www.portlandobserver.com
Committed lo Cultural Diversity
tEhe ^ o rtla n b (©bscriier
ZfT o in m u n i t n
M-Ui ( r u b ¿1 r
SECTION
DePriests exemplify excellence to music and the community
for T he P or tland O bserved
The men they will
become
Eli H. Newberger, MD, one o f the leading
experts on child and family development
and author o f the critically acclaimed,
“The Men They Will Become: The Nature
and Nurture o f Male Character” will be in
Portland for a one day seminar on April 24,
2000. The conference, which shares the
title o f Dr. Newberger’s book, will be held
at the Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon
from 9 am. to 4 pm. Dr. Newberger’s book
explores the developmental process o f
building character in boys. Call 503/281 -
6151,ext. 12.
Run, walk and stand
for the earth
The city will be host to a unique celebration
in observance o f the 30* Anniversary o f
Earth Day on Saturday, April 22,2000 at
7:30 am. The three main organizing groups,
the Earth and Spirit Council, theCity Repair
Project and The Green House Network,
have planned a series o f participatory
events, including a run to stop global
warming, a human circle around the city of
Portland, a Mardi-Gras style procession
honoring the earth’s myriad life forms,
tree planting, and a multi-cultural ceremony
and celebration at Pioneer Courthouse
Square.
Career Connections
2000
The Urban League o f Portland announces
Career Connections 2000, on Tuesday,
April 4*, 10 am. to 7 pm., at the Memorial
Coliseum Exhibit Hall. This year’s event
marks the eighth annual job fair. Over fifty
employers with current openings will be
on hand to accept applications, resumes
and answer questions.
Americorps VISTA
volunteer positions
Excellent opportunity to gain experience
in the nonprofit community economic
development field. Two VIST A positions
available, one in Hillsboro and one in
Portland. Both positions w ork w ith
Individual Development Account (IDA)
programs. IDAs are matched savings
accounts that low-income people use to
go to school, buy a house, or start a
business. For more information, please
call Shannon Snow at 248-5200 x26983
(Portland) orConnie Sherrard at 693-3246
(Hillsboro).
Procession of the
Species
Now through April 20, Community Art
Workshops for the Procession o f the
Species will be held at 49 SE Clay (near
O M SI), Itisness Studio at 3016 NE
Killingsworth and other locations around
the Portland-Metro area. Learn about
ecological issues and other interesting
species facts, while you get help creating
your favorite species for the Procession.
F or th e sc h e d u le and re g istra tio n
information, call 503/244-2602 or visit
www.earthand spirit.org/earthday2000
and click on Art W orkshops.
“Raise the R oof’
day in oldtown/
Chinatown
Under plastic and scaffolds, Portland's
Classical Chinese Garden is taking shape
on Saturday, April 15th Mayor Katz invites
the public to “Raise the R o o f’ Day in Old
Town/Chinatown from 11 am - 4 pm to
support the Garden and view its progress.
T he event w ill also be a one-tim e
opportunity to sign the roof tiles being
sponsored to support the C lassical
C h in ese G arden “ R aise the R o o f ’
Community Campaign. Call 503/228-8131.
50*
March 29, 2000
The 2000 DePriest Award went to James and Ginette DePriest fo r their two decades o f commitment and service to the Portland
community. They were honored by Volunteers o f America Oregon and The Hollywood Theatre Project on Oscar night, March 26, 2000.
On March 26, both James and Ginette DePnest
became the first recipients o f the Volunteers
o f America DePriest Award ofExcellence. An
award they say is humbling and undeserved
despite their accomplishments.
Even after 20 years, Ginette DePriest still
attends every performance.
She watches as her husband James DePriest,
music director and conductor o f the Oregon
Symphony hobbles to the stage in the leg
braces he’s forced to wear after a bout with
polio in 1962. She watches as the audience
files in. Those who attend the Oregon
Symphony are no longer a group clad in furs
and jewels and three piece suits. Now the
concert hall is filled withjean-clad generation-
xers, and families and retired couples and
students.
The symphony is available to all Oregonians
and the DePriests have worked for more than
20 years to make it that way.
The DePriests have become two o f Oregon’s
most recognizable faces. While James DePriest,
a tall, regal man with a baritone voice is the
most visible as the premiere conductor o f the
symphony, Ginette DePriest works just as
hard behind the scenes. T he O regon
Symphony is a full-timejob for both, although
he’s the only one with an official title.
A primary responsibility forthe music director
(Please see ’A w ard’ page 2)
Debate continues around urban renewal program
o r T he P ortland O bserx er
“If you want it, here it is, come and get it, but
better hurry, ‘cause it’s going fast.”
— The Beatles
For the past month, citizens o f north and
northeast Portland, or those with an interest
in the area, have been gathering regularly at
th e O regon A sso ciatio n o f M in o rity
Entrepreneurs, 4134 N. Vancouver Ave.
White, black, red and brown, they are united
by their interest in green.
A citizen advisory committee working with
the Portland Development Commission is
crafting policies governing the proposed
Interstate Urban Renewal Zone. Foremost
among these is the boundaries o f the zone.
Showing where the funds can be spent.
The zone was conceived last year as part o f
the funding package to finance the Interstate
MAX light rail project, a $450million extension
o f the light rail system from the Rose Quarter
to the Expo Center. Community groups later
suggested that the district’s tax increment
funding could be used to fund public projects
and improvements in the area.
In an urban renewal district, as land and
property values increase, the extra taxes
collected from this increase are placed in a
special tax increment fund, to be used
exclusively for projects within the district
boundaries. The amount that would be
g enerated depends on w hat the final
boundaries are, but PDC’s John Southgate
says that “a real rough estimate, just a guess,"
is $ 150 million. O f this, $30 million is pledged
to the rail project.
At one point, PDC was considering as small
an area as a corridor four blocks wide. Since
then, there have been numerous requests for
inclusion. As o f February 21, the district was
bounded roughly by North Delaware and
Williams avenues and included the Lower
Albina and Swan Island industrial districts,
parts o f the Columbia Corridor industrial
district, and Portland Meadows. Since then
there have been more requests for changes
T he N o rth -N o rth e a st E conom ic
Development Alliance is trying to revitalize
the Williams-Vancouver Corridor, and had
requested that the boundary be moved to
W illiam s to make funds available for
improvements related to the project. The Boise
Neighborhood Association, which once
insisted its part o f the district extend no
further east than North Mississippi Avenue,
now wants to go almost to Northeast Martin
Luther King Boulevard - provided that the
program adheres to a set o f principles it has
put together.
At a meeting o f the committee last week
David Eatwell o f Kenton called for extension
o f the boundary westward past Peninsula,
while Lisa Homeofthe Peninsula Community
Development Corporation and Elizabeth
Humphrey o f Portsmouth said it should go
still further west. Committee member Paul
Mortimer felt the arterial streets running east
and west should be included to deal with
anticipated traffic problems from the project,
and a Piedmont neighborhood representative
made a similar request with regard to one.
N ortheast Portland B oulevard
Mark
Kirchmeier wanted to include part o f the
Overlook area, and O verlook’s Dorothy
INTERSTATE URBAN RENEWAL AREA
DRAFT BOUNDARY
□
PROPOSED URBAN
RENEWAL BOUNDARY
(Please see ’U rb a n ’ page 2)
Court refuses to restore Welfare benefits for immigrants
ASSOCiALEBiRiSS
The Supreme Court refused to force the
government to restore food stamps and other
benefits for legal immigrants cut o ff in a
massive 1996 welfare overhaul.
The court, without comment, rejected an
appeal by Chicago officials and a group of
noncitizen residents who said the 1996 law
violated their equal-protection rights.
“The federal governm ent...is forbidden to
balance its budget by denying welfare benefits
to lawful permanent residents,” the appeal
had contended
The 1996 W elfare Reform Act, which
dramatically cut welfare rolls nationwide,
barred noncitizens living in this country from
collecting food stamps and disability benefits
through Supplemental Security Income.
Immigrants also were barred from collecting
general welfare benefits and Medicaid until
they live in the United State for five years
The c u to ff was intended to encourage
immigrants to be self-sufficient and to ensure
that welfare benefits do not create an incentive
for people to emigrate to this country.
Congress later restored food stamps and SSI
disability benefits to some immigrants living
in the United States before August 1996.
The city o f Chicago and a group o f legal
immigrants challenged the welfare law in
federal court, saying it violated som e
immigrants’equal-protection rights.
A federal judge upheld the limits on benefits,
and the 7* U.S. Circuit Court o f Appeals
agreed
The government is not required to give all
aliens the same wel fare benefits provided for
citizens, the appeals court ruled.
In the appeal acted on just recently, lawyers
for Chicago and the immigrants said C ongress’
decision to allow people into the country but
deny them benefits unfairly raises costs for
state and local governments.
Justice Department lawyers said the benefit
restrictions were a valid restriction on aliens'
conduct in the United States.
They noted that the Supreme Court in 1996 let
the government require immigrants to live in
this country for five years before collecting
Medicare.
The case is Chicago vs. Shalala, 99-898.
I