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US POSTAGE
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Focus Section B
PORTLANDOR
PERMIT NO. 1610
►
"The City
'V ilu ille A A A I
Num ber 26
c o m m u te d to cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday
50
June 2 7 ,2(X) 1
Neighbors Worry About Historic Church PC C Board
T he P ortland Q bsf . rveb
U.S. Consumer Confidence
Rises for Second Month
N E W Y O R K — C o n su m er confidence
ro se fo r the se co n d c o n sec u tiv e m onth
in Ju n e, as A m e ric a n s’ o u tlo o k tow ard
the n a tio n ’s s tru g g lin g eco n o m y co n tin ­
ued to b rig h te n . T h e N ew Y o rk -b ased
C o n fe re n c e B o ard said that its co n su m er
c o n fid e n c e index ro se to a b e tte r-th a n -
ex p e cted 117.9, up from 116.1 in M ay.
T he M ay figure w as revised u pw ard from
115.5.
Pope Prays for V ictim s o f
Nazi M assacre in Kiev
K IE V , U k ra in e — O n the th ird d ay o f
his h isto ric and co n tro v e rsial p ilg rim ag e
to U k rain e, P ope Jo h n P aul II p ray e d for
the dead at the B abi Y ar m em o rial, site o f
a N azi m a ssac re o f K ie v ’s Jew s in 1941.
Je w ish lead ers h av e critic iz e d the po p e
fo r failing to c o n d em n m ore stro n g ly the
R om an C a th o lic C h u rc h ’s p a s siv e role
d u rin g the H o lo cau st. John P aul II has
trie d to assu ag e th o se co n cern s.
190,000 lbs. Meat Recalled
W A SH IN G T O N — The Excel Corp, is
recalling about 190,000 pounds o f fresh
ground b e e f and fresh ground pork be­
cause o f possible contam ination by the
potentially deadly E. coli bacteria. The m eat
bears a production date code o f “ 0 1.05.23”
o r“01.05.24.
S tu d y F la g s R a d io a c tiv e
T h reat
W A S H IN G T O N — T h o u san d s m ore
p eo p le than a n tic ip a te d face h ea lth and
p o llu tio n th rea ts from p lu to n iu m and
o th e r h ig h ly ra d io a c tiv e elem en ts th at
fou led vast am ounts o f uranium recycled
by the U .S. n u c le a r w eap o n s p ro g ram
o v e r the p ast 50 years.
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
A group of local residents fear that new development in the Rose Quarter/Convention
Center area could bring about the demise of a historic African American church.
A n eig h b o rh o o d g ro u p is m ak in g a
p lea to save a h isto ric church. T he land
use co m m ittee o f th e E lio t N e ig h b o r­
h o o d A sso c iatio n w o rries that the o ld
M t. O liv e t B ap tist C h u rch at 126 N .E.
S ch u y ler co u ld be so ld an d the d istin c ­
tive b u ild in g d em o lish e d at a m o m e n t’s
notice.
Rev. E dw ard W illiam s, w ho o versees
m an ag em en t o f th e p ro p erty , says the
fears are p ro b ab ly b ased on a d ecisio n to
co n sid er se llin g the c h u rc h ’s attach ed
p arso n a g e.
W illiam s w o u ld n o t say w h at the fu­
ture p la n s are for the ch u rch b u ilding
itself.
The 1 9 1 6 ch u rch is listed o n P o rtla n d ’s
in v en to ry o f h isto ric reso u rces, but is
n o t on the N atio n al R e g iste r o f h isto ric
P laces, and thus has no legal p ro tectio n
ag a in st d em o litio n , ad v o cates fo r its
p ro tec tio n say.
T he b u ild in g sits ju s t a h a lf b lo ck o ff
B ro ad w ay in th e v ic in ity o f the R ose
Q u arte r an d O reg o n C o n v en tio n C enter.
P au lin e B rad fo rd o f the E lio t n eig h ­
b o rhood says new d ev elo p m en t and p ro ­
p o sals for ev en m ore d ev elo p m en t in the
are a m ay p u t th e ch u rc h in je o p ard y .
K athy G albraith o f the B osco-M illigan
F o u n d atio n has said that in her profes­
sional opinion, the building is the m ost
im portant piece o f A frican-A m erican ar­
chitectural history in Oregon.
During its construction, lum ber was sup­
plied by the K u K lux K ian in an effort to
facilitate m oving black people from the
w est side o f Portland to the east side.
M ore than three generations o f O regon's
A frican A m erican com m unity have at­
tended the church. T he Mt. O livet congre­
gation m oved to a new facility several
years ago at north W illis and C hatauqua
streets and the old church has been leased
to a sm aller church congregation.
Traveling Playground Begins Summer Tour
U.N. Meets for AIDS Talks
U N IT E D N A T IO N S — A t the o p e n ­
in g o f th e firs t g lo b a l g a th e rin g on
H IV /A ID S , U .N . S e c r e ta r y -G e n e r a l
K o fi A n n a n u rg e d w o rld le a d e rs to se t
a s id e m o ra l ju d g m e n ts a n d fa c e th e
u n p le a s a n t fa c ts o f a d is e a s e th a t h as
k ille d 22 m illio n p e o p le an d ra v a g e d
m a n y o f th e w o r ld ’s p o o re s t n a tio n s .
Supports
Property
Condemnations
B y L ee P erlman
Tilt. P ortland O bserv er
T he Portland C om m unity C ollege board
voted unanim ously last w eek to authorize the
condem nation o f property in the path o f the
planned expansion o f the Cascade cam pus.
The board acted despite expressions o f
concern and dism ay by several affected prop­
erty and business ow ners present, and a plea
by the H um boldt N eighborhood A ssociation
that the action be delayed.
In a w ritten statem ent, H um boldt chair
Susan Erickson told the board, “The vote
before you tonight is far too broad a stroke for
such a serious action. This is particularly true
if PCC ju st wants to have it available as an
option at this point and does not necessarily
intend to use it on all o f the properties listed."
“ By virtue o f your pow er as a com m unity
college, you already have this as an option
w ithout passing this resolution. C ondem na­
tion should be used w ith surgical precision in
a very lim ited capacity and not on entire
blocks o f neighborhood property," Erickson
said.
S tory C ontinues on P age B6
Immigrant
Workers
Convey Plight
A six-day march through the Willamette Valley
to highlight the plight ofmmigrant workers culmi­
nated in a rain-soaked rally Sunday at the state
Capitol. Organizers say farmworkers are often
forced to work in deplorable conditions with no
overtime. Under federal labor laws, growers are not
required to enter into collectiv e bargaining agree­
Saudi Defense Minister:
Khobar Case is Internal Issue
S A N ’A , Y e m e n — S a u d i D e fe n se
M in is te r P rin c e S u lta n c a lle d th e 1996
K h o b a r b o m b in g c a s e s o le ly an issu e
fo r th e k in g d o m , s e e m in g a n n o y e d by
th e U .S . in d ic tm e n t o f 14 p e o p le —
in c lu d in g 13 S a u d is . “ T h is is s u e c o n ­
c e rn s S a u d i A ra b ia a lo n e . T h e A m e r i­
c a n s id e s h o u ld s e n d a ll th e d o c u ­
m e n ts , c o m p le te p r o o f an d a lis t o f the
n a m e s o f th e a c c u s e d to u s, b e c a u s e
S a u d i a u th o ritie s a lo n e a re c o n c e rn e d
w ith th is c a s e ,’’ S u lta n sa id .
ments with farmworkers, who cannot legally
strike but can be fired for complaining.
The event brought together labor unions,
immigrants, activists and members o f the reli­
gious community from around the country, form­
ing a crowd o f close to 400 people that marched
through the streets surrounding the Capitol before
gathering on its steps. Gov. John Kitzhaber put in
a surprise appearance and joined protesters to
show his support for the cause. “Thank you forthe
work that you do. Thank you for breakfast, lunch
and dinner," Kitzhaber said.
C arroll O ’C onnor Dies
C U L V E R C IT Y , C alif. — C arro ll
O ’C onnor, w hose portrayal o f irascible
bigot A rchie B unker on A ll in the F am ily
helped m ake the groundbreaking TV com ­
edy part o f the A m erican dialogue on race
and politics, has died from a heart attack. He
w as 76.
Men Look Their
Best for Charity
T h o u sa n d s G a th e r for
T otal E c lip se
L U S A K A , Z am b ia — T h o u san d s o f
to u rists, sc ien tists an d new age m y stics
g a th e re d in Z am b ia to w atch the first
to tal solar eclip se o f the new m illen n iu m
sw ee p ac ro ss so u th e rn A frica. E clipse
d a y w as d ec la re d a n a tio n a l holiday.
R u n w a y S a fe ty P rob lem
P e r s is t s
W A S H IN G T O N — A t least once a
w eek on av e rag e, a ru n w a y c o llisio n is
av o id ed in the U n ited S tates o n ly w hen
a p ilo t m oves his a irp la n e out o f h a rm ’s
w ay at the last m om en t. T here w ere 68
such se rio u s in c id en ts last y ear, out o f
431 ru n w ay in c u rsio n s rep o rted
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
A newly painted ‘Rec ‘n Roll" bus is introduced to Portland area kids by Parks and Recreation Director Charles Jordan. The bus brings
summer playground programs to many children who don't have access to playgrounds or pools in their neighborhoods.
P o rtlan d P arks & R e c re a tio n 's p o rtab le
p la y g ro u n d p ro g ra m m ad e its first sto p o f
th e su m m e r o n F rid a y at th e M t. Scott
C o m m u n ity C e n te r in so u th e ast P ortland.
T ri-M et and A m algam ated T ransit U nion
g rap h ic artist S am H arp er c re ate d th e “ Rec
n ’ R o ll” b u s ’ sig n a tu re lo o k .T h e b u s w ill
b rin g su m m e r p la y g ro u n d p ro g ra m s, in ­
clu d in g sp o rts an d cra fts, to n e ig h b o r­
h o o d s, in c lu d in g n o rth /n o rth east P o rtland,
th a t h a v e lim ite d or n o a c ce ss to th ese
p ro g ra m s.S o m e children d read su m m er
b e c a u se th e y h av e n o p la c e to g o - no
p lay g ro u n d s nearby, no pools in their n eig h ­
b o rh o o d s.
T h e idea b eh in d the b u s w as that if kids
c o u ld n ’t g et to the city ’s s u m m e r p ro g ram
sites, th e city w ould get its p ro g ra m s to the
kids! S everal b ra in sto rm in g se ssio n s later,
a p o rtab le p la y g ro u n d p ro g ra m w as d e v e l­
op ed . “ W e k n ew it h ad to b e on w h ee ls an d
b e larg e e n o u g h to ca rry all th e b alls,
p a ra c h u te s, cra ft su p p lie s an d P P & R re c ­
reatio n s ta ff n ee d ed fo r a fun su m m er
e x p e rien c e. A nd, w e k n ew w e n eed ed
so m e p a rtn e rs in o rd er to get th is e x c itin g
p ro jec t o n th e ro a d !" p ark o ffic ia ls said.
Just Men in Recovery will be having their 5*
Annual All Male Fashion Show on Saturday,
June 30, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the M iracles
Club. 4069 N.E. M artin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Area residents are invited to bring the w hole
family to this entertaining event featuring re­
cording gospel stars Disciples in Song. Tickets
can be bought at G eneva’s Sheer Perfection,
5601 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. and at
Miracles. There will be a 50/50 raffle, and d in­
ners will be sold at the event Bring the w hole
family. Proceeds will go towards a fund that
grants financial assistance to m en in recovery
who can ’t afford the cost o f attending the
organization’s annual retreat.
O ther upcom ing events by Just M en in
Recovery include an anti-drug m arch in July; a
chanty softball game Aug. 11 and the retreat
Aug 24-26. Form ore inform ation about any o f
these activities, contact M ichael R Booker at
503-267-3192 orM orris Price at503-515-8152.