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Volume XXXI
Number 42
"T hp The
f i t v City
O f Of
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www.portlandobserver.com
Roses"
Wednesday
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 197«
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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
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