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.
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A pril 30, 1997
See Metro, inside.
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See Arts and Entertaintne*
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A8.
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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.