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Committed to eultuial diversity.
Volume \ \ I X . Number 12
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MARCH 31.1999
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Galería Ceclly
Quintana Presente
It's Time
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Spring
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See Popeye's
Coupon
Inside!
Agustín Portillo
Tierra, M a r Y Cíelo
(Land, Sea And Air)
See Page B4
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NATO Strikes
Milosevic
NATO launched a series o f air
strikes in Kosovo that targeted bun­
ker positions o f the Yugoslav m ili­
tary hierarchy in the Belgrade area as
well as army and police outposts.
President Slobodan M ilosevic ofYu-
goslavia was denounced by NATO
officials for waging a “scorched
earth” siege where seven Kosovo
villages were placed under assault
and burned. In the past year, h alf a
million ethnic Albanians had fled their
homes due to the war.
Kevorkian Convicted
Of Murder
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a national fig­
ure that has assisted over 130 people
commit suicide was convicted o f 2nd-
degree murder in Detroit, Michigan.
He was convicted in the death of
Thomas Youk, a 52-year old who
suffered from amyotrophic lateral scle­
rosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dr.
Kevorkian feces a minimum o f 10 to 25
years in prison.
China Enters World
Trade Organization
The United States and China are
collaborating for Beijing to enter the
World Trade Organization. White
House administrators are requesting
that China loosen their restrictions
on foreign insurance companies to
sell policies, open the telecommuni­
cations and financial services m ar­
kets to w ide-scale foreign invest­
ment, and reduce or eliminate China’s
requirem ents that outsiders deal
through state-run companies.
Social Security
f
The booming U.S. economy has
enabled Medicare and Social Security
from being depleted by several more
years. Trustees report that the Medi­
care trust fund will last until the year
2015 and bankruptcy for Social Secu­
rity will be postponed for another two
years, to 2034. Congress had recently
agreed to set aside Social Security
funds so that they cannot be used for
other spending or tax cuts.
City, County Look at
Plans For Warehouse
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B\ L ee P eri . eman
any northeast residents would like
the government take over the Grant
W areh o u se and turn it into
som ething positive, and several elected
officials are ready to help.
First, how ever, there are some details
that w ould have to be taken care of, such
as acquiring the badly polluted property at
3368 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. from
ow ner Everett Grant.
These w ere some o f the conclusions o f
a public m eeting on the issue last week,
attended by about 80 people and called by
the Eliot N eighborhood A ssociation.
Je ff R odin, m anager o f the cleanup by
the federal E nvironm ental P rotection
A gency, said the cleanup, which rem oved
a variety o f hazardous substances, was
com plete. T here rem ains a residue o f
heavy m etal dust, w hich w ould m ake it
u n fit for residential use, but it is “ not a
threat to public h ealth ,” he said. H is b u ­
reau did not consider the p ro p e rty ’s high
density residential zoning, he said, but
treated it as an industrial building. He
added that any rem aining pollution w ould
be taken care o f by dem olition or ex ten ­
sive rem odel o f the building.
Jenn iferC h aco n o fth e state Brownfield
H ealth A w areness Project said that o f the
20 individuals know n to have resided on
the property, five w ere tested and found
to have “no evidence o f tox icity .” O ffi­
Jeff Rodin manager of the cleanup by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said the cleanup, which removed a variety
cials also took and tested soil sam ples
substances was complete. There remains a residue of heavy metal dust, which would make It unfit for residential use. but It Is not a threat
from nearby properties, and “The data we
to public health.“ he sakl. His bureau did not consider the property ’s high density residential zoning, he said, but treated It as an Industrial bu
g
have show s no contam ination from this
M
site ,” she said.
Greg Dyson, organizer o f the m eeting,
said he was disturbed by the “disconnect"
that the building is now only fit for indus­
trial use, som ething not allow ed by the
zoning. Gary Strom o f the Portland Bureau
o f Buildings indicated that this is a mute
point. To use the structure for anything
but storage, he said, it would have to be
brought up to 1999 code standards. Such
an upgrade w ould “cost a lot more than
tearing it dow n and starting from scratch.”
he said.
D espite this, he said, the city could not
tear the building down. To do so, “ It m ust
be an im m ediate threat to the environm ent
or neighbors, and this doesn’t qualify. I t’s
structurally sound.”
Some residents said they feared Grant
w ould once again put the building to ille­
gal use if it was returned to him. Strom said
they should report any evidence o f illegal
activity to his bureau.
Several people said they w ould like to
see the building dem olished and replaced
w ith a m ore p o sitive use. Form er state
representative Bob B oyer noted it w ould
be a good location for a superm arket.
“ D oggone it, w e w ant that building de­
m olished!" he said. "It has been a con­
tam inant in the com m unity, and we w ant
it out. p erio d .”
First how ever, the “com m unity,” how ­
ever defined, w ould have to acquire the
property. Rodin and U.S. attorney Neil
Evans says there is a lien on the property
for the recovery o f the cost o f the cleanup,
w hich now am ounts to alm ost $ 1 m illion.
However, they said, the EP A or some other
agency w ould have to go to court to col­
lect this, and in any event it w ould not
affect G rant’s ow nership.
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty c o m m issio n e r
S erena C ruz, c ity co m m issio n er Dan
Saltzm an and Lindley Rees o f m ayor Vera
K atz's office all pledged support to a neigh­
borhood effort for the pro p erty ’s future
good use. Cruz suggested that the pro p ­
erty could be condem ned.
“ I ’m very interested in seeing this
turned into an asset,” she said. “ 1 w ant to
see a w illingness by the com m unity to
w ork tow ard that end."
In support o f this, several residents
and public officials agreed to meet on April
23 to try to come up w ith an action plan.
G rant, and several friends, attended the
m eeting. G rant at first said he w ould make
no statem ents on the advice o f his atto r­
ney, but later accused the EP A o f stealing
or destroying his personal effects dunng
their cleanup efforts.
w Langston
Hughes Library
Dow At 10,000 Mark
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First Lady H illary Rodham Clinton cuts the cerem onial ribbon open­
ing the new Langston H ughes Library at the Children s D efense Fund s
Black Com m unity Crusade for C hildren’s (CD F's/BCC C s) Alex Haley
Farm in C linton, Tenn. On Friday, M arch 19. The unique library design,
by V ietnam M em orial designer Maya Lin, uses an existing historic
Southern cantilevered bam tor its inspiration and dim ensions. Pictured
w ith Mrs. C linton are (from left) Clinton Mayor Frank L. Diggs. CDF
President and Founder M arian W right Edelm an, library benefactor and
Barnes & N oble Books CEO and President Lenoard Riggio and Ms. Lin.
The Hughes L ibrary, w hich includes the John Hope Franklin and M aya
A ngelou Reading Room and the Mrs. Rosa Parks Sitting Area, is a key
com ponent o f C D F ’s/B C C C ’s training and conference center headquar­
U.S. stock traders pushed the Dow
Jones Industrial average above the
10,000mark-closing at 10,006.78. This
historic market activity reflects an
unparalleled strength o f the U.S.
economy and American corporations ’
dominance o f the world stage. The
recent interest rate cut by the Federal
Reserve Board had also contributed to
the stock market’s remarkable growth.
tered at the H aley Farm.
The Farm is used to train m ore than 300 interns who w ork in C D F ’s/
B C C C ’s Freedom Schools around the country each sum m er. A ddition­
ally, another 200 young people, between the ages o f 18 and 30 are trained
each year in C D F ’s/B C C C ’s A dvanced Service and A dvocacy w ork­
shops, a sen es o f leadership developm ent forums.
T hroughout the year the Farm provides a retreat setting for
intergenerational and interracial m eetings o f children s advocates who
are w orking to im prove the lives o f A m erica s 14.4 m illion children
Diabetes Drug
Rezulin, a prescription drag de­
signed to treat Type II diabetes has
been reported by a scientific commit­
tee and consumer safety advocates as
a threat to public health. Rezulin has
been known to cause liver damage and
death among many taking it. Endocri­
nologists who specialize in treating
diabetes begged in a medical hearing
over the drag to keep it on the market.
trapped in poverty.
For additional inform ation, contact Sarah Howe at (202) 662-3609.
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