October 25, 2000
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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.
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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.
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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