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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