Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
January 12, 2000
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Snow storm hits Oregon, reaches lower altitudes
A ssociated P ress
Research Your Old
House
Find all the answ ers to all o f your questions
about researching the history o f your house
at a hands-on w orkshop presented by the
B osco-M illigan Foundation on Saturday,
February 5, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. An
overview on building research will be held
at the G alleria Shopping C enter at 921 S W
Morrison, followed by a private orientation
o f resources available in the collections o f
the Oregon Historical Society. A fterashort,
on-your-ow n lunch break, an afternoon
s e s s io n c o v e r in g c ity d ir e c to r ie s ,
new spaper research, and m aps will be
presented at the Central Library.
Hearts for Housing
T he N ational A lliance for the M entally 111
ofC lackam as County presents: “ HEARTS
for H O U SIN G ” a gala event, dinner and
auction benefit for a capital fund drive to
help m eet housing needs o f people with
m ental illness. T he event will be held on
S a tu rd a y , F e b ru a ry 5, 2 0 0 0 at th e
EvengelicalConferenceCenter at 18121SE
RiverRoad in Milwaukie. Call Elaine Krause
at 503/656-4367 orG inny Davidson at 503/
657-0799.
Turning Conflict Into
Win-Win
T h e O regon P eace In stitu te presen ts
TU RN IN G C O N FL IC T SITU A TIO N S
INTO W IN -W IN , a w orkshop presented
by Linda Katz and Frances K aplan, w hich
will be held on January 20 from 6:30-9 p.m.
at First U nited M ethodist C hurch, Room
134, at 1838 SW Jefferson Street, Portland.
T o register, call OPI at 503/725-8192. A
donation o f $ 10 w ould be appreciated.
Better Health In 2000
A w in te r storm sw ep t acro ss th e sta te
T uesday, closed several highw ays and was
blam ed for a chem ical spill on a slippery
Interstate 84.
T he storm system sent heavy w inds along the
coast M onday night and grew w orse as it
m ade its w ay eastw ard.
As m uch as 13 inches o f snow stacked up in
W heeler on Tuesday, and flurries even fell in
the usually snow -free W illam ette Valley.
T he bad w eather closed U.S. 101 along the
coast, near Florence, U.S. 20 through the
Santiam Pass, and Interstate 84 east o f H ood
River. M any travelers w ere forced to turn
around, u se ch ain s, an d in som e cases
abandon th eir cars.
Road crews closed Interstate 84 after a collision
betw een a pickup truck and a sem i-truck
spilled 10 drum s o f hazardous m aterial onto
the highw ay.
N obody w as injured, but hazardous m aterial
team s w ere called to clean up the phosphoric
acid and liquid chlorine.
The highw ay — O reg o n ’s m ain east-w est
route — w ill rem ain closed until the cleanup
is com pleted. In the m eantim e, traffic was
being detoured onto W ashington Route 14
betw een H ood River and T he Dalles.
Near central Oregon, H ighway 20 through the
Santiam Pass in the O regon Cascades will
rem ain closed until W ednesday m orning. A
series o f avalanches and slides covered a 200-
foot stretch w ith eight feet o f snow M onday
night. Road crew s began rem oving the debris,
but w ere slow ed dow n Tuesday by 30 to 40
mph w inds and w hiteout conditions.
Until it reopens, alternate routes include U.S.
26 across Mt. Hood to the north, and Oregon
58 over the W illam ette Pass to the south.
(Jnpredicted snow yesterday afternoon caught many Portlanders by surprise. The weather is expected to continue for today and
tommorrow.
T ravelers should expect a long, slow trip
either way. And they should be prepared to
use snow chains.
An unstable landslide on Highway 101 has
kept O reg o n ’s m ain coasta 1 road c 1 osed since
Friday. H ighw ay engineers say it could be
days before it will be safe for crew s to begin
clearing the grow ing pile o f dirt and rocks.
H ighw ay officials said it may cost m ore than
$ 1 million to fix and said it could b ea continual
headache until rains subside and the hillside
stops moving.
Local activist supports reparation bill
Resolve to im prove your health in Y ear
2000 by atten d in g the free S aturday
seminars sponsored by the O regon College
ofO riental M edicine(O C O M )onJanuary
15, 22 and 29. Each 90-m inute sem inar
starts at 10 a.m. T he sem inars focus on
acupuncture, herbal m edicine and Qi G ong
m editative exercise, and will offer sam ple
treatments for those who wish to experience
traditional C hinese m edicine. To reserve a
place in the free Saturday sem inars, call the
BA THE STATE
college at 503/253-3443.
Fourth Annual Bill
Naito Award
T he Portland Parks & R ecreation’s U rban
Forestry C om m ission is now accepting
applications for the Fourth A nnual Bill
N aito Award. T he aw ard w as created in
honor o f the late builder and com m unity
leader w hodid so much to beautify Portland
with trees. T he A w ards will be presented
at P o r tl a n d ’s A n n u a l A rb o r D ay
Celebration on April 4,2000. A pplications
m ust be received by February 15. C ontact
the U rban Forestry coordinator at 823-
4443 for an application packet.
M ountain W riters
Series
M ountain W riters Series is pleased to
announce eight w orkshops for the w inter
season in the genres o f poetry, short fiction,
personal essay, and introductory w riting.
All faculty are published w riters w ith
extensive teaching experience. Classes are
held weekly at the Mountain Writers Center
and will begin the week o f January 24,2000.
Call 503/236-4854.
Museum After Hours
Presented by KINK fm 102, M useum After
H ours is held every W ednesday evening,
from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m ., from O ctober
through April in the M useum 's North
Wing, 1119 SW Park Avenue in downtown
Portland. Featuring an eclectic mix ofjazz,
blues, ethnic, sw ing and other m usical
styles, M useum After H ours show cases
live music from both regional artists as well
as artists from around the country. For
more information on the Spring 2000 season
o f concerts, call 503/276-4262.
A long the south-, n coast, the storm swept
through C oos Bay, generating 60 mph winds
that blew dow n trees and grounded a tow ing
barge. T he 330-foot-barge drifted dow n the
channel and w ent aground on the other side
o f the bay.
In Eastern Oregon, La G rande received eight
inches o f new snow M onday night. A truck-
and-trailer com m ercial unit rolled over after
sliding on O regon 82, north o f La G rande,
holding up traffic for three hours Monday
afternoon. A tractor-trailer jackknifed on
Clara Peoples is the Executive Director o f Oregon Juneteenth. She is a staunch
supporter o f securing reparations funds for Africans Americans from the American
government through House Bill 40.
Oregon 237, south o f Union, blocking several
other semis for part o f M onday afternoon.
The je t stream was expected to carry the
storm, which originated in th e G u lfo f Alaska,
throughout the state to southern Oregon.
The effects o f the w orldw ide w eather pattern
know n as La Nina will continue to soak the
region through M arch, according to state
clim atologist G eorge Taylor. La N ina is
expected to m ake flooding tw ice as likely to
occur, according to a new study by the U.S.
Geological Survey.
Portland’s school
board approves
school’s shift to
charter status
Congressional bill H .R .40 w asintroduced
by C ongressm an John Conyers o f M ichigan
and others to ex am ine the fundam ental
injustice o f slavery in the United States
between 1619 and 1865. As part o f their
A ssociated P ress
p r o p o s a l, th e y in te n d to e s ta b lis h a
Com mission that would exam ine the lingering
Portland’s first application fora charter school
effects o f the institution o f slavery, educate
has been approved.
the public o f the C om m ission’s findings and
T he school board voted M onday night to
re c o m m e n d r e p a r a tio n s fo r A fric a n
allow M cCoy Academy, aN ortheast Portland
Americans.
alternative school for students w ho have
M em bership into this Com m ission is by
dropped out o f high school, to convert to a
appointm ent only. T he chosen m em bers
charter school.
would be appointed by the President, Speaker
Follow ing the unanim ous vote. M cCoy will
o f the House o f Representatives, and the
enter contract negotiations with the district.
President pro tem pore o f the Senate.
T he school wants to begin educating its
Clara Peoples o f Northeast Portland gave
m ostly m inority and low -incom e students as
her support o f this bill by saying, “Mr. Lincoln j
a charter school as soon as those talks are
promised every Black slave 40 acres and a
settled. April is the target date the school’s
mule that was never paid. No Black Americans
adm inistrators have set, but it could be sooner.
ever did receive this. Since C ongressm an
“T hey did the right thing and I'm proud o f
John Conyers has introduced House Bill 40,
them ,” Rob K rem er, founder o f the Oregon
I feel that it should incl ude the paym ent o f Mr.
C harter School Service C enter in Portland,
L incoln’s debt to us. W e should rally around
sa id a fte r th e b o a r d ’s ap p ro v a l. “ T he
this H ouse Bill and every elected official too,
leadership th e y 'v e show n on this application
and have this debt paid by Juneteenth, the
will reverberate throughout the state.”
19th o f June 2000.”
C h arter schools are public, tax-financed
schools that are independent from m any o f
the regulations governing regular schools.
They operate under a contract, or charter,
with a school district.
M cCoy w ould be O re g o n 's third charter
school, K rem er said. The Lourdes School, a
com m unity kindergarten-eighth grade school
east o f A lbany, and M olalla A lternative
O ptions, a m iddle and 1- igh school run by the
M olalla River school district, sailed through
the process.
Before M cCoy converts to a charter, it must
m eet a set o f c o n d itio n s set fo rth by
S u p e r in te n d e n t B en C a n a d a . T h o se
conditions will determ ine w hen the school
can open, finances, academ ic program and
com m unity involvement.
O ne o f the conditions requires M cCoy to
subm it to academ ic program evaluations and
m o n ito rin g . T h e n o n p ro fit N o rth w e st
R egional E ducational L aboratory w ould
conduct the evaluation and m onitoring.
O regon Outreach Inc., the organization that
Book donation helps students learn foreign languages
Duronte, 10, and Camelia, 9, say “Merci
Beaucoup, ” which means thank yon
very much in French. Head Teacher
Irene Evans has been writing to author
Annette Allain fo r 21 years and asked
the author to donate the book because
students at the Helping Hands
Development Center are learning
French. In January, the students will
learn German.
(Please see ’McCoy’ page 2)
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