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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1993)
* • • • '• , » vJr V »■»»»’ ( H » > « « ■ I»'. ', ►<>»««« « «■»< «■» < « VS f • « * * * • : V «. * < «« O <« « < ’ March 17. 1993 "Serving the com m unity through c u ltu ral divei Voinnin XXIII. N um ber 11 »</•* 3 i »z- •r . (L lie (© b s E tiie r THE i n REVIEW Potter Retiring A fte r leading city into com m unity P olic ing, Police C h ie f Tom Potter w ill retire June 30, 1993. Chiefs Dave W illia m s , Chuck K arland, Charles Moose are pos sible candidates. “ .../Z is our belief that our youth are whole beings deserving the opportunity o f a full and meaningful life. ” A n inform ational picket w ill be conducted at various sites to make the public aware o f the problems A fric a n A m erican contractors and construction workers are having in gaining contracts and jobs on federally funded h ig h way construction projects in the state o f O r Packwood’s Actions Focus The Senate select com m ittee on Ethics makes decision to focus on Senator Bob Packw ood’ s actions and not the 23 Saturday M arch 13 was Grandparent’ s nig h t at the house o f Umoja. The House o f Um oja hosted a w ell spread dinner w hich included glazed ham, bar-b-que chicken, tossed salad, deviled eggs, rolls, pound cake, chocolate mocha, and much more M usic was provided by Teddy Free- m an-singing some oldies, but goodies for the “ older generation, one o f w hich w e all recognized “ M y G irl ” The younger set were quite patient about the choice o f tunes. It was an emphasis on grandparents, but every age was represented, as w ell as a ‘ broad representative group from the com m unity. It met one o f the A frica n proverbs t i n t is in the resident handbook; “ It takes a w hole village to raise a ch ild .” “ Umoja is dedicated and fu lly comnutted to saving the lives o f endangered youth, who would oth erwise be los to the destruction and devas- tation o f gang life, drug involvem ent and egon. T h is is not a new problem, however, it has intensified over the past three years. The w om en’ s sexual histories Abortion Doctor Killed p lig h t o f B lack contractors and highway con struction workers was like n to that o f the spotted ow l as early as July 22,1991. Statistics released by the Oregon Departm ent o f trans portation (O D O T) in 1990 indicated that thirty - fo u r Black-owned firm s were certified as dis advantaged business. O n ly 15 o f these firm s were able to obtain subcontracts d u rin g the D avid Gunn paid a h igh price fo r his b e lie f in womens choice. T h is is a firs t fo r our nation. He was shot in the back by M ichael G riffin Health Proposal In Jeopardy previous four years, i.e., since 1987. In 1991 three Oregon-based B lack firm s received contracts. By 1992 o nly one Black firm received awards. Since the new fiscal The plan to assure health care fo r the poor in Oregon m ig h t not make it be cause o f the state governments fin a n cial year w hich began October 1, 1992, no con tracts has been awarded to an A fric a n A m e ri can contractor. O D O T is aware o f this prob lem but poses no m eaningful solution. Correc tive measures and suggestions have been met w ith hostile m ajority contractors, organiza tions w hich represent them, as w e ll a unions squeeze. Yeltsin In Power Fight Boris N. Y e lts in ’ s economic reform pro gram is threatened by the Congress o f People’ s Deputies. They canceled his planned referendum and are rejecting most proposals. He storms out o f session. vio le n t behavior ...It is our b e lie f that our youth are whole beings deserving the opportunity o f and related state agencies. T h is represents persistent anecdotal evidence that the state and private construction industry has not pro vided equal access to contracting and em ploy ment opportunities and have discrim inated on New Attorney Takes Oath a fu ll and m eaningful life .” One o f the parents, Marga ret Bain, had nothing bu, high praise for the program, she is also a volunteer fo r the program as w e ll as others that lend themselv es to help the basis o f race. On A p ril 10, 1992 congressman Ron W yden consented to h o ld in g an congressional hearing on the matter. It was planned fo r later on in the year, how ever. O D O T has been able to stonewall the hearing In the meantime the situation has gotten worse, placing A frica n Am ericans at the po in t o f extinction in the Janet Reno takes Oath o f office as A tto r ney General. She is the firs t women in that post King Trial Contin- ues A day and a h a lf on the witness stand left Rodney K in g exhausted as he explained in g our youth. Grandparents and other comm unity members took adv antaged o f the beautiful surroundings, the good food and a chance to m ingle and share thoughts and ideas. It was an evening w e ll w orth the time. Noone seemed to be in a hurry to leave. The T ig a rd Tigers took the Oregon Class 4 A h igh school Boys C ham pionship over H illsboro 52-48. Snow Hurricane was learning so much, she says, that she The next tim e you go shopping, the sales person w ho helps you could be a form er w el hardly dared miss a day. Her p a yo ff was a G ED certificate plus s k ills and self-esteem that led to a job, a near i t ’ s really hard to heal Although Measure 5 budget cuts w ould doubling o fh e r hourly wage in 18 months, and sharply reduce jo b tra in in g fo r w elfare recipi an am bition fo r a better job. “ I „ ..i ents like her, Governor Roberts is proposing guess it was always there,” she that $37.8 m illio n in Oregon Lottery revenues says o f her success, “ but some and increased beer and wine tax revenues be body ju st had to fin d it.” fa c £ H er persistence matches used in the next two years to continue getting J Oregon state governm ent’ s na welfare recipients back to w ork Here’ s another element o f Oregon w e l tio n a lly recognized co m m it fare reform: When a teen-ager becomes preg ment to helping people get and , nant, she typically drops out o f school to have stay o ff welfare. D u rin g th e c a m p a ig n , her baby. But Oregon leads the nation in president C lin to n talked about getting teen parents to re-enroll in school 32-vear-old Portland resident w ho is among 600 people a m onth who make the move fro m w e lfa rc to w o rk th a n k s to state-supported jo b training. The m ile posts along her W orst ever in our history. 1st Rose Princess Chosen K u rra Lee Turner, a senior at Central C atholic H ig h School chosen as firs t rose road to welfare included her parents' divorce, the m urder o fh e r father, alcohol and drug princess fo r 1993. abuse that began in the fifth Public Schools Face Cuts S X X S X yond bartending. I f that sounds hard, con sider her path to the workforce and a good job w ith one o f the Northwest’s prem ier merchan School Superintendent Jack B ie rw irth proposed cuts o f 500 to 600 jobs, e lim i nating the sports d ivisio n and closing Vocational V illa g e , “ is going back to a classroom teacher and a p rin c ip a l.” disers. She enrolled in a jo b -tra in Clinton Potpourri Considering more cuts; Democrats ad vance jo b creation package; w ill attend Portlands’ Forest S um m it; swore in new • Oregon is at the forefront o f b ° o f welfare, (raining 600 people a month fo r jobs that are s e t ^ g them o ff welfare. An Oregonian will advise the Clinton administration on welfare reform. ing program fo r welfare re cipients, daily rid in g the bus to M ount Hood C om m unity College, nearly tw o hours a day She also walked 16 blocks to get her ch ild to a babysitter then to the bus stop, sometimes in the pouring rain w ithout an um brella . She “ ending welfare as we know it.” Oregon is already doing that, trading in the old welfare model fo r one that stresses jobs, and we w ill tell that story to the L ik e A T & T , we want them back As a result, 85 percent o f Oregon's teen mothers who dropped out to have their babies are back in school, and additional mothers are w a itin g for classes No other state ev en comes new administration. N ationally, 10 percent o f elig ib le welfare heads o f house holds are in w elfare-to-work jo b tra in in g . But in Oregon, the figure exceeds 20 percent In a given month, more than 8,000 w elfare recipients are being assisted from close to those numbers Since October 1990. about 2,400 teen parents have earned high-school diplomas or G E D certificates I ’ve attended their com mencements, and I've head them talk proudly w elfare and trained for jobs whose average starting wage exceeds $6 an hour. “A Recap Of Black History Month For 1993” “Emanuel’s Healthy Kid’s Fair” Are we to be the only people on God’s earth that alleged "historians" are permit ted to defame and degrade? Children can meet the life flight crew, see inside the helicopter and an ambulance CLASSIFIEDS A6 and tearfully about their achiev ements. F inishing school is im portant because 49 percent o f current welfare recipients either are o r were teen parents, rendered uncompetitive A- ' V ■ B í f í • - • f a f a £ *••• ¿ 'A * ' ? D u rin g the past year, Sabin C om m unity Association has increasingly been faced w ith real public safety concerns over speeding cars and unregulated intersections. Last year neigh bors raised concerns about tra ffic speeding down the lu lls from the ridge being a th re a t to school children The P rin The Principal o f Sabin Elementary School, Michael Jordan, reiterated the need for push button crossings on Prescott and fa Fremont. fa cipal o f Sabin E l ementary School. M ic h a e l Jordan, reiterated the need fo r push b u tto n c ro s s in g s on Prescott and Fre mont In our neigh borhood surveys, speeding cars and the need fo r speed bumps and more regulated intersections turned out to be o f primary concern to many, many neighbors. Numerous com plaints have been made about accidents at unregulated intersec tions and hit-and-nm s w ith speeding vehicles crashing into parked cars. Most recently a speeding car crashed in to a house on Prescott near 16th, causing serious damage to the property w hich had been painstakingly im proved and landscaped over the past year. In response to this accident, a number o f neighbors have begun to organize around speeding cars and public safety p articularly on Prescott Avenue near N E 15th street They have sent a letter to the d istrict tra ffic e nginesr requesting speed bumps o r some other appro priate measure to control tra ffic in order to ensure reduced speeds and pedestrian safety. O n Monday M arch 2, at the Pacific Power and L ig h t Sabin Community Room, the Sabin Community Association general meeting fo cused on speeding cars. C o m m issio n e r Blumenhauer, Susan Hartnett, director o f Neighborhood T ra ffic Management and oth ers spoke on how to go about m aking the necessary changes to ensure comm unity safety. Sabin hopes to launch a campaign fo r long term improvements as a means o f reclaim ing .V a -*, — .. ■Y,-'*' ' ' -s '■--Z •■'V w 'í.’.r . ’ M*: -.T ? , 4 > r •• »“ * 5 • - • .V • 4 • •. • ** » . * ■ Y S ’ • -v ‘ ' * • -J • ’ • ■ • .* - ■- • - ..■•’i t , - . .’ - ' - - .fa i f a f a » •., • -L» ■ .* y , - . - I . '" ' . HOUSING A8 in the jo b market ow ing to th e ir failure to graduate C h ild abuse is a frequent and tragic companion. O ur com m itm ent to getting people o ff welfare— and helping them stay o ff— extends to a fam ily necessity that recently made headlineschild care. In order to help welfare recipients enroll in classes, get job tra in in g and accept em ploy ment. the state provides help w ith ch ild care costs I recently talked to a young mother in Medford who said that, w ithout this help, she w ould have been unable to get o ff welfare to take the jo b she now relishes at w hich she excels. She’ s only one o f many. The importance we place on child care is reflected in O re g o n 'sN o . 2 ranking nationally in our use o f transitional child care to help parents and their fam ilies become self s u ffi cient. The next tim e someone argues that i t ’ s time to “ reinvent” welfare, you can nod kn o w ingly— and point to your state as a model fo r how to do it (K e vin W. Concannon is director o f the Oregon Department o f Human Resources. He is one o f 10 people, including five governors, recently named to a national task force to advise the C linton A dm inistration on welfare 7 «* **>• 1 *■ 'V • ‘ 5- / • *A.> $ - S f - - ,y > ' :5 . I reform.) Religion '< V ' “Falling Down” “Thirst For God” Movie Review: Someone will be hurt including ourselves, our family and friends. I will not ask you to deliver me out o f my situation because a lot o f it was brought on by myself. Page B5 Page B3 Page BI Page A3 ' - 25« Speeding Cars To Be Focus Of Neighborhood Meeting Arts & Entertainment MetroLife Editorial * In Lane County , a welfare recipient re cently told me that w elfare w ithout jo b tra in in g is like a crutch— it helps people walk, but B Y K E V IN W. C O N C A N N O N fare recipient. A n example is a woman named Betty, a It was a snow hurricane that w iped out the east coast costing at this point 114 lives, temperatures as low as 2 degrees, hikers missing, a irlines shut dow n, h ig h ways closed an m illio n s w ith o u t power. A3 * ■ ' . ■ l Reinventing Welfare Tigard Tigers Win ners EDITORIAL r V» •• i 1- .. our streets. highw ay construction field. in his confusion o f what happened two years ago. " I thought I was going to die.” attorney general. House Of Umoja Spotlights Grandparents African- American Contractors- Construction Workers To Picket fa fa METRO-LIFE AUTOMOTIVE ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS BI B2 B3 B5 O LJ