) tends to plateau after one to two years of continuous use and barely exceeds 30% using either of these agents. Finasteride, used only in men, can also cause undesirable sexual side effects.
There is hope on the horizon which may be more effective than the old standards as research continues to unveil new pathways for treatment including:
Valproic acid and PTD-DBM are new topical preparations which interfere with the androgen induced miniaturization of the hair follicle which is seen in AGA without the side effects of finasteride. Treatment with these agents stimulate hair follicles and allow these hairs to develop into mature terminal hairs. These two agents synergize well with each other and results may be further improved in a program that uses other hair growth peptides such as GHK-Cu and Zinc-Thymulin.
PRP (platelet-rich plasma) derived from the patient’s own blood is full of growth signals which can be injected and/or microneedled with a topical anesthetic into the scalp to stimulate the hair follicle and prolong the anagen (growth phase) of the hair cycle.
Microneedling uses small needles to prick the scalp to stimulate hair regeneration signals within the hair follicle. This can be combined with certain topicals to increase penetration of these agents into the scalp such as PRP and hair growth peptides that are deemed safe for use in this manner. Home care may involve the prescribed use of a dermaroller, though this may be limited by the ouch factor if the hair loss is extensive.
Light-based hair regrowth devices (LLLT) include a number of FDA-cleared helmets using red light have mounting evidence supporting their efficacy in stimulating hair growth when used as part of a comprehensive program.
Lt. Col. Bryan Walters presents Mitchell Thaler (right) to rank of Major in the United States Air Force. Mitchell, a 2007 graduate of Tualatin High School and Eagle Scout with Troop 530, attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ on an Air Force Scholarship. He graduated Cum Laude in Astronautical Engineering. He served three tours of duty as a Combat Systems Officer aboard an EC-130 Hercules. He is married, obtained his MS in 2018, and is currently an instructor in Pensacola, FL.
Various programs represented by acronyms could produce money for your business!
ERTC: Employee Retention Tax Credit.
Who? If you pay federal and/or state payroll taxes, you may be able to get a refund.
The tax credit covers any employees working for you from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2021 for whom you paid payroll taxes.
For 2020, you may qualify for a refund of up to $5,000 per employee for the year.
For 2021, you may qualify for a refund of up to $7,000 per employee per quarter.
If you already filed your 941, you file an amendment to get your refund.
If you have not filed your 941, you can ask for an advance for a month in that quarter. For instance, in Q1 2021, you can file Form 7200 for an advance on payroll taxes for January, February, and/or March.
See your payroll processor, bookkeeper, or accountant for more details or contact me.
WOTC: Work Opportunity Tax Credit
What? WOTC is a federal tax credit for employers who hire individuals who found it difficult to get hired. These include veterans, the long-term unemployed, and ex-felons.
The tax credit covers any qualified employees hired between Jan. 1, 2018 and Dec. 31, 2025.
How do you claim the credit? File Form 8850, Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit with your state workforce agency within 28 days after the eligible worker begins work.
File Form 5884-C, Work Opportunity Credit for Qualified Tax-Exempt Organizations Hiring Qualified Veterans as a credit against your employer’s share of Social Security tax.
RRF: Restaurant Revitalization Fund
Who? If you own a restaurant, bar, food truck, wine tasting room, a bakery, or brewery, you may apply for this grant which could be a large as the difference between your 2019 and 2020 gross revenue.
Who? Live performance venue operators, live performing arts organizations, museums, aquariums, movie theater operators, live venue promoters, theatrical producers, and talent representatives impacted by the pandemic. (For more info, see Journal of Accountancy).
Can you get the PPP and the SVOG?
If you won your PPP on or after December 27, 2020, then your SVOG is reduced by the amount of any PPP you received.
Hi there! My name is Krystle and I am the new retail manager for Cascade Organic. I am excited to join this company because I am passionate about feeding my community the freshest local seafood, meat and organic produce that is available on the market. When you order with us, you are giving directly back to your community and ensuring that our farmers, foragers and fishermen are all earning fair wages. In my previous position, I spent over ten years as a customer service manager for Whole Foods Market, there I learned the ins and outs of the natural and organic retail food industry. I am confident that my passion and experience will help me expand the growth of this great company, in a great way! If you have any questions, please contact me at krystle@cascadeorganic.com.
Our Cascade Box bi-weekly subscription is unlike any other because we include a wild foraged item that isn’t found in grocery stores. We also include a recipe with how to prepare it, written by local chefs! Every month we’ll be posting an article in this paper and providing you with valuable tips, tricks and tactics for you to use at home. This month we want to teach you how to transplant tomato plants.
Jeff Michels.
Jeff’s Strategy for Tomato Planting
Planting young tomato plants is simple, fun and will provide a tasty harvest in Oregon in late summer and early fall. Below is some key information for the Oregon home gardener.
Choose tomatoes that have a maturity date of fewer than 100 days from initial seeding. (Some of the best are Eastern European and Russian Varieties.)
If you are buying starts you want to make sure they are in 1-gallon pots or larger prior to final planting. If you start from seed that means 2 transplants.
When transplanting, each time, always remove the initial and lower branches. This is best done by pinching. Do not tear or cut. The idea is to seal the wound when removing.
Dig a hole at least twice the size of your root base.
Plant your tomato up to the lowest branch that is not removed. The stem will then produce additional roots making your plant stronger and able to feed on more nutrients.
Water the roots well before filling in the hole.
Fill the hole with loose soil and mound just a bit to allow for settling.
The Tualatin Commons Splash Pad is getting a makeover. Construction was scheduled to start on March 15 and will wrap up this summer. The splash pad is a key feature of the Tualatin Commons outdoor public plaza in the heart of downtown, and is a popular community gathering place.
The renovations include new spray features, an updated textured and colored concrete surface, and a new recirculating system. The recirculating system includes new pumps and filters that will protect the water quality. Spray features were chosen by the community at one of Tualatin’s newest events: ¡Viva Tualatin!
The original splash pad, soon after completion in 1995.
The splash pad opened in 1994 and is still the only such facility in the city. Due to its age, however, it is due for an update that will ease maintenance issues and address safety concerns.
This project has been made possible through grant funding from the State of Oregon’s Parks and Recreation Department’s Local Government Grant Program and matching funds from the City.
We are all tired of living in a pandemic, social distancing, missing our friends, our family and even our co-workers. Living so isolated has affected us in many ways. For some, new healthy habits have emerged from this past year. But for many the isolation has brought on habits that are not favorable. Many people are eating poorly, living more sedentary than they once were, and personal hygiene as at an all-time low. Biofilm (“plaque”) builds up on the teeth leading to a plethora of oral and systemic health conditions.
Periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss and often has no signs or symptoms until the disease is severe. Left uncontrolled periodontal disease increases risks for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and even Alzheimer’s/dementia.
Lack of dental care and personal hygiene can cause or exacerbate periodontal disease and cause cavities. Missing routine check-ups can lead to these issues going undiagnosed turning small problems into larger ones with a more costly solution.
Stress-induced inflammation is seen as a result of the stress many are facing during this pandemic and plays a huge role in gum health.
Clenching and grinding is another result of stress that can cause fractured/broken teeth, gum recession, fatigue and jaw pain.
Cracked teeth often have no symptoms until the tooth breaks requiring more extensive treatment.
TMJ pain, clicking and popping are some symptoms of an underlying bite issue or can be stress-induced.
Weight gain can exacerbate sleep apnea, increasing risks for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
Poor diet can cause inflammation throughout the body, including the gums, and cause tooth decay.
Dr. Julie Spaniel.
Check in with your oral health care provider to learn about your oral health status and what you can do to improve or maintain a healthy mouth and a healthy body. Along with checking for periodontal disease and cavities, your oral health care provider will perform a cancer screening and look for signs of sleep apnea. We now have the latest, most efficient technology in dental hygiene, Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT). This pain-free method of cleaning gently removes all the plaque from above and below the gumline better than traditional methods. Unlike traditional methods, GBT can clean the gum tissue, leading to improved oral health. Our office features this technology along with our one-of-a-kind Covid-19 safe cleanroom dentistry.
The American Recovery Plan (ARP) that President Biden signed into law on March 11 makes major improvements in access to and affordability of health insurance by increasing financial assistance to help pay for Marketplace coverage.
Within the legislation there are many components that are important to understand about health care choices including:
Open enrollment has been extended through Aug. 15, 2021. For individuals/families who did not take advantage of the open enrollment period at the end of 2020, this is another opportunity to purchase health insurance. Additionally, if you are currently insured you may use this period to change to a different plan.
If you are currently receiving a premium tax credit, you will likely be eligible for a higher subsidy to help cover the cost of the plan premiums. This provision of the law is effective Jan. 1, 2021 and continues through 2022.
If you are not currently receiving a subsidy, you may be eligible to receive one now. The American Rescue Plan will cap the cost of the premiums (for the second-lowest silver plan) at 8.5% of household income. For those of you who purchased your plan directly from the insurance company, you will need to change plans and purchase a plan through healthcare.gov if you want to take advantage of premium assistance. The law increases the premium tax credit for coverage years 2021 and 2022.
If you received or are eligible for at least one week of unemployment payments, in 2021 you are eligible for a silver plan with close to a $0 premium and significant cost-sharing reductions. This will be implemented in July 2021. In the meantime, you can take advantage of the expanded tax credits available based on your income.
The American Rescue Plan will subsidize up to 100 percent of the cost of COBRA premiums for individuals who are involuntarily terminated or had their hours reduced. The availability of the COBRA subsidy does not extend the length of the COBRA continuation itself. The 100% subsidy begins April 1, 2021 and continues through Sept. 30, 2021. It is likely that there will be an opportunity to change to a marketplace plan once the COBRA premium subsidy runs out.
Generally, Medicaid for pregnancy lasts for 60 days after giving birth. With the new bill, states can opt in to extend Medicaid to 12 months. This measure will be in effect for 7 years. Oregon has not yet adopted this provision but may do so.
For the 2020 tax year only, taxpayers who underestimated their income – meaning they paid too little in premiums throughout the year, won’t have to pay back the excess subsidy. The IRS will reimburse people who have already repaid any excess advance Premium Tax Credit on their 2020 tax return – no further action is needed by the taxpayer.
Now more than ever, you should consider having a broker assist you. Agents and brokers are available to help you at no cost. As always, my goal is to help you stay healthy, wealthy & wise, so please give me a call to schedule a time to review your health insurance options. I look forward to hearing from you.
Dawning the field were two rivals ready to clash, one more prosperous in recent years than the other.
In the final regular-season game of the Oregon high school football season, the Tualatin Timberwolves battled it out against rival Tigard at home.
Amanda Fronczak stands amongst the cheerleaders. As had been customary since Tualatin’s second season game, the Tualatin cheerleaders were out in full force, cheering on the Timberwolves. (KASI LAUER/TUALATIN HIGH SCHOOL CHEER)
While attracting widespread attention from the surrounding community, the stands were at capacity, with students, families and Tualatin’s own pep band in attendance. On the opposing side, Tigard’s fans littered the away stands, and on the field, the cheerleaders rallied, keeping the spectators up off their seats and the team together.
After all, the Wolves narrowly took a loss against the Tigers, 23 – 21, the previous year in an ESPN national game of the week.
It was time for a little payback, and in this eerily normal setting, retribution is what they got.
Tualatin spread across the field, and with a kickoff from Tigard’s Henry Masters, the battle began. On Tualatin’s first possession, they managed to drive to the Tigard 14-yard-line.
What followed was Tualatin’s quarterback, Jackson Jones, who threw to Cole Prusia, but just before reaching his grasp, the ball was swatted out by Tigard’s Hewitt Sullivan.
Shortly thereafter, as Tigard moved up the field play-by-play, Tualatin’s Jake Alton intercepted a pass from Zachary Chesler at the 50-yard-line.
The Wolves brought themselves back to Tigard’s 30-yard-line, but this time, they wouldn’t be denied. Jones launched a dead accurate 25-yard pass to a wide-open Prusia who skipped into the end zone for an initial 7 – 0 lead.
Jackson Jones (#4) winds up for what would be Tualatin’s first touchdown of the night, a 25-yard pass to Cole Prusia. Through the night, Jones passed for 243 yards with 18 completed passes. (HENRY KAUS/TUALATIN LIFE)
Jones and Prusia, both juniors, had lost to the Tigers for the past three years. They now held the stage to make this game their own, but not before Tigard answered back.
Tigard’s Keenan Speer-Johnson received an endzone pass for their first touchdown and a 7 – 7 tie with 3:23 in the first quarter. But Tualatin wouldn’t let this slide.
Only 10 seconds into the second period, Alton found an opening and snuck back into the endzone. As Jones searched for a target, he landed upon Alton, only to throw short. Alton, however, dove for the catch and gave the team yet another 7-point lead. Now, they wouldn’t fall short any further, finishing off the half with a dominating effort.
With six minutes left in the half, Jones threw his second touchdown pass to Prusia. At the four-minute mark, Malik Ross caught a bit of the action, taking the hand-off from Jones and blitzing through Tigard’s defense for 18 yards and a 27 – 7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Wolves were able to extend the margin even further with a Ross 8-yard touchdown. And with 4:57 left in the game, Masters nailed a field goal kick, to provide the final score of 34 – 10.
Malik Ross (#23) and his handy maneuvers ruled the night with two touchdowns for the Wolves. (HENRY KAUS/TUALATIN LIFE)
This was no ordinary win for the Wolves. With only two wins against Tigard in the last ten years, the most recent in 2015, this entire team of Tualatin athletes, including Head Coach Dan Lever, had never seen a win against Tigard.
“Think about all the players in the last 10 years, good players, good teams that couldn’t accomplish this,” Lever said in his post-game speech. “They couldn’t get it done, they were just that short here and that short there.”
Keeping their win streak going, Tualatin improved to a 3-1 league record (4-1 overall) with Tigard dropping to 1-3 (1-3 overall).
“We took advantage of our opportunities that we had, and we were putting it all together as a team and as a program,” Lever told Tualatin Life. “I mean the first game of the year, we put up six points. You know, we’ve averaged in the thirties ever since. We get better every week.”
For their next matchup, the Wolves go south to finally face Lake Oswego, an opponent they intended to play on their second week. This game against last year’s championship finalist will be their last for the season.
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign looks different in every city in Oregon right now.
Some cities, like Tigard and Beaverton, have publicly available clinics open to eligible persons, while others, like Tualatin, have been the site of one-time clinics aimed at specific groups of people, usually seniors and people from marginalized communities that have suffered higher rates of COVID-19 infections.
In Tualatin, one such clinic was held at the Juanita Pohl Center on March 14. The City of Tualatin worked with Washington County and its Medical Reserve Corps to host the clinic. It saw around 500 people receive the first of two doses of the Moderna vaccine. Those who attended will receive the second dose on April 11.
“The goal there is to bring smaller clinics to communities around the county to reach populations that are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), marginalized or underserved, that would be better served at a local clinic,” said Lindsay Marshall, a City employee who helped organize the event. “They are moving around the county to different areas for a couple of months, and then they will pick two or three permanent locations to have community clinics.”
Increasingly, supplies of vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are reaching the state. They are then being directed by county health departments toward hundreds of different sites ranging from mass vaccination clinics at the Oregon Convention Center and Portland International Airport to one-day pop-up clinics at hospitals, community-based organizations or senior centers like the Juanita Pohl Center.
Tualatin City Councilor Bridget Brooks receives a COVID-19 vaccination at the Juanita Pohl Center. (COURTESY PHOTO)
“I would say things are going much better than they were at the beginning,” said Mary Sawyers, a spokesperson for the Washington County Department of Health and Human Services. “There is still somewhat of a limited supply, but hopefully we’ll see that changing.”
Locally, mass vaccination sites also include a new Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) clinic being held at Hillsboro Stadium, while smaller clinics continue to be held by Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue (TVF&R) at the Nike Campus in Beaverton, as well as at the Clackamas Community College annex in Wilsonville and the Yamhill County Fairgrounds in Newberg. Rise Church in Tigard also hosted a clinic serving 3,000 people a week through the end of March.
Appointments at local pharmacy chains such as Walmart, Walgreen’s, BiMart, Costco and RiteAid are also available through the Washington County website.
TVF&R Spokesperson Cassandra Ulven said that agency plans to continue to support vaccination efforts in Washington, Clackamas and Yamhill Counties.
“We are seeing at the state level and nationally, an improvement in the dose supply,” Ulven said. “We’ve been planning to scale up accordingly, along with our partners. I think that by mid-May we really will see it be a little less challenging for folks.”
With all Oregonians 16 and older now eligible for vaccination by May 1, that is good news.
“This has proven to be such a good antidote for the last year,” Ulven said. “To be able to do something to tangibly make progress – it’s such a relief.”
For Tualatin resident Karen Koch, 66, getting vaccinated at Hillsboro Stadium in early March was easy. It was signing up in the first place that was challenging. Efforts to secure an appointment at the Oregon Convention Center site fell through, as did attempts with several pharmacies. Finally, she was able to grab a slot at Hillsboro Stadium because she is an OHSU patient. She used that experience to help others.
“I was helping all my neighbors who are older than me and a little less computer savvy to secure appointments,” Koch said.
Tualatin resident Alex Thurber got his vaccination after volunteering to work at OHSU’s Portland Airport clinic. He said the atmosphere of optimism among volunteers there is inspiring.
“It was almost emotional seeing this line of cars coming in and everybody wanting to get the country back to normal,” he said.
Thurber also volunteered at the Juanita Pohl Center clinic as part of the City’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
“It was a really interesting to watch it,” he said. “It was very efficient, everybody was really nice. And at the end, two Council members were helping in the last stage. It’s one of these things, like a 9-11 thing, where everybody is pulling together, at least in Oregon.”
The important thing, Marshall said, is that an increasing number of Oregonians are getting vaccinated.
“People were overwhelmed and had emotions,” she said. “It was a really smooth, joyful sense of relief event. It was great to be able to do that for the community.”
On March 12, 2020, the Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD) gave the order to shut down schools for two weeks in response to the new virus in town, SARS-Cov-2.
Little did anyone know, students would not see classrooms again for over a year later. Now, students are set to return to an in-person hybrid learning model April 19.
In a March 5 announcement, Oregon Governor Kate Brown stated that she would issue an executive order to have public school students return to the classroom, citing the low risk of COVID-19 transmission inside schools.
“The science is very, very clear: with proper safety measures in place, there is a low risk of COVID-19 transmission in school,” Brown said. “Oregon parents can be confident about sending their children back to a classroom learning environment.”
The March 12 executive order requires that all Oregon public schools offer either hybrid or full in-person instruction by the week of March 29 for grades K-5 and by the week of April 19 for 6-12. Fortunately for the district, their return-to-school plan, having been developed over the last year, lined up near perfectly with Brown’s required return dates.
Through March, TTSD’s middle and high schools gave several community presentations outlining their plans for hybrid learning. So, come April 19, what is the middle and high school experience going to look like? (to learn more about elementary, please visit last month’s article)
As it remains an option for families and students to return to hybrid in-person instruction, part of the student body will stay in the classroom and others at home, and several logistical issues had to be addressed. Many of which to do with concerns from families about instructor changes if a student moves from Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) to the hybrid format.
On the high school level, this is dealt with by educators teaching to both an online and in-person audience simultaneously. It will be up to the instructor how they manage both audiences, but they have been given several options by the school administration.
With this solution, students will rarely need to change their schedule but will move classrooms throughout the day and be around upwards of eight groups of students total convoluting contact tracing.
The middle schools – Fowler, Hazelbrook and Twality – handle the situation differently. Should students have opted for the hybrid solution, they will take classes with the same group of students throughout the day while in the same classroom. To do this, the 12-18 in-person student cohorts will need rearranging, and some students may not maintain all of their current instructors.
Besides the logistical happenings, the typical school days will be vastly different than in previous years.
“Coming back to school this year is not going to look the same that (students) are used to,” said Tualatin High School Principal Michael Dellerba. “There will be strict guidance around entering, exiting the building, how they move through the building, how they do lunches, how they interact in class.”
For one, the school populations will be split into two overarching groups alphabetically. In middle schools, the A-L group will attend full school days on Monday/Thursday with M-Z on Tuesday/Friday. During these in-person days, the students will be taking their core subject classes (math, science, language arts, social studies), and on CDL days, students will be taking their electives, independent study and other non-core subjects.
In high schools, A-L will attend Monday/Tuesday and M-Z on Thursday/Friday, with Wednesday reserved as an independent workday as well as a deep clean of the school. On the CDL days, students will attend their online classes from home.
The classrooms themselves will include plexiglass dividers on each desk space provided for each student.
What may be the most striking difference, though, are lunch-time routines. These have been dealt with a bit differently at each school, but the high schools and Fowler Middle School will have their lunches in the classroom rather than in the cafeteria or off-campus. At Hazelbrook and Twality, each cohort has a reserved wide-open area (such as the gym or commons) and a table per student spaced eight to 10 feet apart with dividers. At the middle school level, students will also get a bit of controlled free time towards the end of lunch.
Of course, despite all of the preventative measures, a COVID-19 case may still arise.
Through the middle schools, should a student contract COVID-19, only that student’s cohort of 12 to 18 students would have to quarantine and distance-learn for the next 10 days. At high schools, the quarantine period would be the same, but each of those student’s classes would have to stay home.
Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee seeks wider input
An Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) plan to toll portions of Interstate 205 is moving forward despite strong public opposition and questions from some public officials.
“Tolling is not real popular,” Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers said during a March 9 county commission work session.
A draft ODOT report summarizing the public engagement process was published last fall and its findings are equally blunt. “A majority of respondents across all demographic groups and commenting methods expressed strong opposition to tolling in general or to the specifics of the I-205 Toll Project as it is currently proposed,” reads the first of several key takeaways listed in the report, none of which suggest support for the tolling proposal.
Nonetheless, the plan continues to move forward, with ODOT now also planning to implement tolls on Interstate 5, as well. Ultimately, the state hopes to toll both interstate highways throughout the entirety of the Portland metro area.
According to ODOT, it is currently studying a series of tolling options with the intent of choosing a preferred alternative with the help of the Federal Highway Administration at some time in 2022. A plan to toll I-205 is also undergoing environmental assessment at present.
ODOT’s latest effort at community engagement comes in the form of the Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee (EMAC), a group that is seeking input from historically underrepresented or marginalized communities. This includes the historically Black community in the Albina district of Northeast Portland, which saw the destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses in the late 1950s during the initial construction of Interstate 5.
Washington County is represented on the EMAC by County Community Engagement Manager Amanda Garcia-Snell, who works in the Office of Equity and Inclusion and Community Engagement. She told the Board of Commissioners that the group began meeting last fall and is examining both equity of process and equity of outcomes, two distinct concepts.
“By full participation, that means impacted communities will play a major role throughout the project,” Garcia-Snell said.
Affordability, improving access to multimodal forms of transportation, including public transit, and community health will also be areas of focus, she added.
“The toll project will explore air quality, safety, economic impact and other potential impacts to historically underserved communities,” she said. “As you know, community health is broad, so that also includes the impacts of re-routed traffic and things like that.”
Beyond that, ODOT says the tolling project is intended to both manage congestion and raise revenue for highway improvement projects, including a replacement for the narrow I-205 Abernethy Bridge across the Willamette River in Oregon City.
When it comes to equity, however, Rogers noted that this concept perhaps does not extend to Oregonians outside the metro area. Nor, he added, is it yet clear where revenue from tolling will ultimately be spent.
“These are federal highways, and we have people who drive these highways from Medford, from Eugene, all south, east, and not too much west, but they have folks who would have some difficulties in paying tolls,” Roger said. “And they have the equity issue just the same.”
Other commissioners are more supportive of tolling and would like to see a faster approval process.
“I think that’s a little frustrating to me considering that our transportation funding sources are significantly limited where we have a legislature that’s extremely resistant to increasing the gas tax,” Commissioner Jerry Willey said.
Craig Lee hasn’t strayed far from his family roots – or land.
He is part of the fifth generation of Tualatin farmers in a family tree that also includes the Jurgens and Martinazzis. The Lee family land was originally along Borland Road, and Craig, who was the fourth of Loyce Martinazzi and Larry Lee’s five children, considers his childhood pretty idyllic.
“I loved growing up on a farm, but there were always things to worry about, like if it would rain on the hay or the berries,” said Craig, sitting in his daughter Annie’s market store.
Craig started riding horses at 6 or 7 years old, remembering that “my first horse was a big old draft horse named Lollipop,” and his favorite horse was a gray-colored buckskin named Mouse who lived to be 35.
Craig was thrilled to be named Junior High-Point Horseman in 4-H.
“I got a trophy that was bigger than me,” he said. “I quit horse 4-H in the seventh grade, but I should have stayed with it because it was 98 percent girls. But 4-H was a big part of my life, and we went to the Washington County Fair every year.
(From left) Tim, Andrea and Craig Lee get ready to take their Charolais-cross cattle to the Washington County Fair. (COURTESY/THE LEE FAMILY)
“My dad wouldn’t let us ride bikes because he thought they were dangerous, but we always had horses and rode around like hooligans. We mostly rode bareback and would grab the halter and lead rope, hop on and start racing.
“We had fast horses. I was a pretty good rider, but one ran away with me once. That was scary. I had lots of falls, and I would get thrown off or stepped on, but I never had any broken bones. We would ride four or five miles, going to Wanker’s Corner or George’s Store where McDonald’s is now located. We would ride there and buy candy.”
Craig earned money for college by raising and selling grand champion steers, and he and his brother also had a hay-hauling business.
“Minimum wage was $2.50 an hour, but we paid our workers $7.50 an hour and made $50 a day, which was good money in those days,” Craig said.
Craig went to Tigard High School, and because it wasn’t cool to be a farmer, “I didn’t tell anyone,” he said. “I was small for my age and tried to navigate the hallways without drawing attention to myself.”
After graduating from THS, Craig first went to Clackamas Community College because he wanted to be a wrestler, and the school had a wrestling program. He later switched to OSU to major in (what else?) agriculture, and after graduating from OSU, he taught agriculture at Silverton and Sherwood high schools before devoting himself full time to farming.
When the Oregon Department of Transportation was constructing I-205 in the 1960s, it purchased 40 acres of the 70-acre Lee property, and Craig’s parents later purchased 40 acres on 65th Avenue, where the present-day 122-acre farm, which includes 100 rented acres, is located.
After Craig’s parents divorced, he later bought his mom’s half of the property.
Craig and his dad started raising Christmas trees together in 1975, while his dad also had several hundred head of cattle.
Family photo from the early ‘70s with (L-R) Craig on horse, Robin, Andrea, Larry, Loyce and Tim. (COURTESY/THE LEE FAMILY)
“Larry scaled down to 50 head of cattle recently,” Craig said.
Over the decades, the crops changed, ranging from hay to pumpkins to strawberries to sunflowers.
“When my parents first bought the property on 65th, it was mostly pasture for cattle with two or three acres in strawberries,” he said. “They sort of stumbled into growing strawberries as they grew more and cut back on the pasture land. A lot of the growers wouldn’t allow the public to pick strawberries until after they had paid workers to pick berries for the canneries.
“We would charge 10 cents more per pound than the canneries paid and didn’t have any labor costs. We would have four to five lines of people waiting to get their strawberries weighed. It was much more profitable than selling to the canneries. It worked out really great. We now also grow raspberries and marionberries.”
Craig credits his five children for making the whole operation work. His daughter, Erika, owns Red Berry Barn south of Sherwood, and “Teagan and Kara manage the farm for me, and this is Annie’s store and business and bakery,” he said. “My son Tommy is at OSU.
“Annie does the marketing for her market store, and all the kids are responsible together and doubled the business and farm marketing. If it weren’t for my kids, this business would be 10 percent of what it currently is. At one point, I wanted everybody to do everything together, but each one found their own niche.
“Teagan and Kara started the sunflower business and grow 50 different varieties of sunflowers and make a sunflower maze for the public to go through. Visitors post photos on social media, and that increases our business.”
The newest craze is pumpkins, with the farm growing 30 different varieties on 30 acres. Craig also shared his favorite pumpkin pie recipe: Blend three kinds of pumpkin with lots of sugar.
“Some pumpkins break open in the field,” he said. “You can eat them raw and some are so sweet, they taste like apples. I say that people are like pumpkins: Some go bad, and also they come in different shapes and colors.”
Lee Farms also has become known for seasonal activities.
At the end of summer, “we have 800 cars at a time,” Craig said. “We make 10 times selling pumpkins over what we made selling Christmas trees. And we have all the fun fall events like a corn maze and a hay maze and hay rides. We call it farm entertainment, and it’s like a carnival. We run 10,000 school kids through here, where eight different stations are set up.”
“I want to stay in the background,” Craig said. “I’m good at driving tractors, and I like doing it. I own 19 tractors, and I think if I bought another one, they would do an intervention. Three of the tractors are new ones, but I like the older stuff. The old ones run circles around the new ones any day. I can put up 100 1,200-pound bales of hay a day. I also do custom hay work putting up other people’s hay by cutting, raking and baling it.”
Growing up on a farm, “you learn a work ethic and responsibility, and my parents were the hardest working people I know,” Craig said. “But farming has sure changed with the times, and we survived by changing with it.”
Craig has 11 grandchildren, and some of them were running around the store as he talked.
“I usually see most them every day,” he said. “All the grandkids are interested in farming, and they are the best part of my life.”
Craig has rarely strayed far from the farm, but he has a big adventure coming up this summer. After riding dirt bikes for years, Craig recently bought his first motorcycle, and he and a friend are planning a road trip through Canada to the Arctic Ocean, Earth’s northernmost body of water that encircles the Arctic and flows beneath it.
“We want to put our feet in the ocean,” Craig said.
After that he will no doubt be anxious to get back to the farm.
Dir. Gurinder Chadha – Free with Cinemax Free Trial on Amazon Prime
Gurinder Chadha’s 2019 film perfectly captures what it’s like to find a hero in a rock star. The story follows Javed Khan, a Pakistani teenager with ambitions of becoming a writer in the small town of Luton, England. Set in 1987, Javed struggles to be his authentic self amid intense racial disparity in his small town and his family’s more traditional views. Feeling lost, Javed’s life changes when he discovers Bruce Springsteen. The film comes from the same director as Bend It Like Beckham, and it shares the previous film’s sincerity and themes of personal ambition and family. The movie brilliantly interposes Bruce Springsteen’s music with Javed’s unique experiences and will make a fan out of anybody.
Smithereens (1982)
Dir. Susan Seidelman – HBO Max, Criterion Channel
Wren is a young punk with a desire to break into the scene, but little idea how. The 1982 film begins with Wren posting concert posters around the city, using tape to stick a hand drawn ad on the doors of the subway. A rare snapshot of early 80s New York City, it’s great fun to see cameos from real life punk legends that made up the scene at the time. The laid-back guitar score gives the film a near-ambivalent tone, but its depiction of Wren’s struggles to join a male-dominated industry reveal the film’s deeper message. Catch the digitally restored version on the Criterion Collection streaming service or on HBO Max.
We Are the Best (2013)
Dir. Lukas Moodysson – Free on YouTube
This Swedish film is a sweet story of three young girls who start a punk band. Set in a middle school in Stockholm, Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara (Mira Grosin) deal with constant taunts that punk is dead. They know it’s not, so they cut their hair, take refuge in punk music from all over the world, and start a band with their musically gifted new friend Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne). The film captures the earnest struggles of being a kid that wants to grow up, and the lessons learned along the way. As the girls teach themselves how to play their instruments, you’ll feel their excitement and may even consider starting a band yourself.
Mandy (2018)
Dir. Panos Cosmatos – Shudder
A must for any horror fans, Mandy is a uniquely absurd and twisted story of vengeance starring Nicolas Cage. Red (Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) live a quiet life together in the Pacific Northwest until Mandy is kidnapped by a bizarre cult. The group is led by aspiring musician Jeremiah Sand, and the strange characters that make up the group are just as sinister as him. Though the story is unnerving, it really gets going once Red attempts to rescue his one true love Mandy. The film is a wild ride, with scenes featuring Nicholas Cage wielding a crossbow and riding through the forest on a four-wheeler. Equally compelling is the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s guitar score, which is as immersive and mesmerizing as any good metal show.
The sun had just set on an early-March Friday night. Around this time of year, one would expect the basketball season to be coming to a close, but no, the Friday Night Lights were up and the Tualatin High School football field prepped.
The stands were curiously empty, and the opposition lined one half of the sidelines. In the eerily quiet night and beyond the darkness remained a team filled with hopefulness and a sense of returned normalcy. Tualatin emerged through the inflatable Tualatin Timberwolf and began their 2020-2021 season anew – this first matchup against a powerhouse school, the West Linn Lions.
Last year, the Wolves held their own against the Three Rivers League (TRL), taking second in league behind rival Tigard. They went through the playoffs and into the quarterfinals where they fell to Jesuit (42 – 28), achieved an overall record of 9-3 and ranked seventh in state.
This year will be different, and for more than one reason. The team only has six season games on the schedule, finishing in just over a month as compared to a typical nine-game regular season. This team is also relatively young. After last year’s season, Tualatin graduated seven first-team all-league players.
“We’ve got a really young team,” Tualatin Varsity Head Coach Dan Lever told Tualatin Life, “there’s quite a few sophomores that are seeing significant playing time or even starting.”
To make matters a bit more dicey, West Linn holds one of the state’s top running backs, senior Gavin Haines (21 touchdowns in 2019), and the Lions had taken down Tualatin in every season matchup since 2005 – last year taking the win 34 – 20.
Jack Wagner (#8) and the Timberwolves set up to defend against the West Linn Lions in their season opener. (HENRY KAUS/TUALATIN LIFE)
Unfortunately for the Wolves, they’d have to wait on that victory another year.
At the half, the Lions led 17 – 0. The Wolves defense remained strong, but a few key 30+ yard passes and runs from West Linn kept them in the spotlight.
Despite the lack of points, Tualatin ran into the second half animated and ready. Still, the half played out similarly until the last few minutes.
With 3:18 to go and the Lions now leading 37 – 0, Tualatin junior Scott Wright brought the team to the 4-yard-line. It was now or never.
Wright, receiving the third down hand-off with 2:15 remaining, charged ahead and reached out ever so far to the 1-yard-line. With one to go and behind a pile of bodies, senior Casey Raz broke through on the next play and secured Tualatin’s first points of the season.
From there, the game shortly ended 37 – 6. A tough loss for sure, but to the team this game meant much more than a battle between schools.
“Today was about a lot more than West Linn versus Tualatin,” Lever said in his post-game speech. “I know that I’m never going to ask you to have a setback or a loss where you feel really good about it, because if you’re a true competitor it hurts. … But you know what? We came out here, and we played football and we restored normalcy for everybody. I feel a little bit better about our situation, don’t you?”
As practices began Feb. 12, 21 days before the season opener, preparation was limited, and this first game seemed troubled from the start.
“We missed a lot of time with the kids,” Lever said. “In terms of football, there’s a lot we knew we needed to be better at going into this game. West Linn was going to be one of the best teams in the state, no question. So, you know, we’re going to get better with more time with the kids.”
In response to the threat presented by climate change and the increasing importance of environmental awareness, City Councilor Bridget Brooks is launching the Tualatin Sustainability Network (TuSN). TuSN is a new non-profit group created in response to climate change and other environmental issues. The group will engage with other organizations and individuals in the community to educate, promote, and participate in sustainable practices and projects. Councilor Brooks shared that building the group was inspired by her “desire to become a better environmental steward and to bring people who live, work, and play in Tualatin together toward that common goal.” She added, “I want to create space for us all to learn from each other and work together for a cleaner, healthier community.”
The public is invited to participate in planned public kick-off events for the group in and around Earth Day, including:
April 21, 7 p.m.: Online open virtual meet & greet featuring Dr. Jenifer McIntyre, a globally recognized aquatic toxicologist whose research exposed the connection between tires and salmon health. Dr. McIntyre will share her findings on salmon health as well as her current research into the ecotoxicology of urban stormwater runoff and the biological effectiveness of green stormwater infrastructure.
April 24, 10:30 a.m.: Trash pick-up party organized by Tualatin High School students and fueled by local Starbucks generous donations–to whom we are already grateful.
May 22, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. “Hug a Park” event, where we will be removing invasive plants and help with park improvements such as bark on trails which will be hosted at one of our Tualatin Parks.
Following April kick-off events, TuSN will continue with regular bi-monthly programs and projects that inspire neighbors and friends to think globally and act locally toward a sustainable future for all our children and a beautiful, healthy, and peaceful planet.
New Tualatin Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Roy Gugliotta has been so busy since starting work Jan. 11 that he hasn’t yet had time to change his voice mail message that still tells callers they have reached the office of former CEO Linda Moholt.
“I get chastised, but I’ve been running since day one,” Gugliotta said. “It all came together so quickly after I got the job the second week in December. The board wanted me to come when Linda was still here, although four days was not enough time to catch up on the 12 years she was here.
“The reason I was hired was that the board wanted to make changes because of the COVID situation. We lost all our events, which took a big chunk out of our budget. The board wanted someone to put programs in place, which gave me a clear purpose for being here: To build the chamber, serve our members and work with the city.”
Gugliotta predicted the next two years will be a game-changer for the chamber to bring in different income streams and come up with programs to satisfy its members’ needs.
“In my third or fourth week, (board Chair) Susan (Noack) came in and said, ‘What are your plans?’” Gugliotta said. “The board was anxious to get going, and rightly so. I wrote a 16-page paper, and the board said, ‘OK, but what are the specifics?’”
Phase one is a list of objectives and a score card to keep track of them, but Gugliotta also has a long-term view as well. He believes the future lies in focusing on the positive and transforming the way businesses market themselves.
“Any group has its strengths and weaknesses, and you build on the strengths,” Gugliotta said. “We are looking at a couple of good programs. Small businesses are coming to us to help build their businesses and to market and promote them to the community and build credibility. The citizens don’t see the difference between chamber and non-chamber businesses, and we are a bit of a Better Business Bureau.”
Gugliotta is a believer in the CARES philosophy: Customers Always Receive Excellent Service.
“When you come to Tualatin, you will receive excellent service,” he said. “Chamber members used to go through a service-training program, and chamber members have always been of service to the community, and we want to get back to that. We also want to work on sustainability and awareness. The program is in the infant stages, and we have a couple businesses already interested in this.”
He added that the way the chamber does business is changing.
“The internet is the way we do business nowadays so how do we build a better mousetrap?” he said. “We want to make Tualatin a destination, and we want citizens to go to the chamber website to find a business, whether it is a garden center or a restaurant.”
Gugliotta said the chamber is in the process of creating an online community, and he is talking to a couple of web designers “to take what we’re doing today and expand on it. Brick-and-mortar businesses still need a strong online presence, but they don’t have the money to do it. That’s where the chamber comes in.”
One of the philosophies Gugliotta has followed over the years was posted in the 1960s by Austrian management consultant Peter Drucker, who wrote that principles are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not resolving problems.
“I don’t talk about problems, I talk about opportunities,” Gugliotta said. “Also, it’s fun to come up with ideas, but at some point, you have to implement them. A lot of business owners struggle with this. Good managers don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall, they roll up their sleeves and dive in.”
Gugliotta grew up in Ohio and graduated from college there before the Army sent him to California.
“I always wanted to get an MBA, but instead I got experience turning around businesses,” he said. “They were teetering, and while I didn’t have success every time, it was a learning experience.”
After a move to Arizona, Gugliotta was CEO of the Camp Verde Chamber of Commerce for 13 years. Ironically, one of Camp Verde’s annual events is the Crawdad Festival, which should serve Gugliotta well in Tualatin. Another of Gugliotta’s jobs before Tualatin was CEO of the Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce in wine country north of the Bay Area in California.
Gugliotta was hired by the Tualatin chamber without actually traveling to Oregon for an in-person interview, but he had visited the state before as a tourist. While he waits for his wife to finish packing and move here so they can do some touristy things together, he has plenty to keep him busy at the Tualatin chamber.
The Tualatin City Council’s priorities for 2021 not surprisingly read like they are dealing with all of the issues that faced the city, state and country over the past year.
The City Council, with two new members, held a virtual retreat at the end of January and came away with a renewed list of issues and topics that will continue to form the city’s 2030 vision, as well as its 2021 policy priorities. Among them are housing, social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, economic development and crisis preparedness – all areas that were at the forefront of the minds of Americans during the last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, protests over police brutality, massive wildfires and other crises.
“We spent a little over eight hours together and we covered a lot of good things,” Tualatin City Manager Sherilyn Lombos said at the Council’s March 8 meeting.
In addition to those priorities, councilors also identified transportation, the environment and community assets such as parks as a focus for the rest of 2021.
“I thought it was hugely beneficial for the City Council and City staff to come together and share conversation,” said Christen Sacco, one of two new council members. “I’m so glad we share in this forum.”
Many of these topics were featured prominently in 2020, and work in those areas will represent a continuation of what is already happening, Lombos said. This includes transportation, where the popular Tualatin Moving Forward bond measure is scheduled to continue throughout the city. The City is also considering whether or not to support the tolling of Interstate 205, as well as a proposed shuttle service along Borland Road.
In addition, the Council will soon be considering a list of police policy recommendations. This grew out of a series of Community Conversation meetings held late last year on the use of force in the wake of the protests last summer that followed the police killing of George Floyd.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a long shadow over the economy in Tualatin and other Oregon cities. Unemployment figures remain high and businesses continue to struggle, even after the City distributed several million dollars last year in state and federal COVID relief money. Meanwhile, the latest relief package was passed by Congress on March 10, and another $350 billion is earmarked for state and local governments across the country.
