■
i
See Focus
Da Brat
makes a
triumphant
return
Volume XXX.
Number 26
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
Portland, OR
Permit No. 1610
Wednesday
50*
July 5, 2000
Metro launches charter reform - council looks S.C. confederate
flag comes down
to public for ideas
AIDS L ikely to
D evastate
Teen
Population
GENEVA-The AIDS epidemic is expected
to wipe out about half of current population
o f teenagers in the worst-hit African
nations, devastating econom ies and
shattering societies, the United States
predicted. Among other findings in its
135-page report, UNAIDS estimates that
the virus has killed 19 million people
worldwide, infected 34 million, and caused
13 million children to be orphaned.
M etro
regional center
Britain Deploys 2,000
Extra Troops to
Belfast
BELFAST, N orthern-A bout 2,000 extra
British troops will be sent to Northern
Ireland to boost security during the
volatile summer season o f Protestant
parades, the military announced. Five new
battalions will be in place when the
Protestant Orange Order makes its annual
marchm Portadown, 30miles from Belfast.
The group has been ordered not to march
through a Catholic neighborhood.
(Please see 'M etro ' page 6)
The Charter reform public hearings
are scheduled for:
Parliam ent Accepts
Assad Nomination
DAMASCUS, SYRIA - Only a July 10
referendum whose result is a foregone
conclusion stands between former eye
doctor Bashar Assad and the Syrian
presidency after the parliament approved
his nomination. The astonishingly fast
and trouble-free rise oflate President Hafez
A ssad’s son is officially attributed to the
“democratic institutions” founded by his
father during 30 years in power in this
A. ab nation o f 17 million.
to look forsomething that functions better,”
said Metro Presiding Officer David Bragdon.
“A change could bring us less conflict and
more efficiency while at the same time
creating a structure that provides more
accountability to the citizens."
Metro districts must be re-apportioned
following the 2000 U.S. Census, and the
current executive officer is serving his last
term under term limits. The council will have
to vote by mid-August whether to refer
charter amendments to the November2000
ballot.
The main proposal on the table is to eliminate
the executive officer position. What Metro
needs to know - and is asking the public for
Business leaders, community activists,
citizens and elected officials from throughout
the region will be coming together during
the next few weeks to kick off a charter
reform drive for Metro. Specifically, the
agency is looking at whether it should
streamline its internal governing structure
to improve efficiency and accountability. Right
now, Metro has an elected seven-member
council that makes all policy decisions for the
government. The council is headed by a
presiding officer chosen from among the seven
every year. Metro also has an elected executive
officer whose authority is limited to managing
the agency.
’’The region has been working under this
system for a number ofyears now, but it is time
Wednesday, July 5
3:30p.m.
Metro Regional Center
600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
Wednesday, July 19
3:30p.m.
Gresham City Hall
1333 NW Eastman Pkwy., Gresham
Thursday, July 27
2 p.m.
Cornelius City Hall
1355N. Barlow St.
Thursday, Aug. 3
2 p.m.
Metro Regional Center
600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
Thursday, Aug. 10
2p.m.
West Linn City Hall
22825 Willamette Drive
Northeast portland youth clean up the town
‘Big Browser’ Would
Let U.K. Spy on Net
LONDON - The British government is
seeking expansive powers to eavesdrop
on Internet traffic through a controversial
measure known as “Big Browser.” The
proposal would, among other things, allow
the government to require people to
surrender the text o f electronic messages
or the “key” needed to decode them;
those who refuse or are unable to comply
face up to two years in jail. If successful,
the initiative also might affect net privacy
debates in the USA and elsewhere in
Europe, analysts say.
Policeman sues city,
mayor, police chief
Rocky Balada, who was demoted from
Portland police sergeant to officer after he
was identified as a ringleader o f overtime
abuses at Central Precinct, has filed a $22
million federal lawsuit against the city,
Police Chief Mark Kroeker and Mayor
Vera Katz, accusing them ofdefaming him
and violating his civil rights.
In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in
Portland, Balada alleges that the Portland
Police Bureau demoted him without just
cause or due process and that allegations
he received overtime pay he was not
entitled to are false.
FO&lHkEQIlILANttQBSÍKS IK
Northeast and southeast Portland families
and youth participated this months in the
annual SOLV Make TheTown Clean litter and
graffiti removal event, cleaning a 24-block
grid o f downtown Portland in less than two
hours.
All members o f the Church o f Scientology,
fam ilies and youth from NE Portland
participated as part o f a church team to clean
up downtown in preparation for Rose Festival
guests.
Splitting into three groups, the team ended up
cleaning both sides o f the street from SW
Salmon to Market, and SW 14th to I Oth
amassing more than 10 bags o f litter and
debris.
“It was really interesting to watch people
watch us,” said 13 year-old Tim Burke from
Clackamas. “They'd start to throw their
cigarette butt down in the ground, then look
at us, then change their mind. So that felt good
to make a difference in peoples’ attitude.”
While picking up peoples’ litter is certainly
not the most pleasant o f ways to spend a
Saturday morning, all of the boys felt it was
time well spent and will be back next year to
do it again.
“It was gross!"exclaimedone boy, 9 year-old
Joshua Swalley, adding quickly that it was
also kind o f fun and he was glad his mother
brought him, along. Similar sentiments were
noted with Joshua’s 13-vear old brother John,
who said doing the clean up made him more
aware o f litter on the streets and how wrong
it is throw your trash on the ground. He
committed to stopping him self and friends
littering from in the future and hopes people
watching the clean up had the same realization.
“Adults need to know about kids doing work
like this,” stated Church coordinator, Angie
DeRouchie. “These teenagers had an awful
lot o f other choices of what to do with their
time that Saturday, but chose to paticiapate in
this project with the church, making a
difference m their environment."
Derouchie went on to describe other church
v o lu n te e r p ro je c ts the fa m ilie s have
participated in, including volunteering at The
Bite the Oregon Food Bank's Blues Festival,
the Oregon spec lal Olympics Citra fund raiser,
and dozens o f others.
All will be recognized in the Fall when the
Church ofScientology W omen's League will
host its first ever volunteer recognition
celebration, acknowledging all o f the members
o f the Church who do so much work in the
community in Portland
I
The Confederate soldiers monument is
shown in front o f the South Carolina
Statehouse while the Confederate fla g
flies in the background Friday, June
30, in Columbia, S.C. The fla g came
down from the dome Saturday.
AsSQClAIEJlPRtSS
The Confederate flag, for some a symbol o f
slavery and others a tribute to their Southern
heritage, was removed Saturday from the
South Carolina Statehouse dome where it had
flown for 38 years.
In an elaborate ceremony, the flag was
rem o v ed by
Citadel cadets
— one white,
one black —
amid cheering
f
1
g
s u p p o rte rs
and je e rin g
a n t i -
Confederate flag demonstrators. A smaller,
square version was raised moments later on
30-foot flag pole by Civil War re-enactors in
front o f Confederate soldier’s monument on
Statehouse grounds, part o f the compromise
reached by the Legislature in May.
Shortly after the ceremonies, which took about
10 minutes, shouting matches broke out
between Confederate flag supporters and
those against the compromise, who held up
yellow signs that said “Shame.”
Confederate flag supporters responded with
“O ff the dome and in your face.”
Police stepped between the groups. One man
was arrested for assault, said state Public
Safety Department spokesman Sid Gaulden.
South Carolina was the last state to fly the
Confederate flag from its Capitol dome. Raised
over the Statehouse in 1962, many thought
the flag was a symbol o f Southern heritage.
Others said it is a defiant sign against the civil
rights movement.
Prior to the ceremony, about 750 people,
dressed in white, marched silently through
downtown Columbia as part o f the National
Association for the Advancement ofColored
People’s protest.
“This flag should not go in front o f the
Statehouse," Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins, said
Saturday morning.
The NAACP led a boycott against South
Carolina in an effort to get the flag removed
from the atop Statehouse. They plan to
continue the boycott despite the compromise,
maintaining that the flag has no place on state
grounds. Besides NAACP protesters, about
500 people were at the Statehouse for the
flag’s removal. Some were sad to see it go.
“It’s just history going down the tubes," said
Phil Long, a flag supporter.
The flag was also removed from the state
Senate chambers Friday and sent to the State
Museum The House did the same earlier
Saturday.
Gov. Jim Hodges, the only top official taking
part in Saturday’s flag relocation ceremony,
said most South Carolinians support the
compromise that plants the flag at the most
visible spot on the Capitol grounds.
“At the end of the day, what has happened is
the flag will be removed from the dome,"
Hodges said. “That, I think, is a significant
step for our state.”