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Black Actor in Bicentennial Role
Only African American in OMSI documentary shares his views.
See story, Metro Section, inside.
‘City of Roses'
ISnrtlanh (Observer
Established in 1970
Volume XXXII • Number 36
w w w .portlandobserver.QQm
C om m itted to C ultural D ive rsity
Wednesday • September II. 2002
From Gangs to Grace
Area Kids Enjoy
Pacific Youth Camp
Bystanders say
ambulance delayed
by police action,
not crowd
A group o f kids from the Port
land area enjoyed a vacation on
the Oregon Coast, thanks to the
northeast Portland youth pro
gram “Reaching in Serving Kids”
or RISK. See related story on
F elica L. S lider
P ortland O bserver
by
page A3, inside.
* Cocaine on Florida
Governor Bush’s Daughter
ORLANDO— Gov. Jeb Bush’s
daughter was found with co
caine at a rehabilitation center
where she is undergoing drug
treatment, police said. Police
were called to the Center for
Drug Free Living in Orlando,
where workers gave them a sub
stance they said they found on
Noelle Bush, 25.
Janet Reno, Others Face
Tough Primary
MIAMI — Janet Reno made a
last-minute pitch to voters as
she tried to stop political novice
Bill McBride from pulling offa
major upset in the race for the
Democratic nomination forgov-
em or o f Florida. In all, 12 states
wi 11 select candidates for gover
nor, House and Senate.
Europe Wants U.N. on Iraq
Foreign leaders pushed for a
non-m ilitary solution as the
Bush administration finalized a
proposal to offer the United
Nations later this week for deal
ing with Saddam Hussein. U.S.
allies warned that any go-it-
alone action by W ashington
could create a dangerous prece
dent and further enflame Arab-
Israeli tensions.
Arafat Calls for
Elections in January
RAMALLAH, West Bank —
Yasser Arafat told the Palestin
ian parliament that he condemns
“every act o f terror against Is
raeli civilians” and called for new
elections in January. He also
said he is willing to give up
executive power, but it was not
clear whether or he was serious.
■j-.i
Nicole “Nicky" Taylor, author o f “Ask Nicky: A Young Person's Workbook for Building Dreams."
Woman gives back after destructive gang life
D avid P lechl
T he P ortland O bserver
by
N icole “N icky” Taylor wants people to
know the truth about life in inner city
gangs.
The 30-year-old, single mother o f one,
grew up in northeast Portland. She was “just
a kid” when her father left a home where
drinking and drug use had become the norm.
At 13, Nicky felt alone, abandoned, and
set out on making a name for hersel f. But how
she chose to pursue her dreams was violent,
hurtful, and downright dangerous.
In 1987, Nicky said she wantedasweet 16
party that she "would never forget.”
And she never would forget it, but not in
the happy way she had imagined.
Nicky invited 40 o f her best friends to the
party, but news o f the celebration traveled
fast.
continued
on page .48
continued
on page A 8
Game honors Local African Americans
WASHINGTON— The number
o f people who were victims ofall
violent crimes except murder fell
by 9 percent in 2001, sending the
crime rate to its lowest level since
it was first tracked in 1973, the
government reported.
Mutual Funds Dying
Off at Record Rate
Sept. 11 Anniversary
Brings Action Pledge
ee Craig-Arnold of northeast Portland takes a pledge from Oregon Red Cross
Kecutive Sue Hildick in a Portland Fire and Rescue ceremony Monday that
icouraged people to observe the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks
/ preparing for emergencies at home and taking action to build a safer,
ore secure future. Craig-Arnold's son, Maurice “Meaux" Craig, a former
irtland resident, narrowly survived the attacks on the twin towers o f the
odd Trade Center in New York.
photo by
«
At 10 p.m. on the night o f the party, she
counted about 125 people, most o f them
were older teens and friends o f friends.
Among those in attendance were mem
bers ofboth the Bloods and the Crips. Nicky
had friends in both gangs. She didn't think
it was a problem. To her knowledge, no one
had been shot and killed and “most o f the
conflict was just talk.”
Witnesses are disputing police ac
counts o f a deadly shooting in the early
morning hours o f Sunday, Sept. 8.
Anthony Duane Brown, 25, died o f
gunshot wounds in the vicinity ofN orth-
east Russell Street, near Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard. His death was de
clared shortly after 3 a.m.
No one has been named as a suspect
in the murder.
B y s ta n d e r s
tell the Portland
O b se rv e r th a t
attempts to bring
medical help to
B row n, as he
w as sp ra w le d
across a side- Anthony
walk and drive- Duane Brown
w ay, was hin
dered by police action.
Police reported that a crowd o f people,
estimated as many as 300, blocked access
to the body.
However, several people who talked
to the Portland Observer on the morning
o f the incident say the crowd was closer
to 75 and was cooperative.
Some o f the witnesses had spilled out
into the street from an after-hours party at
Doris’ Lounge on Russell.
“There was no confrontation whatso
ever between police and bystanders, ac
tually, just the opposite, people were
trying to help,” said one o f the witnesses.
“The only people blocking the inter
section were the police and patrol cars
themselves,” said Alicia Byrd.
Another witness said he asked the
Vanport Classic Saturday
Violent Crime Rate
In USA on the Decline
A record number o f mutual funds
are headed in a new direction:
oblivion. Since the bear market
began in March 2000,414 stock
mutual funds have been liqui
dated, says M omingstar, the
mutual fund tracker. That’s half
the liquidations in its database.
Witnesses
Dispute
Shooting
Accounts
4
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bse r \
er
J
Portland State University will host North
Carolina A&T for the second Vanport Invi
tational at PGE Park Saturday. Kickoff is
scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
The football game pays tribute to the
people o f Vanport, a town washed away by
Columbia Riverfloodwaters in 1948. Ithoused
thousands o f African Americans and was
the site of Vanport College, now PSU.
The Vanport Invitational celebrates the
diversity o f the Portland community while
paying tribute to the college’s unique past
and its present as O regon’s most diverse
and largest university. ,
“The Vanport Invitational provides a
unique opportunity for PSU to celebrate the
early days o f the university as well as the
contributions o f African Americans to the
city o f Portland and the state o f Oregon,"
said PSU President Daniel O. Bemstine.
Portland State will go into the game at 1 -
0 after a season-opening win over Stephen
F. Austin, 31 -23 iri PGE Park. North Carolina
A&T is a member o f the Mid-Eastern Ath
letic Conference and is coming o ff an 8-3
season.
Once again, an outstanding marching
band. N CA T’s “Blue and Gold Marching
Machine” will perform at halftime.
Last year's Vanport Invitational was truly
a classic as 15th-ranked Grambling State and
16th-ranked Portland State played a game
decided on the final play. Grambling State
won 30-29 oq a two-yard quarterback boot
leg on the final play. A season-high crowd
o f 16,171 attended the game and was thrilled
not only by the play but by the Tigers
Marching Band halftime show.
Sportswear giant Nike has gotten behind
the Vanport Invitational this year, sponsor
ing the game with the intention o f m aintain
ing it as a long-term Portland event. Nike has
purchased 750 game tickets that it is contrib
uting to the Portland Trailblazers Boys and
Girls Club, Self Enhancement Inc., and the
African American ChamberofCommerce.
Established in 1942, Vanport City, lo
cated just north o f Portland, was O regon’s
second largest city and the largest federal
housing project in the United States.
V anport City, built on the flood plains
o f the Colum bia River slough, provided
more than jo b s to thousands o f w artim e
laborers w orking in the local shipyards.
Vanport offered m any people the oppor
tunity to leave the poverty and inequities
o f the South to pursue a better life in the
N orthw est.
In addition, Vanport was also a huge
social experiment with its own fire depart
ments, libraries, police and schools, includ
ing VanportCollege.
More than 25,000 o f the city’s residents
were African-Americans. Vanport College
was founded in 1946 with the intent o f serv
ing many o f Vanport’s residents.
continued
on page A 8
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