Committed to cultural diversity, http://www.portlandobserver.net
Volume X X V II, Number 70
On The Road With
Destiny's Child
This New Group o f
Beautiful Young Ladies
will be rockin' the Rose
Garden with Boys / / Men
March 30th.
See Entertainment, page B3.
Happy Mother's
Day To All Of The
Community's
Wonderful Mothers
M A Y 5, 1998
BULK RATE
See Popeye's
Coupon's
Inside!
Come and enjoy our
special article ju st fo r
See Mother's Day, page A 6.
moms.
ILS. POSTAGE
PAID
PC
ELAND, OR
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tTlu- junillani» (Oha.-vnpv
THE SB
Alberta Street Fair
REVIEW
Oklahoma Federal
Building
Officials unveiled designs for a $30
million, three-building complex to replace
the bombed federal building. The new
structure will be surrounded by trees and
connected by a broad sidewalk and will
incorporate security standards recom ­
mended by the government after the blast
but in “a parklike atm osphere.”
Social Security Collapse
The Social Security program will have
enough money to pay full benefits for the
next 33 years, until 2032, three years longer
than last year’s forecast. This is due to the
nation’s strong economic growth.
Israel Celebrates 50
Years
Israel ushered in celebrations o f its 50th
birthday. Prime minister Netanyahu called
Israel a modem miracle for its cultural,
technical and economic accomplishments.
The anniversary brought heartfelt displays
o f homegrown pride.
Abortion Pill
The Abortion Pill call RU-486 was first
formally tested in the United States and
was successfully used to end pregnancies
in 92 percent o f women. The study was
found that the drug was most effective
when given within the first 49 days o f |
pregnancy.
Tobacco Industry
Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates
filed lawsuits coast to coast against the
tobacco industry. The Coalition For To­
bacco Responsibility, representing Blue
Cross and Blue Shield health insurance
plans accused the industry o f conspiracy,
fraud, misrepresentation and violations o f
federal racketeering and antitrust laws.
Expanding The Airport
Expansion o f the Portland airport will
cost $3.02 billion. A consulting company
recommends that future growth at Port­
land International Airport be placed in a
new terminal south o f the existing facility,
in the area now housing military units.
Building o f the new runway will not be
started until about the year 2020.
Natural Healing Health
Plans
Providence Health Plan has started of­
fering a new alternative-care rider that
allows businesses that belong to the health
plan to pay a little extra to offer their
workers insurance coverage for naturo­
pathic physicians and acupuncturists.
Providence has offered a similar rider for
chiropractic care since 1994.
Minority Women
In a recent survey, minority women
business owners have had less success
than Caucasian women getting the credit
they need from banks. The study had shown
I that African American and Native Ameri­
can women are more likely to be turned
| down for loans when starting their busi-
| nesses.
Jefferson Staff Overhaul
There will be a staffoverhaul at Jefferson
I High School that is designed to create a
faculty o f top teachers who want to be at
the school and to boost lagging academic
achievement. But many o f the teachers are
so offended that they will no, reapply.
Alberta Street Fair
NE. Alberta threw a street party 16 blocks
long, drawing hundreds o f people to cel­
ebrate its di versity and change. There was live
music that included rock, swing, Celtic, blue-
[ grass and folk. Along with the music was an
eclecticcuisineservedatthesidewalk b»x>ths.
Margo Cole helps volunteer as a "face painter" at this years Alberta Street Fair. (Photo by M. Washington)
business district and central to the daily lives of many Portland
residents. Now, vacant storefronts are being renovated to house new
businesses, and many of the original businesses are welcoming a new
generation of patrons.
The street fair is part of the Alberta Corridor Plan. Through this
plan, Sabin CDC is working with neighborhood business owners,
property owners, and residents to improve Northeast Alberta Street.
The Plan volunteers are helping to implement projects in four work
areas. Street Beautification projects include planting flowers and
removing litter to make the street more aesthetically pleasing.
Streetscape volunteers are planning for improvements to make the
more “user-friendly” for pedestrians and auto traffic, and could
include increased lighting, benches, and other traffic calming mea­
sures.
Commercial revitalization projects support existing businesses and
encourage new businesses to locate on Alberta Street. Training is
being offered to support existing businesses and area youth are
involved through the Youth incentive and Summer Youth Employ­
ment Programs.
Alberta Street Fair
Roberts' Ready to Lead
Jefferson High
B y L ee P eari . man
d a 1 irplctt Roberts doesn’t have any
pat answers as to how she will do it,
but she’s confident she can turn the
Portland School District 's hardest ease around.
Roberts was appointed interim principal o f
Jefferson High School last week. She inherits
a school where records show 90 percent o f the
student body is performing below grade levels,
attendance is a problem and enrollment is
steadily declining. There is also grumbling
about thedistrict's latest resp o n ses wholesale
stall overhaul that some say punishes good and
bad teachers indiscriminately, and further un­
dermines the school’s stability.
I low did Jefferson ge, to this place despite
district high per-pupil spending and showcase
magnet programs in dance and drama?
“It never has worked for me to say, ‘Why,
w hy?"' Roberts says impatiently. “ It never
helpstoassign blame. When you haveasystem
that’s failed, everyone has a part o f the
responsiblity, including the people in the ad­
ministration.”
What will she do that's different? She will
say only that she will use “solid practices
known to be effective." A bigger clue may be
the attitude she brings to her job. A hint are the
mottos on the wall o f her office a, Joseph Ball
School: "All students achieve! No excuses!
No exceptions.!"
“W e'll tell the kids what we expect o f them,
what w e're willing and unwilling to accept,”
shesays. “W e'll show them, ‘This is where you
were, this is where you are. this is what you've
achieved. You should be proud ofyoursel ves. ’
This will give them the motivation to con­
tinue.”
Asked about students uninterested in learn­
ing she says. “ I don't believe there are any. I
L
I hings have been changing for the better on
Alberta Street, and the neighborhood is ready
to celebrate. The Alberta Street Fair took
place on Saturday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 6
p.m, on Alberta Street between 14th and 33rd
avenues. The fair included a horse-drawn trol­
ley providing free rides along the length of the
fair. Music from local bands filled the air and
dancers and street performers made for a
lively scene throughout the day. The fair was
a great event for all ages, including art galler­
ies and a crafts marketplace for adults, and a
variety ofchildren’s activities and art projects
for kids. Delicious food from local merchants
completed the scene.
I he street fair is building on a tradition of
multicultural celebrations in the Northeast
Portland area. The fair highlighted many o f
the diverse cultures that make up the rich web
of the neighborhoods. The transformation of
Alberta Street provides special reason for
celebrating. I he street was once a thriving
taught a summer reading program for seven
years at Jefferson, and in seven years I didn't
meet one kid who said that and really meant it.
Kids build up strong defensive mechanisms to
deal withall the failures they’veexperienced in
life. It'seasier tosay you don't care than todeal
with a learning problem you have."
Roberts may not believe there are unteach-
able students, but she definitely thinks there’s
unacceptable behavior. “ I’m the queen ofdis-
cipline," she says. “I’ve run a tight ship in every
school I’ve been in. If you treat young people
with courtesy and respect, that's what you’ll
get back.”
Another priority ifparent involvement, an­
other area where Jefferson now ranks low and
where district guidelines call for a 30 percent
improvement in the first year. "W e're asking
parents to get their kids to school every day.
W e’ll give them a free breakfast i f they just get
them here. I f they do no more than that, they’ll
be on my plus list,” she says.
She feels the school’s problems have a lot to
do with recial expectations. “ The kids doing
well at Jett are white kids, males and females.
Those not doing well are all the others, with a
few exceptions." That can be changed, she
says. Her students at Ball School include chil­
dren “ from three housing projects. They've
violated a lot ot rules about who's supposed to
be smart and who isn't."
Now 50. Roberts says she had planned to
retire in two years and create a home for
"African-American males, age 10 to 13, who
have to leave their homes for any reason."
Now, although her “interim" appointment is
for only one year, she says, “If in one year we
make a meaningful difference, as I believe we
will, I would want to be considered for the
permanent job.
Ex-Black Panther Leader
Eldridge Cleaver Dies
Eldrige Cleaver
By Arthur Spiegelman
Former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver,
whose 1968 bestseller “Soul on Ice” helped
inspire the black power movement died,
years after giving up revolution for religion.
He was 62.
The onetime minister o f information for
the Black Panther party and political exile
died in a hospital in the Los Angeles suburb
o f Pomona, not far from the University o f La
Verne where he worked as a diversity con­
sultant, preaching nonviolence and the broth­
erhood o f man.
A spokeswoman for the Pomona Medical
Center, where he died, declined to give the
cause o f death at the fam ily's request.
Cleaver, whose life included spells in
(Photo By Larry J. Jackson Sr.)
prison and years as a crack addict, had
perhaps his biggest influence as an author.
At a time when Martin Luther King Jr.
was leading a civil rights movement based
on nonviolent civil disobedience and peace­
ful protest, ( leaver helped ignite the mili­
tant black power movement with “Soul on
Ice," an autobiographical manual o f black
rage against a white-dominated society.
It became a bestseller in 1968, the same
year Cleaver was wounded in a shootout
w ith police that forced him to flee the coun­
try, aided by the radical W eather Under­
ground.
Cleaver spent seven years in Algeria,
Cuba, the Soviet Union. North Korea and
C o n t im
ei )
To P ace B9