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" The
T h o f City
i t v Of
n f Roses"
D,
Volume XXXII
Number 14
vvnM.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Wednesday
April 10,2002
Changing of the Guard
Poll Reflects Pessimism,
Unease on Mideast
A m ericans are deeply conflicted about
the bloodshed betw een Israelis and Pal
estinians, a new poll shows. T h ey ’re also
w orried that suicide bom bers will attack
in this country and that U.S. soldiers may
have to go to the M iddle East.
Store Can Keep
Records From Police
D E N V E R — In a First A m endm ent case
that could have national im plications,
the C olorado S uprem e C ourt ruled that
a D enver bookstore does not have to
give sales records to police seeking
inform ation in a drug investigation.
Saddam Cuts Oil Exports
B A G H D A D , Iraq — Saddam H ussein
announced that Iraq w ould cut oil ex
ports for 30 days, or until Israel w ith
d ra w s from P alestin ian territo ries.
Saddam said all exports w ould be cut.
Postal Rates to
Increase on June 30
W A S H IN G T O N — M ailinga letter, bill
paym ent o r birthday gift w ill cost m ore
starting June 30. H igher postal rates
include a 3-cent b oost to 37 cents for
first-class mail.
U.S. Envoy Meets with Arafat
R A M A L L A H , W est B ank — R enew
ing a truce m ission, a U.S. m ediator m et
with Y asser A rafat at his besieged head
quarters as Israel’s offensive against
P alestinian m ilitants entered its second
w eek despite U.S. dem ands that troops
w ithdraw from W est Bank cities. The
m eeting lasted 90 m inutes.
Larry Dashiell (right), the incoming principal for Jefferson High School, is welcomed back to the north Portland school's
campus Monday by Interim Principal Jim Carlile. Dashiell is currently the vice principal at Southridge High School in
Beaverton. He previously worked at Je ff as a vice-principal and starts his new job in July.
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
2nd Teen Pleads Guilty In Case
of Slain Professors
H A V ER H ILL, N.H. — W eeping in the
courtroom , one o f tw o teens involved in
the brutal slaying o f tw o Dartmouth
C ollege professors apologized as he was
sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
‘T m sorry,” 17-year-old Jam es Parker
s a id , crying and having trouble getting
up to speak. ‘’T here’s not m uch m ore I
can say than that. I’m ju st really sorry.”
Postal Service Eyes Rate
Increases, Delivery Cutbacks
W A S H IN G T O N — The U .S. Postal
Service, w hich lost $ 1.6 billion last year,
is looking at o verhauling its o p era
tions. Possible changes include clo s
ing som e offices, phased reg u lar price
increases and even cutting back on six-
day-a-w eek deliveries.
Genetic Maps of 2 Rice Types
99% Complete
T w o team s o f scientists will unveil the
genetic m aps, o r genom es, o f tw o im
portant types o f rice. R esearchers p re
dict the breakthrough will increase the
availability o f o n e o f the w o rld ’s m ost
basic and p o p u lar foods.
Arthritis Pills May Prevent Cancer
B O ST O N — Scientists believeCelebrex
and V io x x — the red-hot inflam m ation
pills taken by tens o f m illions for arthri
tis — m ay also help prevent cancer, and
m ay even cure the disease B ut ex p eri
m ents are ongoing, and experts caution
that the optim ists could be dead w rong.
Board
Dumps
McCoy
Academy
M cC oy A cadem y’s ch arter school
status w as revoked by the P ortland
S ch o o l B o ard M o n d ay , ju s t tw o
m onths before the inner-city sch o o l’s
contract w ith the school district ex
pires.
M cC oy serves inner city neighbor
hoods as an alternative school for high
school dropouts. It w as the first ch ar
ter school in the city.
Supporters tried to save the public
fin a n c in g fo r th e s c h o o l d u rin g
M onday’s school board m eeting, but
the pleas failed on a 6-1 vote. D erry
Jackson voted to keep the charter,
saying the school catches m any stu
dents w ho have no other option.
R easons a g ain st c o n tin u in g the
charter w ere based on an independent
evaluation show ing that 114 M cC oy
students earned an average o f ju s t 1.6
credits tow ard graduation and there
w as p o o r student attendance.
The school has also not m ade p ay
m ents into the state retirem ent system
for em ployees and w as denied a w aiver
by O regon A ttorney G eneral H ardy
M yers to exem pt paym ents.
S upporters o f M cC oy A cadem y
praised the p ro g ram 's low student ra
tios, offerings ofco re academ ic classes
and day care for teen parents.
Rebecca Black, founder o f M cCoy,
has vow ed to keep the school open.
H erchallenge is raising $500,000 from
private sources and cutting enrollm ent
to stay afloat.
Currently, the school district is w ork
ing on finding alternative schooling
for the m any M cC oy students.
Portsmouth Plan Brings Hope, Zoning Issues
Planners see mixed income Columbia Villa community with new housing and stores
L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
For Billy Carey, the Portsmouth N eigh
borhood Plan is a chance to m ake his
C olum bia V illa hom e a better place.
Lisa H om e has som ething else in mind.
She w ants to advance a larger com m unity
revitalization agenda for her Peninsula
C om m unity D evelopm entC orporation.
Y et another view com es from Richard
E llm yer w ho sees the plan as a potential
sidetrack for com m unity betterm ent.
The plan sets a policy and a “vision"
for the 600-acre neighborhood, bordered
by North Lom bard, Colum bia Boulevard,
C hatauqua and the B urlington-N orthern
railroad tracks.
Based on the theme “walking together.”
ot also sets out an “action agenda" o f
projects under the headings ofN eig h b o r-
hood Identity, Parks and O pen Space,
Public Safety, N eighborhood Livability,
Human Development and Social Services,
B u sin ess G ro w th and D ev elo p m en t,
T ransportation and H ousing.
The Portland P lanning C om m ission
approved the plan last m onth. It is ex
pected to reach the Portland C ity C ouncil
for adoption in M ay o r June.
A m ajor com ponent o f the plan is the
pending H ope VI project for the redevel-
opm ent o f the H ousing A uthority o f
P ortland'sC olum bia V illa as a m ixed-in
com e com m unity o f 2,500 residents,
double its current size. A s part o f this, the
plan proposes to rezone a few acres from
low-density apartm ents to storefront com
mercial .T his w ould allow for the creation
o f a “village square” o f social and retail
services serving not only the V illa, but the
surrounding com m unity as well.
Th is proposal caused m ore critical tes-
tim ony at a publ ic hearing and m ore scru
tiny from the com m ission afterw ard, than
all other parts o f the plan com bined. The
comm ission ultimately approved the docu
ment after reducing the size o f the rezoned
area, on the eastern edge o f the V illa, from
the original ten acres to 7.3, and the assu r
ance that part o f this will be used for social
services that now occupy em pty rental
units as conditional uses. Part o f the
problem , planner Julia G isler said, w as
that the H ousing A uthority o f Portland,
operator o f the V illa, has decided they
w ant a V illage Square, but not exactly
w here it should be.
“W hen you rezone som ething, it stays
that w ay for a long tim e, long a fte ry o u ’ve
by
Billy Carey, a long-time Columbia Villa resident, likes the idea o f bringing in
more commercial and retail services around his home.
continued
on page B4
Racism Investigated at Oregon State Hospital
Probe looks into state hospital's
treatment o f Sen. Avel Gordly's
son and other black patients
m ent o f Justice will seek to determ ine
to racial harassm ent, discrim ination and
(A P) — T he state will review m an
agem ent practices at O regon State H os
oth er civil rights violations.
G ov. John K itzhaber ’ s office cal led for
pital after em ployees allegedly m ade
the probe at G o rd ly ’s request after she
and Training is also looking at w hether its
trial. A ju d g e has since ordered an in d e
racist com m ents about a black psychiat
received an anonym ous letter M arch 6
investigation spurred a recent change in
pendent review o f W aters' m ental c o m
ric patient w ho is the son o f state Sen.
from a person claim ing to be a hospital
W aters’ psychiatric diagnosis, w hich
petency.
Avel G ordly o f northeast Portland
employee.
Eight em ployees, including a supervi-
caused him to be transferred from the
An inquiry by the O regon D epart-
A
w hether m anagem ent practices have led
sor, have been reassigned during the
W aters, w ho has been diagnosed
investigation into the treatm ent ofT yrone
with paranoid schizophrenia since 1994,
W ayne W aters, 36, and other black pa
w as a patient from O ct. 5, 2001, until
tients at the state hospital in Salem.
The O regon O ffice o f Investigations
deem ed him m entally capable to stand
hospital back to jail tw o w eeks ago.
V
M arch 2 1, w hen a state hospital d o cto r
continued
on page ft 4