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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2000)
Stäa/p/p/if h/a/frh&ÿbM/n/g/! PreparingYour Holiday Table See Focus, Inside (Ebe Volume XXX Number 47 (Obseruer www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 Wednesday 50e November 22,2000 ■ I Portland Police to Study Racial Profiling A p a n e l o f P o rtla n d le a d e rs M o n d a y o u tlin e d p la n s to a d d re s s c o n c e rn s a b o u t r a c ia l p r o f ilin g in th e P o r tla n d a re a T h e P o rtla n d P o lic e B u re a u w ill b eg in c o lle c tin g d a ta o n p o lic e sto p s a t th e firs t o f n e x t y e a r. T h e b u rea ti a lso said it w ill also w o rk to h ire an d p ro m o te m o re m in o r itie s an d in c re a s e d iv e rs ity tr a in ing fo r o f fic e r s . ’’T h e y re a lly w a n t to do Israeli Helicopters Attack Gaza KFAR DAROM , Gaza S trip - Israeli heli copters fired rockets at Palestinian targets in Gaza City, w itnesses said, hours after a bom b attack on a school bus that killed two Israelis and injured nine others. The helicop ters were seen hovering near Palestinian leader Y asser A rafat ’ s offices along the sea coast before the rockets were fired. W it nesses said targets appeared to include a police station and a building used as a headquarters o f A rafat’s Fatah movement. Fujimori Resigns as President of Peru L IM A ,Peni-PresidentA lbertoFujim ori submitted his resignation to Congress in a letter, making good on his pledge to end 10 years o f iron-fisted rule that reshaped Peru. F uj imori ’ s letter spoke o f a “N ew correlation o f forces.” It was an apparent reference to the fact that opposition lawm akers won control o f Congress last week. Clinton Seeks a New Chapter with Vietnam HANOI, V ietnam -O ffering“anewpage in our relations with Vietnam,” President Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit Hanoi, capital o f the communist country that Amenca couldnot defeat 25 years ago. The Vietnamese- aided effort to recover the remains o f Ameri cans missing in action, the improvement o f human rights in Vietnam, and U.S. investment projects, and the bilateral trade agreement, which has yet to be ratified, are on the agenda for his meetings there Coca-Cola to Pay Discrimination Settlement ATLANTA - The Coca-Cola Co. agreed to pay $ 192.5 million to settlearacial discrimination suitbyblack workers. The settlement, includes $113 million in cash, $43.5 million to adjust salaries, and $36 million for oversight o f the company’s employmentpractices. The law suit claimedCoca-Coladiscriminatedagainst sala ried black employees in pay, promotions and evaluations. The settlement covers salaried black employees in the United States who worked forCoke between April 1995 and June 2000. Leah Rabin Buried Alongside Her Husband JERU SALEM - In a solemn, sim ple cer em ony, Leah Rabin was buried next to her slain husband - the Israeli prim e minister assassinated for his peace policies after tributes from world leaders and a memorial attended by hundreds o f mourners. Rabin died o f cancer at age 72. Philippine Senate Plans Estrada Trial MANILA, Philippines Philippinesenators began debating for the impeachment trial o f President Joseph Estrada, who faces allega tions that he accepted millions o f dollars in payoffs from illegal gambling operators. The Senate has no impeachment precedure be cause it’s never had such a trial before Their chosenmodel: the U.S. Senate during President Clinton'simpeachmen, trial. Civil Rights Leader Hosea Williams Dies at 74 A T L A N T A - Hosea W llliams, a top lieu tenant to Martin Luther King Jr. w ho battled for civil rights for m ore than three decades after King’s death, died ofcancer. He was 74. W illiams founded H osea’s Feed the Hungry and H om eless cam paign, w hich serves 35,000 holiday meals. He also served in the Georgia Legislature A blue ribbon panel gathers at Bethel AME Church in northeast Portland Monday to outline recommendations in a plan to fight racial profiling in the Portland Police Bureau. (P hoto by M ark W ashington /P ortland O bserver ) th e r ig h t th in g b u t I th in k j u s t a d m ittin g th a t p o lic e p r o filin g is ta k in g p la c e in P o rtla n d w as th e firs t s te p to us b e in g a b le to d e a l w ith th e is s u e m o re c o n c r e te ly ,” s a id U rb a n L e a g u e p re s id e n t M a rg a re t C a rte r. P o lic e C h ie f M ark K ro e k e r p u t to g e th e r the p an el six m o n th s ago. T h e 18 -m em b er p an el w ill m eet q u a r te rly to re v ie w an d a n a ly z e th e in f o rm a tio n o n c e th e tra c k in g p ro g ra m b e g in s. T h e c o m p ile d d a ta is in te n d e d to d e te rm in e w h e th e r p o lic e sto p m in o rity d riv e rs at a h ig h e r ra te th a n w h ite d r iv e rs. “ W e a ll b e lie v e th a t r a c ia l p r o filin g e x is ts , b u t th e d a ta c o lle c tio n w ill g iv e u s th e h a rd , c o ld s ta tis tic s to sh o w u s to w h a t e x te n t th is is g o in g o n ,” s a id th e R e v . R o n a ld W illia m s, a p a n e l m e m b e r fro m th e B e th e l A M E C h u rc h in P o rt la n d . K ro e k e r s a id he b e lie v e s th a t th e p e r c e p tio n o f ra c ia l p ro filin g in tra ffic sto p s — w h e th e r tru e o r n o t — is e ro d in g p u b lic tru s t an d n e e d s to b e a d d r e s s e d i f c o m m u n ity p o lic in g is to b e s u c c e s s fu l. “ T h is g iv e s u s th e o p p o r tu n ity to d e a l w ith it f o rth rig h tly ,” K ro e k e r said . “ T h is is e m e rg in g in th e c la s s ic c o m m u n ity p o lic in g fa sh io n . W e ’re d e a lin g w ith it in d e p e n d e n tly . W e ’re n o t u n d e r a c o n s e n t d e c re e to do it. I ’m re a lly p ro u d o f w h a t w e d id .” Urban League Grows Under New Leadership T he U rban L eague o f Portland contin ues to rebound financially under the lead ership o f its new executive director M arga ret Carter, a form er state representative w ho was elected senator for north and northeast Portland in the N ov. 7 election. In recent days, the U rban League has announced m ajor corporate donations from Intel, U.S. Bank and Scott Thom ason M o tors. Intel has aw arded the U rban League a $50,000 technology grant that will be used to rebuild the n o n -p ro fit’s entire com puter w ork, U.S. Bank has donated $15,000 to support general operating and program expenses, and T hom ason has donated a new van for transportation serv ices. U rban League officials said it show s how the agency is regaining the confi dence o f its largest supporters. C arter said it reflects the hard w ork the U rban League has put forth to m ake it “a prem ier organization that w ill continue to help the people o f N orth and N ortheast Portland achieve prosperity and equality." T he Intel grant w ill be used to build a new com puter inform ation system using the highest technology available. “This grant will help the U rban League build its financial system and help provide S tory continues on page B3 Urban League o f Portland Executive Director Margaret Carter (right) and Linda Wright, community development officer with U.S. Bank, acknowledge the receipt o f a corporative donation that's helping put the agency back on solidfinancialfooting. Factory Finds Market for Inner-City Housing By L ee P erlman T here is no one w ay to build affordable housing and create jo b s in inner northeast Portland, but Bart Jankans thinks he has some o f the pieces to the puzzle. He is doing it by building pieces o f houses at 5131 N.E. M artin Luther K ing Jr. Blvd., and then putting them together in the community. Since February, Jankans' N orthw est H ousing C om pany builds “m odular hom es” in the 30,000 square foot space leased from the Portland D evelopm ent C om m ission. T hey put together panels - w alls contain ing insulation, plum bing and electrical wiring, plus doors and w indow s according to plan. These are then assem bled into “ m odules” equal to one or m ore room s o f a house or com m ercial building. The m odules are then trucked to a building site, lifted into place by a crane and attached to each other to create a finished structure. This m ethod allow s better quality con trol, Jankans and his partner Roger K ling say, and allow s them to w ork in all w eather easily. K ling estim ates that the cost o f construction o f a m odular hom e is about $45 a square foot, as com pared to $80 to $ 150 for conventional methods. “ A s our crew gets better trained, the cost will com e dow n even m ore,” he says. The crew , now consisting o f 10 m en, were refereed by Pare Lumber and other stores. w ord o f m outh, or sim ply dropped by. T hey are being paid $10 to $15 an hour, Jankans says, and are learning skills that could help them secure other building trades jobs. Som e o f them do not have high school diplom as, and Jankans says he is trying to set up a training program for them to allow them to gain G E D certificates. W hat do m odular hom es look like?“ Any- thing you w ant them to ,” K ling says. The R Boone Sumantri (left) and Roger S. Kling o f Northwest House Company demonstrate the quality construction o f its new "modular homes " factory on northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard » com pany offers several stock designs to cli ents, including one for a Q ueen A nne V icto rian, and can copy others. The siding “can be cedar, brick, stone, glass or adobe,” Kling says. For the standard price, “th ey ’re delivered w ith toilets, sinks, stoves, cabinets and fireplaces,” he says. Y ou can order extras - 10-foot ceilings and special custom cabinets - but “obviously th e re’ll be a surcharge on the price,” Kling say s. Jankans has created one such house at 5829 N.E. M allory Ave., and the finished product m ade believers o f another custom er. C ontractors Doug and Barbara K nudsen, ow ners ofH am m erw orks Construction, w ere looking to expand an existing 6 0 0 -foot house at Northeast 63rd Avenue and Hancock Street as a hom e for their son-in-law and daughter. C orey and Tina Fox, but instead decided to replace it with a 1,520 square foot m odular hom e. The new house is being built by N orthw est H ouse C om pany in seven pieces. “ Bart said, ‘I can design you a house to fit that site,' and he did, Barbara Knudsen says. “W e drove by the M allory house tw ice before w e figured out w hich one it was, it fit in so w ell.” She adds. “ T here’s such a need for this A ffordable housing in Portland now is non-existent." Jankans, w ho has observed and partici
