Volume XXXI
Number 36
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
September 05, 2001
50c
■ ■ A
Racial Profiling Panel Hears Report
New Brochure Helps Answer the Question: Why Was I Stopped By The Police?
Colleges Levy Energy Fee
SEATTLE — Already facing higher
tuition bills, students at public univer­
sities from Maine to W ashington state
are returning this fall to find energy
surcharges added to student fees. At
least two dozen universities are levying
energy fees to cope with the skyrocket­
ing cost o f power.
Second Shark Attack Kills 1
MANTEO, N .C.— A Russian man was
killed by a shark as he and his girlfriend
swam in shallow waters near the North
Carolina shore, the latest in a rising tide
o f shark attacks and the second deadly
one o f the weekend.
Reno Takes Formal Step to Run
MIAMI — Former Attorney General
Janet Reno set up a campaign fund to
begin a high-profile bid to oust the
president’s brother, Jeb Bush, from the
Florida governor’s mansion.
Man Gets $1 Million in
McDonald's Giveaway
HOLLY HILL, F la.— A former home­
less day laborer had a happy meal at a
M cDonald’s. M cDonald’s managers
awarded Patrick Collierw itha$l million
prize they said was randomly given out
as part o f the chain’s effort to restore
consumerconfidence in its sweepstakes
promotions.
Manufacturing Decline Slows
NEW YORK— Manufacturing activity
< declined for the 13th consecutive month
i in August, but at a significantly slower
rate, an industry group said.
Suicide Bomber Killed in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM— A suicide bomberblew
himself up in central Jerusalem, injuring
several passers-by, police said. The
condition o f those injured was not im ­
mediately known but no bystanders
were killed.
Condifs Kids Resign Jobs
SACRAMENTO— Rep. Gary Condit’s
two children, Chad, 33, and Cadee, 26,
resigned from Gov. Gray Davis’ office,
one day after the governor joined those
criticizing their father for his response
to the vanishing of Chandra Levy.
Manufacturing Job Losses Brighten
W ASHINGTON — The loss o f manu­
facturing jobs that has helped fuel the
nation’s rising unem ploym ent rate
should begin to stabilize at the end of
the year, and new hiring could pick up
in 2002, a report says. Retirements are
likely to create 61.1 million jo b vacan­
cies in the next 30 years.
Rodney King Arrest, Drug Charges
CLAREMONT, Calif.— Rodney King,
whose beating by police officers led to
the 1992 Los Angeles riots, faces mis­
demeanor drug charges in his latest
run-in with the law. King was arrested
for suspicion o f being under the influ­
ence of the drug PCP.
I
A new brochure entitled “Understand­
ing Police Procedures : If You Are Stopped
By Police” was presented to a B lue Ribbon
Panel on Racial Profiling Thursday by
Portland Police Chief Kroeker at Bethel
AME Church.
The panel, convened by Kroeker last
year, called on police to “improve police
communication with community members
at the time of the stop or arrest.”
The brochure, created in both English
and Spanish, covers situations where
people are stopped while driving or are
stopped while on the street.
It includes information on driver re­
sponsibilities, curfew times and how to
make a complaint.
It also includes language from the law
enforcement non-discrimination resolution
against racial profiling.
“This brochure, and the dialogue we
will have with the community are impor­
tant to the bureau and to the communities
we serve,” said Kroeker.
Kroeker also released a summary of the
first six months of a police survey on race.
The figures show that Portland po­
lice are more than tw ice as likely to pull
P o r t la n d P o lic e B u r e a u
Understanding
Police
Procedures
SGB
If You A re
Stopped by
Pblice
Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker meets with members o f the Blue Ribbon Panel on Racial Profiling to discuss a new
brochure (right) that explains police procedures and the police bureau's policies against discrimination, real or
perceived.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
over black m otorists com pared to w hite
people.
The difference is more pronounced in
the downtown area where blacks were five
times more likely than whites to be pulled
over.
The study also showed that once a
motorist was pulled over, the rate of issu­
ing tickets or citations was about the same
for whites and blacks.
Open Schools Bring Traffic Concerns
W ith the fall opening o f schools this
week, transportation officials are remind­
ing m otorists to be alert for children
w alking and riding bikes to and from
schools and bus stops.
D rivers can expect to see children in
places where they did not see them
during the summer.
“As an adult, you have the responsi­
bility to be alert and avoid injuring chil­
dren,” said Rick W aring o f the O DOT
T ransportation Safety Division. “Im ag­
ine seeing a child in the street uncon­
scious and bleeding in front o f your car.
You d o n ’t w ant that to happen.”
The best way to avoid such a tragedy
is sim ple: slow dow n and be alert. Obey
the posted speed in school zones w hen­
ever children m ight be present.
E xtracurricular activities mean that
children will be traveling in school zones
from early m orning to w ell into the
evening hours.
“T his is not about avoiding a ticket.
This is about avoiding a tragedy. As
drivers we need to rem em ber that we are
the adults driving the 3,000-pound steel
m achines. We are responsible,” W aring
said. “The vulnerable ones are the ch il­
dren w ho are not protected by a vehicle
and w ho often cannot understand a
com plex traffic situation.”
W aring added that m otorists should
expect children to occasionally w alk or
Jean Santos of Laidlaw transportation gets behind the wheel o f a school bus
to help remind people about traffic safety with the fall opening o f schools.
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
pedal into unsafe areas. “C hildren are
not little adults. They are still develop­
ing their sensory and cognitive skills so
adults need to be especially cautious
when driving in areas frequented by
kids,” he added.
Fareless Square Expands to Lloyd Center
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserv er
Tri-Met began its new extended Fareless
Square to the eastside blocks around the
Rose Quarter and Lloyd Center Saturday.
Community and business leaders re­
quested the free bus and light rail service
as a tool to lure conventioneers and trav­
elers downtown and to link both the down­
town and Lloyd business districts.
Tri-M et officials have historically re­
sisted efforts to expand Fareless Square.
There was a long debate over how much
the change would cost the agency in lost
revenue. Tri-Met now estimates it will be
about $900,000 a year.
Ultimately Tri-Met agreed to absorb a
third o f the cost; the rest will come from
parking meter revenues, part of the hotel-
motel and car rental surtax that’s financing
the Oregon Convention Center expansion.
kW
and a Business Improvement District as­
sessment on property owners in the Lloyd
Center area.
“I think it’s great. It’s something the
district has been seeking since 1991,” said
Rick Williams, director o f the Lloyd Dis­
trict Transportation Management Asso­
ciation, a non-profit agency that promotes
non-auto transit use in the area.
An ongoing concern is that people will
drive to the area and park there all day in
order to take advantage of the new free
service. Parking meters were installed in
the Lloyd District in
1997 largely to prevent their being used
as free long-term parking lots.
City officials hope that riders w on’t
park north of Broadway to use Fareless
Square, but they will monitor conditions to
be sure. The adjacent Sullivan's Gulch
neighborhood has considered adopting a
permit parking system such as those in
effect in Goose Hollow and Northwest, but
neighborhood leaders feel they must first
see what the effect will be.
The managers o f the Lloyd Center Mal 1
and Lloyd Cinemas fear that their free
parking lots will be exploited. Some specu­
late that people will park at the area’s long­
term meters, which at 35 cents per hour are
a bargain compared to downtown meter
and garage rates.
The new fareless zone includes four
Max light rail eastside stations: Rose
Q uarter, Oregon Convention C enter,
Seventh A venue, and Lloyd C enter-
Holladay Park.
The free fare also covers buses 8,10,70
and 95X within the area bounded by the
Willamette River, the Banfield Freeway,
Northeast 13th Avenue, and North and
Northeast Multnomah Street.
Kroeker cautioned that these reports
do not include data from the traffic motor­
cycle officers and data collection from
officers without mobile computers started
July 1.
Dignity
Village
Rejects
Northeast Site
(AP) — Homeless people living in a
tent city under the Fremont bridge down­
town have broken an agreement to move
from their campsite to an old composting
site in northeast Portland near the Port­
land airport.
W ith the th reat o f po lice sw eeps
and a public backlash loom ing, re si­
dents said they w o u ld n 't m ove to
the city -o w n ed site b ecause o f a
barbed w ire fence and its d ista n c e
from a grocery sto re and o th e r s e r ­
vices.
Ibrahim M ubarak, a re sid e n t and
spokesm an for the cam p o f about 75
h o m e le ss p e o p le , sa id v illa g e rs
voted M onday to rem ain at the c u r ­
rent lo catio n and hoped to stay fo r
a n o th e r 60 days o r “ fin d a m ore
re a so n a b le site for th at p e rio d .”
Dignity Village was created last year
by homeless people who dislike the
city’s shelter system. Many complain
that the shelters are overcrowded or
dirty, have antiquated rules, split up
families and don't allow pets.
City leaders have tried to help, but
finding a place for the village has been
frustrating. The campers have called a
stretch of grass under the Frem ont
Bridge home for the past few months.
But the state Department of Transpor­
tation owns that land and ordered the
village off by Sept. 1.
T he c ity o ffe re d a te m p o ra ry so ­
lution: an old co m p o stin g site n e a r
the a irp o rt, ro u g h ly six m iles from
dow ntow n. D ignity V illa g e r e s i­
d en ts arg u ed fo r m ore th an tw o
hours last W ednesday ab o u t th a t
pro p o sal before v o tin g to a c c e p t a
m ove to the leaf-collection yard near
the airport, called S underland Y ard.
Marshall Runkel, a spokesman for
City Commissioner Erik Sten, called
Monday’s decision to stay “disappoint­
ing."
Mubarak and Runkel said separately
they hoped talks could continue on
where the camp can move to set up an
experimental, resident-run tent city over
the next year.