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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2002)
n -- r * » Soul Chain O Local boutique offers beautiful handmade clothing. See Metro Page, inside. ÏLlîl' ÌJortlanh ©bser "The City Of Roses" wHw.portlandobserver.com Wednesday July 10, 2002 Committed to Cultural Diversity Established in 1970 Volume XXXII Number 27 Church Holds Final Service On Albina Parishioners march to new location U.S. Deports Hussein’s Stepson by M IA M I — Saddam H ussein’s stepson has been deported to N ew Z ealand after being detained on im m igration violations w hen he arrived at a Florida flight school attended by one o f the Sept. 11 hijackers. M oham m edN oural- Din Saffi, 36, will be sent to New Zealand, w here he is a naturalized citizen. Samuel Irving and his congregation at the A lbina Christian life Center. A fter 32 years on A lbina A ve., the church has bow ed to PCC expansion and will m ove to a new location at 2149 N. W illam ette Blvd. Irving has been pastor that w hole tim e. He recently delivered a m oving serm on Sunday to parishioners that cam e out for the last service at the A lbina location. “ Som e o f us are em otional,” he said, “but it is a happy em otion.” The m ove has not com e w ithout frustration. Irv ing says the church w as “forced to accept less than w hat it w anted" for the property. Bush Calls for Corporate Crackdown N E W Y O R K — P resident Bush called for stiff new penalties for corporate crim inals and a crackdow n on board- room scandals, prom ising in a speech on W all Street that his adm inistration w ould “end the days o f cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking the law .” “N obody likes to be forced to m ove anyw here,” he said. But now that the property has been sold, Irving says the m ove to the bigger space on W illam ette Blvd. has “proved to be a blessing." “ W e are ecstatic about the building,” he said, “our volunteers have w orked very hard.” The 27,000 square foot building was purchased in April, and the first service w illbe held this com ing Sunday at 11a.m. and an evening service at 6 p.m. Irving encouraged his parishioners to keep their faith and to continue . Winnie Mandela Pleads Innocent to strengthen their personal relationship with God. “T here is som ething about w alking w ith G od that m akes you so PR E T O R IA , South A frica — W innie M adikizela-M andela, the ex-w ife o f fo rm er presid en t N elson M andela, pleaded innocent to 85 counts o f fraud and theft charges involving nearly $100,000. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 15 years in prison. excited,” he exclaimed. Parishioners w ere on their feet through m uch o f the serm on, singing and shouting am ens and hallelujahs as Irving’s voice rose and fell over the w orshippers. The em otion o f the service brought som e to tears. Follow ing the service, the faithful gathered outside the church and Hormone Therapy Study Stopped In a rare m ove, the governm ent has halted a m ajor study ofhorm one therapy three years earlier than planned b e cause o f a slightly increased risk o f invasive breast cancer. R esearchers concluded that the long-term risks o f taking horm ones outw eigh the b en efits for a w om an w ho still has her uterus. Pilot Given Contradictory Orders B E R LIN — A R ussian pilot received c o n tra d ic to ry in s tru c tio n s b e fo re crashing into a cargo plane over G er m any last w eek, G erm an investigators said. V oice recorders show that a Swiss co ntroller’s order for a Russian pilot to descend contradicted the cockpit w arn ing system ’s com m and. China In Dark About AIDS * B A R C E L O N A — T he vast m ajority o f C h in ese do n o t kn o w how A ID S spreads, w hat causes the disease or how to protect them selves from it, re searchers said. A n estim ated 850,000 people in the 1.3 billion country already carry H IV , the A ID S virus. NAACP Head Again Assails Bush Administration H O U S T O N — N A A C P b oard c h a ir m an Ju lian B o n d c ritic iz e d th e B ush ad m in istra tio n , saying it had failed to e n fo rc e civ il rig h ts law s, and he d e n o u n ce d the F B I’s use o f in c re ase d su rv e illa n c e p o w ers in fig h tin g te r rorism . States Add Clergy to Sex-Abuse Laws M ore state legislatures are responding to the sexual abuse scandal intheC atho- lic C hurch by changing laws to m ake it a crim e w hen church officials d o n ’t report allegations o f sexual abuse o f m inors. M assachusetts, Illinois, M is souri and C olorado have passed such laws this year. D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver W ith the closing o f one chapter, another begins. So it is for Bishop prepared to march to their new location on W illam ette Blvd. A p o lice escort led the singing, w aving parishioners dow n Bishop Samuel Irving preaches to the faithful o f the Albina Christian Life Center as he has for the last 32 years. PCC expansion has forced his congregation to relocate. On Sunday, he held the last service at the church 's location on Albina St. and led marching parishioners to their new church at 21 4 9 N. Willamette Blvd. photos by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver K illlingsw orth St. to W illam ette Blvd., w here they w ere greeted by supporters who shouted and clapped enthusiastically at their arrival. Though times have been tough for the church and their path ahead som etim es unclear, Irving says he will never lose his confidence in the guidance o f God. “ Everything you do,” Irving said, “ you do by faith.” Custodians Lose Jobs in School Board Vote by D avid P lechl T h e P ortland O bserver Custodians for Portland Public Schools will not be returning to theirjobs next fall. The school board’s 5-to-2 vote M on day to replace school custodians with a private low wage contractor, crushed the hopes o f the custodians and their sup porters. During an emotional public comment period at the meeting, one o f the custodi ans’ backers, Chad Debnam o f the Civil Service Board, refused to give up the podium when his tim e expired. “You better get away from me, man,” said Debnam when a board member asked him to step down. A security guard finally escorted Debman from the podium. The move to hire the Portland Habili- tation Center to replace the custodians will save the district $36 million, but cus- One o f the many Portland Public Schools custodians who will be losing their job this fall. todians and their supporters think that the safety o f students will be jeopardized. Long time custodian Dan Strong has said, “The School Board is not putting the safety o f the kids first." Board m em ber Lolenzo Poe said his “yes” vote was painful, but cuts in the classroom w ould hurt more. “ In the end, it com es dow n to this: what is in the best interest o f the young people that I ran for this position to serve," said Poe. Three-quarters o f P H C ’s workers are physically disabled. The non-profit group will have to hire 300-plus em ployees to fill the district’s custodial needs. A PHC executive said most o f the sav ings forthe schools would come from lower pay. “ It’s in wages, it’s also in benefits and it’s also in overhead costs," said Deb Hous ton, PHC Vice-President. Teams Compete for Best Sand Sculpture The Prescott Market is the site where investigators are looking into a shooting that occurred on Monday evening. Drive-by Shooting Leaves One Man Wounded Sculptures like this one loom large at last year's Sand in the City competition at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Fantastic sand sculptures designed by 17 corporate team s will com pete at the I*1 annual Y o sh id a’s Sand in the City. This is a fun event for the w hole fam ily ft The school board's vote capped the end o f six-months o f negotiations with the custodians’ union. The union offered salary and benefit cuts. Still the board contended that it was not enough. Now, custodians like Mark Schnoor will be looking for work. “I ’m tired o f holding my kids, crying themselves to sleep, wondering if their d ad’s going to have a job or not,” said Schnoor. Questions have been raised about hir ing the mentally disabled to work around children. The district said the new PHC em ploy ees would have to undergo two sets o f background checks, including the m en tally disabled. For the long time custodians, some o f whom have worked in the district for decades, there was little consolation. Their careers with the district are over. that will be held at Pioneer Courthouse S quare, from July 1 2 - 1 4 . A ctivities are available for children, as well as food and liv e e n te rta in m e n t. P ro c e e d s from ft a Y o sh id a’s Sand in th eC ity fund free edu cational puppet program s that K ids on the Block offers to schools throughout the Portland tri-county area. Investigators are looking into a p o s sible gang related, drive-by shooting that occurred on M onday at 10:38p.m., in front o f a store, at the com er o f N.E. 15* and Prescott continued on page A 2 t
