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Expansion asked for Martin Luther King Neighborhood Facility
o ffk «
The community demand for office
space for non-profit agencies and for
meeting space has outgrown the King
Neighborhood Facility, according to
its director, James Loving.
The Facility currently houses ten
community agencies but many more
are requesting space that cannot be
provided. “ After the fire that burned
the offices o f the Urban League and
POIC, those agencies inquired about
space.” Loving explained. “ The U r
ban League needs extensive office
space and POIC requires about 2,000
feet. We don’ t have that kind o f
space. Also, the Senior Adult Service
Center is hoping to move from its
site on Union Avenue.”
The King Neighborhood Facility
ha. 12.000 .nuare (eet. in cludtn.
has 12,000 square feet, including
9,000 rentable space. The Portland
Public Schools also provides 3,600
square feet o f o ffic e space. The
building was designed so the. second
floor could be finished for additional
space, but, according to Loving
would add only from 1,500 to 2,000
square feet.
The Facility was built in 1975 with
a $665,000 grant through the Model
Cities Program. The school district
provided the land and the City o f
Portland owns the building. The
School District contracted to operate
the Facility for twenty years.
Loving has spoken to city and
school d is tric t o ffic ia ls about
acquiring the property across the
n .,e m .
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parking lot from the Facility — the
corner o f Seventh Avenue and
Going, and building an addition
there. The two buildings would be
connected with an enclosed walk
way.
The new building should contain
a m in i-kitchen/cafe teria, a large
meeting room and o ffice space ”
Loving explained. “ There is a great
need for a place where organizations
can hold meetings where they have
access to a kitchen and where there is
room for a large group to meet.”
The new building would also bor
der on the proposed park site, ad
joining the King Elementary School
playground, that is to be developed
by the City o f Portland.
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The Facility is heavily used during
the week. “ There are community
groups using the building from 8:00
a.m. until 10:00 p.m. These include
the tennants, community groups that
use the building for meetings on a
regular basis, groups that use it for
occasional meetings or events, and
PSU Educational Center classes.”
Loving stated that there is great
call tor use o f the buildings on week
ends. “ A ctually, the F acility was
established as a community center,
to be open every night until midnight
and on weekends. We don’t have the
budget for staff to keep it open. The
building should at least be open on
Saturdays for the youth programs.”
"Citizens are irate over the fact
that they have to pay a high cost to
use the King school cafeteria. They
can use the Facility free and are un
der the impression that since the
School District allows us the use o f
the cafeteria, that it is free, too. It is
hard to inform them that it costs
$161.50 a day for an event where
they charge, like a dinner when there
is a cost to the customer, or $97.50 a
day when they don’ t charge If they
want to use the kitchen they have to
pay the cost o f using a school district
employee.
That is too much for the non
profit organizations who are putting
on an affair to raise money or who
want to have a meeting. “ We have
PORTLAND OBSERVER
to refuse use o f the Facility on week
ends unless the organization can pay
enough to cover staff and clean-up
costs.”
The charge for use o f the cafeteria
is the same charged in other schools.
I here are also additionai restrictions
because the Facility is on school
district property. "There can be no
sale o f food — pop, candy, coke,
etc. — on school district property and
that restricts the ability o f agencies to
raise funds.”
Loving believes the City and the
School District should get together
and work out a management plan
that w ould allow citizens more
latitude in the use o f the building.
Volume 9 No. 5
Thursday, February 1,1979 10C
American State Bank expands
The principle figures in the upcoming oral history
production. "DuBois,'' are (left to right) Ken Berry,
the programs musical director. Michael Grice, thé
writer and director, and Herb Cawthorne, who por
trays GuBois. The production is scheduled for
March 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th at PSU's Lincoln Hall
Auditorium. Berry, Grice and Cawthorne compose
One World Arts Foundation which produces the
program.
Presentation extolls DuBois philosophy
W illia m
Edward
B urghardl
DuBois was a great tower o f Black
thought in America. His life was
guided by a belief that “ no sound ef
fort is in vain, least o f all a struggle
w ith high ideal and personal in
tegrity.” DuBois established an in
ternational reputation as a scholar,
writer, political activist, and social
scientist.
Dr. DuBois was a founder o f the
NAACP. He edited the N A A C P ’ s
"C ris is ” magazine for more than
twenty years.
Roy Wilkins, the former executive
director o f the NAACP, said in 1963
after learning o f Dr. DuBois’ death
in Accra, Ghana, "th a t conditions
are not as they were in 1910 and that
hope and the prospect o f a brighter
future are better than ever before
may be attributed in lar<>e measure to
the dedication, talent, and foresight
o f W illia m Edward Burghardt
DuBois.”
On March 8th, 9th, 10th and I lth,
One World Arts Foundation, Inc.,
w ill present “ D u B o is,” an oral
history program fe a tu rin g Herb
Cawthorne and the musical direction
Jail demonstration planned
by Valentine Nemcek
Sunday, February 4th at l:0 0
p.m., the Rocky Butte Support Com
mittee is holding a peaceful demon
stration at the ja il located at 9755
N.E. Hancock Drive to protest the
con tin u in g inhum ane and over
crowded conditions existing at the
facility.
M ultnom ah C ounty C om m is
sioner Donald Clark has been under
continual pressure fo r months to
bring the institution up to reasonable
standards in an effort to avoid law
suits based on cruel and unusual
punishment.
Jail officials have continued to
deny the ja il population awaiting
tria l the right to outside exercise
citing "lack o f funds for additional
staff” at the same time some guards
are reportedly "doubling their salary
thru excessive overtime.” Detainees
may spend months at Rocky Butte
(Please turn to Page 2 Column 5)
o f Ken Berry.
Cawthorne, who portrays “ Du
B ois,” said “ when the m a g n ifi
cence o f Dr. DuBois is represented
on stage as a living, driving force
whose dynamic ideas and conflicts
unfold as though he were living
today, we hope many people w ill
want to explore his life by reading his
words.”
DuBois” is being produced by
One World Arts Foundation, a non
p ro fit organizatio n created to
promote the arts among m inority
youth. One W orld is composed of
Caw thorne, Berry, and M ichael
Grice, a teacher at Adams High
School, who wrote the script and di
rects the production.
Last year, One World presented a
very successful program called,
“ From The Pulpit, From The Peo
ple,” which illuminated the ministry
o f Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The
final performance at New Hope Bap
tist Church was taped by KGW-TV
and televised on A pril 2, 1978.
“ DuBois” w ill play on March 8th,
9th, 10th and ll t h at PSU’ s Lincoln
Hall Auditorium . A ll proceeds will
go tow ard the One W o rld Arts
Foundation Scholarship Award.
NW Lab selects education services director
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Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams
Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams has
oined the Northwest Regional Edu-
ational Laboratory (N W R EL) as
director o f the Educational Services
division.
Dr. Simon-McWilliams comes to
ter new post from the University of
South Carolina where she served as
Director o f the Race Desegregation
Assistance Center, the Sex Desegre
gation Training Institute, and o f
Special Projects.
Her responsibilities included man
agement and administration o f ser
vices to school districts in North
Carolina and South Carolina to aid
schools in dealing with problems of
desegregation and sex discrim ina
tion, and with problems relating to
the im plem entation o f the South
Carolina Education Finance Act.
She also served on the university
faculty.
1 he Northwest Regional Educa
tional Laboratory, headquartered in
Portland, Oregon, is a private, non
p ro fit in s titu tio n which conducts
educational research and develop-
ment, and provides services to
educational agencies in the N orth
west.
As Director o f the Educational
Services Division, Dr. Simon-Mc
W illiam s w ill direct a 50-member
sta li in activities to assist agencies
and institutions to solve educational
problems. "1 w ill continue to pro
vide the leadership necessary to af
ford efficient and effective services
that meet the identified needs o f
local and regional educators,” Dr.
Simon-McWilliams noted.
She received a Doctor o f Educa
tion degree from the University o f
South Carolina, a Master o f Educa
tion degree from the George Wash
ington University, and a Bachelor o f
Science degree from the District o f
Columbia Teachers’ College.
Her background includes exper
ience as a classroom teacher, school
administrator, and a Desegregation
Program Specialist post with the
South (. arolina State Department o f
Education.
American State Bank reports a re
cord growth in I979, its ninth year o f
operation. "O u r loans have doubled
this year, deposits have increased
greatly and we are ready to open a
th ird bra n ch ,”
reports bank
president V. F. Booker.
“ The bank has deposits o f $11.5
million, loans o f over $4 million, and
this year’ s net p r o fit is over
$93,000,” Booker reported. "Assets
are nearly $13 m illion.”
ASB, which has had a slow but
steady grow th in past years,
“ blossomed” in 1978 and the projec
tions for 1979 are good.
Booker credits part o f the growth
to the incentive program - "instant
interest” — whereby persons pur
chasing time deposits receive their in
terest in advance in the form o f a
television or video recorder. The
only bank in Oregon with this type o f
incentive for investors, the plan has
drawn over $500,000 in new deposits
in six months. O f the 280 people par
ticipating in that plan, 181 are from
Portland, 68 from Oregon outside o f
Portland, and 31 from Washington.
The promotion o f this program has
brought us a lot p f attention. People
Who arah’1 even knbw w f existed are ’
now our depositors.”
The Eastmoreland Branch, 4451
S.E. 28th Avenue, although getting
o ff to a slow start, is now making a
p ro fit and gradually drawing new
customers.
The State Banking Commission
has given approval fo r a branch
downtown, at Second and Yamhill.
This branch will not only give us a
higher profile, putting us downtown
where most banks m aintain their
head offices, but we w ill draw
American State Bank president V.F. Booker discusses loan with po-
business from west side residents and
te n fa l home buyer.
(Staff photo. Abubukar,
Jury finds Williams guilty, manslaughter I
An all-white jury returned a ver
dict o f guilty o f first-degree man
slaughter against A1 Williams Wed
nesday evening after approximately
five hours deliberation. The ju ry
rejected the state’ s request fo r a
murder conviction.
Williams had claimed self-defense,
testifying that after a fight brought
on by a threat by W illiam Morrison,
a white man, that “ I ’m going to get
me a couple o f niggers” - Morrison
pulled a knife and a fight followed.
A fte r the fig h t was broken up,
Williams went to his car, took a gun
from the trunk and returned to the
donut shop.
Williams claimed that - knowing
the police had been called - he was
holding M orrison and his friend,
Gary Paugh, so they could not leave.
Morrison then lunged at him with the
knife and the gun was fired. Paugh
then attempted to kill Williams by
choking him, but Williams was saved
by the arrival o f the police.
I he trial had been recessed for
several days following the discovery
that the D istrict A ttorney’ s office
had purposely withheld the in fo r
mation from the defense attorney
that M o rris o n had an extensive
criminal record, a pattern o f drug
and alcohol abuse, was a heroin user,
and had an explosive temper. Judge
James Ellis denied repeated motions
for dismissal o f the charge because
o f the suppression o f evidence.
Stating that the District Attorney's
action had denied the defense use of
the information during the trial, Ellis
recessed the trial to enable the de
fense to research Morrison’s back
ground.
Judge Ellis refused to allow the
presentation to the ju ry o f in fo r
mation from Morrison’ s juvenile and
a dult police records and his
probation records.
He stated that the fact that a per
son abused alcohol and was a drug
addict, that he had an explosive tem
per, would not necessarily indicate
that he was not "peaceful.” The
ju ry went to its deliberation without
knowledge o f M orrison’ s crim inal
record or o f the District Attorney’ s
suppression o f evidence.
In his summation o f the case to the
jury, defense attorney Des Connail
reminded them that the state’s “ star
witness” , Gary Paugh, had admitted
on the stand that he had attempted to
kill Williams, "Paugh confessed to
attempted m urder. . . yet the District
Attorney says a man can’ t defend
him self. Do you call that equal
justice?” No charges have been
brought against Paugh.
Connail reminded the ju ry that
Morrison and Paugh - two friends
with matching buck knives - had
come to the donut shop looking for
trouble. Paugh had testified that
Morrison hated Blacks and made the
threats to Williams “ just to freak
them out” .
Williams, he explained, had been
the target o f a felonious assault, had
been cut with the knife, had been at
tacked by two white “ thugs." When
attacked he had the "fo rtitu d e to try
to fight” to protect himself from the
knife and “ he had the fortitude to go
back in and hold them for the police
he knew were coming.”
Morrison was not satisfied, Con
nail explained. Although being held
at gun p oint the “ big, tough,
aggressive man taunted Williams -
‘ Go ahead and shoot me’ - and
pulled out the knife. Williams had
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Exclusion of Black jurors unconstitutional
The California Supreme Court has
found that Blacks cannot be exclud
ed from juries solely on the basis of
their race or association. Although
the law allows each party to c trial
"peremptory challenges” for which
no reason need be given, the C alifor
nia Supreme Court in "People vs.
W heeler’ ’ determ ined that those
challenges cannot be used to
elim inate Blacks or any other
"cognizable class.”
According to the court, excluding
prospective jurors on the basis bf
group bias violates the delendent’s
constitutional right to trial by a jury
drawn from a representative cross-
section o f the community. The law
presumes that a party will exercise its
peremptory challenges to remove
prospective ju ro rs who appear to
have an unconscious or subconscious
bias, so in using the peremptory
challenge the party tries to shield
himself from "specific bias.”
According to the court, "when a
party presumes that some jurors are
biased merely because they are mem
bers ot an identifiable group, distin
guished on racial, religious, ethnic or
similar grounds — we may call this
group bias’ — and peremptorily strike
all such persons to r that reason
alone, he not only upsets the
demographic balance o f the venue,
but frustrates representative cross-
section requirements.”
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