Locals Find Adventure at Sea
Qweenie Samuel enjoys * African Attire Night' on hoard
the Carnival cruise ship Destiny.
see story, Page as .
i
"The City Of Roses"
B E R L IN — An Iraqi opposition group
said it occupied the Iraqi Embassy and
called fo r the overthrow o f the country' s
leader, Saddam Hussein. Police moved
in force to the embassy and scaled o ff
the street around it.
Israel Hands Over
Bethlehem to Palestinians
B E T H L E H E M , West Bank — Israeli
tro o p s began w ith d r a w in g fr o m
Bethlehem as Israel and the Palestin
ians took steps to carry out the firs t
security agreement reached w ithout U.S.
help in nearly tw o years. The deal is
seen as a test fo r Israel to possibly hand
to Palestinians other towns.
Study Finds Flu Shots
OK for all Adults
P H IL A D E L P H IA — Despite the cost,
even healthy adults benefit from an
annual flu shot because they d o n 't lose
as much w ork tim e and they spend less
on treatment, according to a study in
Annals o f Internal Medicine.
Pope Says Mass as
Trip Home Ends
K R A K O W , Poland— Pope John Paul II
concluded his nostalgic jo u rn e y home
w ith a Mass at a mountain monnsterv
where he and his father prayed. Some
60,000 people chanted, "Y o u r people
welcome you, John Paul II." M ore than
2 m illio n Poles greeted the Pope.
U.S., Russia Tussle Over
Anthrax
S E R P U K H O V , Russia — Russia has
repeatedly balked at turning over a ge
netically engineered strain o f anthrax
that is resistunt to vaccines. U.S. o f f i
cials w o rry thut the strain may defeat
inoculations given to troops and m edi
cal workers.
Wednesday
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Established in 1970
Volume XXXII
Number 33
Dissidents Take
Over Iraq’s Berlin Embassy
wwM.portIandobserver.com
A ugust 21, 2002
Air Commander Watches Over the West
Portland pilot
gets outside
comfort zone
to find success
by D avid P i . echl
T he P ortland O bserver
N ational Guard A ir Base Com m ander
C olonel G arry Dean wanted to be a doctor
when he was a kid. But w h ile studying
medicine in college, he was given achance
to take a flig h t in a F -15 fig h te r jet.
" I t was one o f those incentives to keep
you m otivated," Dean told The Portland
Observer in an exclusive in te rvie w from
the a ir base he commands in northeast
Portland.
That firs t heart-stopping ride kept Dean
m otivated all right, but it also chunged the
d irection o f his m otivation.
It set him on a new path and it no longer
in vo lve d medicine. He wanted to fly jets,
Today, Dean runs the nation’ s 142nd
A ir W in g , supervising 1.000 men and
women and 10 pilots responsible fo r round-
the-clock a ir defense o f the entire P acific
Northwest. He is the first American A m e ri
can to comm and the Portland base.
Dean is thankful that his grandfather
helped put him on his career path by stress
ing the importance o f setting goals.
Even i f you come up short, his grandfa
ther told h im , yo u ’ ll s till be close.
His m entor also stressed a good educa
tion.
"N o b o d y can argue w ith results. Those
grades get you in the door. Take advun-
continued
on page A3
Col. Garry Dean commands the men and women who protect the Pacific Northwest airspace out o f the National
Guard's 1 4 2 "' Air Wing in Portland.
photo by D avid P i . echl /T he P ortland O bserve r
Sept. 11 Tested Portland Fighter Pilots
by D avid P i . echi ,
T he P ortland O bserver
T w e n ty -fo u r hour air defense o f the
P acific N orthw est is the first and prim ary
mission o f the Oregon A ir Guard, a mission
that hasn’ t changed in over 50 years.
The base keeps tw o fighters on alert at
all times. Its F - 15 fig h te r jets cun be up in
the a ir in a m atter o f minutes.
That mission was tested Sept. 11 when
three hijacked plunes were used as bom b
ing weapons touttack Am erica on the Eust
Coast.
W h ile still at home in Portland, w atch
ing the second plane h it the W o rld Trade
Center in New Y ork, Dean had the "screws
tu rn in g " and security tightening at the
base in Portland. He ordered un immediate
set up o f 24-hour command posts und
brought ull fig h te r jets to fu ll alert status.
H is crews scrambled to intercept any
plane that was in the a ir w ithout proper
id e n tificatio n and comm unications.
One fig h te r je t q u ic k ly intercepted a
China A irje tlin e ro n a n unaccounted flig h t
continued
on page A3
$ K ld s Find Marijuana Easy to Buy
W A S H IN G T O N — Few teenagers say
' they've tried m urijuuna, but teens say
i t ’ s easier to purchase than cigarettes or
beer, according to the N ational Center
on A d d ictio n and Substance Abuse. It
marked the firs t tim e since the study
began six years ago that marijuana edged
out cigarettes and beer as easier buys
Gardens for Early Head Start Dedicated
Rashon and Sydnei step onto the
playground at a new garden park
for the Early Head Start Family
Center on North M ississippi
Avenue, ju s t north o f Skidmore.
fo r kids.
Four-year-old Calif. Girl Found
Willie Mae Turner is accompanied
by her son, Fred Flowers and his
wife, Regina (far left), at
Thursday's dedication o f the Willie
Mae Turner M ississippi Avenue
Children’s Corner. The site serves
as a garden park for Early Head
Start kids. It was named In
Turner's honor for her many years
o f service as a community
volunteer and advocate for
children.
LOS A N G E L E S --A 4 -y e a r-o ld girl who
disappeared from a city park had a jo y fu l
reunion w ith her fa m ily after she turned
up at a medical c lin ic com plaining o f a
sore throat. She was d irty und barefoot,
and her hair had been cut short, but
authorities say she wus unharmed.
Palestinian Officials
Say Abu Nldal Is Dead
R A M A L L A H , West Bank— AbuNidal,
the Palestinian renegade whose name
became a byw ord fo r international ter
rorism , was found dead in Baghdad,
Palestinian o fficia ls said. A bu N id a l's
body was found three days ago w ith
several bullet wounds, and the assump
tion is he com m itted suicide.
Florida Leaves Chads Behind
On Sept. 10, the Florida pri niary w il I mark
the first statewide election since the
voting debacle o f 21XX). Florida hits made
broad changes since then. The 30-yeur-
old punch-card technology that was
used is now banned.
photos by M ark
W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
The Early Head Sturt Fam ily Center o f
Portland dedicated tw o new garden parks
on N orth M ississippi Avenue Thursday.
The parks were completed in June fo r
children in the neighborhood and fam ilies
in the Early Heud Start program. They are
named in honor o f W illie Muc Turner, a
longtim e Boise Neighborhood resident
who has been an active volunteer advo
cate fo r children in north and northeast
Portland fo r muny years.
The $225.(XX) project was made pos
sible by donations from the Glen Boyd
tion.
The Early Head Start center serves low -
income fam ilies in north, northeast and
Foundation, the B ill und M elinda Gates
Foundation und the Fred M eyer Founda-
southeast neighborhoods w ith education
programs, health and social services.
Slavery Compensation Called Long Overdue
(A P ) — Hundreds o f A frica n A m e ri
cans rallied in front o f the C apitol on Sat
Farrukhan. one o f several speakers at a
ra lly organizers b ille d as " M illio n s fo r
Miss. “ I f it's grounded in the people, it w ill
be victo rio u s."
urday to demand slavery reparations, say
ing thut compensation is long overdue fo r
Reparations." ""W e are just demanding
what is ju s tly ours."
W h ile F a rra k h a n und Rep. John
Conyers, D -M ich ., did attend, many major
Conyers, who has proposed a com m is
sion to study the institution o f slavery fo r
the past 13 years, urged the crow d to
the ills o f that institution.
" I t seems that A m erica owes black
people a lo t fo r what we have endured,"
N ation o f Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
told the crow d. "W e cannot settle fo r some
little jiv e token. We need m illio n s o f acres
o f land that black people can b u ild ."
"W e 're not begging w hite people," said
«
names in the black c iv il rights movement
were absent, including the Rev. Jesse Jack-
son and the Rev. A l Sharpton.
"T he people on the ground arc the ones
we want to give exposure to ." suid one
speaker, Hannibal A frik , 6X. o f Port Gibson,
I
pressure Congress.
"O n ly the Congress can do what we
want done." Conyers said. Lawmakers are
now on their summer break u n til Septem
ber.
continued
on page A3
Demonstrators hold hands in a
circle before joining a rally in
Washington, D.C. for slavery
reparations. (AP photo)
(