Lake Oswego School and City Officials Seek to Lessen Tensions Over Swim Park

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 12:00 CDT By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Jul. 16--LAKE OSWEGO -- The Lake Oswego School District is known for working with community committees on topics from sex education to preventing bullying. But no one told thousands of people who pay taxes for an Oswego Lake swim park -- controlled by the school district -- that they might not be able to swim there next summer. Word got out when folks visited two weeks ago for a swim on a hot day and found five maple trees tagged for removal. The maples, along with tall firs, shade the Lake Grove Swim Park, where generations of residents have spent their summers picnicking, feeding ducks and splashing in the private lake. School and city officials got an earful from residents disgruntled that their play area could be shut down with... [read full story]