■ Mike Dunleavy Jr. Helps Duke Wins
NCAA Championship — See Sports page B3
■ Children in Columbia Park Have a
New Playground -- See Metro inside
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Volume XXXI
Num ber 14
vvvvw.portlandobserver.com
/ IL
Com m itted to Cultural Diversity
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W ednesday
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April 4,2001
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New Columbia Villa on Drawing Board
$ 150 million development would transform World War II era project
T in; P ortland O bserver
The H ousing A uthority o f P ortland plan to
replace its oldest and biggest project - C o lu m
bia V illa - with a com m unity that is even
bigger, more modem , and m uch m ore diverse.
The plan calls for gradually rebuilding the
470-unit residential com m unity near U niver
sity Park in N orth P o rtland’s P ortsm outh
neighborhood. The finished product w ould
have the same num ber o f very low incom e
tenants, plus 230 units for people earning 40
to 60 percent o f m edian incom e, 75 units
available to anyone and renting at “ m arket
rate,” and 75 units to be sold to first-time hom e
buyers, for a total o f 850 units on the 70 acre
property.
In addition, the site’s w inding suburban-
style streets w ould be rem ade into a grid
pattern reflecting the surrounding neighbor
hood and a new com m unity center and com
m ercial services, designed to serve the entire
com m unity, would be added.
The price tag for all this is estim ated at $ 150
million. HAP is looking at a variety o f sources
for the funds, including m oney from the new
Interstate Urban Renew al district for new
p u b lic in f r a s tr u c tu r e , a c c o r d in g to
spokew om an Jolene Columbo.
H ow ever, the biggest single source w ould
be a $35 million grant from the federal Housing
and U rban Developm ent “H ousing O pportu
nities for People Everywhere” (HOPE V I) pro
gram.
H U D w ill subm it an application for the
project on June 22, and a decision wil 1 be made
by Septem ber, Colum bo says.
M ilosevic’s Court Plea
Caps Showdown
BELGRADE, Y ugoslavia— The ousted
dictator spent his first full night behind bars
as the people he led through a disastrous
decade ofw ar and impoverishment absorbed
the news o f his arrest. M ilosevic, 59, who
surrendered in the pre-daw n hours after
prolonged negotiations, appeared later in
front o f a judge and pleaded not guilty to
charges o f corruption and abuse o f power.
Officials to Destroy 21
Cattle, Test for Mad Cow
AUSTIN, Texas — A handful o f cattle
imported from Germany before a 1997 ban on
European livestock will be destroyed to test
whether the animals w ere exposed to mad
cow disease, officials said. The 21 animals
from five ranches around the state will be
killed and their remains incinerated while
samples o f their brain tissue will be sent to a
national laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The cattle
are being destroyed as a precaution because
o f public concern over m ad cow disease.
Germany, EU Focus on
Global Warming
B E R LIN — G erm anChancellorG erhard
Schroeder will urge President Bush not to
back o ff a key accord against global warming
when the two leaders m eet for the first time
in W ashington. Schroeder will also use the
one-day trip to raise European concerns
about A m erican plans for a missile defense
and U.S.-Russian tensions, a G erm an gov
ernm ent official said.
EU Approves British
Vaccination Plan
BRUSSELS, Belgium— European Union
veterinary experts approved a request from
Britain for authorization to vaccinate up to
180,000 dairy cattle against foot-and-mouth
disease in an effort to contain the epidemic
in the worst-hit areas, an EU official said. The
European Com m ission m ust still formally
approve the m easure before vaccinations in
Britain can go forward, but that is regarded
as a formality.
Dutch Law Allowing Same-
sex M arriages in Effect
AM STERDAM ,Netherlands— Four gay
couples exchanged rings and vows at City
Hall early, the first o f hundreds planning to
w ed under a new D utch law allow ing same-
sex marriages. The cerem ony capped a 15-
year cam paign to aw ard gay couples equal
rights under civil law. It began at midnight,
when legislation approved last year took
effect.
Jackson Group Cleared of
Financial W rongdoing
C H IC A G O — T he Illinois attorney
general’s Charitable Trust Bureau examined
the financial records o f the Rev. Jesse
Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and
found no irregularities. Attorney General Jim
Ryan asked for scrutiny o f the group's fi
nances after Jackson acknow ledged the
group paid $35,000 to a form er top staff
m em ber who bore the civil rights activist’s
child out o f wedlock. “The evidence is they
are in com pliance w ith the law," Ryan said.
California Regulators Raise
Rates by Up to 46%
SAN FRANCISCO— TheCalifomiaPub-
lic Utilities Com m ission unanim ously ap
proved electricity rate increases o f up to 46%
Tuesday to try to head o ff blackouts this
sum m er and keep the state's two biggest
utilities from going under. The increases are
the largest in California history.
China Says Population at
1 3 Billion
BEIJIN G — China announced that its first
nationw ide census in a decade puts its popu
lation at 1.3 billion, including rival Taiwan.
The figure, reported by the official Xinhua
News A gency, was substantially low er than
independent estim ates that put the num ber
o f Chinese as high as 1 5 billion.
Members o f the Columbia Villa Resident Council support a proposal to reconstruct Portland’s oldest and largest housing complex into a
new and inviting neighborhood with homes to rent and purchase.
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver )
S tory C ontinues on P age B2
China Allows Visit with U.S. Plane Crew
Secretary of State Colin Powell hopes diplomatic move is the beginning of an end to an international crisis
(A P)— American diplomats met with
the crew of a stricken American spy
plane Tuesday on an island in southern
China where it made an emergency land
ing.
“I hope that is the beginning o f an end
to this incident,” said Secretary of State
Colin Powell. “ I’m encouraged by the
fact that that the meeting is taking place.
It shouldn't have taken this long to
happen. But, now that it has happened,
I hope this starts us on a road to a full
and complete resolution of this m atter.”
“ Hopefully, it will not affect the over
all relationship" between the United States
and China, Powell said.
He also said the incident would have
no bearing on President Bush’s deci
sion, expected later this month, on the
composition o f an annual arms package
for Taiwan. Powell said the meeting
between two U.S. officials and all 24
crew members was expected to last
about 40 minutes. “I hope that it is the
beginning of the end to this incident,” he
said. Earlier Tuesday, Chinese President
Jiang Zemin called for an end to U.S.
surveillance flights off C hina's coast.
China has blamed the collision on the
United States.
Powell did not address those Chinese
concerns. U.S. officials continue to call
the collision an accident. China blames
the United States.
Bush, who said M onday that China
was not responding quickly enough to
U.S. requests, declined comment on the
situation during a trip to Wilmington,
Del. But White House officials indicated
he might have more to say after the
diplom ats’ meeting with the plane crew.
The Bush administration hoped the
delayed meeting — two days after the
U.S. surveillance plane collided with a
Chinese fighter jet — would lead to the
end of the standoff with the Chinese
government. “ I hope that this meeting
will lead to the rapid release o f all of the
members o f the crew back to the United
States so they can be returned to their
fam ilies,” Powell told reporters.
Speaking at a news conference in Key
West, Fla., Powell also said he hoped
that the Chinese would also permit the
“rapid return of our aircraft."
He said he did not see the incident as
necessarily dam agingU.S. -Chinese re
lations. Still, Powell complained that the
Chinese had waited too long to permit a
U.S. team to visit the crew members.
Police on Leave After
Shooting Mental Patient
Portland police have placed three offic
ers on paid adm inistrative leave follow ing
the shooting death Sunday night o f a m en
tal patient.
A n officer shot the 29-year-old m an at
Pacific G atew ay H ospital, a m ental health
facility, after he becam e violent and threat
ened others.
O fficers Jeffrey M Bell, C hristopher A.
D avis and Jeffrey E. N elson are on leave -
a standard police procedure follow ing a
shooting.
Twenty-five-year-old Bell, who fired the
w eapon, has been with the Portland police
for m ore than one year. D avis has worked
w ith the force for tw o years; N elson 10
years. H ospital officials say the patient
becam e violent. Police at first helped offi
cials place him in a locked room , but he
escaped. The shooting happened after the
police returned a second tim e
Police say they are w orking with offi
cials o f the M exican Consulate to notify
the m a n 's family in M exico.
Fashion Sensation
A luxurious red skirt and woven wool top by Jacques Fath o f Paris is just one o f the many
fashions that will excite a Portland audience when Ebony Magazine brings its 43rd
annual "Fashion Sensation " to the Rose City. The show will support educational
opportunities and scholarships fo r Links, a Portland organization.
( ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AND STORY IN F O C U S , INSIDE.)