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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1997)
N ovember 5, 1997 » T he P oritand O bserver P age A? P O L IC E H E W S Series Of Convenience Store Armed Robberies Portland Police Bureau D etec tives, in cooperation withCrime Stop pers, are asking for your help in iden tilying and apprehending a subject believed responsible lor a least nine convenience store armed robberies in North. Northeast, and Southeast Portland, starting with the Septem ber 26. 1997 robbery of the Plaid Pantry at 2730 North Lombard. O f the nine robberies, seven have been to Plaid Pantrys and two have- been to "mom and pop” type stores. One store, the Plaid Pantry at 2730 North Lombard, has been robbed twice by the suspect. On Saturday, October 18,1997. the suspect robbed four stores, two in Southeast Port land and two in Northeast Portland. In two of the four robberies, the sus pect fired a shot. The suspect is described as a very light complected black male, approxi- M JIM» < öl Northwest still stuggles with the issues of race B y J ames L. P osey mately 30 years of age, 5 ’9", 170 pounds, with amoustache/goatee, and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, with a Nike swoosh on the left breast, and armed with a handgun. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for informa tion, reported to Crime Stoppers, which leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved felony crime, and you can remain anonymous. Call Crime Stoppers at (503) 823-HELP. Search Warrant Served On Alternative Health Center Officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Drugs and Vice Division, served Search Warrants at two Port land area locations this afternoon in connection with the A lternative Health Center. The Center, allegedly involved in the trafficking of M ari juana, is located at 333 SW Park Avenue and was the site of a Septem ber 24, 1997 Search Warrant. W arran ts w ere serv ed at the A lte rn a tiv e H ealth C e n te r and at 3645 N M ichigan. Since the S e p tem b er S earch W arran t, in vesti g ato rs have d isc o v e re d a ch an g e in the C en ter o p e ra tio n p ro ce- Diversity Summit du re. M ariju an a buyers co n tact the 333 SW Park add ress and p rep ay for a sp e c ifie d am ount of M ariju an a. T he bu y ers, given a v o u ch er, are then d ire c te d to the 3645 N. M ichigan add ress to re c e iv e the M arijuana. When police officers entered the Alternative Health Center location, Marijuana was being smoked by cus tomers. A rrested and ch arged w ith 3 c o u n ts o f d istrib u tio n o f a c o n tro lle d S u b stan ce (D CS I) M a ri ju a n a and I count o f C onspiracy to C om m it DCS I-M ari juana was D iane D e n sm o re, DOB A ugust 2, 1947. She w as placed in c u s tody at the A lte rn a tiv e H ealth C e n te r lo c a tio n . D in sm o re is lodged in the Ju stic e C e n te r Ja il. Arrested and charged at the north Portland location was Clarence W. Harper Jr., June 15, 1949, 3 counts each of DCS I and PCS I-Marijuana. Matthew L.H. Harris, DOB Febru ary 3, 1933, I count each of DCS I and PCS I-M arijuana. Dennis G. Payne, January 23, 1948, I count each of DCS I and PCS I-Marijuana. The three men are also lodged in the Justice Center jail. n O cto b er 25th S kyview H igh S ch ool (V a n c o u v e r, W ash in g to n ), h o sted the s e c ond in a series o f D iversity sum m its spo n so red by the C lark C ounty YW CA. The fe a tu re d sp e a k e r w as M orris D ees, renow ned w hite civil rig h ts activ ist and founder o f S outhern P overty Law C e n ter. D ees is m ost noted for his su ccessfu l p ro secu tio n o f n a tional Ku Klux Kian leader Tom M etzger and his son, a fte r the brutal k illin g o f a local E th io pian stu d e n t (M u lu g e ta S eraw ) in 1988. T he case, tried here in P o rt lan d , c a p tu re d the n a tio n a l sp o tlig h t in part because it w as the first tim e a K ian le a d e r w as held c rim in a lly liable for the death o f a black person based on in stig a tin g racist hale crime- activity. In view o f the u p c o m in g P o rtlan d forum on race, the q u estion is w h eth er the state o f W ashington, or m ore s p e c ifi cally V ancouver, m ore p ro g re s sive in its effo rts to stem the tide o f racist a c tiv ity than O r egon or the C ity o f P o rtla n d ? W ell, it is d iffic u lt to co n clu d e based only on V a n co u v er h o st ing a few forum s focused on d iv e rsity issues. But w hat is c le a r is th at the N o rth w est, like m ost o f the c o u n try , is still stru g g lin g w ith issues o f in c lu sio n in g e n e ra l and race in p a rtic u la r. T he S kyview ev en t was re fle c tiv e o f this stru g g le and in m any w ays p o rtra y s the array o f p e r sp e c tiv e s a sso c ia te d w ith d iv e r sity issu es. W hen the se ssio n s bro k e out into w o rk sh o p s to d isc u ss d iv e r sity in v o lv in g e m p lo y m e n t and ed u cation, m any view s w ere e m o tio n al a b o u t the e x te n t o f racism e x p e rie n c e d in the sch o o l d is tric ts, w ith m ajor e m p lo y e rs, law e n fo rc e m e n t, etc. B ut it w as e v id e n t that d ia logue w as in e ffe c t, p rim a rily p re a c h in g to the ch o ir. A nd it b ecam e c le a r th at no new a n sw ers w ould e m e rg e as to how to e ffe c tiv e ly co m b at the forces o f ra c ism and in to le ra n c e . D esp ite th is in e v ita b ility , e v ery e ffo rt w as m ade to p re se n t a p o sitiv e , upbeat m ood about the p ro g re ss o f d iv e rsity stra te g ie s in the c o m m u n ity . F a c ilita to r and d iv e rsity c o n su lta n t D arrell S im m s and o th e rs w orked to d e fle c t m ore rad ical c o n c e rn s ab o u t w hy racism and in to le ra n c e p e rsist. A nd it seem ed that m ost p a r tic ip a n ts w ere sa tisfie d , given the m ood o f the co u n try to w ard race issu e s, to m erely c e le b ra te the fact that they w ere able to atten d such an ev en t. T h e a r r iv a l and sp e e c h by M o rris D ees seem ed a n tic lim a c tic and h ig h lig h ts the d ile m m a th a t som e find in th is fig h t a g a in st racism . C e rta in ly no one d o u b ts the im p o rtan ce o f the w ork o f M o r ris D ees and all his su p p o rte rs. M any h o w e v e r b e lie v e , th e m ore su b tle , e n d e m ic fo rm s o f racism , like T e x a c o ’s ra c ist e m plo y m en t p ra c tic e s, are m ore harm ful to a p ro g re ssiv e s o c i ety. And it is this b en ig n n e g le c t o f th e se in stitu tio n a l p ra c tic e s w hich really p e rp e tu a te the e x istence o f o rg a n iz a tio n s like the KK K . So w hile M o rris D ees becom es a liv in g icon fig h tin g the d ra m a tiz e d a n tic s o f w h ite su p re m a c ists, the m ore su b tle , ste a lth w hite su p re m a c ists in the school sy stem act to p r e vent young m in o ritie s from g e t tin g a first c la ss e d u c a tio n . N e v e rth e le ss, the o rg a n iz e rs got it rig h t by e n su rin g s ig n if i cant involvem ent by area youth. In fact, th e ir p a rtic ip a tio n m ay have been the b rig h te st a sp e c t o f the sum m it. C o n tra ry to p o p u la r o p in io n th a t the youth today are u n c o n c e rn e d . these V a n c o u v e r-a re a y o u th s se e m e d e n g a g e d and k n o w led g eab le. M ore im p o rta n tly , they w ere not w illin g to let a d u lts d o m i nate the d isc u ssio n on this m ost im portant issue. By this account alone, the sum m it can be ju d g e d a su ccess. IF YOUR COMPANY IVe're committed to the global environment. That's why we've jo in e d forces w ith the IS PACIFIC POWER, THE Nature Conservancy and others to protect tropical rain forests in Central and South America REASON IS SIMPLE. and are searching for ways to take advantage o f renewable resources like our future wind project in Wyoming. Our commitment, however, may be most noticeable right here in our own backyard through our GreenCorps program. In 145 different projects since 1993, we've brought together employees and other volunteers throughout our communities to p lant trees, restore w ildlife h a b ita t and educate others abo u t the environment. And that's n o t only good news fo r the people in our area, it's good news fo r the entire planet. PACIFIC POW ER A PncifiCorp Company
