(Ehr ÿlnrtlanb (Observer
Page A6
August 28, 2002
Forum to Address Police Interaction
Public input is wanted for
policy recom m endations to
the Portland Police Bureau
for im proving services and
com m unity partnerships.
P o rtlan d ’s Independent
Police Review com m ittee is
sponsoring tw o public fo
rum s on “C itizen-Police In
teraction after 12 years o f
Community Policing.”
The forum s are sched
uled on T hursday, Sept. 12
at K a ise r P e rm a n e n te ’s
Tow n Hall E ducation and
Conference Center, 3704 N.
Interstate A ve., from 6 p.m .
to 9 p.m. and on W ednesday,
Sept. 18 at the M ultnom ah
C enter, 7688 S.W . C apitol
H w y., from 7 p.m . to 9 p.m .
W hile the C R C w elcom es
hearing about the concerns
and issues o f community m em
bers, they w ould particularly
invite the public to consider
the follow ing general q u es
tions to guide the discussion:
W hat role do the police have
in your com m unity? If there
w as one change you could
m ake in how the P ortland.
Police interact w ith m em
bers o f your com m unity,
w hat w ould it be?
All m em bers o f the com
munity interested in com m u
nity policing efforts and citi
zen-police interaction are in
vited and encouraged to a t
tend.
For more information, visit
th e IP R w e b s ite at:
www.ci.portland.Qr.us/
auditor/ipr or contact C’ itizen
Review Com m ittee m em ber
T.J. B row ning at 503-231 -
1319.
Northeast Portland's Neighborhood Mediation Center draws support from Bob Boyer (from left),
director of the King Facility; Sumner Sharpe, a local resident; Lucinda Tate, a Mediation Center
volunteer and representative of the Rainbow Coalition; Elaine Walsh, a mediation center advisory
commissioner; Margaret Strachan, a former member of the Portland City Council; and Eddie
Collins, acting Mediation Center director.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Embattled Mediation
Center Draws Support
B y L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
About 100 people repre
senting a dozen com m unity
organizations rallied Saturday
at the King N eighborhood
Facility in northeast Portland
in support o f the embattled
N e ig h b o rh o o d M e d ia tio n
C enter.
The group is fighting ef
forts by the Portland Office
o f N eighborhood Involve
m ent, the parent agency o f
the m ediation program, under
th e
d ire c tio n
o f Jim
Francesconi, to have the ser
vices o f the 21 -year-old pro
gram contracted out to a pri
vate agency.
City officials have stated that
the Portland center is not cost-
effective and does not make
good use o f volunteers, com-
pared to comparable programs
in other cities.
Supporters of the mediation
center counter that these as
se rtio n s have nev er been
proven. They argue that the
current system keeps media
tion services free to the public,
unlike our legal system where
people with the most money
often get the greatest benefits.
Consultant and mediation
supporter Sumner Sharpe ac
cused the city o f “comparing
apples and oranges and calling
them all pears.”
Sharpe called the current
action “a solution in search o f a
problem.”
Representatives o f the Rain
bow Coalition, the NAACP and
the A. Phillip Randolph Insti
tute, as well as City Council
Candidate Nick Fish, spoke to
the value o f the current pro
gram.
Another supporter, Holly
Wells, criticized the city’s ar
guments and procedures for
putting mediation services out
to bid.
Sharpe and others also ac
cused Francesconi of failing to
keep a promise to speak with
them again before issuing the
bid.
The move to contract out
m ediation services has a l
ready been passed by the
Portland City Council as part
o f the city budget process.
But M ayor Vera Katz has
said that she has not made up
her mind on the contracting
proposal.
Commissioner Erik Sten is
also studying the issue, accord
ing to an aide.
County Alert for West Nile Virus
Multnomah County is participat
ing in a mosquito monitoring system
to detect West Nile virus, a disease
sp reading across A m erica
since an outbreak three years
ago on the East Coast.
V ecto r control pro
gram s in the Portland
area and across the
s ta te w ill use
f ie ld - c a p tu r e d
mosquitoes and
chicken blood
samples to
te st for
West Nile
virus, as well
as St. Louis and
W estern Equine
Encephalitis.
West Nile virus, closely related to
St. Louis Encephalitis, first appeared in the
United States in 1999.
To date, the virus has been detected in 33
states, as far west as North Dakota and
Texas and has the poten
tial to spread west.
Wild birds are the prin
ciple reservoirs o f mos
quito-borne encephalitic vi
ruses. Mosquitoes feed on
infected birds and then
transmit the virus to hu
mans and animals.
Lillian M. Shirley,
director of
the
M ultnom ah
County Health De
partment, said county
commissioners recog-
n ized early on that the
West Nile virus was
a public health issue
o f high importance
and allocated resources to aid in
prevention efforts.
“To date, \yc have not found
West Nile Virus in the region’s
mosquitoes and will continue our vigilant
and coordinated approach,” Shirley said.
African Americans
arc dying at higher rates than
whites from heart disease.
which him ks Ihc blond
vessels to cause heart
aiiacks, strokes, oi high
blood pressure, ranks as
Private School Requires Laptops
Catlin Gabel, a private school in south
west Portland, announced that beginning
this fall, all upper school students will be
required to own a laptop com puter. The
independent school said financial aid pay
m ent plans are available to all o f its
students.
“ By requiring all upper school students
to own a laptop, Catlin Gabel will level
the playing field for students, w hether
they live in high tech households with
m ultiple computers or households with
little or no com puter equipm ent,” said
Catlin G abel’s Emily Jones,
The school sees laptops as m ore than
mobile word processors.
Students will use the m achines in ev
ery classroom , between classes and at
home to access the software and the
c o m p u te r p la tfo rm s u se d in a rt,
science, language, English and technol
ogy classes.
«ru*
have to...
Prevention works. Get screened.
Ask your doctor about cardiovascular disease today.
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It’s our right.
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
Advertise with diversity in
ît!' |Jort lañó (Pbseruer
™
call 503.288.0033
(»I email ailsiu poillniulobsci'vci emu
»
2800 N. Vancouver A venue-S uite 100
Portland, Oregon 97227
Phone: 503-413-1850
www.aahc-portland.org
CtVH
Made potiibie by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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