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Exploring Careers After High School
Summer jobs put local students on career path
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See story, Metro section, inside
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXII • Number 34
Wednesday • August 28, 2002
Not In My Neighborhood
Embattled Mediation
Center Draws Support
A bout 100 people representing
a dozen com m unity organiza
tions rallied Saturday at the King
N eighborhood Facility in north
east Portland in support o f the
em battled N eighborhood M e
diation C enter. S e e s t o r y o n
p a g e A 6, i n s id e .
World Summit Leaders
Pledge Action
JO H A N N E SB U R G , South A f
rica — W orld Sum m it on Sus
tainable D evelopm ent partici
pants prom ise that the m eetings
will be about real action to save
the environm ent and com bat
poverty. T he 10-day sum m it
started M onday.
Scholarships Often Help
Students Who Don’t Need It
B O STO N — M erit-based state
scholarships tend to go to co l
lege students w ho are least likely
to need them , and in som e cases
are w idening enrollm ent gaps
betw een w hite and m inority stu
dents, according to a study o f
program s in four states.
Home Sales Jump In July
T he n atio n 's housing m arket
continued to hum sw eetly in
July, lubricated by the low est
m ortgage interest rates in 35
years. N ew hom es last m onth
sold at an annualized rate o f
1.017 m illion, the governm ent
reported. T h at’s up 6.7% from a
revised June rate, and a record
m onthly high.
Farmers’ Almanac: Rough
Winter Predicted
LEW ISTON, M aine— The new
Farm ers’ Almanac recom m ends
snow shoes and a shovel for
much o f the USA this winter.
W hile last y ear’s prediction o f a
rough winter failed to material ize,
the 186-year-old publication is
issing the same forecast for2003.
More Rain Predicted for
Flood-Soaked China
Y U EY A N G , C hina — Surging
floodw aters pushed the giant
Y angtze River to dangerous lev
els, putting a strain on dikes
sh ie ld in g the m e tro p o lis o f
W uhan as storm s dum ped m ore
rain on sodden central China.
H erb J e n k in s g o e s u n a r m e d o n h is p riva te s e c u r ity g u a rd p a tro ls In th e vicinity o f N orth K illingsw orth a n d Albina. “The o n ly th in g yo u c a n d o with a g u n is s h o o t
s o m e b o d y . I h a v e n o in te n tio n s o f t h a t . " h e sa id .
Security officer fights crime with presence and patience
S ean P. N elson and D avid P lechl
TK e P ortland O bserver
Security O fficer H erb Jenkins shakes his
head on a recent Tuesday night as he watches
a man openly sm oke crack cocaine in a
parking lot near the Falcon A partm ents and
the com er o f K illingsw orth and Albina.
“ I told him if he d id n ’t leave, I w as going
to call the police,” Jenkins said.
Sure enough, w ithin m om ents, an officer
arrives and arrests the man.
"I do that routinely,” explains Jenkins.
“On average, I w ould say 10 tim es a w eek.”
Jenkins, 57, isaform er construction worker
w ho is certified in security by the O regon
Dept. o f Safety S tandards and Training, the
by
sam e group that trains Portland police o ffic
ers.
H e w as hired last M ay by Falcon A p art
m ent o w n er Brian W annam aker and lives in
the com plex that lies central to w hat is c o n
sidered to.be a problem area for drug use,
crim e and street drinking.
“T hat co m er has been neglected forever
and it’s the w orst co m er in the neighbor
hood,” said W annam aker. “ I was having
problem s w ith druggies hanging out in the
building and hassling m y tenants.”
He sees Jenkins as a m ore dependable
option to infrequent police patrols.
“A t the end o f the day, I felt a responsi
bility to m ake sure m y tenants had secure
housing,” W annam aker said. “ Herb has
gone beyond his jo b description.”
C arl Flipper o f the H um bolt Target Area
Project is an ardent supporter o f Jenkins.
“A ny crim e is too m uch crim e, and we try
and focus on elim inating all o f it,” Flipper
said.
Flipper sees a handful o f factors that
have contributed to a crim inal atm osphere in
the area. T opping his list are vacant proper
ties, the loss o f a drug free zone designation,
and the loss o f the com m unity contact sta
tion run by Portland police.
Jenkins says he d o e sn 't need to intim i
date on his patrols. He ju st needs to be
present.
“A security guard does tw o things, and
tw o things only,” Jenkins explains, “ob
serve and report. The only thing you can do
with a gun is shoot som ebody. I have no
intentions o f that.”
Jenkins said he has had som e people
arrested 5 or 6 tim es. D espite being their
relentless adversary, m any o f the regular
troublem akers recognize him by nam e. He
alw ays keeps his rapport friendly and re
spectful.
“N obody has ever hassled m e," he said,
“ I ’ ve actually m ade a lot o f friends out here."
Jenkins unique brand o f intervention oc-
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e
AS
Weaver Past Probed For More Victims Daughter of
Profilers study case of two girls killed, other disappearances
(A P )— P o liced o n ’tb eliev e there are any
m ore bodies at the O regon C ity hom e w here
the rem ains o f tw o m issing teenagers w ere
found. But they say they w ill check to see if
the m an w ho rented the house is linked to
other disappearances.
Beth A nne Steele, spokesw om an for the
FBI, says profilers w ill look at the case o f
the return o f the indictm ent and see w hat the
charges are and proceed from there.”
Investigators returned to the property on
M onday w ith high-tech equipm ent and a
backhoe to see if any additional evidence
m ight have been hidden there.
However, Police ChiefG ordon Huirassaid
T uesday on N B C ’s “T oday” that investiga-
dow n the road from W eav er’s hom e in this
Portland suburb.
Som e relatives said they w ere bothered
that the bodies w ere found so close to the
girls’ apartm ent com plex.
“ I get angry because she w as right there
the w hole tim e," said Terri Duffey, M iranda's
aunt.
President Could Attack
Iraq Without Congress OK
CR A W FO R D . Texas — W hite
House lawyers have told Presi
dent Bush he would not need
congressional approval to attack
Saddam H ussein’s Iraq, sources
said. Two senior adm inistration
officials, said W hite House coun
sel Al G onzales advised Bush
earl ier this month that the Consti
tution gives the president au
thority to w age w ar w ithout ex
plicit authority from Congress.
M iranda G a d d is a n d A s h le y P o n d
J e s s ic a M ills (left), a n d A m b e r
M ann, frien d s o f M iranda G addis,
c o m fo r t e a c h o th e r a t a m a k e s h ift
m e m o ria l o n a fe n c e a ro u n d W ard
W e a v e r Ill's r e n te d h o m e in O regon
City. (AP p h o to )
" ’ J W eaver and the tw o teen-agers killed
egon City and com pare it w ith w hat
know about other cases.
/o bodies found in recent days at the
i rented by W eaver w ere identified as
o f 12-year-old A shley Pond and her
1,13-year-old M iranda G addis,
eaver, w ho is 39, is in jail on an u nre
rape charge. Prosecutors say they w ill
in indictm ent from a grand ju ry in the
pping and m urder case.
/e expected this,” said Tim Lyons,
'e r’s attorney. "W e are going to aw ait
a
tors had concluded their search and “w e are
satisfied there are no farth er rem ains on the
property."
H uiras also said police are looking into
w hether W eaver m ight be connected to
other disappearances.
“T h a t'll certainly be som ething the in
vestigators on the task force will continue to
investigate," he said.
H uiras did not elaborate.
A sh ley ’s fam ily last saw her on Jan. 9,
M iranda disappeared M arch 8 from the same
apartm ent com plex, ju st a few hundred yards
*
A uthorities have said that they m oved as
fast as they could to investigate W eaver,
given constitutional lim its on searches.
FBI spokesw om an Beth Anne Steele said
search dogs w ere allow ed in W eaver’s back
yard a few m onths ago.
And FBI Special A gent in Charge Charles
M ath ew s told A B C ’s “G ood M orning
A m erica" on T uesday there w as evidence
“the rem ains located in the shed had not
been there at the tim e the dogs searched.”
c o n tin u e d
on pa g e
Racist Ttirns
to Diversity
Local woman on
mission to correct
abuses of past
by J oy R amos
T he P ortland O bsers er
Rai sed i n a North Carol ina to wn that ’ s
nam ed after a “grand dragon" o f the Klu
Klux Kian. N ancy D orr has led a life o f
correcting the abuses o f her K lansm an
father and her Southern w hite co m m u
nity.
D o rr said sh e w as a w itn e ss to
kidnappings, lynchings and the terro riz
ing o f African A m ericans throughout
her youth. Now she is w orking to right
the w rongs o f the past by helping ed u
cate local youth on m ulticultural ap p re
ciation and diversity.
She established the non-profit H onor
Thy C hildren Foundation in m em ory o f
the victim s from the A tlanta C hild M ur
ders, a high profile investigation o fb lac k
child killings that occurred in th e late
1970s and early 1980s in Atlanta.
Evidence gathered o ver the years has
led D orr to believe that the m urders w ere
part o f a cover-up involving governm ent
officials and Klansm en.
A fter interview ing the parents o f the
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e B 2
AS
i