FEB. 25, 1998
Committed to cultural diversity.
Volume XXVII, Number 60
My Friend Kimberly
Scott
Metro Washington
Park Zoo Has New
Director
Kimberly Scott is a talented
young singer on her way to
the top
BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE
Tony J. Vecchio is the new
director o f Oregon's No. !
paid tourist attraction.
See Entertainment, page B3.
See Metro, inside.
(Ebe
See Popeye's
Coupon's
Inside!
PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 1610
(Ohsmnr
• c
A Historical Look At Our Changing Needs
/
■
Clinton Inspects Florida
Damage
P re sid e n t C lin to n to u re d an are a in
ce n tral F lo rid a still re e lin g from d e v a s­
ta tin g to rn a d o e s. H e a ssessed d am ag e
from th e sto rm s an d o ffe re d v ic tim s
w o rd s o f c o m fo rt an d a p ro m ise o f fed ­
eral aid. D u rin g a w a lk in g to u r in the
K issim m ee are a, C lin to n said th e ra n ­
d o m n e ss o f the tw is te r s ’ d e s tru c tio n re ­
m in d e d him o f a sto ry a W orld W ar 11
v eteran to ld him o f a shell th a t killed
p eo p le on e ith e r sid e o f him but sp ared
his life. T h e sto rm s h av e k illed at least
39 p e o p le w ith th re e m o re still m issing.
C lin to n said he h o p ed a “ s a te llite s y s­
te m ” co u ld be d e v e lo p e d to g iv e peo p le
m o re a d v a n c e d w arn in g .
Annan Mulls Iraq Team
Appointments
D esp ite U .S . c o n c e rn s ab o u t the role
o f a new U .N . team in B a g h d ad , the
se c re ta ry -g e n e ra l tu rn e d his atten tio n
to se le c tin g d ip lo m a ts to ac c o m p a n y in ­
sp e c to rs to I ra q ’s m o st se n sitiv e sites.
S e c re ta ry -G e n e ra l K ofi A nn an has not
said w h o w ill se rv e on th e d ip lo m a tic
team o r w h o w ill lead it - tw o key q u e s ­
tio n s W a sh in g to n w a n ts an sw e re d b e ­
fo re it g iv e s full b a c k in g to A n n a n ’s
a c c o rd w ith S ad d am H u sse in . M ean ­
w h ile , th e U n ite d S tate s and B rita in are
p u sh in g fo r a c o u n c il re so lu tio n sp e llin g
o u t th e c o n s e q u e n c e s i f Iraq failed to
stick to th e a g re e m e n t.
Pentagon: Computers
Were Attacked
A P entagon o ffic ia l says th e m ilita ry ’s
u n c la ssifie d c o m p u te r n e tw o rk s have
b ee n su b je c te d to “ fa irly h eav y cy b e r
a tta c k s” in th e la st tw o w ee k s. D ep u ty
S e c re ta ry o f D e fe n se Jo h n H am re said
th e in c id e n t h ad “ all th e a p p e a ra n c e s o f
a g a m e ” and a p p a re n tly w as p e rp e tra te d
b y “ a sm all n u m b e r o f in d iv id u a ls .”
H am re said c o m p u te rs at all b ra n c h e s o f
th e arm e d fo rc es had been se a rc h e d and
th a t th e a tta c k s w ere d ire c te d at p e rso n ­
nel re c o rd s o r p a y ro ll m a tte rs.
N.Y. Rep. Bill Paxon To
Retire
N ew Y ork Rep. Bill Paxon announced
plans to retire from C ongress, seven m onths
after he w as ousted from the Republican
leadership for his role in an aborted coup
against Speaker N ew t G ingrich. Paxon had
been expected tochallenge M ajority Leader
D ick A rm ey for the leadership post at the
end o f this year. Paxon is the husband o f
form er Rep. Susan M olinari, now a com ­
m en tato r for C B S.
Court Rules Against
Credit Unions
T he S uprem e Court ruled for bankers in
a battle with credit unions, saying the gov­
ernm ent w rongly let credit unions enroll
m em bers w ho should have been prevented
from jo ining under federal law. The ruling
ends a 15-year-old governm ent policy that
has le, credit unions accept m illions o f new
m em bers from outside traditional m em ­
bership pools. T he C linton adm inistration
says the ruling “threatens nationw ide in­
stability and losses in the credit union
industry.”
Elway’s Backup Has
Knee Surgery
As D enver quarterback John Elw ay re­
m ains undecided about w hether to return
to the Broncos next season, heir apparent
Je ff Lew is will undergo knee surgery to­
day to repair tom knee ligam ents. Lewis
tore the anterior cruciate ligam ent in his
left knee last w eek in Phoenix. Broncos
trainer Steve A ntonopulos said Lew is is
expected to be sidelined four to six months.
Current redevelopment of MLK Jr. Blvd. and it's support artilleries for alternative transportation (A look at N/NE Williams
and Russell Ave. in 1962 ), Causes us to reflect on our history in N.E. Portland and our ever emerging change in needs to
support our current residents.
Courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society.
Businesses, Organizations Oppose Workers Center
B y L ee P eari . man
very morning a crowd o f would-be
laborers, most o f them Latin Ameri­
cans, show up at Northeast Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard and East Burnside
Street, hoping to be hired.
It is a bad situation that something should be
done about, everyone agrees.
The Workers Organizi ng Committee (WOC),
and commissioner Erik Sten, think they should
be moved into a w ann, and controlled, indoor
environment.
The Central East Side Industrial Council
(CEIC) think they should be moved back to
Mexico.
Sten’s office has identified a “window o f
opportunity," as aide Serena Cruz puts it, to
allocate $2(X),0(K) to WOR, an immigrant work­
ers’ advocacy group, to acquire a building in the
central east side to be used as a worker's center.
Among other things, it would be a warm, heated
place where potential employers can look for
workers for day-labor jobs. WOR could track,
and bar from the building, employers known to
cheat workers out o f promised pay, as well as
drug dealers and other trouble-makers who fre­
quent the comer. Cruz said there were several
possible locations, which she did not name.
The idea fell through when CEIC last month
voted to oppose use o f public funds for such a
purpose.
CEIC officials cite a recent raid on the comer
by federal Immigration and naturalization agents,
in which they found that 50 o f 60 people on the
eomerwereundocumented aliens in thiscountry
illegally.
Ken JohnsonofGood Will Industries, chairof
CEIC’s Police Community Advisory Commit­
tee. describes the situation in relatively positive
terms. "This is not a final deal." he says. “W e're
still interested in working with (WOC). W e’re
kxiking for a solution, and w e’re tantilizingly
E
Steven
Douglas-
Dons
Found
Dead...
Suicide?
Medical
Examiners office
are conducting
an investigation
Latin American workers at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and East
Burnside hoping to be hired.
(Photo by M. Washington)
close. W e’re just saying that we can’t endorse
them at this time. As business owners we can’t
selectively obey the law."
Joanne Ferrero. chair o f the C E IC ’s C o m ­
m unity Relations and Publ ic Safety C om m it­
tee, put the m atter in stronger term s. At a
recent m eeting “W e said w e w ere am azed
that the city w ould consider spending public
funds for people w ho are in this country
illegally. A nyone w ho hired them would be
breaking the law. and could get into serious
trouble. I feel sorry for those people, but we
c a n ’, endorse som ething that is illegal." She
added that CEIC w ill have no m ore m eetings
w ith W OR.
In a Feb 17 letter to CEIC, Sten noted that
W (X "s proposal is modeled on successful pro­
grams in San Francisco and I .os Angeles. "There
is no simple solution to these difficult issues," he
wrote.
C ruz says that under the proposal any
work agreem ents w ould be private contracts
betw een the em ployer and w orker, and that
the city is barred by law from enforcing
im m igration law. She also disagrees that the
proportion o f illegal aliens am ong those
seeking work is as high as C E IC says it is.
W OC began w orking in Portland in 1991,
form ed an official organization in 1993 and
becam e a non-profit corporation in 1995,
Enrico says. They have done organizing
w ork with janitors, parking lo, attendants,
office w orkers, the food and hotel industry,
and other low -w age w orkers.
he Suicide o f Mr. Steven
Douglas Dons, a, approxi­
mately 4:30AM on Feb­
ruary 25, 1998 Multnomah County
S h e riff’ s C o rre ctio n ’ s M edical
S taff pronounced Steven Douglas
Dons dead.
Mr. D on’ s was found in his
medical ward, room at the M u lt­
nomah County Detention Center
where it appears that he com m it­
ted suicide
The
M u ltn o m a h
C o u n ty
S h e riff s O ffice detectives and the
Medical Examiners office are con­
ducting an investigation into the
matter as is done in all fa c ility
deaths.
T