Committed to Cultural Diversity'
n in nt u n i t y
a 1 r n b a r
A ngela Davis Speaks
Out to Students
A Lake Ridge High School political action
class will bring author, activist and educator
A ngela Davis in as a speaker on W ednesday,
M ay 16 at 7 p.m. Davis will be speaking on
grass-roots activism and the problem s with
our prison system. All are w elcom e to attend
the event.
www.portlandobserver.com
Mav 16, 2001
Annual Gun Turn-in Nets 380 Guns
Once again volunteers from around
the state joined law enforcement agen­
cies to hold the Ceasefire Oregon annual
gun turn-in on Saturday, including a site
on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The total guns turned in this year were
380, bringing the total to 5,473 guns since
the non-profit group began col lecting guns
for destruction 8 years ago.
For every gun there was a story.
Most o f the guns were unused and
their owners just wanted to get rid of
them.
But in one case, a women in her new
home found a gun. In anothercase, a gun
Friendly Poets Society
The Friendly Poets Society is offering a
$ 1,000grand prize in their Poetry Competition
2001, thats free to everyone. There are 28
prizes in all worth over $3,000. The contest is
seeking poem s on any subject, using any
style, with a life-affirming inspirational theme
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , g o o n lin e to
www.friendlypoets.com. Deadline is June 15.
Eating My Way to Heaven
L eam about conscious, healthy eating
and living on Thursday, M ay 17, 7 p.m. at
H offinan Hall on the PSU campus. The
evening will be a com bination o f speakers by
famous authors and authorities, music, com ­
edy and awe-inspiring graphics. D oors open
at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited, so com e early!
For
m o re
in f o rm a tio n ,
e m a il
Jaclvn@ eatingm vw avtoheaven.com
Mt. St. H elens 21st
A nniversary
M ay 18 will be a free day at the M ount St.
Helens N ational V olcanic M onum ent in re­
m em brance ofthe 21“ anniversary o f the 1980
eruption. N o fees will be charged on the
Volcanic M onum ent including the visitor
centers at Silver Lake and C oldw ater Ridge,
and the Johnston Ridge O bservatory on SR
504. The Forest Service will hold special
activities on M ay 18 and 19.
6th A nnual Asian
C ultural Night
C elebrating Across G enerA sians.. A Vi­
sion for the Future, sponsored by the Asian
Family Center, will be held at the Holiday Inn
(Portland Airport), 8439N.E. Columbia Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon, on M ay 19, from 5 p.m. to
midnight. O ver five hundred people are ex­
pected to attend. The evening will feature
dinner, cultural perform ances, and raffle
prizes.
Free Tennis Lessons
H ave you ever w anted to leam to play
tennis, but w eren’t sure how to go about
doing so? W ell, here is your chance! The
United State Tennis A ssociation has desig­
nated the m onth o f M ay as “U SA Tennis
M onth” throughout the entire nation! To
celebrate, the V ancouver Tennis & Racquet-
ball C enter staff, in conjunction with the
V ancouver, W A C om m unity Tennis A sso­
ciation, will be offering FREE 1.5 hour intro­
ductory group tennis lessons to interested
groups and/or organizations. Free lessons
are available forkids ages 7 to 15 until June 9.
Call360/696-8123.
Historic Irvington Home Tour
The 2001 Historic Irvington H om e Tour
will be held on Sunday, M ay 20 from noon to
5p.m . This year’sT o u rw illb e the 19* annual
H istoric H om e T our org an ized by the
Irvington C om m unity A ssociation. The
H om e T our will feature six o f Irvington’s
grand hom es, five o f w hich have never been
show n in previous Tours. Additional infor­
m a tio n
is
a v a ila b le
at
www.Irvingtonhom etour.com . On the day o f
the tour, tickets will be sold only at the W hite
Bed & Breakfast Inn, 1914 N. E . 22nd Avenue.
Baby Sitter Training at
the Red Cross
Red Cross will offer Babysitter’s Training at
University Park Community Center, located at
9009 N. Foss in Portland. The class will be held
on Saturdays, May 19 and 26, from 4:30 p.m. -
6:30p.m. Babysitter'sTrainmg is an eight-hour
Red Cross course that teaches youth ages 11 to
15 the skills needed to be responsible childcare
givers. Call 503/823-3631 to register
Tai Chi in the Park
Portland Parks & Recreation will be having
sum m er tai chi courses at N orm andale Park,
located at N.E. ST*1 & Halsey beginning
W ednesday. June 6 - July 18. There will be an
introductory class on the “ 8 W ays," which
im proves equilibrium and muscle strength
building foundation to leam Tai Chi form,
W ed.9:30am . -11 a m . Call 503/823-4328.
(P hoto bv M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver .)
Northeast Precinct officers Greg Seamster (from left) and Kent Scott take in a small derringer pistol from a local resident at the
Ceasefire Oregon gun-turn in Saturday on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
.............
■M B
- -III— IU1H.!..— .
Forum on
African
American
Building History
The Bosco-M illigan Foundation is holding
the second com m unity-organizing forum for
the video docum entary “Cornerstones ofCom -
m unity — the Buildings o f P ortland's African
A m erican History.”
The forum is set for Saturday, M ay 19 from
10a.m. to 12:30p.m. at Vancouver Avenue First
Baptist Church, 3138 N. V ancouver Ave. at
Fargo St. The docum entary will focus on sites,
streets, and neighborhoods long associated
with Portland’s African American community,
and w hich are threatened by redevelopment
pressures, gentri fication, and potential displace­
ment. The history o f m any buildings was in­
cluded in the Cornerstones book, published by
the Bosco-M illigan Foundation in 1998.
C om m unity History Com m ittee members
Pauline Bradford, EdC'aldwell, Virginia Garnett,
and W illie Ranson have been w orking to bor­
row dozens o f photographs o f people, along
with coordinators H arrieBelle Paris and Liz
Fouther-Branch.
Photographs o f some specific people are still
being sought. Photographer Richard Brow n’s
contem porary photographs o f buildings will
follow the historic photographs o f a person or
family. If you care about African Am erican
com m unity history and the m any place associ­
ated with it, plan to attend this com m unity
forum . A panel ofelders and others will discuss
their history and displacement experiences over
time, and participants will talk about ways to
prom ote the impotence o f the m any places
where African A merican history happed over
time. You are encouraged to pre-register for the
program by calling the Bosco-M illigan Foun­
dation at 503-231 -7264. ih een try to the Fellow­
ship Hall at V ancouver Avenue First Baptist
Church is at street level (no steps) and is easily
accessible for anyone with mobility limitations
4
was taken from a friend who tried to
commit suicide.
The Beaverton site took in the most
guns this year with the two Portland sites
following close behind. The northeast
Portland site had over 50 guns turned in,
tripling its number from last year.
This year participants were allowed to
choose from McCormick & Schmick’s
gift certificates, movie tickets, Fred Meyer
gift certificates, Blazer tickets and gar­
den plants.
The c e rtific a tes w ere C easefire
Oregon’s way o f saying thank you for
making homes and communities safer.
The Ceasefire Oregon Education Foun­
dation is a grassroots organization,
founded in 1994, which seeks to improve
the health and safety o f the community
by increasing public awareness o f the
threat posed by gun violence; the impor­
tan ce o f prev en tin g u n in ten tio n al
shootings; and the promoting o f alterna­
tive means o f resolving conflict.
Joyce Neff, former president of the
Joyce Foundation, said recently: “We
forget now that a few years ago, the very
notions o f childproofing and trigger locks
were foreign to people were not paying
attention to those issues. People are much
more aware now because o f there tre­
mendous educational process that has
been going on. People are now aware
that gun deaths and injuries can be pre­
vented, and that they can play a role in
that.” Information on safe storage as
well as “ASK” literature was available at
each site.
The “ASK” campaign is a national
effort to get parents to talk about safe
storage. The campaign encourages you
to make sure that your child plays in
environments were guns are either not
present or securely stored.
1
Bicyclists Rally on Alberta Street
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver )
A bicycle parade for all ages was held at northeast 1T* and Alberta Saturday in celebration of the Alberta Art Hop and the Community
Cycling Center's grand opening of a new building. The event also included art exhibitions and live music.
Community Party to Celebrate the Big Pipe
Environmental Serv ices has finished con­
struction projects to stop combined sewer
overflows (CSOs) to the Columbia Slough, and
now it’s tim e to celebrate. The community is
invited to a free Big Pipe Party and Fish friendly
Fair on Saturday, May 19 at the Columbia
Boulevard Treatm ent Plant. The Big Pipe is a
3.5-m ile pipeline that parallels the Slough and
intercepts about 350-million gallons o f com ­
bined sewer overflows (CSOs) each year The
pipeline carries the sewage to the Columbia
Boulevard plant for treatment and keeps it out
o f the Slough. In addition to the Big Pipe.
Colum bia Slough/CSO Projects included new
treatment facilities at the Columbia Boulevard
plant, a new pum p station, a new outfall to carry
treated w ater to the Colum bia River, and a
dechlorination facility.
Now that construction is finished. Environ­
mental Services wants to invite people who live
near the Slough, as well as people throughout
the city, to help celebrate the success o f the
projects. The Big Pipe Party and Fish Friendly
Fair will feature live music, free food, and prizes
)
There wil 1 be exhibits, treatment plant tours, and
community information as well as a children ' s ’
art show, horse trolley rides, and games. The
Big Pipe Party rures from 11:30a.m. to 3:00p.m.
at the Colum bia Boulevard W astew ater Treat-
ment Plant which is located at 5001N . Columbia
Boulevard, two miles w est o f the 1-5 freeway.
The Bureau o f Environmental Services pro­
vides city residents with Clean River programs
including, water quality protection, wastew a­
ter collection and treatment, sew er installation,
and storm w ater m anagem ent