Committed to Cultural Diversity
n nt m u n i t o
a I r n h a r
www.portlandobserver.com
Major League Promoters Build Support for New Stadium
Car Wash and Barbeque
Just M en In R ecovery will be having a car
wash and barbeque (w eather perm itting) on
June 16 at the M iracles Club, located at 4069
N .E. M LK . F or m ore inform ation, call
M ichael R .B ookerat 503/267-3193 o r M or
ris P riceat 503/515-8152.
Son of Salmon Slam
Portland Poetry Slam and Education W ith
out Borders will host “ Slam F inal.” T hese
bouts w ill decide w hich four individuals,
o u to fa dozen com petitors, will becom e the
2001 Slam T eam , scheduled to do national
poetic battle w ith 55 other team s in A ugust.
M oney raised will be donated to the “ Books
N ot B om bs" Som aliland Project. T he event
will be held on W ednesday, June 13 at the
N orthw est C hildren’s Theater, located at
E verett and N.W . 18,h. M usic begins at 7
p.m, Poetry Slam at 8 p.m. Call 503/661-1317.
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Free Cruise on the
Sternwheeler
D iscover the spectacular views and w on
ders o f the Eastbank Esplanade as you par
ticipate in the grand opening program s being
offered al 1 summer - absolutely free ofcharge.
F orF ather’s Day, discover the new Eastbank
Esplanade from the w ater - learn som e o f the
stories o f the construction and history o f the
Eastbank. The Stem w heeler will leave at 2:30
p.m. Call503/823-5596.
Fast Friends Duet
Ify o u share asp ecial m usical talent w ith
your cat or dog, you are invited to the
A dvantage T opical Solution nationw ide
contest called “A dvantage F ast F riends
D uet.” F or those looking for a new four
legged fam ily m em ber to love, O regon H u
m ane S ociety will also o ffer pets for adop
tion. T he contest w ill be held at the Pioneer
C ourthouse Square on Saturday, June 30.
R egistration begins at 10:30 a.m. C all Ste-
fanie, H odge-L is, E delm an W orldw ide at
312/233-1280officeor630/728-7049.
A Walk in the Pearl
The Pearl D istrict, O ld Tow n and the
Eastbank Riverfront Park w ill be explored
during a non-credit Portland W alk A bouts
series sponsored this sum m er by Portland
C om m unity College. T he four-part guided
tour series begins Saturday, June 30 w ith
“A W alk in the Pearl " T he three-hour w alk
starts at 9:30 a m. at the U.S. C ustom s House
at Eighth A venue and D avis Street. C all
503/614-7308.
Rose Cup Races
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A popular w eekend w ith local racing
enthusiasts for m ore than 40 years, the 2001
Rose C up Races presented by T em p C o n
trol M echanical Corp, features Sports Car
Club o f A m erica’s R egional and N ational
C ham pionship point races w ith m ore than
300 am ateur drivers in varied classes o frace
cars. The race begins at 1:30 p.m ., Sunday,
June 17.
Mothers and Daughters
Basketball
A M others and D aughters B asketball
support group w ill be starting in Septem ber
2001. Be one o f the m any 4"' to 12th grade
young ladies participating w ith your m other
to help bounce this support group to its full
potential this com ing season and for sea
sons tocom e. Call 503/283-7905.
American Heart Walk
More than 1,000area residents will take art
in the A m erican H eart W alk on Saturday,
June 16 to help the American Heart A ssocia
tion raise $ 100,000 for cardiovascular disease
research and education programs. Registra
tion is at 9 a m. and the w alk begins at 10 a m.
at Rose Q uarter Com m ons, O ne Center Court
Drive in Portland. A m erican Heart W alks are
also taking place this m onth in Eugene and
Salem. Call Alex Modrell at 503/233-0100.
YMCA Camp Collins
Celebrates 75 Years
Y M CA C am p Collins is 75 yearso ld this
summ er. The cam p has served 350,000 chil
dren in that tim e, and is getting ready for the
next 75 years. Com e and share the m em ories
w ith them . They w ill be celebrating on S at
urday, June 16 at the Y M CA Cam p C ollins,
locatedat3001 S.E . O xbow Parkway, next to
O xbow Regional Park. For m ore info., call
5 0 3 /6 6 3 - 5 8 1 3 , o r v is it w w w .y m c a -
K ntland.org.
P hotos by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
The Memorial Coliseum (left) and the administration building for Portland Public Schools (right) are two sites in the Rose Quarter area that promoters of Major League baseball say
could be sacrificed to make room fora new baseball stadium.
A bu ild er o f big-league stadium s is scour
ing the city for potential places to put a new
stadium .
T h e planning is part o f the effort to bring
a M ajo r League Baseball team to Portland.
C urrently, there are hal f a dozen prospects.
L ocal architect John V osm ek is w orking
w ith H .O .K. Sport, the designers o f Jacobs
Field in C leveland and Pac-Bell Park in San
Francisco.
B ut finding nine square blocks o f real es
tate for the Portland venture isn ’t easy.
T he Portland School D istrict headquarters
is one candidate.
Tw o blocks south, the idea is to tear-down
M em orial Coliseum and use it’s nearby park
ing.
A cross the river sits the central post office,
w hich d o esn ’t w ant to sell its old-tow n
location.O ther sites are ju st south o f Union
Station and on W est Burnside with a cap over
the 1-405 Stadium Freeway.
L an d on th e E a stsid e b e tw e e n th e
H aw thorne and M orrison bridges has also
been talked about as a potential site.
Prom oters are still w orking to get state
lawm akers to support a new stadium at a cost
o f about $300 million.
Billy Reed Boosts
Pride at Jefferson
After three years as a physical education teacher and
coach at Jefferson High School, Ehren Plummer finally
has some new equipment to help his students perform at
their best.
Billy Reed has donated $40,000 worth of weight room
equipment to the north Portland school.
“As I took my class into the new weight room for the
first time, I saw my students’ eyes get big and smiles
grow across their faces,” Plummer said. “I heard them
say things like, 'Wow, Jefferson is coming up!’ and
'Look at us. Now w e’re like the rich schools’.”
The Jefferson athletic department has not received a
dime to buy anything new in the last three years, Plummer
said.
“No new birdies, no new basketballs, no new nets, and
nothing new for our weight room,” he said. “We have
been fundraising and bit by bit have been struggling to
make our program comparable to other schools around
the state.
“When Billy Reed called us and said that he had some
weight equipment that he wanted to donate to Jefferson
High School we were very grateful. When we met with
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
him and saw that the equipment was new and plentiful, Jefferson High’s Andre Miller (left) and Ray Peterson practice their techniques on new fitness equipment
we were ecstatic,” Plummer said.
donated to the North Portland school.
Good in the Hood Festival
to Spark City’s Soul
A volunteer com m ittee is w orking hard to
bring local residents to the Good in the Hood
Multicultural Music and Food Festival and
ensure that more area businesses benefit eco
nomically from the event. The 9th annual cel
ebration ofculture, music and ethnic foods, will
be held Friday, June 22- to Sunday, June 24 at
the Holy Redeem er A rea School Campus, 127
N. Portland Blvd. In addition, a kickoffparty Yvill
be held at 6:30 pm on Thursday, June 21 at
M cM enam ins K ennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd
Ave. TheG ood in the HoodCom m unity Parade
will start at 11 am Saturday, June 23.
Dionne Peeples, public relations chairman
o f the Good in the H ood Com mittee, says
organizers are doubling their efforts to reach
neighbors in northeast Portland
A s part o f the outreach, residents who live
near Holy Redeem er will be admitted to the
festival free on opening night, which is called
the “G ood N eighbor N ight” celebration, when
they present a postcard that the com mittee will
mail to surrounding neighbors.
M any businesses are planning sidewalk
sales during the parade on Northeast Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard under the theme
“ Shopping is Good for the Soul.” The business
district now calls itself the “Soul o f Portland."
“T his is an important event for our com m u
nity, It is an opportunity to see liow beauti f i l l the
“SoulofPortland"iswithitsmulticultural commu
nity and diversity." said Peeples, who also is the
owner ofthe Peeples Gmup, a public relations firm
in Northeast Portland fhecostofadmissiontothe
festival isSlOfor families, $5 for adults an d $ l for
children. A-3-day family pass is $25. The festi
val will feature performing groups such the
Northeast Afrikan American Ballet, Milagro
Bailadores, the Molly Malone Dancers. Linda
H om buckle, the Norman Sylvester Band, the
Mel Brown Sextet and many others. In addition
to entertainment, the festival will feature an.
ethnic food court, and ethnic marketplace, 3-
on-3 basketball tournament andachildrensarea
that willofferaliY'e animal display jugglers.ckiwns,
arts andcrafts. story telling, face painting <md other
activities. Formorc infonnation about the festival
call5O3-285-6l3O.
Hospital Where a Man was Shot Closes
Pacific Gateway Hospital, the 66-bed Port
land psychiatric hospital where a man was shot
to death in April, says it is closing its doors
effective immediately. A spokeswoman for the
clinic, formerly a secure treatment center for
county mental health patients, says operating
the hospital is no longer viable given health
care economics and new regulatory require
ments o f local, state and federal agencies.
Multnomah County recently pulled its patients
from the hospital.
Jose Mejia o f Yucatan, M exico, was shot to
death by Portland police on April first after
police responded to a call for assistance from
Paci fic Gatew ay staffers. Police said Mej la threat
ened an officer with a metal rod. Mej ta 's fatni ly
said he had epilepsy, but no history o f mental
illness. An internal police investigationcieared
officers o f any wrongdoing, but members ofthe
Hispanic com munity and mental health advo
cates say his death showed the need for im
proving mental health services in Portland.
Pacific Gateway is owned by Behavior, Icalthcare
Corporation ofNashville. Tenn.
Saturday Concert Series is All Local
A com munity-based effort to return a little
park across from Emanuel Hospital to positive
family-oriented uses has led to a summer-long
Saturday concert series, according toorganizer
Joyce Boles W ith grant m oney from a local
industrial ist who grew up in the neighborhood.
Boles is organizing a concert every Saturday,
w ith music from local African-American artists
and food from Yam- Y am 's Southern Style Bar
becue, a m ajor sponsor o f the series. “All the
artists will be paid," said Boles “Nobody else
is being paid.” Saturday’s June 16concert will
beheld from 2 p.m. to6p.m.. featuring local R&B
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vocalist Tahoe Jackson and a seven-piece band,
with dancers and a percussion artist. All o f the
concerts will include tables and booths "as the
community desires" without any fees charged,
said Boles. Boles lives one-halfblock from the
park, and was among many neighborhood resi
dents tem fied by a drive-bv shooting homic ide
last year "The poor victim died in my building's
doorway," she said. The park and adjacent
blocks was the site o f a very heavy drug scene
until a police undercover operation netted 60
indictments o f street-level drug dealers last
September, she noted.
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