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