Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2002)
5 B fi " MMT ____ M New Vision for Killingsworth Corridor City hears ideas fo r upgrading street from Interstate to Williams. See Metro section, inside ÎÎnrtlanù (©bse "The City Of Roses" Volume XXXII Number 24 REW Jerusalem Bus Bomber Kills 19 JE R U SA L E M — A Palestinian man detonated nail-studded explosives on a Jerusalem bus crow ded with high school students and office w orkers, killing him selfand 19 passengers in the c ity 's deadliest suicide attack in six years. Economy Shows Signs of Life W A SH IN G T O N — In statistics that s u rp rise d a n a ly sts, h o u sin g sta rts , ’surged 11.6% in M ay, the biggest gain in alm ost seven years, the governm ent Lsaid. M eantim e, consum er prices w ere flat last m onth in the best show ing in five m onths. Judge Tosses Dog-Maul Conviction SAN F R A N C IS C O — C iting a lack o f ev id en ce, a ju d g e to ssed out M arjorie K n o lle r's m u rd er co n v ictio n in last y e a r ’s d o g m a u lin g d eath o f a n eig h bor. H e also sentenced K n o lle r’s h u s b an d to th e m ax im u m four y ears in p riso n . June 19,2002 Adams High Awaits Wrecking Ball Plans advance to build smaller middle school and sell lots for housing by L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver The Portland School District has pro claim ed that there will be a new W hitaker Middle School to replace the em pty and former Adams High School at 5700 N.E. 39th Ave. O f course the new building will look very di fferent and wi 11 bring new hous ing with it— som ething that makes nearby existing neighbors a little nervous. The building w as built as A dam s High School, Portland’s new est high school, opening in the fall o f 1969. O ver tim e it suffered water dam age and m old, due to a leaking roof. It w as closed last sum m er, and the district later decided that attem pting to preserve the existing structure w as “not cost-effective.” Instead, they have determ ined to bui Id a new school and other “ incom e-generat ing” developm ents on the 12.5-acre site. T hey have also hired the consultant firm, Param etrix, to create a developm ent plan acceptable to area residents. P aram etrix rep rese n tativ e S u m n er Sharpe said current plans call for building a m iddle school and perhaps som e other uses on a scaled dow n, four acre site. The district has already agreed to sell the school track, com prising tw o acres on the north end o f the property, to the Portland Parks Bureau to be incorporated into the adjacent Fem hill Park. The rem aining six acres w ould be sold Man Shoots 3 in NYC, Witnesses Say A look o f desertion blankets the abandoned former Adams High School in northeast Portland. The building, most recently used as Whitaker Middle School, will be torn down and replaced with a smaller middle school if the Portland School District is successful with redevelopment plans. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P or i land O bserver for single family and row house develop m ent, a venture that could create an y w here from 83 to 102 housing units under current zoning. Several neighbors at a recent m eeting w ere concerned about the disposal o f property “on a w ing an d a prayer," as neighbor Harold Hickok put it. As a result, consultants have adopted the principle that no property should be sold until all financing is in place. A nother neighbor and a project advi sory committee member, Nell Simian, said, “ My initial reaction w as not to sell o ff any land, but the alternative w as no school at al 1. W e have no money, nothing. W e ca n ’ t w ait until the next levy.” C yndi W alther said that traffic on N ortheast Sim pson Street is already a problem. T w o groups o f residents have pro posed tw o different locations for a new school. O ne proposed that it be built adjacent to the southern edge o f Fem hill Park to let students have the full advan tage o f the open space, and keep the area to the south fully residential. A nother group proposed putting it along N orth east 39th A venue to rem ove it from the continued on page AS Keeping a Close Eye On Crime N E W Y O R K — A black m an shot three people and tried to set patrons at a M anhattan bar on fire before being w ounded by officers and arrested, ac cording to eyew itnesses. Police said it w as a racially m otivated attack. « Wednesday Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com THEÏB ‘ Bruce Prunk returns home to head Northeast Precinct Bush Widens Anti-Saddam Effort W A S H IN G T O N — Prom inent D em o crats in C ongress called for rem oving Saddam Hussein from pow er, endors ing a classified Bush adm inistration plan that gives the C IA broader pow er to take action against the Iraqi leader. Worker Charged in Colorado Fire L A K E G E O R G E , C o lo .— A 38-year- o ld fo re stry te ch n ic ia n w as charged w ith sta rtin g th e fire that sco rch ed m o re th an 100,000 acres in th e Pike N a tio n a l F o re st. A u th o ritie s said T erry B arton in itially said she d is co v ered an illegal cam pfire; an inves tig a tio n ca st d o u b t on h er story. U.S. Bishops Open Conference D A L L A S — T he p resid e n t o f the U .S. C o n fere n ce o fC a th o lic B ishops o p en e d an e x tra o rd in a ry m e etin g on c le ric a l sex ab u se T h u rsd ay , callin g th e c risis ’’p erh a p s the g rav est w e h av e f a c e d .” S ch ed u led sp eak ers in c lu d e d th ree p eo p le w ho said they w ere m o le ste d by p riests. Karzai Elected Afghan Head of State KABUL, A fghanistan— Hamid Karzai, the U .S .-backed leader o f the interim A fg h an ad m in istra tio n , w as o v e r w helm ingly elected head o f state Thurs day by a grand council, or loya jirga. A helicopter carries a container of pesticides in the form of dry granules to kill mosquito larvae along waterways in the Portland area. Spraying Makes Progress in Mosquito Fight by M ichael L eighton T he P ortland O bserver Take a sigh o f relief. M ultnom ah County health officials are reporting success in the fight to rid your backyard o f m osquitoes. Aerial applications in recent days have killed m osquito larvae where they hatch along Colum bia River waterways. T hebattle progress is w elcom e relief to the thousands o f people irritated by biting in sects, but also reduces a public health threat from m osquito-bom e disease. M osquitoes in our area have the potential to carry the W est N ile virus, a som etim es- lethal disease that has affected hum ans on the East Coast and is m oving west. Local m osqui toes also have the ability to transm it heart- w orm to canines. N ineteen species o f m osquitoes have been identified in the Portland area. “T hese groups o f m osquitoes include spe cies that are vicious day and nighttim e biters and will fly up to 20 m iles in search o f a blood m eal,” said Lillian Shirley, the d irecto ro fth e M ultnom ah C ounty health departm ent. In 1999, the co u n ty ’s vector and nuisance control office shifted from ground level appli cations to aerial applications by helicopter to m ake suppression o f m osquitoes m ore effi cient and effective. A pesticide that com es in the form o f a dry granule is used to specifically target the m os quitoes in their w ater-bom e larvae stage. continued I on page .45 I Police Officer Harry Jackson (left) shares a laugh with Bruce Prunk in his first week back as Northeast Precinct Commander. Prunk originally held the position in 1994. photo by D avid P i f . chi ./T hf P ortland O bserver by D avid P lf . c h i . T he P ortland O bserver D espite program cuts and budget shortfalls, returning N ortheast Police Precinct C om m ander Bruce Prunk is positive the com m unity he calls hom e will continue to m ake strides. The 25-year veteran o f the Portland Police Bureau was the original com m ander when the precinct opened its doors in 1994. After serving seven years as assistant ch ief dow ntow n, Prunk is inspired by the progress the N ortheast precinct and local neigh borhoods have made. “ People are using the parks. People are out walking. That is a big m easure fo rm e ," h e said. Still, Prunk intends to keep a w atch ful eye on trouble spots as crim inal activity m oves from indoors, onto the streets during the sum m er months. He is im pressed with a core group o f dedicated N ortheast officers like Harry Jackson, a departm ent veteran who is happy with Prunk’s return. “W e need som eone with his experi ence," Jackson said. Prunk is hopeful the precinct will continue to nurture its relationship with the black com m unity. He credits former Commander Derrick Foxworth with help ing bridge the gap. "I will do everything I can to maintain that dialogue,” he said. Prunk says officers are doing their best to address neighborhood concerns with few er resources for the dep art ment W ith budget cuts loom ing, he will likely see his officers lose m ore tools than they gain. “C rim inals get m ore and m ore bold w hen they realize the sanctions are not there," he said. O ne issue frustrating local officers is the current state o f the drug free zones. W hen the zones w ere first estab lished. if som eone w as arrested in the zone and later show ed back up. officers could prosecute for trespassing. But since the zones have been chal lenged in court, officers no longer have this privilege, m aking it harder to keep troublemaking crim inalsout o f problem areas. W ith this in m ind, Prunk is realistic about the shortfalls his agency is fac ing and is intent on keeping his guys focused on the issues that bother the com m unity most: robberies, guns and gang activity top his list. “ First and foremost, w e’re concerned with com m unity livability,” he said. O ne ofthe tools officers will be count ing on is the Friday G ang Group, an anti gang coalition that m eets every other Friday at the N ortheast Precinct to ad dress problem s in the com m unity and discuss possible solutions. M ayor Katz m ediates the forum th at’s regularly attended by precinct com m anders, patrol officers and c o m m unity advocates. At last F rid ay 's m eeting. K atz told the group that her budget for Portland Police had not yet been finalized, but promised that “noofficers or firefighters continued on page AS I
