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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2000)
October 25, 2000 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity (Tiu' ^ o rtla n h (©bseruer ZiT o m V ia l m n i t 11 o ? n b a SECTION Youth Volunteers Power Through Beach Trash M ore th an 50 youth v o lu n te ers from P ortland G en eral E lectric lugged g arb ag e b ag s full o f co llected d eb ris o ut o f F o g arty C reek S tate Park on O ct. 14 as p art o f S O L V ’s G reat O reg o n B each C leanup In ad d itio n to rem o v in g trash from the park, the v o lu n teers, w ho range in age from four to 18, also learn ed ab o u t the h azards th a t litte r poses to O re g o n ’s w ild life an d ecosystem s. “ It really d rives the m e ssag e o f eco lo g ical resp o n sib ility h o m e to the kids w h en th ey realize th at the p ie ce o f S ty ro fo am th ey p ick up to d ay co u ld save a b ird ’s life tom orrow ,” said T erry Clelen, PGE coordina to r fo r the group. B esides the beach clean u p , the kids have rem oved tree-d am ag in g E nglish ivy from F orest Park, stenciled w arn in g s on storm d rains in S o u th east P o rtlan d and p ic k ed up garb ag e for SO L V at the R ose F estiv al S tarlig h t Parade. In ad d itio n to these so -ca lle d PGE P ow er G e n e ra tion v o lu n teers, n early 1,000 em p lo y ee s o f the utility w ere in v o lv ed in this y e a r’s b ea ch cleanup. T hese volunteers rem oved litter from B everly Beach S tate P ark, G len ed en B each W ay sid e, S iletz B ay and o th e r b each es along the O reg o n coast. Home Buying Fair The Is'annual A frican A m erican H om e Buying Fair will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at S elf E nhance ment, located at 3920 N. Kerby. Leant about such things as understanding your credit, A B C ’s o f hom e buying, w orking w ith a lender and other things. For m ore information, call Shelli Romero at 503/282- 7455. Spiritual Healing A re you looking for m ore healing in your life? L eant how prayer can help you find spiritual solutions to everyday prob lems. Tenth Church ofC h rist, Scientist in Portland, at 5736 SE 17th Ave. will host a free public talk on a spiritual approach to h e a lin g . E v a n M e h le n b a c h e r o f K ennew ick, WA will speak on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. in the church’s Sunday School building. C hild care is provided. All are welcome. o f the PGE Power Generation and the Great Oregon Beach Cleanup. Halloween Party M adison’s G rill, located at 1109 SE M adison, on the com er o f SE 11th and M adison will be having a H allow een party featuring Catfish, prizes and drink and food specials. D ress up as your favorite m usician for prizes! T he event w ill be on Saturday, Oct. 28 There is a $3 cover charge for all shows. Call 503/220-0901. Oaks Park Halloween O aks Park and PAX TV present a fun afternoon H allow een party for the entire family. Prizes o f PAX tulip bulbs will be aw arded to the best costum es in four cat egories : m ost H allow een - like, best over all, m ost scary and m ost funny. Everyone that joins the costum e contest w ill receive a treat. O aks w ill provide special H allow een treats to all o f the party guests! Call 503/233-5777. Understanding Men U nderstanding M en B eyond M yths and Stereotypes, a w orkshop for m en and w om en led by Judy B rodkey, will be held Saturday, Oct. 29, fro m 9 a .m .-4 :3 0 p .m . at the Friends Meeting House, 4312 SE Stark. This w orkshop w ill address m yths and stereotypes about m en, how narrow defi nitions o f m asculinity affect all o f us, and how w e can take action to be allies for men and boys. Cost: $25 - $75 sliding fee scale. Call 503/234-1012. Tennis Fest 2000 A s the nam e suggests, Tennis Fest 2000 prom ises to be a w eekend-long cel ebration o f tennis. The event, scheduled for Oct. 26-29 at the M ultnom ah Athletic Club in Portland, intends to provide infor m ation and excitem ent to tennis enthusi asts throughout the Pacific N orthw est. Some o f the greatest nam es in tennis will be on hand, including Roy Em erson and Stan Smith. For further inform ation and to register, call 503/520-1877, ext. 21. Raphael House Benefit Raphael H ouse w ill host their 18lh an nual dinner and auction, “A H om e for All Seasons" on Saturday, Nov. 4. Proceeds will go to support the organization's em er gency shelter, transitional housing, edu cation outreach, and program s for the care and support o f w om en and children escap ing dom estic violence. The evening in cludes a silent auction, live auction, raffle drawing and gourm et dinner. The event will be located at the O regon B allroom o f the Portland Marriott, 1401 SW N aito Park way. Call 503/222-6507. Library Bookfest The North Portland Bookfest Book Arts Exhibition wil 1 be on display from Oct. 29th through N ov 12th at the N orth Portland Branch o f the M ultnom ah C ounty Library, 512 N. K illingsw orth. An opening recep tion is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 29 from 1 to 4 p.m. Highl ighting the work ofcontem porary bookm akers from the w estern U nited States, the N orthw est Bookfest Book A rts Exhibition will feature both traditional fine press books and artists’ books in a w ide range o f media. ( Co-Workers Save Life ClarkCountyemployeesHeidi Bunch, LeishaCopsey,and Carol Ulappa were honored recently for helping save the life o f a co-worker suffering from a heart attack, according to Tim Me Vicker. the county’s Occupational Health and Safety Specialist. “Congratulations to the District Court Clark’s Office for a group effort in recognizing and responding to an emergency,” he said. The incident occurredonOct. 9 when Ulappa, who is first-aid certified, noticed that one ofher staff was ashen, sweating profusely, and sitting with her head in her hands. Ulappa recognized the symptoms as being associated with a heart attack. Together with Bunch and Copsey, they called 9-1-1 and assisted the w om an until the param edics arrived. Star W ars.. Again? The O regon C hapter o f Physicians for Social Responsibility will sponsor a sem inar on the proposed N ational M issile D efense featuring D on W hitm ore, retired Boeing engineer and anti-nuclear activist, Saturday, O ct 29, at 7 p.m. at the Friends M eeting House, 4312 S.E. Stark. Both m ajor party presidential candidates have pledged to go forward with research and possible deploym ent o f a national m issile defense system. Leam about the inherent w eakness in such a system - its lack o f effectiveness and potential to dam age true national security. N ational m issile defense offers mythical security and distracts us from seeking real protection from real threats, organizers said. Don W hitm ore has extensive experience in w eapons system engineering and national defense projects. The event is co-sponsored by P SR Oregon. The Red Rose School, O regon Peacew orks, W om en’s International League for Peace and Freedom /Portland and Peace and Justice W orks/Portland. A big cast o f characters house-sit in preparation fo r Halloween at Sunlan Lighting, Inc. at 3901 N. Mississippi. (Photo by Ron Washington/Portland Observer) City Considers Homeless, Housing Issues Beware of Tax Refund Scams The Internal Revenue Service is caution ing A frican-A m ericans not to be m isled by anyone offering to help them file for tax cred its or refunds related to reparations for sla very. There is no such provision in the tax law. T hose w ho pay to have reparations-re- lated tax claim s prepared are being deceived. IRS centers nationw ide have received a growing num ber o f such slavery reparation claims this year, repeating sim ilar experiences in 1994 and 1996. “ W e regret that people m ay be circulating m isleading inform ation to the A frican A m eri can com m unity,” said IRS C om m issioner Charles O. Rossotti. “ It is despicable that some are stealing from innocent people by charging fees to prepare w hat they know to be baseless claim s.” For example, the Florida A ttorney G eneral obtained an injunction late last m onth against a M iam i-based prom oter who charged vic tims $ 100 to handle their “claim s,” This pro m oter even w arned consum ers not to contact the IRS on the pretext that the IRS did not w ant the general public to know about the tax credit. “ Prom oters do not w ant potential victim s to leam the truth about this hoax." Rossotti said. The IRS has seen two principal reparation schemes. In one, the person claim s a credit for “black investm ent taxes" o r "reparations for A frican A m ericans." In the other, the person attaches a form listing thousands o f dollars in tax w ithholding that, in fact, never occurred B e c a u se th e re is no law p r o v id in g for su ch r e p a ra tio n s , th e IR S re je c ts th e se claim s T Painting the Streets and Helping Our Rivers Chris Morris. Susan Williams and Jennifer Gilben paint a stencil advising people not to dump waste down storm drains Several organizations and individuals are involved in the project sponsored by Headwaters to Ocean, a group that fosters stewardship of the Columbia Willamette river systems To make the stakes interesting. H2O is offering a free two-hour boat tour to the group that stencils the most storm drains. 4 Reaffirm ing their com m itm ent to provid ing safe, affordable housing w hile standing firm against hom eless cam ping in the city, M ayor V era K atz and C om m issioner Erik Sten held a new s conference to announce their holistic approach to address hom eless and housing issues. The tw o focused on the city's ongoing efforts to preserve and create m ore afford able housing, the current tools available to continue enforcing anti-cam ping laws, and announced an expanded partnership w ith JOIN - a private organization that does o ut reach to hom eless people. “W hile I am still a firm believer in the need for anti-cam ping ordinance to prevent un safe and unsanitary cam pgrounds, this has given us the opportunity to take a closer look at w hat w e in the City are doing to provide housing and shelter opportunities for every one,” said Katz. Katz and Sten said they plan to spend $3.5 m illion o f a $5 m illion fund allocated for affordable housing this com ing year for those in the 0-30 percent m edian incom e range. Both officials also noted recent successes in meeting affordable housing needs, includ ing the Portland Developm ent C om m ission’s just-com pleted purchase o f the Fountain Place apartment building and the recent open ing o f R itzd o rf Court w hich com pleted the Shelter R econfiguration Plan The Fountain Place acquisition means thecity will save the building's affordable housing rates, and serve as potenhal replacement housing for neaiby low-income units soon to be lost
