Volume XXX. Number 7
Committed to Cultural Diversity
See Sports
wwv\. theportlandobserver.com
The Focus
centers in on
Black H istory
M onth
Tom
L andry dies
at 75
February 16, 2000
See inside
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_________________
University of Oregon
B r u c e W a tts j o i n s T r i-M e t te a m
c o M K im ttD s in m
r 0 R T lU j * Q H I L A ,M ) O B S t R \ t R
Tri-Met has hired Bruce W atts to manage its programs
to engage disadvantaged businesses and m inority/
female w orkers for the Interstate MAX project.
The 5.6-m ile, $350 million Interstate MAX extension
includes 10 new stations in North Portland between the
Expo C enter and Rose Q uarter Transit Center and would
operate directly between Expo Center and the Galleria/
SW 10,h A ve station.
“Bruce will help Tri-Met pursue opportunities to contract
w ith d isad v an tag ed bu sin esses and to achieve a
w orkforce reflecting the com m unity w e’re building in."
said Fred Hansen, Tri-M et General Manager. “His
b ac k g ro u n d in m in o rity co n tra ctin g and strong
com m unity connections are a trem endous resource."
W atts has served as executive director o f The Coalition
ofBlackM en from 1997to 1999. Hewastheorganization’s
program director from 1991 to 1997 and served as secretary
* since the co alition’s inception in 1988.
W hile w ith The Coalition o f Black Men, Watts
coordinated tw o City o f Portland employment programs
for disadvantaged residents: First Source Hiring Program
andtheC onstruction Trades Intern Program. Since then,
Watts has led the co alitio n ’s efforts in fair contracting
and em ploym ent for m inorities and w om en.
W atts headed a recent Coalition o f Black M en/City o f
P ortland survey o f A frican A m erican co n stru ctio n
contractors. He also served on the C ity o f Portland’s Fair
Contracting and Em ploym ent Forum.
Bruce Watts, Manager o f Tri-Met's DBE
Workforce with the lnterstae M AX project.
MW H
t
Parts replaced in planes
ASMCUfEB PRESS
U .S . a irlin e s h av e re p la c e d 15
jackscrew devices in the tail sections
o f p la n e s th e F ed era l A v ia tio n
A dm inistration ordered inspected
after an Alaska Airlines plane crashed
last m onth into the Pacific O cean,
killing all 88 aboard.
T he crew lost control o f the plane
w hile trying to fix problem s with its
stabilizer, a part in the tail that helps
level the aircraft. T he jackscrew , a
long, threaded piece o f m etal that
turns to m ove through a stationary
nut, is part o f the stabilizer that was
causing problem s for the A laska
A irlin e s p ilo ts . T h e F A A sa id
T uesday that 1,101 planes in the MD-
80, MD-90, DC -9 and Boeing 717 series
are subject to the inspections. O f 960
inspections com pleted so far, 27
rev ealed p ro b lem s that req u ired
additional evaluation or repair.
G ritty m aterial w as found in the
jackscrew grease o f som e planes.
Jackscrew s w ere replaced on 15
airplanes and stabilizer assem blies
w ere lubricated in o th e rs, federal
regulators said.
“T h ere’s no pattern th a t’s jum ping
out at us,” FAA spokesm an Les Dorr
sa id a b o u t p ro b le m s th a t h av e
surfaced from the inspections. “ I t’s
different models, different carriers. It
will require further analysis to find
out i fthere is aeom m on denominator.’’
T he FAA said 141 inspections have
not yet been finalized.
At the National Transportat ion Safety
Board, investigators are looking at
suspect airplane parts in their attem pt
to find out why A laska A irlines FI ight
261 crashedJan.31 offtheC alifornia
coast.
“T h ey ’re still bringing up w reckage
and w e’ll bring up any human remains r
that we find,” said N TSB spokesm an
Terry W illiams. “ It’s still an ongoing
investigation.”
So far, 47 bodies have been positively B
identified by the V entura County
m e d ic a l e x a m in e r in s o u th e rn n
California. No new remains have been
re c e iv e d s in c e Feb. 7. F am ily
notifications are continuing.
John Nance, an aviation analyst in
Tacoma, W ash., said he is surprised .
that the airlines found it necessary to i
replace 15 jackscrew s. “W hy are we I
g ettin g m e ta l-to -m e ta l c o n ta c t?
T h at’s not the sole cause o f the crash,
but it is an im portant com ponent.”
He said the jackscrew apparently ;
pulled free o f a m echanical stop at the ;
bottom o f the nut. The NTSB has
reported that shreds o f metal attached
to the jackscrew are o f the same
material as the threads o f the nut.
/
“ Regardless o f what happened to the
jackscrew , nut and assem bly, the last
safety m easure is the presence o f that
mechanical stop,” Nance said. “What
w e have here — stripping or not — is
the failure o f the m echanical stop. If
that had not happened, this crew
could have recovered the aircraft.’’ j
The m ilitary has also been cheeking
its C -9 planes, the m ilitary version o f
the DC-9.
Navy spokesm an Rob Koon said
inspections done on 21 o f the 29 C-9
aircraft operated by the Navy and
M arine C orps revealed no problems.
The rem aining eight currently are
undergoing heavy m aintenance, but |
inspections on four o f the eight
show ed no defects, Koon said.
A ir Force spokesm an Capt. Brad
Jessm er said all the C-9s in service
w ith th e A ir F o rce had p assed
inspection. O thers currently out-of-
service for m aintenance still have to
be checked.
An American Airlines employee takes a break and watches an
MD80 prepare fo r an on-time departure Friday, Feb. I !, at
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Delays that were
predicted after the FAA ordered the inspection o f the tail
sections o f all MD80 aircraft failed to develop.
Friday
Weather
Through the weekend
Today
M ostly
cloudy
Thursday
Partly
cloudy
I
Partly
cloudy
51°F/10°C
34°F/1°C
52°F/11°C Saturday
M ostly
3 4 ° r /l° C
cloudy
52°F/11°C
38°F/3°C
Sunday
53°F/11°C
39°F/4°C
49°F/10°C
32°F /0°C
Showers
Black History Month
4
In celebration o f
this year's Black
History' Month,
The Portland
Observer is
highlighting
important
moments in
Black History'.
AnisePerry,
center, was the
first black Queen
o f Rosaria
in 1968. She
attended
Cleveland High
School. In the
photo. Happy
Canyon
princesses o f the
Pendleton
Roundup show
Perry' the fu r
they intertwine
in their braids.
Please see Focus
and the rest o f
thè newspaper
fo r glimpses into
Black History'.
j
'
,
¡t
Inside-A
Week in Review................... 2
Physicians honored by
peers..........................................3
DePriest wins humanitarian
award...................................... 5
BBB complains about High-
tech industry........................... 6
Metro-B
Portland State has new
Underground Railroad Center.. 1
Tom Landry dies at age
75.............................................. 2
Cenizas opcns at El Centro
Milagro.................................. 3
El Observador....................... 4
This Week
in History
February 16, 1923, the burial chamber o f
K in g Tutankham en's re cently unearthed
tomb was unsealed in Egypt.
February 19, 1945, during W o rld W ar II,
some 30,000 U S Marines landed on the
Western Pacific island o f tw o Jima, where
they encountered ferocious resistance from
Japanese forces.
February 21. 1965, form er Black M uslim
leader M alcolm X was shot and k ille d by
assassins identified as Black M uslim s as he
was about to address a ra lly in New Y ork
C ity; he was 39.
6