August 07,2002
______________________ÎC fye I J o r t l a n h © b s e r u e r __________________________
Page A3
Search Ruled Illegal
Judge's decision means Blazer guard will
not likely face felony marijuana charge
(A P )— Portland Trail Blazers
guard Damon Stoudamire likely
will not face trial on felony drug
charges after a judge rejected the
two strongest arguments pros
ecutors made to justify a warrant
less search of his home that turned
up a large bag of marijuana.
Judge John Lowe ruled Tues
day police had no legal justifica
tion to enter Stoudamire’s home
after neighbors in suburban Lake
Oswego reported his front door
was open and a burglar alarm was
beeping an hour after Stoudamire
left for a game on Feb. 23.
Lowe also ruled there was no
express or implied consent to
search the home just because
Stoudamire had installed an alarm
system.
Police testified they found the
marijuana behind an attic door
while following their longtime
policy of searching for intruders
after finding an open door or win
dow at an unoccupied home with
an alarm.
The judge said he would issue
a written opinion later on whether
the city of Lake Oswego could
establish an administrative policy
allowing police to search for in
truders after an alarm system is
activated.
But S toudam ire’s attorney,
Stephen Houze, said cities can only
regulate searches in public places,
such as airports or courthouses.
Any search of a private home
requires a warrant because it “is
the ultimate bastion of privacy in
our society," Houze said.
If Lowe also rejects the pros
ecution claim, the city of Lake
Oswego could set search policy,
he could dismiss the charges.
Prosecutors could appeal or drop
the case.
Stoudamire declined to com
ment, but his attorney said he was
“very pleased” with the ruling
Tuesday.
“Everyone is entitled to the pro
tection of our Constitution, whether
you are an anonymous citizen or
you are famous,” Houze said.
Stoudamire was ready to plead
guilty to a misdemeanor charge in
May, but the Oregon Court of
Appeals ruled that a similar search
in an unrelated marijuanacase was
unconstitutional and Stoudamire
withdrew his plea only to face
more serious charges after pros
ecutors submitted his case to a
grand jury.
Deputy District Attorney Steve
Griffin said he was disappointed,
but he understood the judge was
taking a conservative position
because there were no other cases
in the country dealing with police
routinely searching homes for in
truders without a warrant simply
because a burglar alarm had been
reported.
“We looked everywhere for
other cases, there just w asn't any
thing out there,” Griffin said.
Damon Stoudamire with his father, Willie, at an earlier court
appearance.
(AP photo)
City Plans
Russell
Face Lift
Two views of North Russell
Street give a look of desertion,
but the area bolstered by the
popular McMenamins White
Eagle Tavern and Widmer
Brewing Co. is expected to grow
with the arrival o f a light rail
station.
photo by D avid P i . echi /
T he P ortland O bserver
continued
from Front
“Streetscape design includes
pretty much every thing you would
find on a street,” she told the
group o f neighbors, business
owners, and church members.
"W hat belongs on Russell and
how should those things be ar
ranged?” she asked.
Vanderslice also introduced
the “green tools,” planters, street
trees, flowers and small “pocket
parks" that would give the street
a softer edge.
The addition o f street crossing
and accessibility tools, like cross
walks and curb extensions, were
suggested to make the area safer
for walkers. A lot of people men
tioned they would like to have
some pedestrian scale street light
ing.
Everyone agreed that busi
High School Graduates Honored
Portland’s graduate chapter
o f the first African American
sorority. Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Inc., has honored 10
young women fortheir outstand
ing academic and social contri
butions.
Each year, the sorority con
tacts local high schools seeking
nominations for their “Finer
W omanhood Award.”
T his y ear, the h o norees
w ere not only aw arded c e r
tificates o f app reciatio n , but
receiv ed co lleg e care b a s
kets w hich con tain ed an a s
sortm en t o f gifts from p e r
sonal care products to w rit
ing utensils.
The recipients honored are
M arshae Sylvester, B ridget
Johnson, T iffanie D uBoise,
Alisha Howard, Celeste Jones,
Kim ilia Kent, Bethany M iller,
Claudine Kabera, Aljaree W il
liam s, and L aT asha M arie
Brown
PCC Begins SE Center Expansion
The future is now for Port-
landCom m unityCollege’snew
Southeast Center.
The college is hosting a “wall
razing” cerem ony from 3 to 4
p.m. on W ednesday, Aug. 14
at the site o f the new center,
located at the com er o f South
east 82nd Avenue and D ivi
sion Street. T here will be a
brief cerem ony and photo o p
portunity at 3:15 p.m. when
part o f a vacant building comes
dow n to make w ay for new
construction and rem odeling.
A trackhoe w ith a bucket/
thum b attachm ent will be used
to dem olish a portion o f the
building.
The center, targeted to open
in fall o f 2003, will allow the
college to bring more lower-
division college courses to outer
Southeast, as well as English
as a second language classes,
alternative high school offer
ings, pre-college and profes
sional-technical classes. Stu
dents will be able to com plete
their first year o f college trans
fer courses on site. A pproxi
mately l,400m ore students will
be able to take classes at the
new 94, (XX) square feet cen
ter.
The college purchased the
10.3-acre property for $5.7
m illion, which consists o f a
form er Builder’s Square outlet
and an A lbertson’s grocery
store. Proceeds from a $144
million bond in 2000, and sale
of the current site and other
college property will pay for
the new center. The construc
tion o f the new center is ex
pected to cost about $18 m il
lion.
nesses thriving in the area should
be taken care of.
Some saw a need for more park
ing. Others disagreed, arguingthat
more parking might only bring
more congestion and make the
area less welcoming for pedestri
ans.
b e c o m e m o re p e d e s tr ia n
friendly.
Attendees at the forum effec
tively contributed to 5 different
plans. City Hall will consider those
plans and an advisory board will
approve the final recom m enda
tions for implementation.
Gary Hampton owns a building
and has lived on Russell with his
wife, since 1985.
“We lived here when it was
in d u strial razor w ire around
everyone’s property,” Hampton
said.
He w ould like to see the area
Portland City Council Award
Starts ‘Big Pipe’ Construction
The Portland City Council
has authorized the largest
construction project in city
history with approval o f a
$293 million contract to build
the W est Side C om bined
Sewer Overflow Project, oth
erw ise known as the “big
P ip e ”
The Council approved a
c o n tra c t w ith Im p re g ilo /
Healy Joint Venture, the firm
the city hired last D ecem ber
to com plete the p ro je c t’s
design.
T he plans call for b u ild
ing a4-m ile, 120-foot deep,
14-foot diam eter tunnel that
w ill start at S outhw est C lay
boring m achines that will
build the Big Pipe will be
lowered into the ground at
the Nicolai shaft next spring.
W hen Portland started the
C SO A batem ent Program
11 years ago, the city ’s com
bined sew er system d is
charged an estim ated six bil
lion gallons o f sewage mixed
w ith storm w ater into the
C o lu m b ia S lo u g h an d
W illam ette River each year.
W hen the program is fin
ished in 2011, annual CSO
volum e will be cut to 250-
m illion gallons and C SO
events will be reduced to
four o r five each year.
S treet, run below W aterfront
P ark, and cro ss under the
W illam ette R iver to connect
w ith a new sew age pum p
station on Sw an Island. The
new pum p station w ill be a
circu lar, fiv e-sto ry building,
124 feet in diam eter and 150
feet deep, w ith a pum ping
cap acity o f 220 m illion g a l
lons a day.
W hile m ost o f the big pipe
construction will take place un
derground, the project also in
cludes building five large shafts
along the tunnel alignment.
C onstruction on the Swan
Island and N icolai shafts will
begin this fall. The tw o tunnel
Wilhelmi Takes Helm at Marshall High
John W ilhelmi.currentlyacur-
riculum vice principal at Marshall
High School, has accepted the
position of interim principal at the
southeast Portland school. He re
places Greg Wolleck, who has
accepted the principal position at
Metropolitan Learning Center.
S u p e rin te n d e n t
Jim
Scherzingercalled Wilhelmi an ex
perienced and successful adm in
istra to r, having served both
M arshall and Franklin High
Schools as a vice principal. Prior
to those positions, he worked as
a dean of students and social stud
ies teacher at Jefferson High
School.
call :
Amber Crime Alert Coming to Portland
(AP) — The Portland Police
Bureau says it will soon imple
ment an “Amber Alert" system.
The system uses freeway signs
and instant messages on televi
sion and radio to provide details
about a possible crime. The sys
tem helped find two kidnapped
teenage girls in southern Califor
nia earlierthis week.
According to Brian Schmautz,
spokesman for the Portland Po
lice Bureau, a critical window of
time follows every abduction.
During that time it is vital to spread
information asquickly as possible,
thereby increasing the chance the
person is found safe.
In the case of the missing Or
egon City girls, neither information
about Ashley Pond nor Miranda
Gaddis reached the public right
away. Gaddis' mother says she
thinks the Amber Alert might have
helped find her daughter.
To implement the Amber sys
tem police say they will need the
ciMiperation of local broadcast
ers, which they hope to get this
fall.
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