< ? '■ Committed to cultural diversity. V olume XXVII. Number 29 CÛ Music by Blue Lake The festive world beat band Mumbo Gumbo serves up a spicy stew of jubilant dancing music, Thursday, July 17 at Blue Lake Regional Park The seven piece band is a Bay-area favorite and features sizzling vocals, accordion, swamp guitar, boogie piano and a solid rhythm section. The con­ cert area opens at 4:30 p.m. with the two- hour performance beginning at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $3.50 per adult, $1 for teens and $3 per vehicle for parking. How’s your hair Haircare experts will answ eryourques- tions on hair color and style and give out free sample products, during the Nice ‘n Easy Shine On-Tour Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27 from noon to 5 p.m. at the fountain court area near Stanfords and Nordstrom at Lloyd Center. Police sell seizures Drug-seized and government surplus property will be sold in a police auction Saturday, July 19 at the Expo Center. The sale starts with bicycles and personal prop­ erties at 9:30 a.m. with boats and cars going on the auction block at 1:30 p.m. You can preview items Friday, July 18 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Advocate for women Clackamas Women ’s Services is recruit­ ing new board members. The organization provides emergency shelter, support and advocacy for women and children escap­ ing domestic and sexual abuse. Minority residents and survivors of domestic and sexual violence are encouraged to apply. The board meets monthly. Call Kathy Moore, executive director, at 722-2366 for an application packet. Film festival at dam The annual Bonneville Lock and Dam Fish Film Festival, films about fish, will be shown at the Brandford Island theater at the Washington Shore Visitor Complex between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27. Day camp choices Youth day camps for children from post- kindergarten through sixth grade are in ses­ sion now through Aug. 22 at the Marshall Community Center, l(X)9 E. McLoughlin Blvd. in Vancouver. The parks and recre­ ation department camps run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. They offer a variety of activities, field trips and clinics. Register at the Bagley C enter, 4100 Plomondon or call (360) 696-8065. Talk on race Metropolitan Human Rights invites you to join people from various ethnic and racial backgrounds for open and honest dialog on race relations during a community dialog, Thursday, July 24 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Red Cross building, 3131 N. Vancouver. Pre-registration is requested by calling Linda Hunter at 823-5284. Hear the blues Ellen Whytle and Reflex Blue play the blues on July 21 at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Sellwood Concerts series at Westmoreland Park at the intersection of southeast 22nd and Bybee. The public is cordially invited to bring picnics and enjoy som e of Portland’s best musicians performing in a beautiful park setting Fun jazz for all Jungle Jim and the Swingset dish out jazzforallagesT hursday, July 17 a t7 p.m. at Wallace Park by the corner of northwest 26th and Raleigh Whitewater fun Mt. Hood Community College’s Wild Side Tours will take a rafting trip down the McKenzie Rivereast of Eugene on Friday, Aug. 8. The group will float the whitewater section near Blue River. The cost is only $39, transporation included. For informa­ tion call the College Center Information Desk at 667-7277. SI B M IS S IO N S : ( 'o m m iin iti ( ali n il.o n i i n i in .ilin n " i l l be g in n I■ i im i l i if dated I " o necks In lin e I lie v ie n t dale. * ■ > .* * f . ; • • SECTION iM H H M u n it o a Ie ttò a r f July 16, 1997 (Hu' ^ a rtla n if (©bseruer n u tu t ; • .»-•*•>4• » > . A »V . ■. ♦ • 9 ‘ $ - it, « Ï» • M M ftM K N M I Liquor license renewal shot down by N eil H eilpern he Portland City Council last week rubber stamped recommendations from the police and licensing de­ partments to deny King Food Mart a liquor license renewal. A parade o f opponents and supporters o f Elaine R ho’s store at the com er o f M artin Luther King Blvd. and Fremont St., N.E., sparked debate in council chambers Tues­ day. Impassioned pleas by several supporters did not dissuade the 5-0 vote o f com m ission­ ers, who said Rho’s request for more under­ standing and cooperation from the city was outweighed by the case presented by the police department and bureau o f licensing. The council’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), which has the final say in the licensing matter. Regulatory specialist Mike Sanderson pre­ sented council members with a thick docu­ ment, outlining concerns about sale o f alco­ hol to minors, violence and people drinking in the parking lot, the alleged sale o f so- called crack pipes, and other incidents. Some o f the public drinking involved alcohol pur­ chased elsewhere. Sanderson complained the store lacks ap­ propriate security and often fails to call po­ lice when there is a problem. Perry Christensen, police investigator, said Rho was “reluctant to cooperate with the efforts o f different agencies to improve the neighborhood,” accusing her o f not training properly to resist sales to minors. He said police bought crack pipes from employees. One officer told o f driving into the parking lot and noticing known drug dealers go into the store, “as if it was a safe haven for them .” Another said he had not seen prom ised changes in behavior by the store’s owners, Elaine Rho o f the King Food Mart and her accusing them o f having a “blind eye to the liquor license renewal. community, to make a profit.” R ho’s attorney, Thomas P. Walsh, painted states that persistent problems must be re­ a picture o f the woman as a cooperative lated to the sale o f alcohol. person dedicated to improving her store, “We could shut this place down under the working for the betterment o f the community county nuisance law,” said Mayor Vera Katz. and having a lot o f support from neighbors. Walsh said Rho admitted the few viola­ He showed a petition with more than 600 tions o f sale to minors and that violating supporting signatures. employees had been fired. “ If the test is the Walsh noted several steps Rho had taken two violations, then 50 percent o f the stores to alleviate problems, including speed bumps in town should be closed.” to slow cars in the lot, six new lights, m odify­ “The murder (last year) was about a per­ ing pay phones to eliminate incoming calls to sonal grudge and had nothing to do with the drug dealers, hiring security guards, closing licensee,” he said, adding that police never part o f the lot and increasing discussions with said people arrested for dealing drugs in the OLCC. parking lot had been drinking any alcohol He complained that “hearsay information purchased at the store. presented to the council is clearly an effort to “I try to run a good businesses,” said Rho, orchestrate a decision unfairly without due noting that although she has been at the store process.” for 11 years, she recently took over manage­ When Sanderson cited an Oregon law ment following her di vorce. “I will be good at allowing denial when a store’s owners are it if you help me.” “not willing or unable to control patrons in Rho said she made numerous requests for their vicinity,” Walsh argued the law clearly advice from OLCC and the police. “I took it T attorney Thbmas P. Walsh appear before the Portland City Council to fight for her Photo by Nett H eiipem and it worked.” She then invited council members to visit her store for a first hand look. “I’m not ignoring it; I am working on it,” she added. Although he voted against renewal, Coun­ cil Member Jim Francesconi noted that “if we uphold denial o f the license, two or three years from now we would see the same com ­ plaints (at the com er).” Rho argued that prior to this year “ I wasn ’ t managing the store and w asn’t aware o f all the problems.” “One individual cannot be there 24 hours a day; that’s why we have police,” said neigh­ bor Thomas Mullen. “This is a black neighborhood," noted Jesse Hall. “ Hiese oriental people are not the problem. The (OLCC) liquor (two stores away) is the problem.” Another neighbor, Craig Boehm, noted the state liquor store has no parking lot o f its McPherson team USA coach M ichael L eighton hen th e top w restlers in the nation com pete for the World Championships later this summer, they will have received expert instruction from Donnie McPherson, a long-time Portland resident and wrestling coach. McPherson has been selected as one o f two assistant coaches for Team USA which begins two weeks o f practices later this month at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Arizona State University’s Larry Smith is the head coach for the freestyle wresting team. This is not the first time around the w orld’s best athletes for McPherson, a Jefferson High School wrestling coach who also serves as a student disci­ pline counselor. McPherson coached wrestlers for the 1996 Olym­ pic Games in Atlanta, Ga. and he has traveled extensively for international competitions, includ­ ing coaching in January o f this year for interna­ Donnie McPherson The world championships will take place Aug. 29 tional competition at Yasadogo, Turkey. McPherson said this year’s group o f wrestlers through Sept. 2 in Siberia, Russia. McPherson is a former assistant coach at Portland are a mixture o f old veterans and young, rising stars. State University and was one o f 15 finalists for the “W e’re a great team, but we still have to prove head coaching position for last year’s Olympic team. what we can do,” he told the Portland Observer. He said some o f this year’s top contenders are Zig He has high hopes o f becoming the head freestyle Jones, a former world champion silver medalist; wrestling coach for the 2000 Olympics in Sidney, Melvin Douglas, a world champion; Terry Brands Australia. McPherson graduated from W ashington High who competed at the ’ 96 Olympics; and Les Gutches, a two-time NCAA champion from Oregc.i State School in Portland in 1969. He w entontocontinuehis education at Portland State University. University. ▼ Continued to page A4 CmiiLPfifiH Local coach named one of top wrestling assistants in the country by own and its customers purchase hard liquor before congregating in the King Food Marl’s lot He accused police of not going after similar problems in places like Safeway as aggressively as Rho’s store. “I’ve never known Elaine to do anything illegal.” said neighbor and tobacco vendor Robert L. Shaw. “I’m behind the counter often and have never seen pipes or screens." “I’ve seen her walking the parking lot, asking people to leave who don’t belong there," he added. “It is a clean store." "If police see it as a trouble spot, why don’t they park there while doing paperwork," said Shaw, urging a pro active police stance. “See what she has done that is positive, not just the negative." Robert Barnes, who described himself as a former night manager for King Food Mart, said Rho ran a "light ship,” citing frequent W Premier music event of the summer begins Saturday underneath the St. Johns Bridge ome of the greatest jazz music on the planet takes place this weekend underneath the St. Johns Bridge in north Portland at the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival. Red Holloway headlines the 17th annual event sponsored in large part this year by Portland General Electric. “This festival embodies all the best attributes o f Portland’s community and neighborhood spirit and the very essence o f what makes north Portland and St. Johns so special,” said John Dusea o f PG E’s Our Neighborhoods First campaign. Heralded as the prem ier jazz event o f the summer, performances start at noon Saturday with the Marc Fendel Trio. Tall Jazz performs Saturday at 2 p.m.; Chris Parker with Gary Hobbs, Dave Captien and Renato Caranto hit the stage at 4 p.m. and True Friends featuring Marilyn Keller performs at 6 p.m. Sunday’s line-up starts at noon with the Paul Mazzio Quartet, followed by Dan Faehnle at 2 p.m. and Kelly Broadway with Mike Wofford at 4 p.m. Holloway will star with the great Leroy Vinnegar on bass, Mel Brown on drums and G eoff Lee on piano, during the concluding 6 p.m. performance on Sunday. PG E’s Our Neighborhoods First team will be on hand with its neighbor­ hood display, an electric vehicle and Bobby Brown, an accomplished bead worker and long-time PGE employee Brown will demonstrate her bead making, which features distinctive African-American designs. S