Schools Look to Overhaul Desegregation
A two-decades old policy fails to close achievement gap
See story, Metro Page 1
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"TheCity Of Roses"
Volume XXXI
Number 47
Wednesday
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
December 12,2001
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Plans Call for Demolishing Former Adams High
First 9-11 Indictment Issued
W A S H IN G T O N — A federal grand
ju ry indicted a F rench M oroccan w ho
has been detained in the terrorism in
vestigation since raising suspicions
by seeking flight lessons in M innesota
a m onth before the Sept. 11 hijackings,
officials said.
Study Links Lou Gehrig's Disease
to Gulf W ar Service
W A S H IN G T O N — A m ericans w ho
served in the G u lf W ar w ere nearly
tw ice as likely to develop Lou G ehrig’s
disease as other m ilitary personnel, the
governm ent reported. It w as the first
tim e officials acknow ledged a scientific
link betw een G ulf service and a specific
disease.
T he P ortland School D istrict
announced plans M onday to tear
dow n the form er A dam s High
School at 5700 N .E. 39th, replac
ing it w ith a new m iddle school.
T he vacant building m ost re
cently served as W hitaker Middle
School, but closed this sum m er
because o f m old, radon an d other
environm ental hazards.
T he estim ated cost for a new
school is $10 m illion, com pared
to an estim ated $8 m illion to re
pair the school.
A d am s o p en e d in th e fall o f
1969 an d w o u ld b e P o rtla n d ’s
n ew e st h ig h sc h o o l if it w ere
still o p e ra tio n a l. T h e d istric t
g av e no d ate fo r d em o litio n and
n o d e ta ils on fin a n c in g a state-
o f-a rt m id d le sch o o l fac ility .
Interim School D istrict Super
intendent Jim Scherzinger is urg
ing a m ix-used developm ent that
w ould return part o f the cam pus
to housing and generate revenue
fo r the public school system .
The form er John Adams High School in northeast Portland sits in a state o f disrepair. School contractors say there's no way to
cost-effectively save any part o f the building which first opened to students in the fall o f 1969.
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserv er
New Social Security Plan Released
W A S H IN G T O N — A m ericans w ould
retire w ith few er S ocial Security ben
efits but w ith personal investm ent ac
counts under three privatization plans
being considered by a W hite H ouse
panel. T he draft does not recom m end a
s o lu tio n , b u t s a y s p o lic y -m a k e rs
should discuss the issues fo r at least a
year before taking action.
Crews Tear
Down Walnut
Park Theater
Annan, U.N. Accept 2001
Nobel Peace Prize
O SLO , N orw ay— Saying “hum anity is
indivisible," U .N . S ecretary-G eneral
Kofi A nnan accepted th e centennial
N obel P eace Prize. A nnan has given
“th e U.N. an external prestige and an
internal m orale,” N obel C om m ittee
chairm an G unnar B erge said.
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Michael Martin, the
owner o f Northwest
General, oversees the
demolition o f the former
Walnut Park Theater, a
northeast Portland
landmark being razed to
clear the way new
development along
Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard on the block
north o f Alberta Street.
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U.S., Russia Fail to Agree on
Nukes, Missile Defense
M O SC O W — Sec. o f State Colin Powell
failed to persuade R ussian P resident
V ladim ir P utin to ease objections to
U .S. plans for m issile defense. Pow ell
w as unable to resolve the long-sim m er
ing m issile defense issue o r get a firm
com m itm ent from R ussia on reducing
its stockpiles.
photo by M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Ebola Outbreak Grows
G E N EV A — E leven people, alm ost all
from an extended fam ily, have died in
the latest outbreak o f E bola as experts
race to contain the highly contagious
disease in the W est A frican nation o f
Gabon.
Concordia Welcomes New Seasons Market
Long journey from an abandoned block to a vibrant community asset ends
Taliban Abandons Kandahar;
Omar Still Missing
KABUL, A fghanistan— Taliban forces
a b a n d o n e d th e ir la s t b a s tio n o f
K andahar, w ith w itnesses saying jo y
ous residents poured into the streets
and tore dow n the T aliban w hite flag.
A fg h a n is ta n 's in te rim le a d e r sa id
Taliban leader Mullah M oham m ed Omar
w as m issing.
Unomploynwnt Jumps
W A S H IN G T O N — T he n atio n 's un
em ploym ent rate took another big leap
upw ard in N ovem ber to 5.7% , the high
est level in six years, as 331,000 m ore
A m ericans lost their jo b s, the govern
m ent reported Friday.
The first customers wind through the check stand a t New
Seasons Market in the Concordia neighborhood.
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
“L ook w hat w e did!" m anager Brian
R ohter exclaim ed, pointing around him in
the new C oncordia N ew Seasons M arket.
T he 29,000 square foot grocery at 5320
N .E. 33rd. ju st o ff K illingsw orth held its
grand opening last w eek. Staff, neighbors
and dignitaries symbolically “broke bread"
- sharing a lo af o f baquette bread several
feet long - and receiving com m em orative
salt shakers.
T he new store w ill feature natural and
organically grow n foods, including free
range chicken, m uch o f it grow n and pro
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Carley Curtis (left), store manager for New Seasons Market
on Northeast 33rd and Brian Rohter, store president.
duced by local concerns, store represen
tatives say. H ow ever, they add, it w ill also
carry national brands w hen they are sig
nificantly cheaper. Baked goods, soups
and deli item s are produced on site daily,
w ith a seating area for on-prem ises co n
sum ption.
N oting the long struggle to get the
store built, Rohter said, “Eighteen months
ago. if you came to this comer, you'dhave seen
an abandoned store with a fence around it, and
a community crying for a grocery.” The new
store represents “what happens when you
have a committed neighborhood, private en-
teqxiseandcity government working together’"
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For C oncordia, another feature o f the
store is that o f its 114 w orkers, 65 percent
are neighborhood residents. M any are
also racial m inorities, including store ser
vice m anager Stanley Jackson.
U rban L eague o f Portland, Executive
D irector, M argaret C arter said N ew S ea
sons cam e to the organization to find the
right mix o f w orkers and “lived up to its part
o f the bargain."
T he store also contributed the profits
o f a barbecue outside the store last w eek
end to the league.
T he site had been vacant since the
continued V on page A3
Portland Remembers
Sept. 11 Victims
(A P ) — Standing in the pre-daw n
dark, a lone bagpiper played “A m azing
G raze" in dow ntow n Portland on T u es
day, encircled by firefighters, police
officers and others — m any w ith tears
in their eyes.
A m ong them was M aria B lackw ell,
w ho lost friends at the W orld T rade
C enter in N ew Y ork C ity w hen it w as
dem olished by hijacked airliners on
Sept. 11.
“I talked w ith those people every
day, and after a w hile you get to know
their v oices,” said B lackw ell, w ho b e
cam e long-distance friends w ith em
ployees o f the M organ Stanley office in
the W orld T rade C en ter w hile she
w orked for a satellite branch in P o rt
land.
“T hey w ere hum an like you and me.
They had children and fam ilies,” she
said.
A bout 25 people jo in e d d o zen s o f
firefighters and police officers for the
early m orning m em orial service in
P o rtlan d 's Pioneer C ou rth o u se S quare
— responding to a request by P re si
dent Bush that cities across the c o u n
try take part in a three-m onth o b se r
vance o f the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I got up at 4 a.m. to be d ow n here
because I d o n ’t ever w ant to forget that
m om ent," said the 48-year-old
continued
on page A3