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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2000)
T tl__. See Metro See Focus Bulk Rate The Portland Observer’s dining guide Summer is definitely here! U.S. Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 1610 (Ob se 1 Volume XXX. Number 26 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 MLK Safeway dedicates $5 million to store improvements Palestinians Reluctant to Agree to Summit Legionnaires’ Outbreak Suspected in Japan Island Appears to be Erupting Underwater TOKYO - Underwater eruptions have apparently begun around a smal 1 Japanese island in the Pacific, according to seismologists who warned ofa destructive explosion if volcanic activity neared the coastline. More than 2,500 people have been evacuated from their homes since a series o f earthquakes started shaking Miyakejima, about 120 miles south o f Tokyo. The intensifying earthquakes are a sign that magma moving beneath the earth is approaching the surface. Zimbabwe”s Ruling Party Wins Majority HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert M ugabe’s ruling party won a narrow majority in Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections despite historic gains by the opposition and strong signs o f discontent with its 20 years o f rule. With results announced in all 120 parliam entary districts, Mugabe ’ s party captured 62 seats to 57 for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Theclosely contested race was unprecedented in a country where Mugabe and his party have ruled virtually unchallenged since independence from white minority rule in 1980. toxnuatitBSTum fOBTlILPoaiLASDOBSUiXCB The Safeway store located on Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard will receive a $5-million remodel and expansion that will upgrade and modernize the store to better meet the needs o f area residents, according to Lyle Waterman, Safeway’s Portland division president. Waterman presented a proposal and received approval for the store’s expansion last Tuesday, June 20. The store, which was built in 1965, is located at 5920 N.E. Martin Luther KingBlvd. Safeway will host an open house in early August to present preliminary plans to area residents and to offer an opportunity for community feedback. The open house will give residents a chance to view photographs, artists' renderings and the preliminary store layout and design. Residents who attend the open house will have an opportunity to spéak with designers, architects and Safeway marketing staff. “This store belongs to the community and it needs to reflect what our neighbors and shoppers want,” Waterman said. The company plans to expand the store from 33,000 to 39,000 square feet by adding onto the north side and the front o f the store. Waterman said. In addition to the extra 6,000 feet, the store also will get two additional checkstands, new, state -of-the- art freezer, re frig e ra tio n and c o o le r c a se s, new checkstands, lighting, floor tile and interior and exterior paint and décor. .Safeway has analyzed a remodel at the location for quite some time. The current growth and expansion o f the MLK corridor were triggering events for the remodel. The decision to renovate the 35-year-old store shows the company ’ s commitment to remain a fixture in Northeast Portland despite acurrent situation regarding the store’s liquor license. Waterman said. Safeway’s liquor license is being contested because checkers mistakenly sold alcohol to minors during four police stings during a 15-month period in 1998 and 1999. Since those stings, Safeway has implemented stronger policies and training procedures to ensure that clerks are more alert and aware o f alcohol sales. Waterman has a zero tolerance policy regarding sale o f alcohol to minors. Clerks who sell alcohol to minors are terminated immediately. The results o f the steps Safeway has taken are producing positive results. The store has passed every police sting and internal Safeway sting operation since mid 1999. (Please see ’Safew ay’ page 6) Chinook Winds Casino launches superbuses Mexican Candidates Entice Voters with Loot NAUC ALP AN, M exico- As the Mexican electorate becomes more sophisticated - and races become more competitive - the price o f wooing votes is rising. Over the past few weeks candidates have given away televisions, tool sets and washing machines and delighted crowds with pop . concerts, circuses and strippers. One o f the most creative attempts to buy votes can be found in a gritty industrial suburb ; o f Mexico City, where the ruling party mayoral candidate has been picking up the tab for a circus since April 14. Islamic Law Proclaimed in Nigerian State ABUJA, Nigeria - Muslims in Nigeria’s north cheered the formal declaration of Islamic law, despite an upsurge in religious violence that has already killed thousands o f people and forced many o f the region’s minority Christians to flee. Kano, the fourth and largest Nigerian state to adopt Islamic law, or sharia, has a history o f ethnic and t Interstate Urban Renewal District underfire BV L JERUSALEM - Adopting a tough stance ahead o f Secretary o f State Madeleine Albright’s arrival, Palestinian officials said the time is not right for a Mideast summit and suggested that Palestinian statehood will be proclaimed this fall - with or without Israel’s blessing. Albright was en route to the Mideast to assess prospects for a U.S.-hosted summit in which Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would try to form the outlines o f a final peace treaty due Sept. 13. Arafat is reluctant to agree to a summit, saying the gaps are still too wide. TOKYO - A suspected outbreak o f Legionnaires’ disease has caused the death o f one man and the hospitalization o f another 13, health officials say. Authorities have closed a public bath in Ibaraki stating that all 14 men had used in order to isolate the bacteria that causes the disease. 50* June 28, 2000 Chinook Winds Casino <S Convention Center located in Lincoln ( it) officially launched two "wrapped" Portland city buses (Tri-Met) during a news conference June /9. The 40-ft buses featuring the Casino and the Oregon coast is expected to attract attention lor both the casino property and the coast. In the month o f June, the Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians is celebrating thefifth anniversaryof'Chinook H inds. the Tribe s 159,000 square foot casino and convention center, located on prime coastal property overlooking the Pacific Ocean Chinook Winds was first a 10,000 square foot temporary fai llit) known affectionately as The Tent, with only 250 slots, 12 card tables and a small deli, located within shouting distance of the site of the Tribe's permanent casino and convention center In November o f 1994. the U.S Congress passed HR 4719. which designated eleven acres in Lincoln City to be a part of the Siletz Reservation and therefore eligible for gaming under IGRA. Chinook Hinds, as we know it today, has been evolving since that time. "It 's like Las I ’egos at the sea shore, taunts its promoters and supporters. A gaming mecca breathtaking location, an array of delicious dining possibilities, plus the biggest names in today s entertainment Chinook Winds host many charitable events, sponsors numerous community activities, and makes not only monetary contributions to various non-profit organizations, but provides assistance through in-kind services, technical support, and free use of casino facilities. Come see us and see. i ee P e RI.EM AS The proposed Interstate Urban Renewal District was attacked by three different camps, for three distinctly different reasons, at a the Portland Development commission hearing last week. Originally intended to generate $30 million to help pay for the cost of a new light rail line running along N orth Interstate Avenue, as recommended by an advisory committee. The district has grown to 3700 acres and stretches at points from the Burlington-Northern rail line to Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It is expected to generate more than $300 million for local improvement projects over the next 20 years. Under an urban renewal district’s tax increment financing, property taxes in excess o f those in place when the district was created are set aside for the exclusive use o f projects within that district. Multnomah County executive Beverly Stein noted that this would mean a loss of $90million for social services in the county. The only way for the county to recoup the loss would be to float tax levies, she said, and since such levies couldn’ t be collected in urban renewal districts the burden on the remaining territory would have to be higher. “ I’m a strong supporter o f light rail, and I want to see it succeed,” Stein said. “I’ve always been a strong supporter o f urban renewal." However, she added, “ Sticker shock would be an understatement” to describe her reaction to the steering committee’s recommendations. While conceding that “no one acted in bad faith,” and that there was extensive public involvement in the process, she said, those involved “were not told o f the costs o f their actions, only the benefits.” The revitalization o f North Portland communities will need investment in “human infrastructure” as well as physical, she said. The district’s guiding principles forbid the use o f property condemnation by PDC, at least at present. H ow ever, som e community spokespeople, especially representatives o f the Eliot neighborhood, said the prohibition wasn ’ t strong enough. One, Pauline Bradford, a 55-year resident o f the area, said that the promises and goals of previous efforts "didn’t happen.” She added that success is measured by “who benefits and who’s displaced.” C o m m issio n m em ber N oell W ebb qestioned such a strategy. She said that the Lents community, which had also p ro h ib ite d co n d e m n a tio n , had encountered difficulty as a result. Another commission member, Douglas Blomgren, said the issue was one o f “trust and fear" based on past “misuse” o f condemnation. The commission agreed to take a second look at more specific language in July. S everal peo p le te stifie d th a t they supported urban renewal, but not the proposed rail line. One, Jerry Johnson o f the Arbor Lodge neighborhood, who served on an earlier advisory committee, argued that the project would be “an inappropriate use o f urban renewal funds. She added that the project had proceeded “on a much faster track" than similar projects, with less time for planning. The district as w ritten had several supporters. David Eatwell o f Kenton declared, “North Portland needs and wants this district. For o f all, it's our turn. W e've waited 40 years to heal the wounds of(the) 1-5 (freeway) to heal." Responding to Stein he said, “A revitalized community will put less stress on social services."