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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2001)
Get Ready to Turn Clocks Back Clocks will fall back one hour on Sunday, Oct. 28, to begin Standard Time. "The City Of Roses" Volume XXXI Number 43 www.portlandobserver.com ~ Wednesday Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 October 24, 2001 Whitaker Middle School May Close Permanently Coast Guard Base Sprayed N A T C H E Z , M iss. — A crop duster sprayed a w hite substance on the U.S. C oast G uard post ju st north o f the N atchez-A dam s C ounty Port in the low er M ississippi River, a Coast G uard spokesm an said. Initial tests for chem i cal or biological agents w ere negative. Portland Public School Interim S u perintendent Jim S cherzinger and the Portland School Board have received a report that may lead to the perm anent closing o f W hitaker M iddle School in northeast Portland. T he b u ild in g is n ot in use and W hitaker students are in tem porary schools this year after m old w as found in the building over the sum m er. R e pairs to the building could not be co m pleted in tim e for the start o f school. Follow ing the discovery o f m old, the district hired Shiels O bletz Johnsen to develop cost estim ates for fixing the building, options for the building and property including restoring it as a school, and recom m endations. T he rep o rt’s conclusions were: Capitol Reopens W ASHINGTON — The Senate returned to w ork and the H ouse w as expected to follow soon afterw ard, despite the fact congressional office buildings are still closed fo r anthrax testing. Israel Moves Into West Bank JE R U S A L E M — Prim e M inister Ariel Sharon said that Israel w ould end its offensive against the Palestinian A u thority w hen it w as satisfied that Y asser A rafat w as cracking dow n on terrorism . F our Palestinians w ere killed as Israeli tanks m oved into the W est Bank. U.S. Rewards Pakistan ISLA M A B A D , P akistan— The United S tate s p ro m ise d to h elp P ak istan , crippled by a $37 billion debt, get inter national m oney as a rew ard for its co o p eration in the U.S. w ar on terrorism . 50* Pumpkin Patch is Reason for Adventure Trie fun associated with the season for Halloween bring twins Laurel and Paige Tyson o f Portland to the Krueger Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island where they find two pumpkins to their liking. ‘ photo BY M ark W ashington /T h e P orti . and O bserver USA in Concert W A SH IN G TO N — All-«tar charity con certs in N ew York, N ashville and W ash ington, D.C. raised m oney and spirits after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. T he three show s raised m ore than $20 m il lion for various charities. Power Panther Helps Kids Learn Nutrition APEC Leaders Unite, But Grievances Remain S H A N G H A I — L eaders o f 20 nations collectively condem ned terrorism dur ing w eekend m eetings o f the A sia-P a cific Econom ic C ooperation forum , but old grievances and new tensions p er colated beneath their unity. Ulster Unionists to Resign from Unity Government B E L FA ST , N orthern Ireland— N orth ern Ireland’s largest Protestant party, the U lster U nionists, announced it w as resigning from the province’s unity governm ent, a m ove designed to force B ritain to suspend indefinitely the troubled experim ent in Catholic-Protes tant cooperation. Humboldt Elementary kids from north and northeast Portland get a pep talk on healthy eating and exercise from the Power Panther, a spokescharacterfrom the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The visit last week was scheduled as part o f National School Lunch Week. Kenya Confirms Anthrax Case N A IR O B I. K enya— W hite pow der ina letter m ailed from A tlanta to a K enyan has tested positive for anthrax spores, the health m inister said, the first case o f a tainted letter outside the U nited States since the Sept. 11 attacks. photo BY M ark W ashington / T he P ortl and O bserver •T he building could cost betw een $6.9 m illion and $ 14.3 m illion to repair, with the likely cost nearerto $8.3 million. •T he building w as designed as a high school and d o e sn 't w ork w ell as a m iddle school. It is too big and the school lay-out is not w ell-suited to the activities o f m iddle school students. T his w ill continue to be a problem even after the building is repaired. •B ecause enrollm ent is dropping there is surplus space in the D istrict and the W hitaker building is not needed. O n the b asis o f th ese co n c lu sio n s, the rep o rt reco m m en d s the W h itak e r b u ild in g be d eclared “ su rp lu s" an d not reo p e n as a m iddle school. T h e rep o rt d etails a n u m b er o f sc en a rio s fo r th e su rp lu s b u ild in g an d p ro p erty , b u t reco m m en d s the D istric t in v estig a te the sc en a rio s fu rth e r b e fo re ch o o sin g one. T he report addresses only financial and facilities issues, not instructional or com m unity impacts. “T he estim ate from the report is higher than expected.” Scherzinger said. “W hile w e acknow ledge the co n clu sions o f the report, w e need to stay focused on w hat’s m ost im portant to us, w hich is educating students.” Scherzinger said the district w ill not m ake any recom m endations regarding the W hitaker building until there are other high quality educational o p tio n s for W hitaker students, a process that may take a few weeks. continued ° n P°ge B2 Post Office, FBI Offers $1M Reward W A SH IN G T O N — T he FBI and U.S. Postal Service offered an award up to $ 1 m illion for inform ation leading to the arrest o f those w ho sent anthrax through the mail. Investigators continued to link the various incidents through evidence. c o ■ © ■ E n 0 i o © r- O\ > J s «- ID 0Û O' • — 0s iZ - O c QJ W) 3 s Famed Lawyer Addresses Racism, Justice in Oregon O gletree is a well- In a m ajority-w hite state know n A frican-A m eri like O regon, does race af can defense lawyer and fect w ho goes to prison? a professor at Harvard W ho stays in prison? W ho Law School. the system helps or targets? He served as counsel N a tio n a lly know n for A nita Hill during the scholar and defense attor S e n a te c o n firm a tio n ney C harles J. O gletree Jr. hearings for Suprem e w ill visit Portland to talk C ourt Justice Clarence about those questions and T hom as He continues explore the them e o f race, torepresent high-profile class, and the crim inal ju s clients such as Hill and tice system . Charles J. Ogletree Jr. the Rev. A1 Sharpton, an As the 2001-2002 occu A frican-A m erican leader arrested for pro pant o f the W ayne M orse Chair o f Law and testing mil itary bombing i n V ieques. Puerto Politics at the University o f Oregon School of Law. Ogletree also will participate in sev Rico. A long with attorney Johnnie Cochran, eral law classes and public events in E u O gletree is a leading advocate in the m ove gene. i. ment to gain reparations for slavery. “W e are thrilled to host som eone o f Professor O gletree’s caliber in our exam i nation o f race and ju stice in A m erica," says M argaret H allock, director o f the W ayne M orse C enter for Law and Politics. O gletree will address a day long forum entitled "Racial Equity in the Criminal Jus tice System " on Friday, Oct. 26 in the Vanport Room at Sm ith Center at Portland State U niversity. The son of farm workers, Ogletree grew up in M erced, a small tow n in California’s Central Valley. He won a scholarship to Stanford U niversity and earned his law de gree from Harvard in 1978. He began his career in the District o f Colum bia Public D efender Service and quickly rose through its ranks, earning the nickname “Set ’em Free T ree" after winning a string o f acquittals. O gletree is a prolific co m m en tato r and w riter, especially about issues pertaining to racism in A m erica and constitutional guarantees under the law. He is co-author o f the aw ard-w inning book. “ Beyond the Rodney K ing Story: An Investigation o f Police C o n d u ct in M inority C om m unities." H is w ritings ap pear in many legal and p o p u lar p u b lica tions, and h e’s a frequent guest on n a tional television program s. Ogletree was in the news recently. during the United Nations conference on racism , as an advocate seeking reparations for African Americans descended from slaves. The Morse Center was established as a living memorial tothe late Sen. W ayne Morse, also a form er dean o f the U O law school.