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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1985)
Portland Observer, February 6 1905, Page 3 METROPOLITAN Portland may get third sister-city______ by Robert Lothtan Portland attorney Michael Royce, a member o f the Lawyers C o m m it tee Against U.S. Intervention in Cen tral America, visited the Nicaraguan seaport town o f Corinto in December. C o rin to has been proposed as a sister city for Portland by city com missioner M ike Lindberg, and Royce works w ith the C o rin to sister city com m ittee. H e showed slides o f his visit at the downtown library recent ly, and he described what could soon be our next sister city, after G uadala jara, Mexico and Sapporo, Japan A huge crane dominates the city o f 30,000, which is situated on an island and connected to the m ainland by a bridge. A lth ou gh its facilities are primitive by Portland standards, said Royce, Corinto is Nicaragua’s major port, handling 80 percent of the coun try’s foreign trade. C o rin to has been a target o f anti- Sandinista contras attacking from U .S .-supplied speed boats, and in October, 1983, they were successful in destroying large oil storage tanks on the waterfront. The attack, which was later documented as having been directed by the C IA , caused millions o f dollars in damage and hurt the small country’s economy. The entire town had to be evacuated because of the huge fire. Royce’s slides showed rusted piles o f steel and misshapen remains o f the large tanks. The repair effort con tinues over tw o years later. H e de scribed seeing new Russian tractors working at the site in a reconstruction project. " I t turned out they were the M IG s ," said Royce, referring to an alleged shipment o f Russian M IG s (which turned out to be only a ru m o r), that sparked fears o f a U .S . invasion immediately after Reagan’s reelection. " O u r friend told us the wings were coming soon,” he said, drawing a laugh. Attorney Michael Royce (center) and Jeff Silver (right) talk with member of the audience following Royce"e elide presentation on the Nicaraguan city of Corinto. (Photo Richard J. Brown) " Y o u see evidence o f the contra war everywhere," he said, including street corner plaques honoring loved ones who had died in fighting in the mountains. H e added that C o rin to has several times been the site o f in vasions by U.S. Marines earlier in this century. Royce said he and his w ife stayed at one o f only a couple o f hotels in the city. Before the 1979 revolution which overthrew the dictator Somoza, the hotel had been a brothel in C o- rito 's fo u r square block red-light district. The red-light district is gone for the most part now, and the popu lation o f prostitutes has been reduced to about 40, according to Royce. "They have a very non-coercive at titude toward the prostitutes,” he said, speaking on a subject that also concerns Portlanders. Present and form er prostitutes are provided free > I ; health care, child care and alternative jobs by the government, said Royce. "W e view them as frien d s,” he was told by the local leader o f the national wom en’ s organization. " A n d the pimps have been eradicated,” he con tinued. " T h e y were Som oza agents when Somoza was in charge." While touring a health clinic, Royce said he met some C u b an doctors. "They were easy to pick out because they had beards and smoked big ci gars,” he said, draw ing another laugh. He said he was impressed with (he way the desperately poor country stretches its resources. Surgical gloves are washed, sterilized and reused, he said, and in schools where kthere are no desks, "the kids bring things trom home, or they just sit on the flo o r.” Such conditions made him realize that "m a te ria l aid is an im portant way o f showing support." The sister city committee is getting organized to gather school supplies, medicine, tools and other supplies Io send to Connto, he added, and to gather public sup port for a city council vote on Corinto as a sister city this spring. MINORITY STUDENT VISITATION DAY AN INVITATION TO EXPLORE YOUR ALTERNATIVES... LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE FRIDAY MARCH 1,1985 Join us for an open house to help you get acquainted with the academic and social environments of Lewis & Clark College You will have an opportunity to visit classes, discuss course and career options with academic advisers, and meet with faculty and current students There will be ample time during the program to ask questions you may have about Lewis & Clark For further information, write or phone Evelyn Minor-Lawrence, Lewis & Clark College. 0615 S W Palatine Hill Road. Portland, Oregon 97219 Phone 503-244-6161 x240 A H istory O f P ride . PCC seeks new directors F iling fo r the fo u r board vacan cies on the P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity College Board o f D irectors is now underway for the March 26 election. Positions to be filled include Zone 1 (L a k e Oswego, T ig a rd , T u a la tin , Sherwood and a portion of Beaverton south o f Farmington Road), Zone 4 (downtown Portland areas from west 25th and east 57th, from southeast Powell north to Ainsworth), Zone 5 (southeast and southwest Portland) and Zone 6 (northwest Portland from Washington Park to include portions of east Washington County). Incumbents Bill Hamilton (Zone 6) and Lynda M ayo (Zone 4) have indi cated they w ill not seek re-election. Bill G ren fell (Z o n e 5) has filed for re-election and Becky M an sfield (Z o n e I ) has not yet reached a de cision abour running for re-election. Persons interested in running for the board seals must be q u a lifie d voters o f the PCC district and reside in the zone where they file as candi dates. Each position is a fo u r year term beginning July 1, 1985. T o become a candidate, a person must file either a petition or a declara tion with M ultnom ah County Direc tor o f Elections by February 14, 1985 at 5 p.m. A petition requires a, least 25 sig natures o f registgered voters residing in the district or 10 percent o f the registered voters residing in the dis trict, whichever is less. Filing by declaration requires a $10 filing fee. In either case, the candidate must complete a Filing of Candidacy form. Fact sheets and form s fo r filin g are av ailab le fro m the M u ltn o m a h C ounty D irecto r o f Elections, 1040 SE M o rriso n Street, or from P C C , 12000 SW 49th Avenue, in the pres ident’s office, CC BI 7 Energy workshop celebrates third year of success W h ile w eath erization p ro g ra m ' that are designed to help low-income households do exist in the Portland m etropolitan area, there is only one project that shows people how to apply low-cost weatherization mate rials on their own, teaches them how to conserve and helps them save money. In short, it shows them how to help themselves. That is the C om munity Energy Project. T h e C o m m u n ity Energy Project (C E P ) was founded three years ago by active members of the Eliot Energy House on W illiams Avenue in North Portland. Since that time, through its publications and workshops, C E P has provided conservation inform ation, low-cost weatherization materials and the know-how to install those mate rials to over 2000 P o rtlan d house holds. This year attendance at C EP work shops has been higher than ever. W h ile some people have forgotten the energy crisis o f the 1970’s, energy costs continue to take an ever increas ing p ortio n o f incom e fro m low- income households. Easy and inex pensive solutions are needed for the age-old problem s o f staying warm and paying the bill. The C o m m u n ity Energy Project offers solutions. It works with P o rt land area utilities, social service agen cies, neighborhood associations and others to identify those most in need of its services. In cooperation with the C o m m un ity A ctio n Agencies, C E P encourages people who receive Low- Income Energy Assistance (L IE A P ) to attend a tw o -h o u r w orkshop to learn how to use their energy dollars more wisely. This year, like last year, the Project has contracted with the City o f Port land’ s Bureau o f Com m unity Devel opment to provide thirty workshops to In n er N ortheast and Southeast neighborhoods. In addition to learn ing conservation and weatherization skills, each income-eligible renter or homeowner at these workshops will receive for free $50 worth o f weatheri zation materials to use in their home. A ll C o m m u n ity Energy Project workshops are open to the public. For inform ation about how you can a t tend one of the C E P workshops and receive free weatherization materials, call the Com m unity Energy Project, 284-786«. Black History Month is a time to reflect. A time to kx)k back with pride at the countless achievements made by Black Americans, and a time to look forward with hope for the future. ”**> A.fcut#' cnnr, Cfl
