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‘ Volume XXV Number 5
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Serving the comm
K&ûb
Join In Celebrating Our
Lady
Pilots
Win Big
♦
Observer
Celebrates
Black History
Special Black History Month
Edition features history
o f Albina Ministerial
Association
See Black History, page B8
University o f Portland beats
Santa Clara.
See Sports, page B2
»
◄
Director and founder
Brian Lacy (left) of the
Community Cycling Center,
2407 N.E. Alberta, and
volunteer Karen Holtz
repair a bike that will go
into free public use.
Photo by Don Thomas
Teen Charged In Bicycle
Slaying
Tyrone Anthony Thurman, 15, has
been charged with shooting another teen­
ager last week across from the Northeast
Police Precinct on Killingsworth. Troy
Alex McCollum. 16, died from a gunshot
wound to the head. Thurman allegedly
shot McCollum about 6 p.m. Jan. 25 as he
rode his bicyc le on Northeast Church Street.
Police say the slaying was related to gang
activity.
Alberta Shop
Fixes Bikes
For Public Use
ixing bikes for the yellow
share-a-bike program is a win-
win strategy, according to the
people who run the Com m unity
Cycling Center at 2407 N.E Alberta St.
F
Riders Board New Train
Amtrak’s new Mount Rainier line,
which provides service between Seattle
and Eugene is surpassing expectations.
The service which opened Oct. 30 is doing
so well that Amtrak may offer extended
service to Vancouver. British Columbia,
something that hasn't been available for
more than a decade.
Simpson Book Hits
Shelves
O.J. Sim pson's new book and audio
tape “1 Want To Tell You" hit area book
stores Friday. Simpson released the publi­
cation to again proclaim his innocence and
answer over 300,000 pieces o f mail he has
received since his arrest last June for the
murder o f his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and
a male companion.
Supreme Court Begins
Review
The nation’s highest court has begun
its largest review o f government programs
designed to curb racism. The increasingly
conservative court is expected to declare
many o f these programs unconstitutional.
Most likely to fall are programs giving
minorities preferential treatment in con­
tracting, scholarships and the creation of
voting districts.
Marsalis Takes Leave
From Tonight
Branford Marsalis bid goodby to The
Tonight Show Friday with a montage that
included him in drag. Marsalis has con­
ducted the NBC Orchestra since Jay Leno
replaced Johnny Carson in 1992. At one
point in the farewell. Marsalis said the
show “helped me find a side o f m yself 1
didn't know existed." His farewell bit in­
cluded a camera cut to him dancing on
stage wearing bikini underwear, a bra.
sunglasses and baseball cap.
Clinton Loses Support
On Gun Ban
More than two dozen House Demo­
crats are prepared to oppose President
Clinton and join a band o f Republicans
who are about to try to repeal the nation­
wide ban on assault-sty le weapons.
Police O fficer Shot In
Arm
A Portland policeman who had just
got o ff work suffered a wound to his left
arm early Wednesday o f last week when he
confronted three men breaking into a car in
southeast Portland and exchanged gunfire
with them Sgt. Andrew Kirkland, 33 was
treated for the injury and released from the
hospital
EDITORIAL
A2
Where Trust Rides A Yellow Bicycle
S pecial T o T h e N eu Y ork T im e s
n New York City, it would be
madness. But here in Portland,
w here
cars
slow
for
pedestrians and trolley car
collected on the honor system, urban
whimsy has become reality.
I
One hundred lemon-yellow bicycles have
been scattered along downtown sidewalks by
a local community group, free and available
to anyone who needs one. Dangling from the
back seat o f each single-speed two-wheeler is
a license plate that reads” “Free community
bike. Please return to a major street for others
to reuse. Use at your own risk.”
What has been remarkable since the
program began about four weeks ago is that,
as far as anyone knows, all the bicycles have
indeed been returned, something that might
not happen in other cities.
“ Would it work in New York? I doubt
it,” said Joe Keating, the Manhattan-born
director o f the United Community Action
Network who started the Portland bike project
with a friend. He said that while it is impos­
sible to keep track o f every bike, he believes
none has been stolen. “But if someone needs
a bike that bad, let them have it," he said.
No one is more delighted by the peaceful
distribution o f low-tech vehicles than the
Mayor o f Portland, Vera Katz, a former
Brooklyn resident who has never learned to
drive.
“ If these bikes were left in midtown
Manhattan they’d disappear instantly," May­
or Katz said. “T hat’s why I love this city.”
Mr. Keating said he got the idea for the
bike project after he and a friend saw a
documentary
, “Sex. Drugs and Democracy,”
fare
is
about life in Holland. “There was this won­
derful scene about the free community bikes
in Amsterdam,” Mr. Keating recalled. “We
looked at each other and said. O K., let's do
it.’”
Mr. Keating and some comrades scout­
ed neighbors’ garages, acquiring 10 some­
what damaged bikes, which they took to a
nonprofit center that teaches children the art
o f bicycle maintenance. The bikes were free
and an auto shop donated buckets o f yellow
paint.
Since the bikes hit the streets, Mr Keating
said he has been flooded with donations o f
even more o f them. And government officials
up and down the West Coast have inquired
about how to launch similar programs.
“So I'm putting together a packet o f
instructions - can you imagine, instruction?”
Mr. Keating said.
“ It’s more like a haiku sort o f thing.
Really, this is the essence o f simplicity."
So far, the only problem has been an
occasional flat tire. There is a telephone
number to call, but some riders fix the tires
themselves and return the bikes to the street.
Portlanders now exchange stories about
odd sightings o f cyclists offering social com­
mentary.
“Last week someone was surprised to
see an elderly woman in a smart tweed suit
hop on," Mr. Keating said. “She wobbled a
bit and clearly w asn’t an avid cyclist.”
This week Mr Keating received a call
from a perplexed new Portland resident who
seemed overly anxious about the bike she had
found.
“Take a ride and leave it for someone
else,’ “Mr. Keating said. “She was utterly
befuddled.”
Cynicism was the immediate response
o f the Portland Police Chief, Charles Moose,
who was bom in Harlem. “See any cops ride
away with one?” he asked. But soon he
became as nonchalant as the Mayor. “ It’s just
an Oregonian kind o f thing," he said.
In fact, many migrants to Portland say
the free bikes remind them that though their
new city has its share o f crime, it is far
different from the grittier places they left
behind. “People don’t shoot each other over
parking spaces here," one transplanted New
Yorker said.
Perhaps the poet Robert Hass o f Berke­
ley, Calif., understood it best. In his poem,
“The Yellow Bicycle," he wrote:
The woman / love is greedy,
hut she refuses greed.
She walks so straightly.
When I ask her what she wants,
she says, “A yellow bicycle. ”
In Portland, she could have her wish.
By fixing these bikes, kids can learn bike
repair, safety skills and the building blocks to
a possible career as a mechanic.
The bikes offer free transportation to
anyone who needs it. They reduce auto emis­
sions, congestion and transportation costs,
private and public The bikes also build a
spirit o f sharing and community.
Putting together bikes for community
use is not a new idea, but it’s taken a new turn
with the involvement o f the Community Cy­
cling Center.
Young girls and boys and adults are
repairing the basic bikes for a life o f public
ownership.
The donated bikes are made to go and
stop safely, painted completely bright yellow
tagged with a sign that identifies the bike and
leaves a number so abandoned bikes can be
repaired and set out again.
Other programs at the center allow kids
to earn the ownership o f a bicycle by signing
up for 27 hour program learning basic repair,
bike security and safe riding skills.
Other activities at the center include
Club Rides Run, a program for elementary
and middle school children to explore Port­
land, Washington and Oregon.
Bicycle Distribution provides very af­
fordable bicycles to low-income'residents.
The public donates bicycles to the center
where they are repaired by staff, adult volun­
teers and youth to be sold or exchanged for
community service.
A Vocational Education program isopen
to 10 young adults per year to become trained
and placed in mechanics jobs and to help run
the community center's bike activities.
Report Card On City Services Released
However, the report also warns o f prob­
he city of Portland continues
lems with high crime in certain areas o f town
to do a good job at providing
and a growing backlog o f needed street main­
services to the public and
public opinion about city services tenance work.
Overall. 53 percent o f those responding
continues to be positive.
I
These are the conclusions o f a report
released Monday by Portland City Auditor
Barbara Clark.
The report card on city government high­
lights how the city provides services in its six
major areas: Police, fire, parks, streets, water
and sewers. Auditors check and verify the
data collected on performance and also com­
pare Portland’s performance to that o f six
other cities. The report also contains the
complete results o f its fourth annual citizen
survey.
Auditors found positive performance in
many areas: public safety has improved, the
environment is benefiting from wastewater
treatment efforts and most city streets are
clean and in good condition.
RELIGION
A6
to the auditor’s citizen survey rated city and
county services as either “very good” or
“good." About 37 percent rated services nei­
ther good nor bad. Only 11 percent rated
services “bad” or “very bad." Almost 10,000
households were selected at random to par­
ticipate in the survey . About 5,000 complet­
ed it and mailed it back.
Citywide, 78 percent o f the survey re­
spondents rated the livability o f their neigh­
borhood as “good” or “very good.” While the
overall average is good, residents in north­
east and north Portland rate livability lower
than other areas, according to the report In
total, about 5 percent o f respondents rate
their neighborhood livability as either "bad"
or “very bad."
The report notes that the overall crime
rate in Portland has steadily declined in the
past four years. The property crime rate has
declined 14 percent since 1989. The survey
shows citizens are much more satisfied with
police service and more Portlanders know
their neibhbrohood police officer than in
recent years - perhaps indicating the effec­
tiveness o f community policing.
For the fourth consecutive year, fire and
emergency services had the highest satisfac­
tion rating on the survey, with 89 percent o f
respondents rating the service as “good” or
“very good.” Fire was followed by parks with
77 percent Recycling with 76 percent and
police with 70 percent feeling “good” or
“very good " The lowest rating on a city
service in the survey was traffic management
which had only 40 percent rating it “good” or
“very good.”
A majority o f Portland residents are
satisfied with street maintenance, cleanliness
FOOD
METRO
SPORTS
A3
BI
B2
and smoothness, but traffic safety still re­
mains a concern for most residents.
Only 41 percent o f respondents to the
survey indicated they think traffic safety is
either "good” or “very good." Street cleanli­
ness and smoothness were rated as “good" or
“very good" by 63 percent and 60 percent o f
respondents, respectively. However, the per­
cent o f streets rated in good condition dropped
from 65 percent to 60 percent.
While satisfaction with parks is very
high, auditors point out the Bureau o f Parks
and Recreation continued to lack informa­
tion to measure performance and to account
to the public. They noted that park facility
condition assessments are not reliable, cost
o f service information is incomplete and
participation data is inaccurate.
Overall spending for the city's major
services increased by 15 percent above infla­
tion since 1989-90. while total staffing grew
by 11 percent.
ENTERTAINMENT
B3
CLASSIFIEDS
B5
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