Barlow-Gresham Union High School District Unification

Beginning in 1990, the Barlow-Gresham Union High School District began the process of merging with their feeder elementary schools into an even larger district. This union was crucially tied to funds that were made available to districts that voted to unify but, as Outlook writer Lloyd Woods began reporting on January 1, 1990, the Barlow-Gresham district had yet to decide if they should vote at all. Progress was slow going over the first three months of 1990, with a January petition gaining enough signatures to require a vote and the district's temporary superintendent recommending March as the deadline to vote. There was considerable delay surrounding the vote throughout January, February, and March, with some citizens and groups resistant to the idea of unification as well as confusion over whether a unification vote would close some area schools, as reported by Lloyd Woods on January 24. By March 7, the decision was turned to citizens as they received ballots to vote on the unification measure.

[photo to the right: Barlow Bruins Girls Basketball Team. January 5, 1990]

CJ's Center Stage

Early in 1990, the Outlook began reporting on a new Rockwood adult entertainment establishment (CJ's Center Stage, curiously referred to as a "nude deli" in one story) that was being protested by an activism group People For a Safe Oregon. Outlook writer Robin Franzen reported on January 6 that protests had started outside the bar but that owner Joe Sahli was not deterred. On-site protests began to dwindle as soon as January 10, but by January 20 People For a Safe Oregon expressed a desire to petition the state to allow more local regulation of "nude dancing."

[photo to the right: Protestors outside of CJ's Center Stage]

And the walls came tumbling down: Gresham's Eastern European

The View From Afar

On February 21, Outlook writer Robin Franzen authored a story about Polish immigrant Malgorzata Sobeiraj and her family, following their journey from when they left their homeland in 1970 for Italy and eventually came to Oregon and Gresham. Sobeiraj and her family discuss how, twenty years later in 1990, it feels strange to see more and more news about Poland as it gradually "begins to crawl out from beneath the heavy weight of communist rule."

[photo to the left: Malgorzata Sobeiraj with several items from her home country of Poland]

Flood of Change Surprises Family

On February 29, Robin Franzen wrote a second article focused on the Blaj family, Tabita, Titu, and their youngest son, Mihail, from Romania. The Blajs tell the story of how difficult their life was in communist Romania, their escape from their homeland, and their reaction to ongoing political events. In December of 1989, two months prior to the publication of this article in the Outlook, violent, volatile, and infamous Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was deposed and executed along with his wife Elena. Tabita, Titu, and Mihail talk about their hope and trepidation for the future of Romania

[photo to the right: Portrait of Tabita, Titu, and Mihail Blaj displaying the book of music that was taken from them and later recovered]

Hungarian Native Not Looking Back

On March 7, Outlook writer Bob Hawley Jr. publishes the third article in the series interviewing Hungarian immigrant Laszlo Pomazi, who escaped from his home country on foot at the age of 19. Laszlo, who worked as a school bus driver and in a nursery, described how his escape was hard and he missed friends and family back in Hungary, but he would do it again in a heartbeat. He said that America "is the greatest country in the world" and although it's good to visit family in Hungary when he had been able to, he wouldn't dream of moving back to live there.

[photo to the left: Portrait of Laszlo Pomazi in a nursery]