October 02, 2002
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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(Tin' ^ o rtla n h
ommunity
a le n d a r
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Bewitching Com Maze
Fire Station Opens to Neighborhood Acclaim
Sandy Boulevard location to shorten reaction times for emergency calls
C elebrate the H allow een sea
son roam ing the tw ists and
tu rn s o f th e co rn m a ze at
K ruger’s Farm M arket. This
year’s , m aze features a w itch on
a b ro o m , alo n g w ith o th e r
spooky surprises. Call for de
tails. K ruger’s Farm M arket,
17100 S. W. Sauvie Island Road,
1 !6 m iles straight across the
Sauvie Island Bridge. Call 503-
621-3489.
Urban League Dinner
T he Urban League o f Portland
is having their annual dinner
and auction on T uesday, Oct. 8
at the Portland Hilton Hotel.
T his year the league honors
Senator M argaret C arter for her
past tw o years o f service as the
L eague’s President. K eynote
speaker is internationally known
author M ark M athabane from
South Africa. Call 360-892-7675
or360-910-0216.
Gumbo Extraordinaire
E veryone is invited to a grand
opening celebration for “ Rice
in the M iddle,” a new restau
rant on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 2
- 4 p.m. T here w ill be free cajun
gum bo sam ples, prizes, face
p a in tin g and b allo o n s. T he
event w ill be located at 4 7 1 1 N.
Interstate Ave. Call 503-260-
6877.
Firefighters and neighbors alike are present Friday at the dedication o f a new fire station at 8655 N. E. Sandy Blvd.
Beaverton City Library
This fall, the Beaverton City
Library is sponsoring a series
o f program s to address areas o f
co n cern fo r consum ers. O n
T u esday, O ct. 8, the W ells
F argo H om e M ortgage and
O pen D oor C ounseling C enter
in H illsboro is giving a talk on
“ H ome Buying: U nderstanding
M ortgage and Finances.” It will
be from 6 - 8:30 p.m. C all 503-
644-2197.
Interstate Firehouse
Cultural Center
T he Interstate Firehouse C u l
tural C enter is “roasting” Roy
Jay, D irector o f the A frican
A m erican C ham ber o f C o m
m erce, celebrating this popular
E n tre p re n e u r’s a c c o m p lish
m ents and featuring com pli
m entary cham pagne, coffee and
great desserts. T his is a m ajor
fu n d ra ise rfo rlF C C ’s20 "'an n i
versary season. T he event is on
T uesday, Oct. 29, from 7-9 p.m .,
located at 5340 N. Interstate
Ave. Call 503-823-2070.
Multnomah County
Library
M ultnomah County Library will
expand its Cyber Seniors classes
to six libraries throughout the
Portland area in N ovem ber and
D ecem ber. T he classes are d e
signed for senior citizens with
(¿tie or no com puter experience
and are offered free o f charge.
T he N ovem ber series o f classes
at the Capitol Hill Library, lo
cated at 10723 S.W . Capitol
W ay, Nov. 6 ,1 3 and 20.
by D avid
P lechl and W ynde D \ f . r
T he P ortland O bserver
T he Portland Fire Bureau celebrated the
grand opening o f a new fire station in north
east Portland Friday, with bagpipes, a barbe
cue and a dedication to fal len New York City
firefighters.
Fire C h ief Ed W ilson, num erous em er
gency w orkers andcity officialsjoined neigh
bors for the dedication, post-cerem ony fes
tivities and station tours.
S ta tio n No. 12, a 9 ,3 0 0 -sq u a re -fo o t
“superstation” links state-o f the art design
with a com m unity room and offices forC en-
tral N ortheast N eighbors.
Located at 8655 N . E. Sandy BI vd., it is the
first new station to open in eight years. The
Fire Bureau hopes its location will result in
quicker reaction tim es for fire and m edical
em ergency cal Is on the east side o f Port land.
“T his is one o f the holes in the city w here
w e ’ve had long response tim e,” said Neil
Heesacker, public inform ation officer for the
Fire Bureau. “ W e w ere having 15 to 20
m inute running tim es out here.”
The 12 firefighters w ho will work inrotat-
photo hi wynde dver /T he
ing 24-hour shifts will be one o f the first units
to respond to calls at the airport.
N eighbors are pleased about the location
o f the new station and the incorporation o f
offices for Central N ortheast N eighbors, a
non-profit coalition that assists local neigh
borhood associations.
“ Som etim es people think the city ends at
82nd A ve,” said Bonnie W ebster, a Sum ner
N eighborhood A ssociation m em ber and
com m unity volunteer for 20 years. “ I'm glad
to see the city is finally recognizing w e exist
out here.”
P ortland O bserver
Karen K nauss brought her tw o children
Finn, 3, and O liver, 6 mos., to the opening.
Her kids love fire trucks and she appreciates
the addition o f a positive public building
into a portion o f Sandy Blvd. she describes
as neglected and overrun with strip clubs.
“These firefighters will be positive role
m odels am idst things that are not so posi
tive,” K nauss said.
Station No. 12, builton the site w here City
A uto W recking once stood, is dedicated in
h o n o ro fth e N ew York City Firefighters lost
on Sept. 11,2001.
Lyon’s To Make Way for High Rise Housing Complex
L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
by
L y o n ’s R estaurant, a m ainstay
o f the L loyd D istrict area e n te r
tain m en t quarter, w ill serve its last
m eal on Sunday.
T h e re s ta u ra n t c h a in ’s lease
on th e p ro p e rty at 1215 N .E .
M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr. B o u le
v a rd e x p ire s o n O c t. 10.
TheC.E. John Company, owner o f
the property, and residential developer
Trammel Crow plan to demolish the
building and replace it with a six-story
structure housing 184 market-rate
rental units, ground floor retail and
underground parking.
T he P ortland D esign C o m m is
sion w ill hold a hearing on the
p ro p o sed stru c tu re ’s design, and
five req u ested code adjustm ents,
at 3 p.m . on T h u rsday, O ct. 17, at
1900 S.W . Fourth A ve.
T ram m el C ro w 's Rob H innen
told the Lloyd D istrict C om m unity
A popular local restaurant will be demolished for the construction of new housing.
A ssociation last m onth that the
com p an y expects to rent the units
for S750 to $ 1,300 a m onth.
“G iven that this is right next to
light rail, two stops from dow ntow n
within the fareless zone, it’s very
viable,” he said. “T here’s a desire
for living dow ntow n w ithout deal
ing w ith their traffic levels.”
C.E. John is considering leasing
a restaurant in the low er level o fth e
new building, but spokespeople say
they arc looking for som ething
“m ore upscale” than L yon's.
Manager Rick Luger says Lyon's
staffwill be offered positions at other
restaurants in the ehain. However,
one stall'member says those who do
will be treated as new hires, losing all
accrued benefits.
‘T ve spent 25 years with this com
pany, and 23 o f them have been at
Lloyd Center,” Luger says. “ 1 grew
up there. 1 ’m sad to see it go, but I’in
glad I’ll be there at the end.”
Portland Farmer’s Market
C elebrate H allow een at Port
land Farm ers M arket’s “G reat
Pum pkin E vnet" on Saturday,
Oct. 26, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This
e v e n t c o in c id e s w ith th e
m arket’s final day o f the 2002
season and features free pum p
kins, on-site carving lessons, a
ch ef dem onstration and a pump-
kin pancake breakfast. A H al
low een parade starts at 11 a.m.
Call 503-241-0032.
I
Vote Would Remove Racist Language from Oregon Constitution
(A P ) — “No free negro, or m ulatto, not
residing in this state at the tim e o f the adop
tion o f this constitution, shall com e, reside,
or be w ithin this State, or hold any real
estate,” reads a provision in the Oregon
C onstitution from 1857.
A century and a h a lf later, the passage is
still there.
O n Nov. 5, O regonians will vote on
w hether to rem ove it and other discrim ina
4
tory language.
O regon state Sen. A vel G ordly o f north
east Portland, one o f three A frican A m eri
can legislators, led the effort to delete the
offending passage from the Oregon C onsti
tution.
G ordly said there had been discussions
about rem oving the language since she took
office in 19 9 1, but only in recent years has it
received enough attention to prom pt law-
m ak ersin to action.
A bout 56,000 blacks live in O regon, less
than 2 percent o f the population. Prom inent
A frican A m ericans include Jam es DePreist.
conductor o f the O regon Sym phony, and
Jim Hill, form er state treasurer who cam e in
second in the 2002 D em ocratic prim ary for
governor.
G ordly said no m oney will be spent to
prom ote the m easure, since little resistance
is expected from voters.
“T hese w ords reflected a tim e o f w hite
suprem acist thinking,” she said. “ Hopefully
that tim e is behind us.”
O ver the past four years, about a half-
dozen states have taken steps to expunge
racist constitutional w ording and statutes
that had been virtually forgotten over the
decades.
continued
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