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www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday
July 03, 2002
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Volume XXXII
Number 26
Cycling Club Transforms Lives
Youth
advocate
brings
multicultural
vision to
inner city
race team
Planes Collide Over Germany
UEBERL INGEN, Germany— More than
70 people w ere killed w hen a chartered
Tupelov airliner collided cargo plane at
36,000 feet over southern G erm any,
officials said Tuesday. Swiss air traffic
controllers said the pilot o f the Russian
plane did not respond to orders to
descend until too late.
Balloonist Finishes
Around-the-World Trip
K A LG O O R L IE, A ustralia — Steve
Fossett drifted into aviation history,
becom ing the first person to fly a balloon
solo around the world. Flying over the
ocean south o f Australia, he crossed
east o f 117 degrees longitude, the line
from which he set o ff two weeks ago.
John Benanate (right) and
his team o f inner city kids
at last winter's Olympic
torch relay.
World’s First Permanent
War Crimes Court Opens
U N IT E D N A TIO N S — The w orld’s
first perm anent w ar crim es tribunal of­
ficially cam e into existence, hailed by
supporters as a m ilestone in interna­
tional ju stice that will prevent future
H itlers, Pol Pots and Saddam H usseins
— but vehem ently opposed by the
U nited States.
Mailing Letters Cost More
P hoto by
K en L e G ros P hotography
L
L * i h
by D avid
W A S H IN G T O N — T he first-class
postal rate is now 37 cents, a 3-cent
increase that post office expects will
cost A m ericans about 45 cents m ore a
m onth. Rates for packages also rose.
Cigarettes Hit $7
a Pack In New York
N E W Y O R K — Smokers began paying
m ore than $7 a pack for m any m ajor
cigarette brands as N ew Y ork began
collecting a new tax expected to bring
an additional $111 m illion overthe next
year. T he law boosted the city ’s per-
pack tax from 8 cents to $ 1.50.
P lechl
T he P ortland O bserver
John Benanate becam e interested in
cycling years ago as a bike m essenger
peddling the pavem ent o f dow ntow n
Portland. He raced for the Portland State
U niversity cycling team. It w as his pas­
sion. It was his life.
But that all changed in 1992. Benanate
fell from an 18-foot deck and landed on a
tree stump. Hisback was broken. He would
never w alk nor race again.
Still in love w ith cycling, Benanate
quickly focused his energies on coaching
and the business o f turning peoples' lives
around.
He founded the non-profit cycling club
and race team , B.l.K.E. that stands for
Bicycles, Ideas and Kids Em pow erm ent.
Benanate w anted to reach out to those
traditionally absent from the w hite, m ale
dom inated sport.
“ I choose inner city kids because they
w ere the faces that w ere m issing,” he said
from his office in Southeast Portland.
Benanate m eets w ith the kids several
days a w eek to train. In the process o f
teaching kids to be bicycle racers, he and
his coaches instill standards ofhard work,
self-esteem and discipline.
“T hey carry those traits into every
facet o f their lives,” Benanate says.
I ï
A
He em ploys a very talented group o f
coaches and m entors.
“W e address the w hole child: m ind,
body and spirit,” he explained.
“W e do yoga because it keeps the kids
strong. It helps them to breathe. It helps
them feel good about them selves,” he
says.
Benanate touts the im portance o f a
college education and has set up a college
fund for the kids.
“I stress education because there is no
doubt in m y m ind education is m ore im ­
portant than bicycle racing,” he said.
The form ula seem s to be w orking.
M others have seen their ch ild ren ’s lives
turned com pletely around.
A nita W illiam s is one such parent.
“T he biking program has given my
kids hope,” she said. “Seeing John as a
leader has proven to them that ju st b e­
cause you experience setbacks in your
lifetim e, it d o esn ’t necessarily m ean they
have to hold you back.”
Benanate also has m any stories o f
success. O ne o f those is that o f A nissa
“N eecy” Cobb.
“N eecy” was a troubled young lady
when she firstjoined the team ," Benanate
explained.
continued
on page B6
Powell: Be ‘Vigilant* on July 4
W A S H IN G T O N — A m ericans should
b e cautious on the Fourth o f July be­
cause o f potential terrorist attacks on
the national holiday, officials said.
“T here have been a variety o f intelli­
gence reports that suggest w e ought to
be especially vigilant,” Secretary o f
State C olin Pow ell said.
New Street for Alberta
Rep. Watts Won’t
Seek Re-Election
N O R M A N , O kla.— Rep. J.C. W atts o f
O klahom a, the only black Republican
in Congress and a m em ber ofthe House
G O P leadership, said M onday that he
intends to retire at the end o f his term.
W atts, 44, holds the fourth-ranking
position o f chairm an o f the H ouse R e­
publican Conference.
School children recite the Pledge o f Allegiance (AP Photo)
Palestinian Elections Set;
Arafat to Run
‘Under God’ Nixes
Pledge of Allegiance
JE R IC H O , W est Bank — Palestinian
presidential and parliamentary elections
will be held in m id-January, senior Pal­
estinian official Saeb Erekat announced.
H ours later, Palestinian leader Y asser
A rafat’s plan to seek re-election w as
revealed.
Nuclear Inspectors Worried
Equipment was Stolen
TBILISI, Georgia— International nuclear
inspectors, already troubled by the dis­
appearance ofbomb-grade uranium from
an ex-Soviet institute, w ant answers to
an even more disturbing question: Has
any equipment that makes such material
disappeared as well?
1
Tri-met General Manager Fred Hansen (left) and Sam Brooks pick up a shovel to
usher In the beginning o f a $3.3 million project to revamp Northeast Alberta
Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to 33^ Avenue with street and
sidewalk Improvements. Brooks Is the executive director o f Oregon Association
o f Minority Entrepreneurs and an Alberta Street business owner.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
C om m u n ity leaders b roke ground
T hursday on the A lberta Streetscape
Project.
The $3.3 m illion effort will bring street
and sidew alk im provem ents to A lberta
from M artin Luther King Jr. B oulevard to
N ortheast 33"1 A venue. C onstruction is
scheduled to take a year.
A lberta residents and business ow n­
ers had asked the city to m ake A lberta
Street a better place to walk, ride a bicycle
and use transit, w hile still m aintaining
autom obile access and parking.
“Alberta Street is creating quite a name
for itself,” com mented Com m issioner Jim
Francesconi, w ho oversees the Portland
O ffice o f T ransportation. “The b u si­
nesses, shops, and restaurants as w ell as
an em erging and exciting art industry
along Alberta are drawing citizens from ai 1
over the Portland region.”
The project will build curb extensions
at transit stops and key intersections,
ornam ental street lighting, street trees,
school crossing im provem ents and sumps
at intersections, im proved traffic signals
at 7th, 15th and 33rd avenues, new storm
w ater inlets and sum ps, sidew alk con­
struction at alley entrances and A merican
continued
on page B6
Judgment that words endorse a state
religion put on hold pending appeal
(A P) — For the first tim e ever, a
federal appeals court has declared the
Pledge o f A llegiance unconstitutional
because o f the w ords “under G od”
added by C ongress in 1954.
In a 2 - 1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit
C ourt o f A p p eals said the p h rase
am ounts to a governm ent endorsem ent
o f r e lig io n in v io la tio n o f th e
C o nstitution’s E stablishm ent Clause,
w hich requires a separation o f church
and state.
“ A profession that we are a nation
under G o d ’ is identical, for E stablish­
m ent C lause purposes, to a profession
that w e are a nation under Jesu s,’ a
nation ’ under V ishnu, ’ a nation under
Z eu s,' o r a nation under no g o d ,’ be-
cause none o f these professions can be
neutral w ith respect to religion,” Judge
A lfred T. G oodw in w rote for the three-
ju d g e panel.
G oodw in has decided to stay his ru l­
ing until fellow m em bers o f the appeals
court decide w hether to reconsider.
T he Justice D epartm ent will request
a full hearing by the 9,h C ircuit, w hich
covers O regon and W ashington along
with A laska, Arizona, California, H a­
waii, Idaho. M ontana, and Nevada.
The case was brought by M ichael A.
N ew dow . a Sacram ento atheist who ob­
jected because his second-grade daugh­
ter was required to recite the pledge at
continued
on Pa8e
f