March Calls For School Justice
Residents demand higher achievement at 14 local schools
See story, Metro inside
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Volume XXXII
Number 4
" T h o P itiz C\f D n c o e 11
The City Of Roses'
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
January 23,2002
50e
New Generations Living King’s Message
REVIEW
Kmart Files Chapter 11
D E T R O IT — K m art, know n for its
B lueL ight Special and discount prices,
filed for bankruptcy protection, be
com ing the largest retailer to seek shel
ter from creditors u nder C hapter 11.
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Thousands Honor King's Legacy
A T L A N T A — T housands gathered
M onday across the U SA to honor the
Rev. M artin L uther K ing Jr. and his
m essage o f unity. In A tlanta, a crow d
o f 2,000 packed the Ebenezer Baptist
C hurch, w here the civil rights leader
once preached. King w ould have turned
73 last T uesday.
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$2.6B Pledged to Afghanistan
H f
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TO K Y O — The world has so far pledged
m ore than $2.6 billion to rebuild A f
ghanistan — w ell short o f the $15 bil
lion the U nited N ations says is needed
to reconstruct a country ravaged by 23
years o f civil w ar, Soviet occupation
a n d T aliban repression.
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U.S. Forces Headed to Philippines
W A S H IN G T O N — T he Pentagon has
extended the w ar on terrorism to the
Philippines, sending “several hundred-
p lus” troops to support the efforts o f
local forces fighting an extrem ist group
w ith links to al-Q aeda.
Albina Head Start
kids from north and
northeast Portland
celebrate Dr. Martin
Luther King’s Jan. 15
birthday by marching
along side the city
street named in his
honor. The children,
ages 3 to 5, have
been learning about
the civil rights leader
in recent days. Next
month, they will learn
more about American
life during Black
History Month.
photo by M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Bail Set at $2.5 Million for
Oregon Fugitive
N EW PORT, O re.— Bail w as set at $2.5
m illion for C hristian M ichael Longo,
27, w ho is accused o f killing his family.
H e w as scheduled to be arraigned to
day on charges o f aggravated m urder
in the deaths o f his w ife, 34-year-old
M aryJane, and children Zachary, 4,
Sadie A nn, 3, and M adison, 2.
Ford Posts $5B Loss
D E A R B O R N , M ich. — Ford M otor
reported a net loss o f $5.07 billion for
the fourth quarter o f 2001, as it braced
for a restructuring including tens o f
thousands o f jo b cuts and the closing
o f at least five N orth A m erican plants
in a bid to return to profitability.
Afghan Loader Urges Women to
Shed Burqas
K A BU L, A fghanistan— In a dram atic
re v e rsa l
of
T a lib a n
p o lic y ,
A fg h a n ista n ’s new g o v ern m e n t is
strongly encouraging fem ale w orkers
at national m inistries not to w ear the
head-to-toe covering know n as the
burqa on the jo b .
3 Killed in Low School Shootings
G RU N D Y , V a.— A law school student
upset about his grades w ent on a shoot
ing spree, killing three people and criti
cally w ounding three others before he
w as w restled to the ground by stu
dents, officials said. T he victim s were
the dean, a professor and a student.
Al-Qaeda Snitch Has Officials
'Jumping with J o /
Local Torch Bearer Embodies Olympic Spirit
Honor goes to parks center
worker dedicated to youth
O ne o f Portland Parks and R ecreation’s long tim e em ployees will carry the
O lym pic torch as it m akes its jo urney to the W inter G am es in Salt Lake City.
Lee Jenkins, U niversity Park C om m unity C enter D irector in north P ortland’s
P ortsm outh neighborhood, w ill carry the torch W ednesday, Jan. 23 in Longview,
W ash.
He w as hand picked for this honor due to his life long com m itm ent to the Portland
com m unity and youth.
“H e is the best o f the best. L ee’s dedication to the betterm ent o f youth is an
inspiration to all w ho m eet him ,” said C harles Jordan, the city ’s parks director.
T orchbearers w ere nom inated with a 50-100 w ord essay by friends and co l
leagues explaining how they provided inspiration to others and em bodied the
O lym pic spirit.
C hip A very, his form er boxing student, nom inated Jenkins.
“M r. Jenkins has touched and forever altered the lives o f the disenfranchised
youth in the low er incom e neighborhoods o f north and northeast Portland through
his relentless and tireless work with the University Park C om m unity Center,” Avery
said.
Jenkins graduated from Jefferson High School and Portland State University.
He has w orked for the parks departm ent for 28 years.
“I feel blessed and honored to be able to share this prestigious event with the
likes o f M uham m ad Ali and Rudy G iuliani. It is som ething that happens only oilce
in a lifetim e and I never w ould have dream ed that it w ould happen to me,” Jenkins
said.
KANDAHAR, A fghanistan— U.S. in
telligence officials are elated over an al-
Q aeda m em ber w ho claim s to have
crucial info rm atio n on O sam a bin
L ad e n 's location. D istrustful o f the
local w arlords, the m an directly ap
proached U .S. personnel, the London
Independent says.
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Lee Jenkins on a practice run before his official date as an Olympic torchbearer.
Southeast Portland Relic Destroyed by Fire
(A P )-O ffic ia ls say it may take several
days to determ ine the cause o f a fire that
ripped through an abandoned produce
w arehouse and tw o form er restaurants in
southeast Portland on Sunday afternoon.
The fire cracked w indow s in nearby
buildings and sent plum es o f sm oke into
the sky.
N o one w as injured in the four-alarm
fire, Portland Fire Bureau spokesman Neil
H eesacker said, but heat from the flam es
destroyed som e cars and set telephone
poles on fire.
The produce w arehouse w as a “total
loss," H eesacker said.
The com plex o f buildings included the
abandoned warehrtuse and the one-tim e
landm ark Italian restaurants M onte C arld
and Lido.
City fire and police officials have re
sponded to recent complaints about tran
sients living in the building, said Greg Keller,
a deputy fire chief. Squatters were evicted
from the warehouse in October, he said, but
it was not clear if any were in the area again
when the fire broke out. At one point, the
fire threatened the Multnomah County elec
tions division building with blowing em
bers that ignited small spot fires before
firefighters extinguished them.
T hree cars parked on the street were
dam aged by the intense heat.
Jam es C ereghino, a neurologist at O r
egon H ealth & Sciences U niversity, said
his grandfather and his grandfather's
brother helped build the com plex about
1910, after im m igrating from Italy in the
1890s.
“It’s a sad day. It’s been there for
ever,” C ereghino said.
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Workers cleanup debris
Monday after a
devastating fire sent
flames through the
vacant Monte Carlo and
Lido restaurants on
southeast Belmont. The
Italian restaurants,
along with a vacant
produce distribution
center, were part o f
Portland immigrant
history, built by an
association o f local
growers in 1910.
PHOTO BY
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver