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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2002)
America’s Black Patriots Paying tribute to the heroes who ensure freedom fo r all. See Black History Month coverage, pages A5-A8. 3fü rt kmh (Ohs e AI Volume XXXII Number 8 " T h The n r i t City v n f Of D n Roses cû c" 4 Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Northeast Neighbors Plant 400 Trees Welfare on Bush's Agenda WASHINGTON — President Bush says he wants to increase education and training for welfare recipients, boost employment for participants and encourage marriage for single welfare mothers. Meantime, lawmakers are pre paring to revisit a 1996 welfare law. W A SH IN G TO N — After a Columbia University study released said under age drinkers account for 25% Qf alco hol consumed in the U.S., a spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States called the report “flat- out wrong.” The survey also concluded nearly 1/3 of high school students binge drink once a month. Husband Walts to Defend Yates Georgia Crematory Operator May Get Ball November 2001 through January 2002 ranked as the U SA’s warmest such period since 1895, when national record-keeping began. Several cities had their hottest January days, includ ing Richm ond, Va., and Raleigh- Durham, N.C. Wisconsin had its warm est January on record. Matt Shanahan of 4514 N. E. Sixth Ave. gets a helping hand from his neighbor Robin Wisner (from left) and Jim Gersbach of Friends of Trees, during the organization's largest tree planting ever. Volunteers planted almost 400 trees Sunday in the King, Vernon, Eliot, Boise and Sabin neighborhoods of north and northeast Portland. Friends of Trees is dedicated to preserving urban trees in order to strengthen neighborhoods, improve the environment and enhance the quality of urban life. , photo by M ILW AUKEE— Hiring will improve slightly nationwide this spring, but not enough to mark a recovery from recessionary levels, a new forecast finds. A total o f 21 % of the firms inter viewed said they planned to add jobs in April through June. M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Smith Makes YO Center Return Visit Senator stakes his reputation on winning funds for youth employment center budget cuts at the time of his visit. (AP) - Sen. Gordon Smith vowed Friday that a youth training center on Martin Luther King Jr. The senator said that after talking with White Boulevard that President Bush visited last month House officialsm, he was sure the funding for the will get funding despite an administration proposal Portland center would be included in the budget. The center provides educational and job train to shift the funds to other programs. Spring Hiring Plans Rise 50* Assault Suspect Killed at Motel 6 by Jov R amos T he P ortland O bserver HOUSTON— The two-week-old trial o f a mother accused of drow ning her five children is infused with many raw emotions already. But perhaps the most gripping testimony is yet to come, when Andrea Yates’ husband, who has la mented his w ife’s deep mental illness, takes the stand in her defense. Winter One of Warmest Ever February 27, 2002 Family claims police shooting was racially motivated, unjustified Drinking Among Youth Stirs Discussion N O BLE, Ga. — The operatoi o f a G eorgia crem atory who accepted paym ent for crem ations, then left corpses to rot on the ground, may go free on $100,000 bail, a ju d g e ruled. O fficials have discovered 331 bod ies, but m ust still search m ore than h alf the crem atory’s grounds. Wednesday ing help for youths in designated low-income “The money will be there,” Smith told officials and clients at the Youth Opportunity Center. “I’m areas of Portland. It is a part o f a larger national staking my reputation on that.” program. Smith brought Bush to the center during the president’s Jan. 5 visit to Portland that was inspired by O regon’s highest-in-the-nation jobless rate. U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. Bush expressed support for the program to help inner-city The federal grant was supposed to last five years, until 2005. The center got $5 million in federal funds this year and was on track to get $3.75 million in each of the next two years. Bush Visits China youth. But that turned to embarrassment this month when the Peter Angstadt, president o f W orksystems Inc., which BEIJING— On the final leg of his Asian trip, President Bush thanked Chinese President Jiang Zemin for lending “strong support” to the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The two countries worked toward striking a deal on controlling the flow o f nuclear technology. administration proposed in its new budget to shift most of the operates the program, said he was confident of continued funding to other job training efforts. federal funding and that he hoped to find other sources of Smith said Bush was “the victim of some pretty poor staff work on this one” and said Bush had no idea of the planned money that would allow the center to operate after the five- year grant expires. Portland police shot and killed a man early Friday morning inside a room of a Motel 6 at 3104 S.E. Powell Blvd. Byron Clay Hammick Jr., 26, died of head and chest injuries in the 3:14 a.m. shooting. Police say they were dispatched to the motel after a 911 call from a motel security guard stating that Hammick was breaking out windows in room 222, had confronted the guard, and might have a handgun. Once they arrived at the motel, the officers were also told that Hammick was beating a 3-year-old boy. Police say the assault w as in progress when they looked into the suspect’s motel room. They claim H am m ick was ordered to stop, but when he did not, they fired their w eapons. But so far, police have not presented any evidence that Hammick was in deed armed with a gun. Some witnesses reported hearing the pofice commands to stop the as sault and that after repeated com mands, they heard gunshots. The child, a son o f a friend of Hammick’s, suffered bruises, police said. He was transported to Emanuel Legacy Hospital and is currently in protective custody. At the time of this incident, Hammick had a felony war rant for his arrest for distribution and or manufacture of a controlled sub stance near a school zone. Hours after the shooting. Hammick’s family angrily claimed that the shoot ing was racially motivated, unpro voked and unjustified. Those close to him described Hammick as being a laid back and calm person who has never been known to hurt children, including his own. This investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Kris Wagner at 503-823- 0899 or Detective Steve Ober at 503- 823-4033. Doctor Helps Area Athletes Get Back in Their Game Corporations Challenged for Reparations A powerhouse team of African-Ameri can legal and academic stars is getting ready to sue companies it says profited from slavery before 1865. Ultimately, it hopes to gain momentum for a national apology and a massive reparations pay out by Congress to African-Americans. I Volunteer narrows inner-city gap where sports physicians and trainers are few Joe Bozikovich, 16, sat hunched over in his chair next to his mother. He looked like an athlete forced to sit on the sidelines during a game, due to an elbow injury. Kimberly Chacaj, another 16-year-old, walked around the waiting area at Rebound, an orthopedics and snorts medicine clinic at the Rose Garden complex. She eded a sports physical. The two teens were waiting for appointments with ' .m Chesnutt, M . D., assistant professor of family medi- me at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and board certified in sports medicine. Chesnutt, a family practice physician atOHSU Family Health Center at Gabriel Park, volunteers at the Rebound clinic every Wednesday afternoon. School of Medicine students also perform part of the family practice rotations at the clinic. Chesnutt also volunteers as team physician for the Wilson High School sports teams and attends all of their home football games. Chacaj, a sophomore at Benson High School said she heard about this clinic at school.” I need a physical because I’m getting ready for basketball tryouts. I don’t know if I’ll make the team, but I thought I would I try,” she said. Mans of the students he sees every week at the clinic have inadequate or no health insurance. They come to be checked for sports injuries, to get their required sports physical so they can play on a team, or for second opinions regarding an injury. The Rebound clinic sponsors this sports injury clinic, making it possible to provide the evaluation and any needed x-rays and casting for a reduced cost to the students. The students Dr. Chesnutt sees are mostly from north east Portland high schools such as Jefferson, Benson, Madison and Roosevelt. “I wanted to make sure that student athletes on the northeast side of town had access to physicians for their needs," he said. “There are few, if any. physicians or trainers to help out in these schools.” Chesnutt said he believes that helping these young athletes is important. He played basketball, soccer, base ball, and ran track and cross country in high school. “For a lot of these kids, playing sports is the one thing that’s keeping them in school. We need to make sure these athletes are healthy," he said. Dr. Jim Chesnutt gives a sports physical to Benson High School Sophomore Kimberly Chacaj at the Rose Garden's Rebound clinic. Chesnutt volunteers his time and expertise in sports medicine to help young athletes get the health care they need to play sports. I
