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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2002)
June 12, 2(M)2 Page A2 R. Kelly Indicted on Child Pornography Charges ('R IM E S T O P P E R S Detectives Hunt For Armed Robbery Suspect Robbery detectives from the Portland Police Bureau, in coop eration with Crime Stoppers, are asking for your help in identify ing and apprehending a man believed responsible for a series of armed robberies. Robbery locations thus far have included a video store, a printing shop and two dry clean ing establishments. The suspect may also be responsible for armed robberies in Clackamas County. The man, who is “very calm” while brandishing a silver semi automatic handgun, is described as a 50 to 60-year-old white male, 5 foot 7 inches to 5 foot 9 inches tall, with a medium build, strong upper body, round shoulders, and a gray mustache. The suspect’s clothing, which is said to be “old” but well kept, c o n sists o f a lig h t c o lo re d “fisherman’s hat,” forest green sweatshirt, and blue jeans. He also wears sunglasses. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information, reported to Crime Stoppers, that leads to an arrest in this case or any unsolved felony crime, and you need not give your name. Call Crime Stoppers at 503- 823-HELP. Grammy-award winner says charges are unwarranted A survelliance cam era sh o w s a m a n brandishing a gun in robbing a Hollywood Video store. Spring Auto Lo Rates as low as •APR = Annual Percentage Rate. Interest rates vary based on repayment period, down payment and credit standing. All loans are subject to approval. Serving all who live, work, worship or attend school in the Portland communities of Arbor Lodge, Boise, Bridgeton, Buckman north of Hawthorne, Cathedral Park. China Town, Concordia west o f 33”1 Avenue, Concordia University, Downtown Portland, East Columbia, Goose Hollow, Humboldt, Irvington, Kerns, King. Northwest Portland, Northwest Industrial Portland. Old Town, Overlook, Pearl District. Piedmont, Portland Community College-Cascade Campus, Portland State University, Ports mouth, Sabin. St. Johns, Sullivan's Gulch. University o f Portland, University Park, Vernon, and Woodlawn. Federal C re d it Union 2151 N.W. Front Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209 (503) 299-4539 • (888)900-8559 SEE IT ALL WITH A TRI-MET SUMMER YOUTH PASS (A P )-R & B star R. Kelly faces child pornography charges in Chicago stemming from a video tape o fficials say show s the Grammy winner having sex with an underage girl. Kelly, 35, has denied he is the man in the video. “Even though I don’t believe any of these charges are war ranted, I ’ m grateful that I will have a chance to establish the truth about me in acourt of law,” he said in a statement. Kelly said he had faith in the criminal justice system and ex pressed confidence that when all the facts come out, “people will see that I’m no criminal.” Prosecutors said a thorough investigation, including inter views of some 50 witnesses, de termined Kelly and an underage girl were the people on the tape. And FBI forensics experts deter mined the tape was authentic, they said. “It’s unfortunate to see Mr. K elly's talents go to waste, but it becomes a tragedy when behav ior damages a community,” Police Superintendent Terry Hillard said. "The fact that he is a celebrity is of no importance to us.” The singer is known for hits ranging from the Grammy-win ning, gospel-like “I Believe I Can Fly” to sexually charged material suchas “Bump ‘n’ Grind,” “Feelin’ on Yo Booty” and “Your Body’s Callin’.” The felony charge carries a prison term of up to 15 years and R. Kelly a fine of up to $ 100,000. Kelly ’ s lawyer, Ed Genson, said the girl on the tape isn’t a minor and he’ 11 prove that in court. “The charge is that there’s a young lady under the age o f 18 on that tape and there isn’t,” Genson said. Kelly also is the focus o f at least four lawsuits, three of which accuse him o f having sex with underage girls. He has acknowl edged settling two o f the lawsuits , regarding underage sex, but his lawyers have said they will fight the third. * Kelly rose from childhood pov erty on Chicago’s South Side. He began singing for change at the city’s L stops and went on to sell more than 23 million albums and own a mansion in a Chicago sub urb. Prison Escapee Charged with Kidnapping, Rape (AP) — A man who escaped from prison last December and allegedly raped a woman in her apartm ent building has been charged with kidnapping, robbery, rape, sodomy, escape and pos session of a weapon. Forty-one-year-old Leighton W ayne Bates fled the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem on Christmas Eve by hiding in the back of a delivery truck that left the prison’s kitchen loading dock. He jumped out of the truck near 1-5 and later hid in the laundry room of a Salem apartment com plex. Investigators said Bates con fronted a 46-year-old wdman when she entered the laundry room and raped her before her teen-age son arrived to check on her. Bates then allegedly tied up the son and spent the night at the Leighton B a tes apartment. Police say the next day, Christmas Day, Bates took some of the son’s clothing and forced the woman to drive him to Silver Falls State Park. Bates was arrested the next day in Salem after a corrections officer saw him walking in the city. Family Awarded $79.5 Million Case stems from Portland school janitor who died form lung cancer (A P) - T he O regon C ourt o f A ppeals has rein stated a $79.5 m illion punitive dam age award a g ain st P h ilip M orris in a la w suit b ro u g h t by re la tiv e s o f an A frican A m erican man from P o rtland w ho died after sm ok ing M arlb o ro s fo r four d e ca d e s. T he appeals panel u n a n i m ously said the ju ry ’s punitive dam age aw ard to the fam ily of Jesse W illiam s fit within federal standards. W illiam s, a form er Portland school janitor, died of lung can cer in 1997 at age 67 after smok- ing m ostly M arlboro-cigarettes for 42 years. The punitive dam ages were aw arded for fraud on grounds that the giant tobacco com pany knew o f the harm o f sm oking and concealed the facts. The ruling issued last week- by a three-judge appeals court panel reversed C ircuit Judge Anna J. Brown, who said she based her decision to cut the aw ard to $32 m illion on lim ita tions im posed by the U.S. Su prem e Court. T here was little doubt about the tie betw een sm oking and lung cancer by the late 1950s, the appeals court wrote in its opinion, “and there was abso lutely no basis for a genuine dispute on the issue by the 1970s and 1980s.” N evertheless, the com pany co ntinued a public relatio n s cam paign “asserting that sm ok ing had not been proven to be harm ful” that was intended to “give sm okers a crutch to ju s tify their continued sm oking,” the court w rote. “T here is no evidence defendant show ed any regret or changed its conduct upon the discovery o f its ac tio n s.” The court said a $79.5 m illion aw ard w ould have little im pact on a com pany that was m aking profit am ounting to m ore than $30 m illion a week. 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T he re -re fin ed m otor o il, 76 F ireb ird SA E 10W -30 and SA E 2OW-5O, is su p p lied by D on T h o m a s P e tro le u m o f P o rtla n d and w ill be a v ailab le in V a n c o u v e r at L a rk in ’s G a rage at 1708 W ash in g to n and Z in d a and Sons at 9014 St. Jo h n s. U sed oil can be re -re fin ed to pro d u ce oil that m eets or e x c e e d s in d u stry sta n d a rd s. C h r y s le r , G e n e ra l M o to rs, V olvo, and M ercedes-Benz, all end o rse the use o f re -re fin ed m o to r o il c e r tif ie d by the A m erican P etroleum Institute. T he re -re fin in g p ro cess r e m o v e s a d d itiv e s , d ir t, and c o n ta m in a n ts, le a v in g a pure base lu b ric a tin g sto ck . New a d d itiv e s a re th e n b le n d e d w ith this pure base sto c k to create m otor oil th at m eets car m a n u fa c tu re r w a rra n tie s and A m erican P etro le u m In stitu te sp e c ific a tio n s. U sing re-refined m otor oil conserves oil resources and re duces our dependency on fo r eign oil. For more information, call the Clark C ounty Solid W aste D ivi sion at 360-397-6118, extension 4016. A
