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N ovember 8, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Jews And Gentiles
P o lic e N ew s
by
Three Auto Repair Shops Have Agreed
To Change Their Business Practices
Attorney General Theodore R
Kulongoski today announced that
based on the findings o f an undercov
er investigation by the Department o f
Justice three auto repair shops have
agreed to change their business prac
tices follow ing allegations that they
had performed unnecessary repairs.
In addition, Kulongoski announced
that he has served notice o f intent to
sue two other businesses. Investiga
tors visited ten other auto repair es
tablishments w ithout fin d in g any
problems.
“ We w ill not tolerate auto re
pair fraud in this state,” Kulongoski
said. “ W h ile our in v e s tig a tio n
showed that most mechanics are
dedicated to treating their custom
ers honestly, our cars are too i m por-
tant to perm it even a few instances
o f fraud or unnecessary repairs.”
T wo signed Assurances o f V o l
untary Compliance were filed in the
M a rio n C o u n ty C irc u it C o u rt,
Kulongoski said. The third compa
ny entered into an unfiled settle
ment agreement. None o f the agree
ments admit any violation o f law.
“ These companies deserve credit
for recognizing the problem and
taking prom pt steps to prevent its
recurrence,” Kulongoski said. The
three compan ies were: Lith ia Toyota
L in c o ln M e rc u ry ( M e d fo r d ) ;
Firestone T ire and Service Center
on Burnside Street in Portland; and,
K And II Specialties (The Dalles).
The undercover investigation
consisted o f Financial Fraud staff, with
the assistance o f an expert mechanic
provided by the State M otor Pool, test
ing the air conditioning system on an
unmarked car, then disabling it by
inserting a blown fuse. A female in
vestigator posing as a traveler brought
the car to 15 different repair shops in
locations throughout the state.
The m anufacturer’ s repair man
ual specifies that a defective or blown
fuse w ould be the third problem to
check when attem pting to fix a bro
ken air conditioner. A ll o f the loca
tions “ shopped” by investigators
eventually found and replaced the
blown fuse. Ten businesses inform ed
the investigator o f the nature o f the
problem and charged from nothing
up to $44.95. The average diagnostic
charge fo r these was $25.
Mechanics at five locations told
the undercover investigator that ad
d itio n al parts required replacement.
K ulongoski said that all o f the parts
replaced were, in fact, fu lly function
al. The additional charges ranged
from $57.25 to $293.20. In one in
stance, investigators found that the
mechanic charged a parts fee fo r a
replacement fuse w hich had actually
been taken from the spares in the
unmarked car.
A u to repair com plaints were
second on the department’ s I9 9 5 T o p
10 Consumer C om plaint list, issued
this week in conjunction w ith N a
tional Consumer Week. The N ation
al Association o f A ttorneys Gener-
a l’ sto p ten consumer com plaint list
puts car repair at number two. Car
repair com plaints are sixth on the
Better Business Bureau’ s list o f
businesses w hich were the subject
o f inquiries in 1994.
Kulongoski said that consum- I
j
ers should take some simple steps to
help protect themselves against be
coming victim s o f repair fraud. He |
urged consumers to call his consum
er hotline and to check w ith the local
better business bureau before decid-1
ing on a mechanic. Kulongoski said |
consumers should obtain more than
one written estimate, always using I
the same description o f the work to [
be done. He urged consumers to com
municate directly w ith the person
who w il I actually work on the car. He
said consumers should never leave a |
vehicle to be repaired w ithout spe
c ific instructions and several num-1
bers where the consumer can be
reached. Kulongoski said consum
ers should, i f at all possible, do their
homework on the basic mechanics o f |
their automobile and always check
what warranties and service contracts |
apply to vehicle repairs.
For a free copy o f a brochure I
title d “ T a lkin g the Scare Out o f
A u to Repair” , ca ll the A tto rn e y ,
General’ s C o n su m e rH o tlin e a t3 7 8-|
4320 o r 229-5576 (P ortland only),
8:30 a.m. to noon, M onday through |
Friday o r w rite Financial Fraud,
Robert Earl M cD onald is a 47-
year-old black male, w ith a date o f
b ir th o f D e c e m b e r 2, 1947.
ception.
Crim e Stoppers is ofTeringa cash
reward o f up to $ 1,000 fo r inform a
tion, reported to C rim e Stoppers,
w hich leads to an arrest in this case or
any unsolved felony crime, and you
can remain anonymous. C all Crim e
Stoppers at (503) 823-H ELP.
According to investigators, the
charges stem from a fraudulent
scheme in w hich M cD onald w ould
pose as a delivery person fo r Feder
al Express, and c o lle c t C O D.
Charges fo r fictitio u s packages.
I east Portland man as a hom icide.
A t the same tim e , o ffic e r s
c o n ta c t e d
D o n a ld
C h a r le s
B la c k e r, D .O .B . 0 2 -0 1 -5 4 , w h o
was seated on the fr o n t p o rch o f
the house n e x t d o o r at 5 5 0 9 S. E.
K n ig h t St. A f t e r s p e a k in g to
B la c k e r, o ffic e r s to o k h im in to
c u s to d y . B la c k e r has b e e n
ch a rg e d w ith M u rd e r. He w ill be
lo d g e d at the J u s tic e C e n te r J a il.
Southeast Precinct officers re-
I sponded to 5503 S. E. K nig h t St. at
about 9:15 a m. after receiving a
call that a man was down and ap
peared injured inside the house
there. Upon arrival officers found
Michael C. Smrkovsky, D .O .B . 10-
05-44, dead o f undetermined trau
ma inside the house. There was
announced it w ould hold a demon
stration on M onday, N ovem ber 6th
from noon u n til 2:00 PM at the
I justice Center, 3rd & M ain, in con-
Iju n c tio n w ith national and intem a-
| tional actions planned that day.
These actions are, in part, a re
sponse to revelations o f Philadel
phia police corruption and b ru ta li-
py
A lo c a lm e m b e ro fth e C o a litio n
stated “ the arrests and convictions o f
police officers that has led to 42
c rim in a l c o n v ic tio n s being o v e r
turned and the subpoenaing o f over
100,000 arrest records is further ev
idence M um ia did not receive a fa ir
tria l.”
Worldwide
Ban On Hate
Talk Urged
Continued from front
“ What w orries me is the hatred.
We knew there was a great debate
between those who wanted peace
and those who did not. A nd now you
see the results - the face o f hatred and
the face o f hatred is death.”
Wiesel is a prom inent supporter
o f Rabin’ s peace efforts. But his
Blacker was staying at 5509 S.
E. K nig h t St., next door to the de
ceased. A lle g e d ly , B la c k e r and |
S m rkovsky were d rin k in g and so
cia liz in g together in theearly m orn
ing hours p rio r to S m rko vsky’ s I
death. The exact cause and manner |
o f death w ill be determined by the
State M edical Examiners O ffice, i
D e te ctive s Jim B e lla h and j
C heryl K anzler are the investiga
tors.
National Day For Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal
T he P o rtla n d based Free
I M um ia Abu-Jamal C oalition today
“ Jewish anti-Negroism ” --not that any
mainstream publisher w ould touch
it; and not that it doesn’ t exist.
In the firs t book, “ Jews and
Blacks” , C ornel West and his coau
thor M ichael Lerner press forw ard in
a fast-m oving and far-ranging ex
change, “ Can Jews and Blacks be
G ive fu ll disclosures in a ll cas
es w here p o lic e m is c o n d u ct is J
charged.
Enact an immediate m oratori
um on all death penalty prosecu
tions.
Release and compensation for j
sentiments were echoed even by
those who strongly opposed R abin’ s
course.
“ A word is a word, a deed is a
deed. But words lead to deeds. Every
time I heard someone cry out that
Rabin was a ‘ traitor’ at a rally, I felt I
had to get up and denounce that incen
diary language,” said New Y ork Rab
bi A vi Weiss, who has led protests
against Israel’ s making peace with
Yassar Arafat and the Palestine Liber
ation Organization around the world.
Weiss said in 1994 when police
in Oslo, Norway, were about to arrest
him at a demonstration, he asked
them to w ait w hile he tried to stop
someone from burning an e ffig y o f
Rabin.
On Sunday, Weiss led a memo
rial service in tribute to Rabin attend
ed by 400 people and his voice broke
when he started to say a prayer that
began, “ M ay G od remember the sou I
o f the prim e m inister o f Israel.”
munities.
Thealliance be tween Blacks and
Jews was the cornerstone o f liberal
politics fo r much o f the twentieth
century. Yet today there are people
in each com m unity who see their
form er a lly is their most dangerous
foe.
In the current p o litica l climate,
it w ould be easy to suggest we gloss
over the differences and unite in the
face o f a comm on enemy: the reac
tionary right. But calls fo r unity are
not like ly to succeed unless they are
based on w o rkin g through the explo
sive issues that separate com m uni
ties.”
The second book, “ N egro And
Jew” , w hile consisting o f a score o f
short essays o r vignettes on the sub
je ct that are necessarily brie f, does ia
fact provide some factual, hard-hit
ting and insightful material. These
less intellectual excursions into real
ity make excellent points-of-depar-
ture fo r constructive d ia lo g u e -a s
opposed to academic trip p in g ’ .
For our purposes, this series w ill
be based on my own experience,
analysis and reflections (Surprise,
surprise). Over the yearsh)0*0*0*ve
had some strange encounters and
some confrontations both perilous
and hilarious-but never dull. Webster
defines both Jew and G entile, the
latter "a person o f a non-Jewish na
tion or o f non-Jewish faith. How
about a “ Heathen... Pagan” . For me, a
Jew is anyone who says he is “ Jew
ish” . W ho am I to question?
I, Perhaps, have had closer and
This book touches every facet o f
a possible Jew/Black schism, but does
not seem to explore anything in depth.
Rather, the book is like a fast-paced
dialogue between tw o persons who
more intimate contact w ith both Jew
and w hite Gentiles (herein after re
ferred to as ‘ w h ite s ’ ) than most
blacks; Ranging from an early c h ild
hood in a m ixed neighborhood to
are very knowledgeable on the sub
summer vacation em ployment as a
resident chauffeur or valet in Jewish
je c t matter, but have got to get back
to the office after this half-hour lunch.
Farrakhan, Black Nationalism, Jessie
Jackson, SNCC, N A A C P , Zionism ,
Shamir, Palestinians, and C row n
Heights are all sliced thin and served
up fo r a cursory inspection. Both
combatants fire o f f some clever one-
liners, but the battle is never joined.
households. Then, many years later,
employed in accounting or adm inis
tration in Jewish-owned corporations
as w ell as other proprietorships.
As later, in academia, the con
flicts can grow rancorous and quite
often the old adage holds, “ Too close
for co m fo rt” continued next week.
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“ It was like saying the state o f
all police frame-up victim s.
Israel had been shot. I can’t sleep
also fo r Philadelphia D is tric t A tto r
M ore details on national and
local activities on N ovem ber 6 w ill
be released as available, according I
ney Lynne Abraham to:
to the C oalition.
because all I can th in k is that we have
stooped to this level. We have to
replace the hatred w ith love, other
wise we can’t live .” Weiss said.
The demonstration w ill demand
not o n ly a new tria l fo r M um ia but
Am erica through the prism o f the
relationship between theirtw o com
N obel Peace Prize w inner Elie
Wiesel to ld reporters on Saturday:
Homicide Investigation At 5503 SE Knight St.
blood about the room , w hich was in
disarray.
thing in antithesis; you know , like
friends and allies once again? It's
neither easy nor im possible, say
M ichael Lerner and Cornel West, in
a dialogue that looks at the most
pressing problems o f contemporary
M any Jewish leaders said the
k illin g showed that the “ verbal” v io
lence that has accompanied R abin’ s
peace efforts had clearly gotten out
o f hand.
M cD onald, who has also used the
alias T erry Johnson, stands 6 ’ 2_ tall
and weighs 140 pounds, w ith black
hair and brown eyes.
Portland Police detectives are
I investigating the death o f a South-
The idea fo r this series devel
oped as the after-m ath o f several
spirited discussions (argum ents?)
around tow n w ith some rather d i
verse groups -- w hich are the kind I
usually encounter in my peripatetic
wanderings. Some im m ediacy was
generated by the recent appearance
o f Dr. Cornel West at Lew is & C lark
U niversity; coauthor o f “ Jews And
Blacks: Let The H ealing B egin”
(1995).
As the man said, “ deja V u all
over again” . In an absurd niche o f my
library I found a 1966 copy o f “ N e
gro A nd Jew: A n Encounter In A m er
ica” . Edited by Shlom o Katz, the
dust jacket describes an approaching
storm; “ W ith theemergence o f B lack
Power, a c r itic a l' new ’ issue has aris
en in Am erican life. Here isa ca n did
examination o f Negro anti-sem itism
- and the consequent Jewish Reac
tio n .” We suppose a witches brew
has been bubbling ever since.
There have been so many books
or essays in this vein that one is
prompted to speculate as to whether
there has ever been published any
1162 Court Street, N .E ., Salem,
OR 97310.
Crime Stoppers, Fraud
The Portland Police Bureau,
in cooperation w ith Crim e Stop
pers, is asking fo r your help in
locating Robert Earl M cD onald. A
felony arrest warrant has been is
sued in M ultnom ah County, charg
ing M cD onald with Theft B y De
P hof . M c K inley B en
TW O PO RTLAND M OTELS ORDERED CLOSED
Two Portland area motels which
were associated with prostitution ac
tivity have been ordered closed as o f
October 23, 1995. The two motels
involved are The City Center at 3800
N.E. Sandy Blvd. and the Dunes Motel
1525 N.E. 37th Ave The closures are
the result o f a court order follow ing
Portland’ s Specified Crime Property
Ordinance.
The action follows a crim inal in
vestigation into prostitution and nar
cotics activity at the establishments by
East Precinct officers earlier this year.
The investigation centered into
allegations that motel management
proceedings brought under the C ity o f
and employees allow ed prostitution
a c tiv ity on the premises, engaged in
prostitution, or accepted money to
prom ote prostitution.
Breeie
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