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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2002)
A p r il IB , 2002 v w u .p u rl lu u tln h s rrv cr.com ( n iiin iittc d In ( u l h i r u l D h c r s ih (The ^ o rtla n ù (Rbseruer “3i>âd£inty fPa^tland ô Catnnninitieô” 01 n in ni n u i t u a l e il ii a r Giving Spirit Thrives at Auction Race for the Roses Providence Health Plan employees wave their numbers to grab the attention o f an auctioneer at a recent Support O regon’s future by partici pating in the Fourth A nnual “Race for the Roses,” P ortland’s only half m arathon and a 5K Run/W alk on Sunday, A pril 21. The event begins at the Oregon Square Courtyard near the Lloyd Center at 7 a.m. follow ed by the 5K Run/W alk at 7:30 a.m. To register, call A A Sports at 503-331 - 3140 or go o n lin e to w w w .race4theroses.org. charity event. A total o f 268 products were auctioned o ff to raise more than $32 ,00 0 for three local organizations: the Community Transitional School for homeless children; Providence Child Center that provides child care to the medially-fragile children; and the Women's and Children's Center dedicated to providing food and supplies to homeless mothers and their children. Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup The 18th annual Great Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup will be held on Satur day, April 6. Thousands of volunteers are needed to help clean Oregon’s beaches, from the W ashington to the California borders, between 1 0 a.m .- 1 p.m. Call SOLV at 800-322-3326orgo online to www.solv.org. Community Energy Project Learn how to take control o f your w ater and sew er bills. The W ater C onservation w orkshop provides inform ation on how to detect and rep air leaks, w ater conservation ireas in and around your hom e, plus d etails on P o rtla n d ’s incredible w ater system. It will be held on W ednesday, April 1 0 ,10 a.m. at 422 NE. A lberta. To register, call the C om m unity Energy Project at 503- 284-6827. photo by D ave L awton Portland Farmer's Market Portland Farm er’s M arket will teach anyone interested in how to grow like a professional gardener on Sat urday, May 11, at P S U ’s campus grounds on SW. M ontgom ery and Harrison St. Gardening speakers will offer free talks each hour and k id s’ activities will keep little sprouts busy with take-hom e projects inspired by nature. For more m arket inform a tio n , go o n lin e to www.portlandfarmersm arkct.orE. Earth Day Celebration Portland is celebrating Earth Day .w ith an event called Procession of the Species. The parade is a way for many to connect to the natural world using the m edia o f art, dance and m usic. Join the procession on Sun day, A pril 28 by w earing a hand made costum e o f an endangered species or playing music to promote environm ental aw areness. For more information, call 503-452-4483. Oregon’s Daffodil Show For the second year in a row , The O regon Garden will host the Oregon D affodil S ociety’s D affodil Show on A pril 6 and 7 in the J. Frank Schm idt, Jr. Pavilion. Enjoy 10,000 daffodils that w ere planted at the garden last fall by volunteers. The show will run from 1 0 a.m .-6 p .m .o n Saturday, April 6 and 10 a.m .- 4 p.m. on Sunday, A pril 7. Call 503-874- 8264 or go o n lin e to w w w .oregongarden.org. Reading V New classes will be starting at the Reading Works, a local organiza tion dedicated to improving the read ing skills of the north and northeast Portland community. They will be gin on April 22 at the Portland Metro Assembly of God Church, located at N.E. 6th and Alberta. Adults and school age children can enroll. The program is individu alized for each student, regardless of grade level. Reading Works is lead by two experienced teachers, Katy Libke and Connie Meyer. They specialize in employing the Blended Sound and Sight method along with the Spaulding method as teaching meth ods. * W ithin the center is an upbeat and colorful environment that’s conducive to learning. There’s a bright “Sound City” board across one wall and classical music that’s played in the background. Classes are held every Monday and Wednesday, from 6 - 7 p.m. The cost is $3.50 per class with a dis count offered if a student brings in a new member. If you are interested in signing up for Reading Works or would like to volunteer your time to help others learn to read, call Katy Libke at 503- 281-8121. Eric Bolds (from left), Shaudle Hutchison, Raheem Clayton and Ra eesah Clayton become better readers with the help o f Auntie Jean Brown of Reading Works. Welfare Worker Cleared in Child’s Death Prosecutors examine whether state custody system is to blame (AP) — After a five-month review, prosecutors have decided not to file charges against a child-welfare worker who supervised a fatal visit between a toddler and her mother. Dale A. Kraft did not know that Sharon Weston “posed a danger to physically harm her child" when he supervised a visit that ended in the child’s strangula tion, prosecutors said Wednesday after reviewing 3,600 pages of documents. Prosecutors instead blamed a system failure on the part of the Department of Human Services’ State Office for Services to Children and Families in the death of 20- month-old Alexis last July. Alexis was taken into state custody in October 2000 after Weston threatened to I kill or injure herself and the girl. “The inconsistent procedure, practice and lack of communication in this case led to a failure on the part of the system to protect this ch ild ,” Kate L ieber, a Multnomah County deputy district attor ney, wrote in a memo Monday. During a supervised visit July 11, Kraft allowed Weston and Alexis to stroll out of his sight at Gresham's Main City Park. Weston took the toddler to a remote area and allegedly strangled her with a cord from her jacket. She took the body to a nearby funeral home, where employees called police. Officers found Kraft reading a news paper in a state-owned car more than 45 minutes later. I Kraft was fired a month afterthe killing. Weston has pleaded innocent to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder and is being held for trial. The state considered a variety of crimi nal charges against Kraft, including mur der, manslaughter, criminal mistreatment, child neglect and official misconduct. “We looked at every conceivable charge," said Multnomah County Dis trict Attorney Michael Schrunk. "Some thing went terribly wrong. We found that directions were unclear, expectations were unclear. W e're hopeful there will be clari fication and good strong protocols set up on visitation. This is a wake-up call for continued on page B6 » Transportation Department Hiring Youths T he D ep artm en t o f T ra n sp o rta tion has su m m er jo b s av ailable for young people w ho w ant to w ork in the o u td o o rs and help keep O regon clean. Each year the tran sp o rtatio n d e partm ent hires about 300 youths statew ide to clean up litter along state h ighw ays as part o f the Y outh L itter Patrol program . W hile the crew s p rim arily pick up litter, o th e r d u ties m ay also include graffiti re m oval and general landscape m ain tenance. A ty pical crew includes a crew leader and tw o o r m ore crew m em bers. T hose in terested in serving the Y outh L itte r Patrol program can reg ister anytim e up until July 19 w ith the n earest local E m ploym ent D epartm ent o ffice. In te rv ie w s for selected ap p lic a n ts m ay begin as early as M ay 2002. D ep en d in g on the area, Y outh L itte r P atro ls m ay w ork up to 12 w eeks this sum m er. Y outh L itte r Patrol w o rk ers are paid on a p er hour basis sta rtin g at $7.27 fo r crew m em b ers and $7.85 fo r crew le a d e rs. C re w le a d e rs m ust be at least 18 years old w ith a valid d riv er's license and good d riv in g re c o rd . C re w m e m b e rs m ust be 16 th ro u g h 20 years old. T he Y outh L itter Patrol pro g ram w as fo unded in 1971 to h e lp in clean in g up hig h w ay rig h ts o f w ay and is funded th ro u g h the sale o f c u sto m lic e n se p la te s a v a ila b le through D riv er and M otor V e h ic le s S e rv ic e s. I
