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Volume XXVI, Number 2.0
CL'
Committed to cultural diversity.
asketball Team Wins Trip To Nationals
o in m u n i t y
¿i I c n b a r
Dynamic Difference
Workshop
The Metropolitan Human Rights C o m
mission is offering a free workshop on
understanding oppression and developing
partnerships Tuesday, May 21 from 5:30
to 7:45 pm at the Gresham Public Library.
Space is limited and people with disabili
ties who need accommodations to the ses
sions should call 48 hours in advance. C all
823-5136 for more information.
Parent Enrichment
Workshop
The Urban League Portland begins a
monthly series o f workshops for parents
and guardians interested in learning about
resources and information to help children
succeed. The first meeting will be Wednes
day May 22 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the
Urban League o f Portland, 10 N. Russell
S T . Free childcare w ill be available.
Summer Swim
Classes
Registration forms and summer sched
ules are avai lable for summer swim classes
through Portland Park and Recreation. The
Portland pools also offer play swims, wa
ter exercise classes, junior lifeguard train
ing, summer swim teams and special events.
Mail in registration must be postmarked by
Tuesday, June 4, walk in registration w ill
be held Saturday, June 15.
Entrepreneurs’
Conference
The Oregon Enterprise Forum Hosts
the 1996 on conference on entrepreneur-
ship. The conference w ill showcase suc
cess stories and assistance for emerging
and established companies. C all 231-9834
I for reservations and further information.
.May 15, 1996
Fundraising Campaign Launched for Girl’s Team
ast month in Oregon City a group
chance to display their talents in front of
of 13-year-old girls from North/
college coaches, and with women’s basket
Northeast Portland took sec
ball’s new popularity, that kind o f opportuni
ond-place in the state Amateur Athletic
ty can boost the g irls’ prospects for their
Union girl's basketball tournament.
educational and athletic futures.
In so doing, they earned the right to repre
Experts on children’s issues believe that
sent Portland and the State o f Oregon as one
academic achievement can be improved when
o f two qualifiers for the national tournament
children are taught the connection between
in Cocoa Beach, Fla. this July.
hard work and success and between goal
Typically, winning teams are from the
setting and achievement. They feel that self
Portland suburbs. Finances often present a
esteem in children is made evident in their
problem for kids from inner Portland, but the
achievements. Children today face the lure of
Portland Baby Saints, the Jefferson Com mu
gang involvement and drugs, the rise in teen
nity A A U team, overcame that and has a
age pregnancies and the consequences o f
seldom seen opportunity to compete on a
dysfunctional families Programs like the
national level.
Baby Saints basketball give girls a chance to
Organizers say it w ill give the girls a
learn self-esteem and respect and apprecia-
L
tion for their talents.
The team is led by three dedicated coach
es. Miriam Jenkins a Beaumont Middle
School teacher, plays for the Portland Saints
Women’s adult A A U . Michael Bontemps is
girls basketball coach at Jefferson High
School. And Craig Wood rounds out the trio.
“ We are attempting to nourish the leader
ship abilities o f these athletes and to build a
sense o f community commitment, the coach
es say.
“ Typ ically, these young ladies are in lead
ership roles in the schools that they attend we
are attempting to utilize this status and culti
vate these young ladies as polite peer models
for our community.”
Money is an even bigger obstacle when it
conies to attending the national tournament.
The cost o f the trip is about $11,000. The
largest expense, however,is air fair for 12
kids and three parents. A T around $400 for
a round trip ticket, the total is $6,500. The
Jefferson Community A A U is approaching
family and friends and the community at
large for support. They have also launched
an appeal to area businesses and coopera
tions for donations and sponsorships. Also
they have scheduled a fundraising basket
ball camp May 18 at 8 a.m. at Beaumont
Middle school.
Anyone interested in contributing got the
Baby Saints bid for the national title or in
participating in the camp call 282-5610 or
280-5601.
Anti-Drugs
March
ore than 1 0 ,0 0 0 students from
Oregon and southwest Wash
ington are expected to converge
on Portland Friday, May 17, to demon
strate their their stand against sub
stance abuse.
The Oregon Partnership’s 11 th annual “Say
No to Drugs March” w ill begin a, 10 a.m. in
Tom M cCall Waterfront Park. After parad
ing through downtown Portland, students
w ill return to the park for a learning fair
featuring exhibits and entertainment.
An estimated 60 to 70 elementary, middle
and high schools with a drug prevention
curriculum w ill send students to take part in
the Portland march. Sim ilar marches are
scheduled in Medford, Coos Bay, Lincoln
City, Salem and Gresham; the Oregon Part
nership’s goal is for communities statewide
to hold their own marches.
The grand marshals o f Portland’s “ Say No
to Drugs” march w ill be KATU -honored
M
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Bridge Pedal
Continued to page A3
A 35-mile bicycle trek crossing all ten
Portland Bridges is scheduled for Sunday,
May 19. A shorter 13-mile ride across six
bridges is also scheduled. A festival with
food and live music w ill be at the end o f the
rides at River Place. Registration forms are
available at metropolitan bike shops or cal I
281-9198 for more information.
O ..
Adult Health Faire
The St Johns Center o f the Y W C A is
sponsoring a free older adult health and
wellness faire Tuesday, May 21 from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. a, the center at 8010 N.
Charleston. The even, w ill feature diabetes
and cancer screening, low-fat cooking dem
onstrations and product information. C all
721-6777 for more details.
CPR Training
Free C P R training classes w ill be held
Saturday, May 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. a, the Matt Dishman Community Cen
ter, 77 N E Knott St. Adult, Ch ild and
Infant C P R and Chocking techniques w ill
be taught. No previous training is neces
sary. C all 823-3698 for more information.
My Fair Lady
A free public screening o f the film “ My
Fair Lady” is scheduled Wednesday, May
22 at 7 p.m. at the Arlene Schmtzer Hall,
1111 SW Broadway. Academy Award win
ning actress Eva Marie Saint w ill intro
duce the film.
Children’s
Museum Exhibits
Children w ill be abe to test their skills
and learn about elementary physics at the
C hildren’s Museum M O V E IT exhibit
opening May 2 1. K id s can try a gyroscope
chair play air pinball and build mazes. The
museum, located at 3037 SW Second, is
open 9 a m. to 5 p.m. daily. Comforting
Cradleboards an exhibit o f how Native
Americans hold their babies is also at the
museum. C all 823-2227 for hours.
SUBMISSIONS: Community
Calendar information will be given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
A Max light rail car was transported to Elmonica to be used to test track prior to the arrival o f the new cars. The work at
Elmonica is the first in the new facility since its completion late last year.
Adidas Plans Store On MLK oulevard
he Adidas athletic shoe compa
ny plans to establish a 6500
square foot retail store on
Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard
at Alberta Street.
In association with the new store the own
er o f the property. Jack Chung, and the
Portland Development Com m ission staff are
asking P D C to contribute $125,000 for the
design and construction o f a 5500 square
foot public plaza on the property. They are
also asking P D C to guarantee the last five
years o f Adidas' 10-year lease for the space.
The company stipulated that the lease con
tain an escape clause for the last h alf o f its
term Realtor Fred Stewart says Adidas is
also asking for a loan “ in the $100,000
range.” The P D C commission is scheduled
to consider the request the morning o f
May 15.
T
John Fread, Adidas media representative,
said details o f the agreement were still being
finalized, and the company had no comment
at this time.
The facility w ill be known as Harry Jack-
son Plaza in honor of police sergeant Harry
Jackson o f North Precinct, Stewart says.
Jackson was active in early efforts to re
move prostitution and other street crimes
from the boulevard, often putting in volun
tary overtime in this cause
Chung, owner o f the Alberta Street Mar
ket and the Gateway Express airline ticket
agency, says Stewart at first wanted to name
the plaza after him, “but I haven’t really
done anything. I thought Harry was the best
person because he's done a lot for the whole
community.”
Jackson called the development a “great
thing. It’s quite an honor for me and a great
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The late Ron Brown was a man of
many "firsts" as an African
American. The former secretary of
the Department o f Commerce,
posed in the first Pepsi Cola ad
designed to target African-American
Families. The scene is a black family
enjoying Pepsi at home. Brown is
seen reaching for a carton o f the
soft drink from his “mother."
improvement for the community. M L K is
looking better than it has in along time
because o f the new businesses coming in,
especially those of the quality o f Adidas.”
The store w ill have 36 parking spaces,
Stewart says. The plaza w ill be “a little like
Pioneer Square, a little like the entrance to
Nordstrom’s at Lloyd Center,” he says.
Stewart, who helped plan the retail im
provements at the Walnut Park Center as
president o f the K ing Neighborhood A sso ci
ation, said that in several respects this repre
sents a natural progression in the develop
ment o f the boulevard. “The goal was that
one day businesses would move in without
the taxpayers paying through the eyeballs for
it,” he said Some perspective Walnut Park
tenants wanted as much as five years free rent
for doing business there, he said “They treat
ed us like second-class citizens, acting as if
we should be happy they were w illing to be
involved,” he said
B y contrast, he said, “Everything that
Adidas is getting, they didn’t ask for. We
appreciate the respect they've given every
one here.”
Michael McElwee o f PD C sees the project
as “a direct outgrowth o f the investment we
made” in Walnut Park, and “an indication that
there’s a stronger market acceptance o f M L K
as a place to do business.”
Stewart noted that in the last year Chung
turned down cash offers to lease the space to
“everything from a hardware store to an
adult video parlor He turned them all down
either because they weren’t good for the
community, or because they weren’t strong
enough financially to build immediately. It’s
paid o ff for him, but I ’m very proud o f him
for waiting.”