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"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