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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1979)
Senior citizens fail to use state tax benefit programs Ron Wyden. Coordinator of Legal Services for the E lderly, has proposed a “ one stop” registration process for senior citizens who are eligible for a variety of tax relief pro grams. Although there are a wide variety o f tax relief programs for elderly citi zens, a small percentage o f the eligible persons take part. Wyden believes the lack o f response is due to lack o f knowledge and understand ing, and complicated application procedures. With the “ one stop” process, the citizen would receive a form in the mail on which he would apply for every program he is eligible for and wants to use. There are over 400,000 persons over 60 and 323,000 over 63 years in Oregon. Yet approximately 134,000 persons over 60 filed for a 1977 Homeowner and Renter Refund. Ap proximately 2.143 persons deferred their property tax, and only 43 per sons deferred their bonded assessments. Above three-fourths, or $3 million, o f funds appropriated for home weatherizing has not been requested. Wyden is attempting to inform senior citizens about the programs available to them prior to the tax filing deadline, April 14th. Oregon programs available to senior citizens are: Homtowntrs Proparty Tax Refund Those who own and occupy property on December 31st of the tax year and otherwise qualify for this program, may receive a refund check from the state. Eligibility To be eligible the individual must. 17 Occupy a residence as your princi ple place o f dwelling; 2. Have a recorded interest in your dwelling. This means you must have a deed, sales contract, or life estate in the property on which you live; 3. Earn less than $16,000; and 4. Be the only person in the household who is filing a claim. Making a Claim fo r a Property Tax Refund When it comes time to pay income taxes, between January and April 14th, pick up an Oregon Tax Packet which will include the form and in structions for filling out the form. (For assistance in filling out this and other forms, call the local senior cen ter .) A tax packet may be obtained at the local Post Office or bank or by calling (toll free) 1-800-452-7814. Renters Property Tax Refund There is also a program that en titles qualified renters to a refund check. Eligibility To qualify for this refund the in dividual must: 1. Occupy a residence as the principle place o f dwelling; 2. Earn less than $16,000 in the tax year; and 3. Be the only person in the household filing for a refund. Elderly Rental Assistance This is a program for low-income seniors which provides cash to help pay the rent. Eligibility I . The person must be 58 or older PORTLAND OBSERVER in the year prior to the year in which he applies; 2. Earn less than $3,000; 3. Pay 40% or more o f his income towards rent; 4. F IL E A C L A IM . This is the same form used for the homeowners and renters refund and it can be obtained in most banks or Post Offices or by calling or writing and asking them to send the senior citizens rental assistance refund. Call (to ll-free) 1-8OO-452-2838 or write: 1500 S.W. 1st, Portland, OR. 97201. Either Elderly Rental Assistance or The Renters Property Tax Refund A senior can receive either o f these (Please turn to Page 3 Column 1) Volume 8 No. 10 Thursday, March 16.1979109 USPS AMA child care program asks direct funding 4. Æ î Carol Bryant Is a candidate for the Portland Community Collage Board of Directors. District II. Mrs. Bryant, a resident of North Port land. is currently a member of the staffs of the Senate Human Resource Committee and the Senate Committee on Aging and Minorities. Mrs. Bryant is a graduate of Mt. Angel College and the PSU School of Social Work. She is a former director of the Neighborhood Options in Child Care program. Mrs. Bryant advoctes strengthening the course offerings on the Cascade campus and developing programs that tie into the economic structure of the community, offering career opportunities. She Is a strong supporter of the college's day care center for children of stu dents. Speaking to a joint hearing o f the Senate and House Human Resource committees, Cornetta Smith, acting director of the Albina Ministerial A l liance Family Day & Night Care Program requested direct state fund ing of the program. A M A is currently funded, with state funds, through a sub-contract with 4-C. Ms. Smith told the legislators that a special need exists in the area ser ved by the program — the northern half of Multnomah County from St. Johns to 202nd Avenue. “ M any women — a high percentage of them minorities between 35 and 55 years of age — do not have the education or training to hold good jobs but they can provide excellent child care.” Many o f the 400 day care pro viders served by A M A do need sup port services to enable them to do a better job — training, assistance with U .S . D epartm ent o f Agriculture nutrition requirements, supplies, assistance in working with parents, and referral of children. Without this assistance many will be forced to rely on welfare. .. _ . . , , . a K4 * r_____ contract directly with A M A for sup port services to these family day care homes rather than with 4-C. Ms. Smith pointed out that 4-C has noti fied A M A that it will no longer con tract with them but will provide the services themselves. “ We believe North and Northeast Portland will be hardest hit. They will be eliminated,” she said. Ms. Smith ¿-..J.'.. AFSC rep sees expanding war by N. Eungai Kumbula Bill Sutherland, American Friends Service Committee Southern Africa Representative who has just returned from a tour of the Front Line states, is in town to talk about his visit. Monday, he gave a press luncheon at the Red Lion downtown and talked to a number of people from local papers. On his latest trip, he visited Z am bia, Botswana, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania meeting with refugees who have fled the troubles in both Rhodesia and South Africa, freedom fighters, leaders of the Front Line states and other local people. In his presentation Monday, Bill started out by expressing the dif ference between this, his latest trip to Africa and all those that went before it over a period of some 25 years. The main difference, he said, was that this time, there was a sense of war that pervaded all of the Front Line states. The Rhodesian and South African regimes have really declared all out war on these coun tries. Whereas before, there were oc casional raids into Mozambique and Zambia, now these have become al most weekly occurrences. Also now there seems to be a more sinister pur pose: to destabilize the front line states. There have been reports of Rhodesians training, arming and fi nancing anti-Machel (Mozambique) and anti-Kaunda (Zambia) terrorists to try and overthrow the respective governments. To emphasize the viciousness of some of these attacks, he singled out the South A frican attack at Cassinga, a refugee camp in Angola run by SW APO in which some 800- 1,000 refugees were killed. He blames the Western nations for their continued support o f the minority regimes of Southern Africa and fur ther points out that, until recently, the racists had never attacked at night. The fact that they have sud denly started to do so indicates that they have recently acquired new and more sophisticated weapons. He mentioned the French Mirage jet fighters originally sold to South Africa but now being used by the Rhodesia Air Force to attack M o zambique and Zambia. While the U.S. verbally condemns apartheid both in Rhodesia and South Africa, it has done nothing to put some teeth into those threats and condemnations. On the contrary, U.S. economic support has increased rather than diminished. O nly a severing o f these economic ties would be taken as concrete proof of the U .S .’s commitment to equality and fairness for all. With the U.S. taking the lead and the rest o f Western Europe following suit, they could then clearly show their support for the liberation movements in Southern Africa. Sutherland says the “ most grip ping impression” he got on his trip was the determ ination o f the freedom fighters. In spite o f all the raids into the front line states and in spite of the betrayal on the part of the West, the guerrillas are deter mined to fight on. There is N O T U R N IN G BACK, he says and he thinks that, within a year or two at most, genuine self determination will be achieved in Rhodesia. The credibility of the U.S. is at a very low ebb because of America’s ambivalance. The Africans feel that there is not enough commitment to C arte r’s oft stated human rights stand, for instance. It is often said that: ‘The wheel that squeaks gets the grease.’ Apparently, we have been ‘outsqueaked’ by the right wing and big business. Sutherland feels that now is an excellent opportunity to apply the necessary economic pressure on South Africa especially since the new Iranian government has indicated it will not sell oil to South Africa. The U.S. should also withdraw its billions in investments and the double blow would definitely force the apartheid regime to recon sider and possibly save Southern Africa from the bloodbath towards which it is headed. Since none of the Africans in either Rhodesia, South A frica or Namibia are willing to tolerate the status quo and the result ed slavery forever, this clash is pre sently unavoidable. The U.S. could apply the necessary pressure to save the situation. According to his findings, there are approximately 1,000 American mercenaries in the Rhodesian army out o f a total mercenary force of some 11,000; fully 52% o f the total army. A major recruiter o f these mercenaries is the infamous Robin Moore who runs the “ House of the Crippled Eagles,” the ‘ unofficial U.S. embassy’ in Rhodesia. These mercenaries, o f course, do very little to improve America’s image in the eyes of the Africans. In addition to American mercenaries, there are also British, French, West German, South African, Israeli and Austra lian mercenaries. In conclusion, Sutherland urges that we, the people who know better, should start ‘squeaking* louder. We should contact our Congressional representatives to get A m erica’s Africa policy back on track. We should stop the Helms and the Haya- kawas from prolonging the suffering in Southern Africa. “ Concern should be expressed at the grassroots level. Do not let the U .S . legitim ize the present Rhodesian regime. Sanctions should not be repealed until all in Zimbabwe have a say in the running of their af fairs.” said A M A — a locally based organi zation that is indignous to the com munity it serves — would be better able to provide needed services. The new state day care plan — as described by James McCallister, of CSD (Childrens Services Division) — will force most state-subsidized day care children into family day care homes rather than day care centers but will allow no services to insure that child care is adequate. A total of 36 state child care workers will cer tify and supervise 400 child care cen ters and 3,000 fam ily day care homes. The expected service would include an initial visit to certify or license the home and investigation of complaints. M rs. Ruth Burger, director o f West Tualatin Day Care Program, explained the need for linkage be tween the day care provider and the parents. W ithout support services there would be no means for day care providers to find children or for parents to find day care homes. Day care providers who have problems with the child or parents would have no where to turn and would quit. There would be no one to insure that good care was provided and no one to offer training or education to assist the provider. There would be no one to assist the day care provider with payments and taxes. The family day care systems now operating to insure that children too young to at tend day care centers receive good care in fam ily homes would no longer exist. Nick Peet, director o f Childrens Service Division, explained that he had been told by the Governor to develop a system that would provide care for the largest possible number o f children at the smallest cost. James McCallister described it as “ moving toward basic service.” The response is to provide care for children whose parents receive welfare or whose income from em ployment places them just above welfare standards. Maximum allo wance for child care would be $150, the full cost provided by the state if the parents’ income was below a set amount — for example $503 for a two member family. As the income rose above that figure the parent f Please turn to Pane 3 Column 3) Demonstration triggers mistrial Judge James Ellis called a mistrial in the trial of Gregory Burbach, a Wackenhut guard charged with man slaughter in the shooting o f Lewis D. Mangum. Burbach is charged with shooting Mangum at the 15th Avenue Trade- well Store, where Mangum, drunk and verbally abusive, attempted to force his way into the store to purchase cigarettes and beer. The trial was terminated when members o f the R evolutionary Communist Party distributed leaflets in fro nt o f the Courthouse. Although the five jurors who saw the incident said they could not hear what was being said — a folded leaf let was found where they had been sitting outside o f the courtroom. Calling it a "conscious attempt to contaminate the jury” Ellis declared a mistrial and ordered that the trial be reset. A spokesman for the CRP denied an attempt to influence the jury saying they were merely trying to bring at tention to the trial. She said there appeared to be a news “ blackout,” with no publicity on the case. “ There were demonstrations when Jim Daniels, a Black man, was on trial, but the judge didn’t stop that trial!” During the two-day trial, William Ketron, manager o f the Tradewell store, said he had seen Mangum in the store about 7:00 p.m ., that he appeared to be drunk and that he had what looked like a butcher knife under his coat. He asked Mangum to leave and told Burbach not to allow him in the store. Mangum stood out side calling abusive language to the guard. Just before 10:00 p.m ., Ketron saw Mangum just inside the door, arguing with Burbach. Burbach was telling him that he would have to leave. Ketron then approached and asked Mangum to leave. He said Mangum was abusive, using profane language, and insisted on coming in. H e also called B ill W illiam s, described as 6’2” , 180 pounds and 22-years-old, to the front o f the store to help. He asked Mangum if he had a knife and Mangum said he did not and pulled open his coat to show that he did not. When Mangum said to Burbach, “ I ’m going to walk right through y o u ,” Burbach said he would shoot him. Mangum said, “ Then I ’ll walk right through him (Ketron)” Burbach replied. " I will still shoot you.” By then Burbach had drawn his gun and appeared to Ketron to be afraid — shaking, pale and visibly upset. Ketron decided the situation was serious, so he turned away and walked toward the office to call the police. After he had gone a few steps he heard the shot. He told the court he was surprised the man had been (Please turn to page 3 col. 3) NAACP meets The N A A C P , Portland Branch, will hold its monthly membership meeting on Sunday, March 18th at 4 ,00 p.m. at Highland United Chur ch of Christ, 4635 N .E. 9th Avenue. Lucious Hicks, branch president, has announced the following com mittee appointments: Labor and In dustry Committe co-chairmen - Bob Boyer and Bobbie Gary; Finance and C redit U nion C hairm an - L. C. Ellison; Community Coordination Com m ittee co-chairmen - Cleo Franklin and James Loving. Press and Publicity Chairman - Gregory Gudger; Education Com mittee C hairm an - John H eflin ; Church W ork Com m ittee co- chairmen - Reverends L. Fisher Hines and Austin Ray; Legal Redress C om m ittee chairman - W alter Morris, Sr. Freedom Fund Com m ittee co- chairmen - Grayce Kennedy and Phil M urray; Youth Work Committee chairman - Ora Nunley. Membership Committee co-chairmen - Bobbie Nunn and D r. Clarence Pruitt; Housing Committee Chairm an - Harvey Rice; Consumer Protection Chairman - Charles Stroughter. Political Action Committee Chair man - Robert Philips. Armed Services and Veteran’s A f fairs Chairman - Bernard Richar dson; Life Membership Chairman - Isaac Payne; Holiday Seals Commit tee co-chairmen - Harry Ward and (Please turn to page 2 col. 6) I Vicki Channel controls the ball, leading the Boise 6th Grade "Raiders" to the city championship with a narrow win over Brldlemlle. Boise's Young Woman's Top Graders team members are: Vicki Chan nel, Latrinda Harris, Damatia Paul, Tina Wrlslay, Nina Taylor, Debra Green and Stephanie Harder. Only three of the young ladies are 8th graders, the remainder in the 7th grade. The Raiders defeated Peninsula 144 SI St Johns (46 51, Faith Lutheran (38-10), Oakley Green (38-91. Har- ’1) Portsmouth (68-61) and Hosford (38-32)