Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1989)
[ « w •» « Mrs Frances Scho«n-’.e»spapcr Poem University of Oregon Library in 97403 » VI P ortland, O rego n 1 portlahö ERVER APRIL 27,1989 VOLUME XIX NUMBER 16 OREGON FINALISTS U.S. WEST OUTSTANDING TEACHER B A nderson, a teacher at the Harriet Tubm an M iddle School, was selected as one of the top five O regon finalists in the 1989 U.S. West Outstanding Teacher Program. A search for outstanding teachers, w ho “ reach beyond classroom w alls” , brought attention to B. Anderson who c a m , out two extraordinary programs that not only reach out to the community, but that bring the com m unity, indeed the world, back into H arriet Tubman Middle School. International W eek each spring at Tubm an was “ B ” s idea and she and her cow orkers put in many hours bringing it to fruition months before the big w eek. S he c o n ta c ts c o lle g e s, organizations and individuals on her list for nam es o f foreign students from other countries and Americans who have traveled abroad - anyone who can make a far part o f the world com e alive for all Tubman students. Then, she sets about to bring these speakers, their slides, posters, national costum es and artifacts into every classroom in the school during International W eek. Parents com e in to cook luncheons made up of cuisine of different countries. Students make flags and posters to decorate the halls. They actas hosts and guides, and are involved at every level o f this special w eek at Tubman. M rs. A nderson’s second great achievem ent is her work at the Reading Tree at Irving Park. Concerned that over the sum m er children might lose the skills in reading they have learned during the school year, “ B ” directs a sum m er program that takes place under trees in the Irving Park in the community. Here at Irving Park the children can find all sorts o f books, phonics games, puzzles and other reading m aterials that arc fun for them and that reinforce their reading skills. M ost o f them don’t even suspect they arcT eam ing, while they arc taking part in this summer fun program. As a further brilliant stroke, w henever it is possible, she uses older children, many o f them present or past Tubman students who have had difficulty in learning to read them selves, as her tutors. Guess whose reading skills improve as much or more as the younger children’s do? " B ” is ju sta b o u ta sb u sy a sa “ b ee” . Her friends and cow orkers have a hard time saying no when she approaches them for help. PUBLIC NOTICE The Portland Observer has Issued press passes to all of it's employees. These passes are identifiable by (1) the Observer's logo at the top, (2) the employee’s name and pic ture, (3) the word PRESS and, (4) a fingerprint of the right index finger. Anyone not in possession of an Observer press pass does not represent the P ortland O bserver newspaper.40 25< BAN ON ALCOHOL IN CITY OF PORTLAND PARKS Corno acts to acquire Walnut Park facility by Stephen E. McPherson, Special Correspondent For more than a half century residents in the vicinity o f M artin Luther King Avenue and N. E. Killingsworth have becom e accustom ed to walking to the nearby shopping center in W alnut Park. Especially is the location o f this distribution center im portant to the elderly persons who reside ju st across the street in W alnut Park Manor. The shopping center was not only a convenient place to make their purchases but also offered respite to a secluded existence where they could while away the tim e with friends. Around the first o f the year, Fred M eyer executives announced their intention to cease doing retail business at that facility by the end o f April. The confusion and disappointm ent that this d e c isio n fo m e n te d is q u ite understandable. Last week several reasons for rejoicing em erged when it becam e known that C om o foods had expressed an interest in acquiring the property. The site which is owned by the Portland Urban League is known to be appraised at about $825,000. For some time the league has been considering offers which hovered in the neighborhood o f one half m illion dollars, which according to some critics is somewhat like firesale panic. The Urban League has been im periled with an intractable budget deficit for more than a year. They lost a very large grant from the Fred M eyer Foundation because of alleged mismanagementEven the City of Portland has gotten into the negotiations and threatened to withhold all help unless the league got its fiscal house in order which would include getting out o f the real estate business. Apparently the city of Portland is satisfied with the sale of the Walnut park property because they are willing to finance part o f the transaction At press time the final details had not been resolved but it is understood that the C om o group wants to acquire the property without interruption in service. The C om o group is to be commended for its interest in and support o f a community which is going to need a lot a help from like- minded persons before it can return to the glories of the past. Perhaps the renaming o f Union Avenue and the stay of execution for the W alnut Park facility portend good things for the future of this area. The Portland Observer proudly welcomes its new neighbor. On W ednesday April 26, at 10:00 a. m „ com m issioner Mike Lindberg, will seek formal city council approval o f an ordinance which would immediately ban the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages In Portland parks except by permit. Commissioner Lindberg, has stated " I came to this decision as a result of public hearings, input from the Police Bureau, recom m endations from the public safety in parks task force, and an ever increasing number of neighborhood association requests for alcohol bans in neighborhood parks. The overwhelming majority o f behavior problems in parks arose from alcohol abuse. This ordinance will still allow alcohol possession and consumption at any event for which the appropriate park permit has been issued.” Lindberg also said, “ although the city code em pow ers the commissioner- in charge of parks to administratively ban alcohol, I felt that council would wan t to participate in sending a message about our com m itm ent to keeping our parks safe. This will also provide the police a more formal enforcement tool.” According to parks superintendent sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Cleve W illiams, “ I was rather surprised EDITORS NOTE when I cam e to Portland. M ost major ; Metropolitan areas banned alcohol in The following artice was published in the D aily Journal of Commerce / _public agQ } and is reprinted w ith perm ission. TALKS CONTINUE ON DBE SUPPORT PACT By kevin H ard en Negotiations are continuing on a state D e p a rtm e n t of T ra n sp o rta tio n d isadvantaged business enterprise support services contract that was caught last fall in the middle o f a legal tug o f war. A contract awarded in m id-O ctober to W ho’s W ho Publications Inc. of Portland was pul up for bid again in March after state and Federal Highway Administration officials cited a potential conflict o f interest because the owner o f W ho’s W ho, Bruce Broussard, also was a subcontractor through a different com pany on a federal-aid highway construction project W illie Harris, Federal Highway Administration regional director for civil rights, said U .S. Service Inc. a company in which Broussard was a shareholder, was working as a m inority-owned subcontractor on sim ilar projects for which W ho’s W ho Publications would provide support services to other minority or women-owned businesses. U.S. Services Inc. is a state-certified M BE subcontractor. It is separate from W ho’s W ho Publications Inc. The DBE supportive services is an annual program funded through the Federal Highway A dministration. The consultant receiving the contract assists m in o rity - and w o m en -o w n ed subcontracting firms with information or other means to improve their effectiveness on federal-aid highway construction projects. This fiscal year the state received $75,000 to com plete the six-month contract that was rebid in early March. State officials also have an additional $44,000 this year, but that money may not be used, Harris said. W ho’s Who publications was awarded the contract in October after Broussard’s proposal was selected by a state com m ittee as best to provide support make a very positive difference in the atm osphere of our parks.” services to disadvantaged business Signs will be going up in parks during enterprises (DBEs). It is difficult for someone providing { the next 21 days. services to his com petitors on those £ contracts to do it objectively. State Departm ent of Transportation X officials raised the conflict o f interest issue after the original contract was awarded. Vemell W est, coordinator o f < the state Department of Transportation’s X DBE supportive services program in Salem, said the contract was pulled and restructured to include new language forbidding similar conflicts. “ The initial selection was rejected based on the appearance of a conflict o f interest,” W est said. “ It appears that (Broussard) would be competing on jobs with people he was supposed to be helping.” Harris said the change in the contract language was not unusual because m ost states have a clause in sim ilar contracts to protect against potential conflicts. “ It is difficult for someone providing Thomas and Mildred Carr celebrated services to his com petitors on those their 50th Wedding Anniversary on April contracts to do it objectively,” Harris 18,1989. said. After the new language was added, They received acknowledgments the contract was rebid in early March, from President George Bush and his and Broussard once again was the wife Barbara Bush. successful bidder. A party was given at the N/NE YWCA Two firms- W ho’s W ho Publications to celebrate the occasion, by their children and M anagement Resources proposals G loria Phillips, Thom as Carr, W illiam for the DBE program in early March. Carr, Jeanette Carr, Robert C arr and Brousssard.who publishes the monthly M ildred Tarver. American Contractor newspaper from They plan to have an annual party his Northeast Union Avenue office, hereafter. threatened late last year to sue the state after his contract was rejected. The objected to the change in the original program agreem ent, calling it a breach o f contract. “ It certainly is inappropriate and illegal for the state to prohibit Mr. Broussard or any other corporation in g which he is a shareholder from bidding as a prime contractor or performing work as a subcontractor,” wrote attorney L ynnia K. W oods, representing Broussard. Broussard and state D epartment o f Transportation officials arc hammering out an agreement that would, among Congratulations JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL: Yesterday, Today and Forever by J im i Johnson Jefferson High School has been attacked from all fronts in the m edia for quite sometime. These vicious attacks on Jefferson feed and distort the misconceptions and fear already harbored by the greater Portland community concerning the North/Northeast section o f Portland. Jefferson High is not the problem, the problem lies with a city that has long m islead, lied to and neglected it’s North/Northeast citizens for far to many years. The services to the community that surrounds Jefferson High are virtually non-cxistant, and as the services decline, so will the community. As tax paying citizens living in North/Northeast Portland,w e must dem and that city services to our com m unity be upgraded on a par with services in other com m unities such as the W ilson School service area. “ To blame Jefferson High School for a deteriorating community which surrounds Jefferson is like blaming your doctor for catching a cold” .The problems in North/Northeast Portland (which Jefferson resides) is a city problem and should be addressed accordingly. To single out Jefferson, which has been getting negative press for over twenty- five years, brings up old racial prcdjudices and feeds upon the negative image and attitude portrayal by an insensative media. The gang violence that has erupted in N orth/N ortheast Portland has been festering for a num ber o f years, and conditions that brought such negative activities in North/Northeast Portland is well over twenty-five years of neglect by city, county and state officials. The tax paying citizens o f N orth/ N ortheast Portland should demand a refund for services NOT rendered. Instead we seem content to sit around and let some m isinformed person, perpetrating as an investigative w riter define our community, our schools, and our people from a binocular point o f view. As a person who grew up in North/ N ortheast Portland and graduated from Jefferson High I’ve watched closely the actions o f the city toward it’s North/ Northeast community and fought to dem and services be met. In spite of the lack o f com m ittm ent by city officials to our com m unity, I’d still say that North/ Northeast Portland is a good place to live, and that Jefferson High School is one of the best in the state! In reference to an article by Mr. D exheim er in another w e e k ly , I’d like to say” ...Come on D ow n...” Come live in North/Northeast Portland for a few years then speak about the com m unity from up close and personal Granted there are problem s at Jeffferson High School, as there are problems with virtually every inner city high school in the nation. But to blame the school totally w ithout looking at some underlying issues is self-destructive to the community and the city of Portland as a whole. As a City, we need to com bine resources and com e up with real workable solutions in order to turn the situation in North/Northeast Portland around. However, as a city, Portland has chosen to look the other way when it’s citizens o f North/Northeast Portland. Closing Jefferson High would mean total abandonm ent o f N orth/N ortheast Portland by businesses and home owners and would create the slum some officials seem to w ant in our com m unity. To take this issue a step further, I strongly believe there is a city w ide conspiracy to drive property values down in North/ N ortheast Portland as residents are bom barded with negative press. W hen long time residents leave the community, (which is located in one o f the best geographical areas in the city) outsiders will make a mad dash to North/Northeast Portland to purchase ‘ ‘prime real estate’ ’ at bargain basement prices. This is a national trend, and the residents of North/ N ortheast Portland need to recognize the games being played at City Hall before we rent houses and land we once owned. I believe we should protect “ o u r” investments in our community, beginning with “ o u r” school Jefferson High, for when someone attacks Jefferson as an institution, they attack the whole com m unity with mean intentions, as I said before, Jefferson High School, yesterday, today, and forever. Mother's Day May 14th Say Hello to Mothers And other things effectively erase the conflict of interest problems and award W ho’s W ho Publications the new contract. Through his attorney, Broussard offered in early November a compromise that would forbid his W ho’s W ho Publications from bidding on state or federal highway projects. with A $ Love Ones thru the Portland Observer Special Acknowledgement (2 X 4) $20.00 ? Photos $10.00 Extra 0 « * ».