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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2002)
Committed to Cultural Diversity m w w. port landobserver.com January 23, 2002 “ßiidg-ing, (Poxtfandi Gamtnunitiei” Z<T n n t t n u n ity I c tt ò a r King March Calls For School Justice Celebrating Chinese/ Vietnamese New Year A C hinese/V ietnam ese N ew YearCel- ebration will be held on T uesday, Jan. 29, from 3 - 5 p.m. at C olum bia R iver M ental H ealth Services, 6929 NE. Fourth Plain Blvd. clinic. A dm ission is free and open to the public. E ntertain m ent w ill include a “L ion D ance,” a costum e fashion show , c h ild re n ’s choir, as w ell as sam plings o f ethnic foods w ill add to the festivities. Call Kim Larson at 993-3139. An estimated 400 people, led by Crisis Education Team activists Tony Hobson (front, from left) and Ron Herndon, take time on the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to march for better public schools. The Crisis Team accuses the Portland School Board and school administration for failing 14 low-achieving schools in north and northeast Portland. St. Johns Community Pride Dinner In recognition o f St. Jo h n ’s long his tory o f com m unity pride, the neigh borhood will be having a dinner party for all toen jo y on W ednesday,F eb. 13 at 6 p.m. at Jam es John School. R eser vations can be m ade by calling Bill Smith at 283-9652. Civil War History Buffs Unite Civil W ar history buffs unite: the Friends o f History are launching a new Ci vil W ar round table program open to anyone in the Portland m etropolitan area w ith an interest in C ivil W ar. The first organizational meeting will be held at Portland State U niversity on Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Sm ith M em orial C enter room 3 2 8 ,1 8 2 5 SW. Broadw ay. Call 774-691 l o r 725-3994. j Water Conservation Workshop Learn how to take control o f your w ater and sew er bills. W orkshop pro vides inform ation on how to detect and repair leaks, w ater conservation ideas in and around your hom e, plus I details on P ortlan d ’s incredible w ater I system. Receive an instructional w o rk - 1 book and a free kit o f m aterials w orth I $25. T he w orkshop will be held at the I ST. Johns Com m unity Center, 8427 N. I C entral St. on T hursday, Jan. 24, from I 6 :3 0 p .m .-8 p .m .C all2 8 4 -6 8 2 7 . I Japanese New Year Celebration I A new year, old traditions, and the I chance to celebrate the diversity o f I the city - th a t’s w hat P ortland-area I Japanese A m ericans are offering O r - 1 egonians on Sunday, Jan. 27, with I “M ochitsuki 2002.” It’s a fun w ay for I hundreds o f local residents and their I fam lies to learn m ore about Japanese I culture. T he event will take place at I Portland S tate U n iv ersity ’s S m ith I M em orial C enter B allroom , Rm . 3 5 5 , 1 from l:3 0 -4 p .m .C all7 2 5 -3 3 0 7 . The Future of Energy in the Northwest T he C ity C lub invites all to attend a I lecture on “T he Future o f Energy in I the P acific N o rth w e st” by R alph I C avanaugh, senior defense attorney, I N ational Resources D efense Council. I H e will be speaking on Friday, Jan. 2 5 , 1 1 1:30p.m . at the M ultnom ah A thletic I Club. A luncheon is available. Call I 2 2 8 -7 2 3 1 or go o n lin e to I pdxcityclub.org/forum s. Learn How to Publicize Joanne M cC all will be a guest speaker I on "publicity as very spiritual work." I G enerating publicity for your b u s i- 1 ness requires a good am ount o f s p ir i- 1 tual aw areness. H ear som e “h o w to ’s” I so that you will be able to approach I m edia in ways that will have them more I open to your ideas. T his is a free, I brow n bag lunch event on T hursday, I Jan. 24, from 11 :3 0 a .m .- 1 p.m. at the I G ood Sam Hospital - W ilcox B a s e - 1 ment. Conf. Rm. B. Call 977-6764, photo by ton /T he server Testimony Favors School Board Members by Zone Speakers claim current system discriminates against low and moderate-income people by J amie P artridge F or the P ortland O bserver S queezed into a classroom at B eau m ont M iddle School, a crow d o f par ents, teachers and school activists told a Portland School Board hearing that they deserve a chance to be elected and represented on the board. T he full board will decide the issue at their regular m eeting on Feb. 11. W earing stickers and carrying signs dem anding “Equal R ights for L ow -In com e C andidates” and “People Pow er not M oney P ow er”, speakers decried recent school board races where sev eral w inning candidates spent over $20,000 and som e as high as $50,000. As a result, m any said, it is lawyers, professionals, m anagers and the inde pendently w ealthy, prim arily from up per incom e neighborhoods, w ho m ake up the volunteer board instead o f regu lar w orking people, w ho make up a m ajority o f the voting public. Speakers from outer southeast and inner northeast neighborhoods claim ed that the current system discrim inates against low and m oderate-incom e citi zens. Patti H ayes, Rainbow Coalition ac tivist and a single, working mother from northeast’s K ing neighborhood, car ried a sign that read “P oor P eo p le’s C am paign for Zone V ote” . H ayes asked the board to change the election rules so that “som eone like me, from my neighborhood will be up there, know ing w hat I’m going through and reporting back to m e.” M acceo Pettis o f the C oalition o f Black M en testified that last year’s u c e 1 Patti Hayes o f northeast Portland’s King neighborhood testifies in favor o f a plan to elect school board members by zones. betw een Carrie A dam s, w ho lost, and Julia Brim -Edw ards, who won, is “classic exam ple o f the inequities o f the current electoral system .” Pettis noted that Adam s, a low incom e single m other o f three, raised just $ 12,000 for her race, w hile Brim -Edw ards, a paid political consultant w hose children a t tend an elite “im m ersion” program on the w est side, raised $55,000. The one voice opposing zone voting, Stephen Kafoury, a lobbyist, former school Pros Mentor Young Local Playrights Get Help for Kidney Disease T he N ational K idney Foundation o f I O regon and W ashington presents a I free e d u c a tio n a l p ro g ra m c a lle d I “People Like Us, Live!” - f o r in d iv id u - 1 als with kidney disease and their f a m i- 1 lies. The tw o-day program will be held I on Saturday, Jan. 26 and Sunday, Jan. I 27, from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the N K F I offices, 1006 SE. G rand Ave. C all 1 - 1 888-3-KIDNEY. M ark W ashing - P ortland O b Aasha Benton (from left), Maxine Simmonds and Shalini Dass, all o f north and northeast Portland, write and direct their own play. A group o f north and northeast Portland kids have paired with theatre professionals to w rite and direct per form ances o f their ow n original works, thanks to a com m unity group called H aven Project. U nder the them e “W hen Pigs Fly,” young A asha Benton has w ritten “Can C an C an You H ave F un,” a play about a fuzzy pig and a hoop earring; the earring has a dream to be worn by Tina T urner, and the pig w ants to catch a bus to a G oodw ill store to be adopted. How can they stay friends w hen they * w ant different things? Other works created by the kids involve creations such as Squirmy the W orm and Blanky the Beetle, and “Classic Rock" about aclassical piano and a hippie gerbil disagree ing on which kind o f music the piano should play: opera or rock and roll. The piano is afraid that rock and roll will pop his strings. The plays will be perform ed at the N ew m ark T heatre on Southw est Broad way and M ain on M onday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. This is a free event. For more inform a tion, call 503-872-9635 or go online to board member, former husband o f city com missioner G retchen Kafoury, and father of state representative Deborah Kafoury, testified that board members who are elected by the whole city look out for the needs o f all children. Differences Declared in Governor’s Race (AP) - Ted Kulongoski, seen by some as the top Democratic candidate for Oregon governor, said Thursday he would not rule out a tax increase to help Oregon out o f its economic slump. The former Oregon Su preme Court justice m ade the com m ent during a debate among the six m ajor guber natorial candidates— three Democrats and three R epub'icans. R epublican K evin Mannix surprised some in the audience by saying he would consider increasing taxes on cigarettes, beer and wine to avoid deep cuts in crucial programs.
