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Jacob
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Wednesday
Committed to C ultural Diversity
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
June 14, 2000
R
Blazers give $70,000 in grants to local organizations
• Blazers Community
Builders and Portland-
area youth participate in
com m unity
service
project
World Leaders Mourn at
Assad’s Funeral
emphasize youth community services. Each
o f the seven organizations will match the
Blazers $ 10,000 grants, creating a total budget
o f 20,000 for each program.
DAMASCUS, Syria - Pallbearers in
scarlet berets and com bat fatigues
carried the body o f Syrian President
Hafez Assad through the mourner-
thronged streets o f his capital, in a day
o f funeral ceremonies fraught with
national grief and filled with political
portents. In dark mourning suits or
flowing Arab robes, world leaders and
other dignitiaries paid tribute at the
flag-draped casket o f Assad, who died
at age 69.
Man Who Shot Pope
Pardoned
ROME - Italy’s president pardoned the
Turkish gunman who wounded Pope
John Paul II in a 1981 assassination
attem pt, the Justice Ministry said.
J u stic e M in iste r P iero F assin o
immediately signed an order that will
send gunman Mehmet Ali Agca to
Turkey to serve a prison sentence in an
unrelated killing there. The Justice
Ministry's announcement o f the pardon
noted John Paul him self already has
publicly forgiven Agca from the May
13,1981 attempt on his life.
UNICEF: 1 in 6
Children Live in Poverty
LONDON - One in six children in the
w orld’s richest nations live in poverty,
with the United States and Britain among
the worst examples, according to the
U.N. Children’s Fund. Despite rising
incom es in the 29 nations o f the
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development - a Paris-based group
o f the w orld’s wealthiest countries - 4 7
million live in families so poor that their
health and well-being is at risk, said a
UNICEF report published recently.
Philippine Military
Pounds Rebel Position
COTABATO, Philippines-Thousands
o f villagers fled their homes as the
m ilitary bom barded four villages
occupied by Muslim separatist rebels
in the southern Philippines. Bombers,
helicopter gunships and artillery struck
rebel positions in the villages as two
army battalions backed by armored
vehicles m oved in, said an arm y
spokesman.
U.S. Reaches
Compromise with
Lebanon
NAQOURA, Lebanon - The U.N.
verification o f Israel's troop withdrawal
from southern Lebanon was postponed
for a day on the Lebanese side, a U N.
spokesman said. Lebanon’s objection
was over a border line drawn by the
United Nations and its demand for
technical help, said a spokesman for the
4,500-member U.N. force conducting
the verification process.
Team leader Scottie Pippen presents S elf Enhancement Inc., Lisa Manning and Youth Participant Taylor Allen with this
years grant award.
tO M KIBlLTÏU5ÏQRÏ
,
FORTU tP O B lI SM lO BM R M R
Blazers Community Ambassador Nick Jones
and B lazers fo rw a rd S c o ttie P ippen
announced today the Blazers' second year
renewal o f $70,000 in partnership grants to
local non-profits youth organizations. The
announcement took place a t the Garlington
Albina Head Start Center.
The Blazers gave seven $ 10,000 partnership
grants to non-profit youth organizations. The
grants will enable the organizations to
continue specific Blazers programs that serve
more than 5,000 Portland-area kids and
"We believe that it is important to encourage
kids to give back to their community through
volunteer service and our programs with each
o f these organizations does that,” said Jones.
"We look forward to creating more positive
changes in our city in the coming years.”
The seven non-profit organizations receiving
g ra n ts in clu d e: A lb in a H ead S tart,
DoembecherChildren's Hospital Foundation,
Com m itted Partners for Youth, Police
Activities League, Salvation Army Moore
Street Center. Self Enhancement Inc. and
YMCA Midnight Basketball.
In addition, the Blazers Community Builders
employee volunteer program, along with
youth from all seven organizations, will clean
up and landscape around Garlington Center.
Supplies for the project have been donated
by Integrity Landscape.
PPS plans team driven revisions
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OnM onday,June 12at 1:30p.m.,thePortland
Public School District Board met to hear from
different teams presenting the Strategic Plan.
This was the second o f five meetings that will
discuss the possible adoption by the Board
o f a Strategic Plan.
“We will present an action plan that allows us
to stay focused on teaching, learning and the
success o f all children with a particular
emphasis on poor children," said Benjamin
Canada, Superintendent o f Portland Public
Schools.
The Strategic Plan for the Portland Public
School District (PPS) proposes to address the
problems within the education system and
the needs o f all school children. Seven action
teams following the recommendations o f a
strategic core planning team are developing
the Strategic Plan. These seven teams are in
charge o f devising a strategy that targets the
seven main goals o f the Strategic Plan.
Team one is working to create a culture in PPS
reflects an ethic o f service and respect.
Tearn two addresses the need for partnerships.
They want to use the strengths and resources
that already exist in the community to improve
P ortland P ublic S ch
SUE
H A G M E IE R
BENJAMIN CANADA
CHAlRPERl
the learning environment. Additionally they
want to see more partnerships between
students, teachers and parents, as well as
partnerships between schools. "W e believe
these resources and these partnerships are
critical in addressing the issues of schools in
poor communities and of children o f color,”
said David W ynde, V ice President o f
Commercial Banking at US Bank and member
o f team two.
( Please see ’PPS’ page 5 )
Billboard draws fire from public and is removed
A recent billboard at Interstate
and Skidmore recently drew fire
from outraged citizens and was
subsequntially removed. The
Billboard depicted two young
black men drinking and getting
'real'.
Large Blast Rocks
Greek Island
RHODES, Greece - A large explosion
near the site ofT urkish naval maneuvers
broke windows and panicked residents,
police said. The Greek Defense Ministry
said the blast occurred off Rhodes,
about 280 miles southeast o f Athens.
Turkey is conducting a naval exercise
near the island. It was not immediately
clear whether the blast was I inked to the
Turkish warships, but the explosion
occurred in the general area o f the
maneuvers.
I
V