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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1997)
Volume X X V II, Number 18 Kitzhaber home armed Committed to cultural diversity. Expressing yourself ¡f «lii»:"till, •: Union electricians add security at the official residence o f the Governor. V Jazz legend honored Portland tap dancers light o f the stage. it ’s a long and distinguished music career for Portland resident Leroy Vinnegar ! 1 See Housing, page A 6. ¿Llie A pril 30, 1997 See Metro, inside. b See Arts and Entertaintne* latió A8. * É 3p5c iR ; Y U g W E E I L Racism decried on capitol steps REVIEW Army Sergeant convicted of rape An Army drill sergeant faces the possi bility of life in prison after being con victed of raping six female trainees under his command at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. A six-person mili tary jury Tuesday found Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson, 32, guilty on 18 counts of rape. Simpson was acquitted on one additional rape count, but was found guilty of inde cent assault in that incident. Simpson also was convicted of 25 of 35 other sexual misconduct counts against him, not guilty of seven and guilty of lesser offenses on three. The sentencing hearing is sched uled for Monday. Prosecutors argued that he exploited his power over the young women to prey on them sexually. The defense says the sex was consensual. Key witness accuses McVeigh A key witness testified Tuesday that Timothy McVeigh told her he decided to blow up the federal building in Okla homa City because it was “an easy tar get.” Lori Fortier, who is testifying with a grant of immunity from prosecution, said McVeigh was motivated by anger over the federal assault on a cult com pound in Texas in 1993 and believed agents from the Waco raid were inside the Oklahoma City building. Texas Town Reels from Standoff The town of Fort Davis, Texas, is reel ing from the armed standoff between law enforcement officers and armed separat ists. The town used to be a quiet place prized for its easy-going character and spectacular mountain scenery. Now, ar mored personnel carriers and military trucks rumble through the area and its residents are afraid the standoff could explode into violence. Breakthrough for AIDS Medical researchers are reporting a possible major breakthrough in AIDS re search. University of Pennsylvania re searchers say they have successfully vac cinated two chimpanzees against the vi rus that causes AIDS, pointing the way to possible use of the technique in humans. Researchers say the vaccine’s effective ness is unprecedented in a primate species that is susceptible to infection with HIV. Volunteerism Summit ends The three-day summit on volunteerism ended in Philadelphia Tuesday. Former President George Bush, retired Gen. Colin Powell, and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton closed out the event by exhorting Americans to engage in civic activism. The summit drew some 3,(XX) partici pants, including state and local delegates, civic and corporate leaders, and celebri ties, to encourage volunteerism in support of disadvantaged youth. EDITORIAL............ ........A2 HEALTH................. ........A4 HOUSING..................... A6 EDUCATION.......... ....... A7 ARTS & ENT......... ...... A8 METRO.................. ........B I SPORTS................. ...... B2 FAMILY................... ...... B3 RELIGION.............. ...... B5 CLASSIFIEDS....... ........B7 Community leaders assemble in northeast Portland, unified in one voice against racism and bigotry M ichael L eighton A>J2_L±5JLKY. J ■IAt KsoN S r . by able and yes, it was, and is racist,” said state Sen Avel Gordly, D-Portland. ommunity leaders and govern Gordly warned abrupt a growing threat m en t re p re s e n ta tiv e s a s from white supremacist groups in Oregon, sembled Thursday to respond substantiated by investigations by Oregon to what they called blatant racism State and Police and the state Department of sexism against Kay Toran, director of Justice. the state office of Services to Children The Urban League o f Portland said the and Families. incident in Salem was a “disheartening, sad Gathered at the King facility in northeast blemish on the reputation of the great state Portland, the group sent out the message that of Oregon. bigotry will not be tolerated in Oregon. "While we should forgive bad behavior The response followed an incident April and poor taste, we cannot forget the histori 18 in which a man held an effigy of Toran cal significance and pain that it causes many with hangman’s noose around the neck. The ofthe residents, citizens and people of good man said he had a grievance with Toran over will in our state,” the Urban League said . the custody o f his children. The Portland Rainbow Coalition com “The act that occurred on the capitol mended Democratic Reps. George Eighmey grounds was indefensible, totally unaccept and Margaret Carter, for their courage in C confronting the protest. “ We join together to express our out rage as members o fth e community and to point out again the need for continuing multi-cultural education,” said Joseph Tam, Rainbow Coalition steering com mittee member. I he Black United Front said the state senators and representatives who left the House chambers to confront those respon sible, “displayed courage and accountability in bringing the racist demonstration to a halt. "The racial attack on Ms. Toran was a mean-spirited attempt to undermine the cred ibility and integrity ofone ofOregon’s high est-ranking African Americans," said the Black United Front’s A. Halim Rahsaan. The Metropolitan Human Rights Com- Trade show diversity vital aymond Reyes, assistant pro fessor in the school of educa tion at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash, will be the featured keynote speaker at the Oregon Asso ciation of M inority Entrepreneurs (O A M E) Annual Luncheon and Tradeshow. R mission was unanimous in calling the image of a hanging black person, a terrifying sym bol. one that relates to the historical lynch ing which were used as an instrument to maintain the oppression of race. “It is an image of terrorism against blacks. It is an image of terrorism against women," said Nylon McCarthy, commissioner for the group. Gov. John Kitzhaber was thanked for supporting Toran and condemning the tone of the protest. "We challenge other Legislators, such as the speaker of the I louse and the President of the Senate and other public officials to con demn this type of behavior and show Ms. Toran the same level of support that the governor has shown," a statement by the coalition said. Poor may lose safety net m L el P lki man ultnomah County budget cut ters may cut away part of the health care safety net for poor M More than 1,000 small business owners, community leaders and government offi cials are expected to take part in the event on May I at the Oregon Convention Center. This year’s conference is sponsored by U S. West, PGE, Nike, Bank o f America, Pacific Gas Transmission, McDonalds and people. PacificCorp. Sam Brooks, president and chair of the board of OAME, says this year’s theme of “Oregonians United for Business Success” is the fourth year of a seven year program focus on different ethnic groups; 1994 His panic-owned businesses, 1995 African- American, 1996 Asian-American, 1997 Native-American and 1998 European- American. In 1999, a joint presentation will be con ducted culminating with a name change to “The Oregon Association o f Entrepreneurs in the year 2000." “OAME's efforts to bring Oregon diverse business communities together at this time is large, in light ofthe diminution of targeted services forminority and women businesses," says Brooks. The OAME conference and trade show is an opportunity for diverse groups to connect and network Reyes is currently an assistant professor with the School of Education at Gonzaga. He has a joint appointment, teaching classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level for the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Administration, cur riculum and Instruction. Before com ing to the university, he was the (Photo by Mark Washington) Raymond Reyes will highlight Oregon native American business at north/ Northeast Portland trade show. Chief Executive Officer for the Coeur D neursh ip and economic development for eth Alene Tribe of Idaho. He has 17 years experi nic minorities in the state of Oregon ence in Indian Education and has conducted The trade show is sold out with 85 small, hundreds of teacher training workshops minority, major corporate and public orga throughout the United States and Canada. nizations participating. The luncheon cost OAME is a not-for-profit organization is $40 with tickets available by calling (503) formed to promote and develop entrepre- 249-7744. To meet a $4 million gneral fund budget reduction the county Health Department plans to close its North Portland Health Center at 8918 N. Woolsey Ave. and its East Portland Health Center at Southeast Powell Boulevard and Main Street in Gre sham. The four remain clinics - at North east Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Emerson Street, Southeast 127th Avenue and Division Street, Southeast Powell Bou levard and 34th Avenue, and Southwest Fourth Avenue and Stark St. - will also lose staff and service capacity, according to Sharon Armstrong, the department’s Primary Care Director. Each already has a waiting list for visits of two to four weeks. Clients of the two clinics to be closed will henceforth have to go to the bottom of these lists to obtain care. T he North Portland Health Center has 9890 visits a year. Of these, 3362 are from people with no health insurance and few other options for care, and 2868 were from people needing “interprettive services." They include care for people with heart and lung diseases, diabetes, and many pregnant women. Without the county’s services the people who use it will prob ably wind up "getting delayed care or no care, and may end up in hospital emer gency rooms," Armstrong says. At stake for denying prenatal care to poor women is creating long-term health problems for the children they bear.
