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"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.
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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.