Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2000)
Volume XXX. ¡Number 5 Committed to C iiltural Diversity See inside w w ys.theportlandohserver.com 50* See inside T he Focus centers in on Black H istory M onth Children w aiting for adoption February 2, 2000 Crimestoppers looks to solve 5 year- old crim e See inside Oregonians say population at limit see it reduced. O nly 2 percent o f the survey respondents felt the state’s population is “too sm all.’’ A num ber o f respondents suggested reducing the state’s population by 20 to 70 percent from today’s population, citing urban congestion, increased freew ay traffic and housing prices am ong their concerns. T he results cam e from the O SR L 's seco n d annual Social Indicators Survey, w hich measures a variety o f s o c ia l is s u e s o f in te r e s t to O regonians. The telephone survey o f 420 residents over the age o f 18 provides results accurate to plus or m inus 4.8 percent. In another finding, 31 percent o f O regonians feel that there are "very se rio u s” o r “ so m ew h at se rio u s” problems with their drinking water, 29 percent have a hom e w ater treatm ent system and 53 percent purchased bottled w ater during the past month. The survey also discovered that a m ajority o f O regonians (53 percent) believe that a sentence o f “life in prison w ithout parole” m eans that the person will be released, usually w ithin 20 years. O ther survey results on topics from gun ow nership and fears o f nuclear w ar to feelings about the Kip Kinkel verdict are available from the Oregon Survey Research Laboratory, 5245 U niversity o f O regon, Eugene, OR 97403-5245. Results also will be posted on the OSRL w eb page at http: darkwing.uoregon.edu — osrl. U n iv e r s it y of O regon su rv ey : O reg o n ian s b eliv e overw helm ingly that states population is too large or should n o t in c re a se , c ite congestion, housing p r ic e s as m a jo r concerns CONTRIBUTED STORV eor T he P ortland O bserver O reg o n ’s population will skyrocket over the next 25 years, according to the m ost recent projections. T hat does not mean O regonians like the idea. A new statew ide survey released by th e O re g o n S u rv e y R e s e a rc h Laboratory (OSEL) at the University o f O regon show s alm ost no public support for any increase in the state’s population. T he survey found that the m ajority o f O regonians (65 percent) say the sta te’s population is now “about the right size,” w hile 29 percent think it is already “too large” and w ould like to Bulk Rate U.S. Pottage PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 1810 Oregon schools receive own grades S tate S u p e rin te n d e n t o f P ublic Instruction Stan Bunn today released the state’s first report cards on school and districts. An im portant new tool in the state’s acco u n tab ility system , the report cards co llec t and share data on s c h o o ls d ir e c tly w ith p a re n ts , com m unities and the public. They show that O regon schools are on track. “W e have good new s to report,” said Bunn. “N inety-six percent o f our schools are exceptional, strong or sa tis fa c to ry . W e k now O re g o n sc h o o ls p ro v id e a h igh q u a lity education. H ere is m ore proof. O f the 1,039 schools receiving report cards today, 1,000 have an overall school perform ance rating o f exceptional, strong or satisfactory.” The Oregon Department o f Education designed the report cards, required by the 1999 state legislature, to inform p a re n ts an d c o m m u n itie s ab o u t school p erform ance in 1999 and improvement between 1996 and 1999. ( P lease see 'R e p o r t' page A6) IB Investigators search for clues in deadly Alaska Airlines crash A ssociated P ress Investigators trying to learn w hy an A laska Airlines jet with 88 people plunged into the Pacific said today they have recovered four bodies and heard “pinging” from the ocean, apparently from the aircraft’s flight recorders. O fficials hope data from the so-called . ' “black boxes" could provide key clues to M onday’s crash o f the MD-83 jetliner, including whether the airliner w a s b ro u g h t d o w n b e c a u s e o f p ro b le m s w ith a d e v ic e th a t ’s supposed to stabilize the plane. “That is obviously a prim e lead and a prim e finding that will be follow ed,” said C oast G uard Vice Adm. Tom Collins. The position o f the pinging was pinpointed by a Navy underwater dem olition team helping with the search, he said. N o survivors aboard Flight 261 have been found. C ollins said the bodies recovered w ere those o f an infant, tw o w om en and a man. “This is still a search for hum an life. The decision to stop searching is mine, mine tom ake, and it 'sadifficult one,” C ollins said during a news conference. M eanwhile, Coast G uard ships. Navy vessels and a private boat com bed the choppy sea about lO m ileso ffth e S o u th e rn C a lif o r n ia c o a s t fo r additional debris that could help explain the crash. M onday night, com m ercial squid boats used nets to haul in grim rem inders o f lives lost: a tennis shoe, a stuffed animal and anum berofsm all souvenirs from M exico. A stench o f je t fuel hung in the air as the nets were pulled to the surface. T he flight en route from Puerto V allarta, M exico, to San Francisco and Seattle hit the w ater 4:36 p.m. M onday in w hat a w itness described as a nose dive. The w eather w as clear at the time. M om ents prior, one o f the tw o pilots radioed that he w as having trouble with “stabi lizer tri m” and asked to be d iv erted to L os A n g eles for an em erg en cy la n d in g , a ir lin e spokesm an Jack Evans said. The plane fell 17,000 feet before being lost from radar screens, officials said. It crashed in w ater 300 feet to 750 feet deep. The flight was normal until the crew reported control problem s, said a Weather Friday cloudy Tliniugh Ihe weekend Saturday cloudy Sunday Palliai clearing source with close know ledge o f the investigation, speaking on condition o f anonym ity. Radar show ed the plane, an MD-83, plummeting toward the sea shortly afterw ard. On M D -80 series airp lan es, the horizontal stabilizer looks like a small wing m ounted on top o f the tail. The stabilizer, w hich includes panels that pitch the nose up and down, is brought into balance, or “trim m ed,” from the cockpit. Ifa plane loses its horizontal stabilizer, there is no way to keep the nose pointed to the proper angle, and the aircraft will begin an uncontrollable dive. Evans said the plane had no previous sta b ilizer problem s, and Federal A viation Administration spokesm an John Clabes said it had never been in an accident. A N ational Park Service ranger on A nacapa Island, o ff the coast o f Ox nard, saw the ai rl i ner go down and w a s firs t to r e p o rt it, sa id spokesw om an Susan Smith at the C h a n n e l Islan d s N a tio n a l P ark headquarters. Ä £ fi f la a> i i < (P lease see 'C r a s h ' page A6) 45°F/6°C 31°F/-1°C 45°F /6°C 32°F/0°C 48°F/8°C 35°F/2°C Three unidentified women arrive at San Francisco International Airport Monday, Jan 31, 2000, and head fo r an area o f the airport where g rie f counselors were waiting fo r fam ily and friends o f the victims o f the crash o f Alaska Airlines Flight 261. The aircraft, en route to San Francisco from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, went down Monday afternoon o ff the coast o f Oxnard, C alif Inside-A Week in Review...................2 Racial and Ethnic Task Force members appointed............... 3 Community forums scheduled for interstate corridor renewal. 5 Low-interest bonds issued to stimulate growth..................... 6 Metro-B Peidmont residents meet with developers................................. 1 NFL player arrested on murder charges...................................... 2 Community leaders work to make a better place..................3 El Observador......................4 This Week in History O n February 2 , 1 9 43,thcrcm ainderofN azi forces fro m the Battle o f S talingrad surrendered in a m a jo r v ic to ry fo r the Soviets in W o rld W a r II O n February 4 . 1974. newspaper heiress Patncia Hearst was k idnapped in Berkeley. Cal if., by the Sym bioncsc Liberation A rm y. O n February 7. 1984. space shuttle astronauts B ru c c M c C a n d le s s lla n d R o b e rtl Stew artwent on the firs t untethered spacewalk O nFebruary 8. |9 9 6 .in a c e re m o n v a tth e L ib rn y ofCongress. President C lin to n signed legislation revam ping the te leco m m u n ica tio ns industry, saying it w ix ild 'h n ng the future to our d o o rstep " I