Page 6, Portland Observer, March 30, 1988 KBMS: **• « • * Portland Soul Radio by Nyewusi Askari Fasten your soul seatbelts, Portlanders! A Black-owned and operated 24-hour-a-day radio sta­ tion is coming to your city. Pen­ ding approval of the FCC, the sta­ tion should be in place in four weeks or less Mr. Chris Bennett, owner of the station explains. “ The name of the station that we have purchased is KAAR, 1480 am in Vancouver, but we w ill change the stations’ call letters (KAAR) pending FCC approval. Tentatively, the call letters are KBMS. The indication is that those call letters w ill be the ones approved by the FCC.” Radio station KAAR 1480 in Vancouver, W ashington, was re cently purchased by KRIS Ben­ nett Broadcasting, Inc. Explain­ ing the new station's format, Mr. Bennett said, “ It w ill be a soul station. We w ill play Rhythm and Blues, Rap, Gospel, Jazz, the w hole arrangem ent of Black music. We w ill also be an infor­ mation vehicle for the African- Am erican com m unity in Port land. The music w ill play 24 hours a day.’’ Mr. Bennett, and A frican- American, said the corporation that purchased the station is 100% Black-owned and under­ stands the ins and outs of the print and broadcast media. “ I have three newspapers and a magazine in the Seattle/Tacoma area: The Seattle Medium, which is an award-winning newspaper; TheTacom aTrueCitizen; ashop- pers guide called The Metro Homemaker; and the magazine, The Soul Town Review. We are self-contained. We do our own printing. I have been in the business for 18 years,” he said. In the African-American com ­ m unities of Seattle and Tacoma, Mr. Bennett has helped launch the careers of many aspiring African-American journalists. He said, “ Three of the top writers at the Seattle Times newspaper right now worked for us. We have, unfortunately, trained a lot of people who have gone elsewhere to bigger and better things. And that’s fine because we are about helping people get ahead.” Sports by Fred Hembry Responding to the question of why he chose Portland for his new soul station, Mr. Bennet said, “ We own the radio station KRIZ 1420 am here in Seattle. We’ve had that for four years, and we've built and built from a small daytime station to a full-tim e, powerful m etropolitan station located in the Black community. There were two properties avail­ able when we started looking at P o rtlan d. I had done som e homework and saw that Portland didn't have an urban format soul station. I saw that the masses of the people in Portland’s Black community was not being served by other radio stations. So, we looked at Portland and decided that we would put into place a 24-hour voice down here; that we would have good music, national and local news and views. We hope to be on the air w ithin the next thirty days.” Speaking specifically to Port­ land’s African-American com m u­ nity, Mr. Bennett said, “ We want the community, especially the business folk there and the church community, to try and support us financially. We are putting out a tremendous amount of money, and although we are going to create some jobs there, we do need their support spiritually and financially. It’s amazing that since we’ve put the word our, a number of folks from Portland have been calling us of­ fering their support.” The new station w ill be located in downtown Portland in the old postal buildingat5103rd Avenue and Washington. Mr. Bennett said, “ The building was already ready for a radio station. It had been renovated for another sta­ tion that didn’t take it. We won’t be in Vancouver anymore. The minute we get ap­ proval, we will be moving into downtown Portland. We are buying our tower sites. We have three towers that are located in Northwest Portland, but the community we want to serve is in Northeast Portland. We w ill be shooting out 2500 watts non-directional. Our signal at night gets as far as Tacoma, Washington We w ill be covering Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Oregon City and all the surroun- dind towns and cities in Oregon.” A native of Waynesboro, Geor­ gia, Mr. Bennett said he is look­ ing forward to becoming an a ct­ ive memberof Portland's African- American community. “ We hope to be a vehicle and an outlet for young people. I understand that Portland has a bad drug scene, but somehow we’ve got to get in there and help get rid of it or we are going to lose an entire generation of children.” Concluding his interview, Mr. Bennett quoted African-Ameri­ can activist Dick Gregory: “ Mr Gregory once said that the way to communicate with the masses of Black children is through your refrigerator door and on Black radio. I can’t do anything about the refrigerator, but we sure got some Black radio coming. I also want to conclude by thanking The P o rtla n d O b se rve r fo r assisting us in some of the transi­ tions we are doing. We come down there and might have to use the telephone or a place to hang o u r hats and The P ortland Observer has been most kind. We really appreciate it because we are coming to Portland to get in­ volved with people, and we are going to turn to the community. We need each other. Actually, I am more excited about Portland than I was about Seattle,” he said with a deep laugh. So Portland, get ready for a soul ride — a ride we hope w ill last into forever. To Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Gloria Bennett and KRIS Bennett Broad­ casting, Inc., we say, “ Welcome to o u rC ity and to our community. May our relationship and involve­ ment establish a legacy Oregon w ill never forget. Thank you for choosing to share your visions and dreams with us.” Shaping Up For the PIL At last, Spring is here! A fterall the long, hard hours of winter training and anticipation, the 1988 track season arrives. We saw some of our high school talent two months ago in the Portland Indoor. Now we w ill have the pleasure of seeing the rest of the talent as well. 1988 should prove to be an in­ teresting season in PIL track. With the graduation of such stan­ douts as Peter Prichett of Ben­ son and Leon Lincoln, Jr., of M adison, along w ith several others, a noticeable void w ill be felt. A few teams have lost more senior greats than others, and they w ill be in a rebuilding mode th is season. This w ill be a coaches year, giving the spec­ tators a chance to see the men­ tors of each school program at work. I had the opportunity to speak to a couple of the area coaches about their returning athletes as well as their undeveloped talent. Leon McKenzie, the coach at NIKE NW Basketball Camp Boys and girls ages 11 through 16 are invited to sign up for the NIKE Northwest Basketball De­ velopment and Team Camp at St. M artin’s College in Lacey, Wash­ ington. Boys' Camp is July 10 -15 and G irls’ Camp is July 17 -22. Day Camper rates are $130.00 and Overnight Camper rates are $250.00. Group rate with eight or more players per group is $230.00. Registration deadline is May 15, 1988. For additional in­ fo rm a tio n and r e g is tra tio n , please contact: Pacific J C Bas­ ketball, P.O. Box 7106, Bellevue, Washington 98008 or call (206) 746-4016. • -i ; .V .’% > ► « V- ■ - ?• < ‘ 4. ’ • ' • ’ _ " /r ’ 4 For the Whole Family • ? • • ■ ’ \S M-.’ . <’ r t»’. ■£• HI Easter Greetings Hair Elegance Designers Easter Special Leisure C u r l...........$60°° Relaxers.................. $25°° Skin Deep Beauty & Barber Supply 1761 N.E. Dekum Make Over Portland, Oregon 97211 with Relaxer and Trim •;»v » Wholesale Children Discounted with Family Special X 284-2374 603 N.E. Killingsworth Quality Copies - •zf, DELIVERED! You car gel B e looking cop« without n w leaving your desk list call ktnko s We •r'v-i» p«k up vour nnginals »nil deliver insp itear io p « right to vour done— within ham Qualm cop«— Krnko s delivers1 Z >»•„ 284*2129 « M IN I 7TH OPEN 7 DAYS 223*2056 1M11* JVYIRMN OPEN 24 HOURS kinko'S <*’ ■’ <■*■* •• • • « • • K ■ ■ n 'VC Retail QUICK, COURTEOUS SERVICE 283-5573 / _ I.? ‘X <-v- v" ‘ ’ Wholesale Pricing y ? 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Of A N I T IC S «» a I ra d e m .u k a n d s e rv ire m a rk T e r b n n in q v C e n te r a n d •» u s e d w t h its p e rm is s io n W ¡¡.«--e - A ll A b o u t R a d ia tio n , by L Ron H ubbard and a m edical d o c to r W hat 'S radiation? H ow does it a ffe ct us? H o w can you p ro te ct your self? Get the tru th behind the headlines the honest facts w ith o u t all the hysteria A ll A b o u t R a d ia tio n is an honest appraisal o f w hat the po ten tia l e ffe cts o f radiation are on your health Buy and read A ll A b o u t R a d ia tio n All About Radiation Purification Illustrated PHONE 283-3171 -À< »-li your ability to think more clearly! Did you know that for almost 30 years you could have bought some of your groceries at wholesale prices? The Bee Company, for over 30 years, has offered the public weekly shipments of name-brand groceries at genuine wholesale prices. You’ll find canned and packaged goods, pet foods, as well as frozen and close-dated deli products on the shelves. The best feature is that you do not have to buy by the case. You buy just what you want to buy, just the amount you need. Located at 800 N. Killingsworth, just east of I 5, they are open Monday through Saturday 9:30 am to 6:00 pm. Isn’t it about time you save on your grocery bill? -V ' Nature study, arts and crafts, outdoor recreation and living skills and life skills development are among the activities for youth, teens and adults at the YWCA’s scenic Camp Westwind on the Oregon coast. Twenty-five summer sessions include Youth, Ranch, Marine Science, Adventure Canoe, Family, Senior, Mother-Child, Creative Arts (for people with disabilities) and more. Call 223-6281 for more information. We’re New in the Neighborhood ^y| !! F R E E !! S»/* has Jeanine Macow (58.0 400m), and John Dimoff who should threaten some other athletes. Grant should be the big meet favorite this year, and could again give the state tourney a run for its money. Madison had a great 1987 sea­ son. Unfortunately, a lot of their talent were seniors. Madison is definitely having to rebuild their program this year. They do have some talen t developing that could be very threatening in a couple of years. Coach Leon Lin­ coln feels that “ David Cauthers should emerge as one of the bet­ ter distance runners in the city.” David w ill run the 1500 up to the 3000. He also has Debbie Cantrea who should do very well in the 800. After talking to thse coaches, I feel that the spectators are in for some interesting Track & Field this season. Who w ill emerge o r top is anyone’s guess. My pick is. Grant due to the returning depth Coach Cotton has, but only the next two months w ill tell the tale. Benson, said that although they lost a lot of tanet last year, they'll still be making a “ lot of noise.” Benson shouldn’t have too much trouble with the likes of Walter Bailey. Walter holds the 5th best long jump for Oregon Preps. Coming into the season, Walter has a best of 23’11V4” . He also runs a 10.6 100 and a 21.6 200. Benson also has a sure bet in the field with Hau Nguyen,‘ a pole- vaulter. Hau went 13’3” as a junior. He also throws a mean javelin w ith a best of 180 ft. Athea W illiam s is ranked #2 in the 200 with a mark of 24.9. She’s in the top four in the 400 with 56.8. “ We can run Athea in the anything from the 800 down and do w ell,” coach McKenzie stated. With talent like this Benson is sure to do well. Grant has depth coming into the 1988 season, much like Ben­ son. Coach Cotton has returning powerhouses like Bill Sheppard and K.K. Waller, as well as a host of underclass talent that could fill in wherever needed. Cotton P r in te d us I) S A nvvoed b y th e R eliq io u s