If f - I T | / | r f T I T I — - ■(■■Beaab .*»«’ 4 **'* FEBRUARY 3, 1999 Committed to cultural diversi^, http://www.portlandobserver.net Volume XX V I111, Number Black History Month McMenamins Kennedy School The Mystical Temples along the Nile The school is host o f 9th Annual Festival o f African Film BI LK RATE l .s. POSTAGI PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 1610 L See Metro, Section B See Black History Month University o f Oregon Knight Library Newspaper Section Hugene OR 97403 Bowman to Receive Elite Leadership Award m essage to staff. “W e continue w ith major Kay Toran, the state’s child protective changes that better serve the needs o f our services d irector since M ay 1994, an ­ children and fam ilies.” nounced M onday she plans to retire at the Toran, 56, was chosen recently to receive end o f February. the U rban League o f Portland’s Equal O p­ Toran, w ho joined state governm ent as a portunity A w ard for 1999, w hich will be Portland State U niversity assistant profes­ presented in M arch. D onna Shalala, federal sor o f social work, said she plans to pursue health and hum an services secretary, last personal projects. She said she w ants to sum m er nam ed T oran to a national advisory w rite books, and she is expected to con­ panel on kinship care. tinue w orking with SCF through the bal­ Toran w as nam ed adm inistrator o f the ance o f the 1999 legislative session. O ld C h ild ren ’s Services D ivision in May “ K ay’s unselfish and energetic com m it­ 1994, and becam e director o f the State O f­ m ent to the welfare o f abused and ne­ fice for Services to Children and Fam ilies glected children means O regon’s kids are after the d ivision’s nam e and duties changed better o ff than they w ere five years ago," fo llo w in g th e s a id G ary “Kay *s unselfish and energetic 1995 legislative W eeks, d i­ session. commitment to the welfare o f abused rector o f the Toran holds a O reg o n D e­ and neglected children means m aster’s degree p a rtm e n t o f Oregon ’ s kids are better off than they in so c ial w ork H u m an R e ­ fro m P o rtla nd sources. "B e­ were five years ago. ” State University cause of ----------- and a b ach elo r’s degree from the U niversity K ay’s O regon experience and expertise, I o f Portland. am asking her to w ork with us through the SCF has a 1997-99 budget o f nearly $455 end o f the legislative session.” m illion and a statew ide sta ff o f about 1,580. W eeks said a decision about selecting a K ay T o ran ’s Personal C om m ents to the successor will be made in the com ing weeks. Portland O bserver: "I leave the agency with During her nearly five years as the state ’ s m ixed feelings. Those o f sadness for a staff top child-protective services adm inistra­ that has becom e m uch like family to me - tor, T oran’s achievem ents included dra­ but w ith pleasure in the accom plishm ents m atically increasing adoption o f foster w hich the departm ent has m ade in creating a children into perm anent fam ilies; devel­ safety net for our m ost valued resources, oping com m unity safety nets in local com ­ 'our children'. I will always be an advocate for m unities to serve children and teens who the protection and nurturing o f the children are at risk o f being abused; im proving the o f Oregon. 1 truly appreciate the support I d iv isio n ’s response to reports o f child have received over the years, that has al­ abuse and neglect; and strengthening fam i­ lowed m e to place our children higher on the lies so children in state custody can be conscience agenda o f all O regonians. " returned to their biological parents. “ SCF has m ade trem endous strides over the last few years," Toran said M onday in a B i L ee Pt reman he once-stro n g relatio n sh ip be tw een the B oise N eighborhood A sso c ia tio n an d H o u sin g O ur Fam ilies have undergone a drastic deterio­ ration in recent years. This w as revealed m ost dram atically by the n eig hborhood’s reaction to the non­ profit agen cy ’s latest project, the Fargo S treet R ow houses, a 10-unit developm ent on a vacant 19,000 square foot lot at N orth Fargo Street and K erby A venue, im m edi­ ately south o f B oise-E liot School. The three and four-bedroom units are designed by architects Jim and M artha A ndrew s, w ould be built by T hom as D. W alsh, and rented by H O F to fam ilies earning 60 percent o f m edian income. B oise has challenged the project. No land use approvals are involved, but it is receiving $361,000 in federal funds, and B oise has convinced the federal D epart­ m ent o f H ousing and U rban D evelopm ent, and the Portland Bureau o f H ousing and C om m unity D evelopm ent, to put a tem po­ rary hold on the money. B o ise’s o b jectio n s are tw o-fold: that T S ee M ore K ay T oran on page A 8 the neighborhood already has m ore than its share o f subsidized housing projects; and that B oise does not trust H O F to m anage the p roject w ell, based on its recent track record elsew here. The second w ould have been unthinkable tw o years ago. H O F, run by and for w om en, o n c e h o ste d B o ise m e e tin g s. Its first project, the rehabilitation o f a fourplex, w as in B oise and nam ed after longtim e B oise leader V esia Loving. It w as h ailed as a savior for turning around the d ru g -in ­ fested C olonial A partm ents (now the M aya A ngelou apartm ents). T he tw o g roups have particip ated together in several co m m u ­ nity betterm en t projects, including rev ital­ ization o f N orth M ississippi A venue. Boise leaders p articip ated in the d edication o f the flagship B etty C am pbell B uilding on N orth M ississip p i A v en u e and S h av er S treet, w hich houses the ag en cy ’s offices. M ore recently, how ever, there have been com plaints o f drug dealing in both the Betty C am pbell and M aya A ngelou. A cting d irec­ tor B arbara W ilier says it took tim e to legally evict a problem tenant from the Betty C am pbell, and there has been trouble $1.7 Trillion Budge? President Clinton w ill soon release hb $1.7 trillion Federal budget blueprint fix the year 2000. Under this new plan, he hopes to win die bi-partisan support. His proposal will appeal to liberal and middle-class constituencies with his domestic programs and Republicans with an increase in spending on the military, local police and small businesses. Calling On Wltneseee House prosecutors in the Senate announced their brief list o f potential witnesses. The three main ones are Monica S. Lewinsky; Vernon Jordan, die Washington lawyer who sought a job as Ms. Lewinsky, and Sidney Blumenthal, -•> State Representan veJo AnnB