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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1995)
Volume XXV Number 12 Serving the community through cultural diversity Join In Celebrating Our Schrunk Puts DA’s Into Neighborhoods March 22, 1995 . Famous Dancers The Alvin Ailey dancers perform at Portland 's Schnitzer Hall. Multnomah County's District Attorney Michael Schrunk wins praise for community policing effort. See Metro, inside. See Entertainment, page B3. A N N IV E R S A R Y ® lie Htnr tí aitò C e i* Leaders Stand By Foster 1 With hearings coming up later this month for his confirmation as U.S. Sur geon General, Dr. Henry Foster is gaining broad support among black organizations and their leaders. The leader ofthe nation’s largest Baptist denomination recently gave a fiery defense o f Foster suggesting that opposition to him may be rooted in race. Portland Hosts Affirmative Action Group « Portland Police make a stop at the Portland Observer, 4747 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., after finishing a training session for bicycle patrols at the nearby Northeast Precinct. Authorities said bike patrols will be used in every precinct of the city this spring and summer to ensure public safety. (Photo by Charles Washington) The American Association for Affir mative Action has selected Portland for its 21st annual conference, April 5-8 at the Portland Hilton Hotel. The event is ex pected to attract over 500 delegates from throughout the country . Roy Jay, president ofth e Oregon Convention and Visitor Ser vices Network, said because affirmative action is such a hot topic right now, atten dance may exceed expectations. Jackson Talks Presidency Again Accusing President Clinton o f not put ting up much o f a fight against Republican attacks on civil rights, Jesse Jackson re cently indicated that he was considering a third run for President ofthe United States. "W e will not stand idly by and watch the gains o f the last 30 years be lost,” Jackson said, during a press conference called to demonstrate support o f feminists groups for affirmative action. “The Stones” Tour Gets Snub The Rolling Stones’ recently per formed two concerts in South Africa, at tracting nearly 100,000 people. But very few o f the country's black population at tended. “They’re too white,” said one black journalist. Winnie Mandela, South Afri ca’s deputy minister o f arts and culture, called the group racist for using a white promoter. Group leader Mick Jagger, who has gained fame for re-recording black’s rhythm and blues songs, said he doesn't consider the group racist. Governor Supports Toran In CSD Tiff m P romise K ixg ov. John Kitzhaber has come out strongly in support of Kay Toran, O regon's Childrens Services Division (CSD) administrator and gives her critics hard knocks for what he describes as unfair criticism . G The governor told the Portland Observ er in an exclusive interview in his office last week, that he w on't fire Toran because he has full faith in her ability to perform her duties. “Kay is an experienced and dedicated adm inistrator,” Kitzhaber said. “She has had problems at CSD as you have in other agen cies and she is trying to identify those prob lems and correct them.” Toran has come under recent criticism since the state agency took away six children from a Portland area family after a spanking, accusing the parents o f child abuse. The children have since been returned. Rep. Bob Tieman, a Republican from Lake Oswego, has led the charge. Tiernan even stormed a press confer ence organized by CSD and spewed attacks on the social agency administrator. This be havior has angered the governor and infuriat ed leaders in the black community. “Quite frankly, I'm upset with the tone o f the criticism, which is inappropriate,” Gov. John Kitzhaber Kitzhaber said. Tiernan told the Portland O bserver Monday, he would not apologize to Toran “ for anything apart from interrupting her press conference." He admitted it was bad manners. But Tiernan said h e's waiting for Toran to apologize to the family involved in the alleged child abuse case. in E ric N oox Hundreds o f blacks and other sup porters o f civil rights recently commemo rated the historic Selma to Montgomery March with a reenactment. The March 7, 1065 protest for voting and civil rights for blacks became known as "Bloody Sun day" because o f the brutal manner in which Alabama lawmen attempted to stop it. The march was designed to go the 50 miles to the state capitol. But the marchers barely made it out o f downtown Selma when they were met at the foot o fth e Edmund Pettus Bridge by a posse o f lawmen who used bill clubs and tear gas to turn back the group. A2 ft She previously served as CSD Metro Region A dm inistrator. C lackam as CSD Branch Manager and purchasing division administrator at the Department o f General Services. She served as director o f affirmative action for former Gov. Vic Atiyeh and was an assistant professor of social work at Portland State University. She has a master’s degree in social work and bachelor degree in sociology, psycholo gy and philosophy. She sits on many board and advisory committees. Toran told the Portland Observer, that the criticism w on't stampede her into aban doning her priorities for the agency. H er agenda includes a co n tin u ed em phasis on fam ily p re se rv a tio n and r e a d i ness to im plem ent a plan to en h an ce com m unity p a rtic ip a tio n and e ffe c tiv e p a rtn e rsh ip s. She said she wants to ensure a smooth transition from CSD to a new office for services to children and families. Her top priorities also are to play a key role in new laws in O regon's juvenile justice system and to advocate for a balanced ap proach in juvenile corrections, while expand ing county partnerships and community-based programs. Michael Jordan Soars Again Selma March Anniversary Noted EDITORIAL H e's demanding a frill investigation o f the case workers involved and said those responsible for the childrens' removal should be fired, even if it includes Toran. Mean whi le, support is pi ling up for Toran from both from in and outside the African American community. Some leaders want Tiernan to offer an immediate public apology and a commitment to change his behavior "His immature, disrespectful and insult ing behavior, in breaking in on the CSD press conference and publicly calling for the firing o f Ms. Toran, was unbefitting o f a member ofthe House o f Representatives and it brings shame to other responsible legislators,” said Macceo PettisoftheC oalition ofBlack Men. The incident made some question wheth er Tieman has some special problem with people o f color or with w omen. The A frican A m erican L egislative Roundtable has also expressed concern over Tiernan's behavior. Toran said over the weekend that she has not faced this kind o f criticism since she jo in e d the agency as adm inistrator and stressed that these incidents were very upset ting. Before coming to CSD four years ago. Toran had garnered incredible credentials as an administrator. t's been along tim e since Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and it's been 17 months since he walked away from the NBA at the very pinnacle of his career. I Congratulations to the 108 honor roll students at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. Two students, Comara Thomas and Shania Price-Hale had a perfect 4.0 grade point average. The others had a grade point of 3.0 or higher. (Photo By Donn Thomas) With three world championships in a row (9I-93). seven scoring titles and three league most valuable player awards. Jordan was the best player the world has seen But what brought Jordan back to tryout again for varsitv in high school, brought him back to ▼ Continued to page A3 HOUSING HEALTH SPORTS RELIGION A4 A5 A7 A8 1 Michael Jordan ENTERTAINMENT B2 ' CLASSIFIEDS B5 X * . * *
