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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1983)
METROPOLITAN Portland Obaarver, March 16, 1983 Paga 3 Suit charges police brutality by C. Eddie Edmondson A Vancouver, W ashington black woman hai filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the C ity o f P o rtla n d and Multnom ah County for injuries she said she received from Portland po lice during an arrest along Northeast Union Avenue and at the downtown detention facility when a ja il guard allegedly threw her against a ja il cell The co m p lain t, which was filed last week, states that L o rra in e Olive, 23, was stopped by two Port land police o ffic e rs in the early morning hours o f January 9. ,982. She was traveling north on N o rth east U n io n , accom panied by tw o other persons. Ms. O live explained in an interview what happened. “ I had seen the police behind me since I had made a stop on (N o rth east) G rand, and the police passed me th en ,” she said. ’ ’ They turned around between Shaver and Failing and followed me back onto U n io n .” She was stopped by the officers at Northeast Union and Prescott in an unused parking lot there. Jalal and Nafiaa Sherriff of iha Chuck Davis A f ro Ansarlcan Dance Co., stopped by the Black Edu cational C an tar. and ualng m ualc, call and re- aponaa. taught tha youngatara about druma and clothaa worn In Africa. (Photo: Richard Brown) A A A changes topic of hearings Public hearings w ill be held the week of M arch 21-25 to solicit input from the community regarding pro posals fo r changes in the way ser vices are provided to the elderly in Portland and M u ltnom ah C ounty. There will be presentations, discus sions and testim on y taken on the following proposals: 1) T ra n s fe r o f A rea Agency on A ging fro m the C ity H u m a n Re sources Bureau to the C ounty D e partment o f Hum an Services. A task force has recom m ended that the A rea Agency on Aging ( A A A ) be moved from the C ity o f Portland Hum an Resources Bureau to the M u ltn om ah C ounty D epart ment o f Hum an Services on July I, 1983 so it can be better coordinated w ith C o u n ty health and m ental health services. 2) Area Agency on Aging adm in istratio n , instead o f state adm inis tration, o f M edicaid long-term care services (nursing homes, etc.) for el derly and disabled persons. Senate B ill 955 con so lid ated health and social services for elderly and disabled adults into one State branch, the Senior Services Division and allows a shift from State to lo cal ad m in istratio n. The P o rtla n d / M u ltn o m a h R eorganizatio n Task Force recommended that the Port- la n d /M u ltn o m a h A A A take over a d m in is tra tio n o f lo n g -te rm care programs on July I , 1983. 3) Services fo r the elderly which the Area Agency on Aging will pro vide during 1983-84. ESD Building; Wednesday. March 23, 7 -9 p .m ., P o rtla n d B u ild ing ; F rid a y , M arch 25, 10 a .m .-n o o n , University Park. She said she was asked for her dri ver’s license and car registration by the two policemen. No question was raised relative to autom obile insur ance, she said. Police also searched her car, Ms. Olive said, and told her they were lo o k in g for drugs and weapons. None were found. Before letting her go, the police men handed her a traffic citation for failing to have proof o f automobile insurance. A t this point, police and M t. O live agree, the tore the ticket into piecet, the police loo kin g on. Police contend that M t. Olive ituck her hand out the window and let the piecet drop to the ground; she con tends the threw the piecet behind her into her back seal and a couple o f piecet went out her p a rtly lo w ered w indow th ro u g h w hich the ticke t had been handed her. M t . O liv e sayt p olice pulled her d o o r open. Both agree she was told by the police to get back out o f the car. T h e m other o f tw o young c h il dren said the policem en beat and seized her before telling her she was under arrest. A t one tim e, the re c a lle d , (he o ffic e rs o f the law slammed her body against the wall o f the building on (he vacant p ark ing lot. Police deny they grabbed or beat Ms. O live and contended in stead she attempted to assault them. They defended themselves by physi cally restraining her durin g which time she might have suffered her in juries, they allege. T he 125-p ou n d, ta ll, slender w om an recalls losing and gaining consciousness during her arrest. She remembers being dragged by the o f ficers into the M u ltn o m ah C o u nty deten tion fa c ility because she was unable to walk due to her injuries. She became fully conscious in a ja il cell, she said. There were no other persons around despite her calls to anyone. " It's a telephone in the cell,” said Ms. Olive who has no prior record. “ So I telephoned a friend o f mine (collect). I was talking to her on the phone when two people came to the (cell) door. One was a black matron (guard) and the other was a (m ale) sergeant (guard).” According to Ms. Olive, the w om an guard rem ained by the opened jail cell while the male guard, who is white, came inside, snatched the tel ephone receiver out o f her hand and slammed her against a cell wall. " I w ent head f i r s t , ” she said, “ and th at busted my head open. And when I felt my head busted, I said, 'Y ou guys done gone and bust ed my heaad open.' They didn’t say nothing.” M s. O liv e was taken to another cell w here her head was w rapped with gauze and taken for treatment to an area hospital. Jail guards re quested and (he h ospital d id not take pictures o f her injuries, or, for that matter, treat her for any other injuries she had received that night except for the head injury. ’ ’ T h e y refused to take X -ra y s , they just sutured up my head,” she said. A fte r she was returned to M u lt nomah C ounty detention facilities, she was given papers to sign for re lease on her own recognizance. Last summer M s. O liv e went to trial in circuit court. She was acquit ted o f littering, but a ju ry found Ms. O live guilty o f resisting arrest. She was Fined $250 and given a suspend ed jail sentence. The orginal charge against her that January night over a year ago, o f operating a car w ith out p ro o f o f insuran ce, had been dismissed before tria l because M s. Olive was insured at the time. The A A A writes an annual plan to id e n tify needs and provide ser vices. Among the programs that can be included are: Senior Center, con gregate m eals, h om e-delivered meals, transportation, legal afd, in- home support, productive services, day care, adult foster homes, nursing homes, in fo rm a tio n and re fe rra l, etc. C ity C o m m issio ner M arg a re t Strachan, and County Commission ers w ill preside at the hearings. Hearings are scheduled at the fo l lowing times: Monday, March 21, 2-4 p .m ., U r ban League, King N eig h b o rh o o d F a c ility ; T uesd ay, M arch 22, 2-4 p .m ., P A C T ; W ednesday, M a 'c h 23, 10 a m .-noon, M u ltn om ah Co. Jefferson reunion planned M el R enfro, Nancy Ryles, W en- dall W yatt, A rt Eckman, John H el m er, J r ., N a te Jones, and T e rry B a k e r. . . .These are ju s t some o f the more notable graduates o f Port la n d ’ s Tho m as Jefferso n H ig h School. And by this time next year many more o f the school’ s alums w ill gather to celebrate the school’s 75th anniversary. W a rn e r (C h u c k ) L o n g , a vice- president w ith U .S . B ancorp who was senior class president in 1959, is spearheading the o rg an iza tio n o f the gala celebration tentatively set for June o f 1984. He is looking for Jefferson grads who are interested in forming a committee to plan (he a f f a ir w hich is expected to draw over 3 ,0 0 0 people to the N o rth Portland school for a day-long cele b ra tio n . He estim ates that there could be well over 15,000 graduates o f the school scattered all over the state and the n a tio n . Interested alums should contact him by m ail at: U .S . B ancorp, 555 SW O ak (P L 2 ), Portland, Oregon 97204. He is enthusiastic about the possibilities for the diamond jubilee. Jefferson, Portland's third oldest high school, was organized in 1909 and moved into the building which s till houses the School of C ham pions in February 1910. Jef ferson has a long and proud tra d i tio n o f a th le tic and academ ic a c complishments. ★ NOW OPEN ★ NEW-BEAUTIFUL Rent Subsized Hi Rise Living Downtown * Designed for Seniors and handicapped ♦ Qualified Applicants pay only 30% of their income ♦ 162 units completely refurbished * Moat modern fire b security systems For in fo rm atio n c a ll___ PARK TOWER 731 SW SALMON £ 227-3367 It ’s about 4* for a one K kilow att hour can. And when electricity com es in a can, it’s easier to think about your energy budget. To stay w ithin your food budget, vou probably check the price for most canned goods w hen you shop. But consider this. If vou could buy elec tricity in a can, you could check the cu rren t price for one kilow att hou r of pow er every tim e you bought a few cans. Tnat way y o u ’d be able to better stay w ith in your energy budget. You’d have m ore control over how m uch energy you use, so y o u ’d have m ore control over how m uch you pav. Because how m uch you use determ ines how m uch you pay. If you think of electricity as a p ro d u ct th a t’s m ade, bought and used up — like any canned g<x>d — it a little ea sie r to see w hat you get for you money. One kilow att h o u r of electricity can giv vou enough pow er to light up a room for 10 hours. O r blow dry your h a ir every morning for alm ost six weeks. O r wake you up to you clock radio for nearly four m onths. Since your bill is based on how m any total kilow att hours you use each m onth, know ing the price for a kilow att h o u r gives you the pow er to control your costs. Not just by using less electr icity. But bv using only as m any cans of electricity as voi really need. T he people at pacific power
