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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2001)
3Snrt lattò Al Volume XXXI Number 42 "T hp The f i t v City O f Of R www.portlandobserver.com Roses" Wednesday Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 197« 50* October 17, 2001 Job Losses Slam Oregon Into a Recession Economic effects from the terrorist attacks still wait to be measured Northern Alliances Says Troops Near Mazar-e-Sharif D U SH A N B E .T ajikistan— The North ern A lliance reported that its troops are approaching M azar-e-Sharif in north ern A fghanistan, w ith som e units only four m iles from the key city. M azar-e- S h arif has been held by the T aliban since 1998. Jordan Foils Terrorist Attempts A M M A N , Jordan — Jordanian and L ebanese security officials helped d e rail terrorist plots against U .S., British, Jordanian and other em bassies in L eba non. O fficials declined to say w ho was behind the attem pts, but suggested it w as a group linked to O sam a bin Laden. Blair, Arafat Discuss Mideast Peace Process L O N D O N — Palestinian leader Y asser Arafat said that the present turm oil over terrorism and m ilitary action against A fghanistan w as no reason to delay a resum ption o f peace talks w ith Israel. British Prim e M inisterT ony Blair said a Palestinian state is necessary for long- lasting peace. DMVs Get Stricter on Licenses A m id concerns that it's too easy to get legal identification, many states are tight ening procedures over driver’s licenses and IDs. O fficials say it is unlikely the Sept. 11 attac k s w ould have been stopped had hijackers been denied IDs, but as m any as five o f them did get such cards under false pretenses. Deal Reached by Minn. Unions on Ending Strike ST. PA U L, M inn. — Leaders from the tw o largest state em ployees unions agreed to accept contract deals reached w ith the state, ending a tw o-w eek w alk out by 23,000 governm ent workers. The unions had struck over w age increases and changes to health benefits. The difficulty in finding and maintaining employment was evident last week as a line of prospective workers attends a job opportunity fair, sponsored by the Oregon Employment Division on North Webster Street. The office has scheduled another job fair on Nov. 1. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Walnut Park Theater To Be Demolished (AP) - The jo b less rate nudged upw ard again last month, officially pushing O r egon into a recession. The unem ploym ent rate rose to 6.4 p er cent in Septem ber, its highest level in seven years, David Cooke, the state’s labor econom ist, said Friday. The jobless figure was a full percentage point above the U.S. rate, making O regon’s unem ploym ent rate one o f the highest in the nation. O fficials noted the figures w ere com piled before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New Y ork and W ashington, D.C. Econom ic effects resulting from the attacks will not be reflected until O ctober figures are collected. M anufacturing in O regon was hit hard by layoffs in Septem ber, particularly high tech, w hich saw substantial losses com pared w ith the prior month. C onstruction continued to falter, los ing 1,400jobs at the end o f sum m er, when a loss o f 300jo b s w ould be norm al for the tim e o f year, C ooke said. “ In the last few m onths, several o f our state econom ists and I have been debat ing w hether O reg o n 's current econom ic dow nturn should be characterized as a recession,” said G raham Slater, research director for the O regon Em ploym ent D e partment. But Slater said the Septem ber jobless figures and continued layoffs - including additional jo b cuts announced Friday at Freightliner in Portland - indicated “that O regon is indeed in the m idst o f an eco nomic recession.” Freightliner Keeps Portland Headquarters Demolition workers plan to save the old Walnut Park Theater sign so that it can be incorporated into a new development in the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard neighborhood. Indian Army Shells Pakistan JA M M U , India — India's army shelled Pakistani military' posts across the dis puted cease-/ire line in Kashmii aftera 10- month border calm, destroying nearly a dozen posts. It com es a day before Sec. o f State Colin Powell arrives in New Delhi to ease tensions between the rivals. photo by M ark W ashing - TO n /T hf . P ortland O b server Phone Threat Prompts U.S.-Canada Border Closing HIGHGATE, V t.— A bomb threat made to a business near the U .S.-C anada b o r d e r an d a s u s p ic io u s v e h ic le prom pted federal officials to close two m ajor border crossings. O fficials were investigating the threat and could pro vide few details. Report: Gotti Hospitalized for Blood Clot SPRINGFIELD, Mo. —H rm erN ew Yotk mob boss John Gotti was in stable condi tion at a hospital undergoing treatment for a blood clot, a family friend said. by A rlene G hoi . ston T he P ortland O bserve « The northeast Portland cultural land m ark, the W alnut Park T heater, is slated to be tom down. The Portland D evelopm ent C om m is sion is currently soliciting bids for the demolition o f the approxim ately 70 -year- old structure, w hich has been vacant for m ore than six years. A sbestos rem oval will begin this week. D em olition is ex pected to begin the second w eek o f N o vem ber, taking about tw o w eeks, accord ing to project coordinator Lois Cortell. The PDC purchased the theater last January. They worked with the building’s former ow ner on feasibility studies to pre serve the building, but a structural crack continued on page AS Freightliner has decided to close its parts manufacturing plant on Swan Island, but keep its corporate headquarters in Portland. photo in M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver ( A P I— Freightliner, the largest m anu fac tu re r o f heavy co m m ercial tru ck s in N orth A m erica, has an n o u n ced a re stru ctu rin g p lan th at w ill clo se m ost o f its C anadian op eratio n and a parts m anu fac tu rin g p la n t in P o rtland. T he restru ctu rin g plan w ill also m ean the lo ss o f 1.100 w h ite -c o lla r jo b s in P o rtlan d , alo n g w ith a c o m p an y w id e 5 p ercen t pay cut. B ut it reta in s P o rtlan d as the c o rp o ra te h ea d q u arte rs fo r the truck m aker. continued on page AS Mailrooms Tighten Security After Anthrax Reports (AP) — W ith anthrax-contam inated letters arriving in offices from N evada to the nation’s capital, m ailroom s and d eliv ery services across the country arc p ut ting new handling procedures in place. M ailroom em ployees are being warned tocheck packages for m isspellings in co m mon nam es and words, to look for po w dery substances and excessive or in ad equate postage, and to contact authorities about any suspicious mail. The Postal Service announced the cre ation o f a task force to exam ine mai 1 secu rity and hazardous-m aterial safeguards. T he C enters for D isease C ontrol and P re vention issued guidelines for handling letters and packages. And private delivery com panies are scrutinizing their ow n p ro cedures. At NBC, where one employee contracted the skin form o f anthrax and another has sh o w n sy m p to m s, the n e tw o rk has stopped accepting mail from the Postal Service. "O urentire mail system is being looked at by professionals," spokeswoman Kassie Canter said. “O ur interim procedure for the 4 near-term future is that w e 're accepting U PS an d F ed E x , and th e y 'r e b ein g screened. E m ployees have the option not to accept anything." In California. Gov. G ray D avis ordered state em ployees to stop handling letters and packages until they com plete training continued on page AS A