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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2002)
50f¿ Cementing Ties with Minority Businesses Interstate Max tests TriMet’s ability too work with disadvantaged firms See story in our Minority Enterprise Development Week special edition, inside lîln rtla n h (©tiseruer jn cn c' ‘City of Roses www.portlandobserver.com www.Dortlandobser Pctahlichpd Established in in I97n 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXII • Number 40 Wednesday • October 09, 2002 Devoted to Miracles Social club fights to stay open by W ynde D yer T he P ortland O bserver Sniper Attacks Terrorize Maryland I I M'JRDER SPREE MYSTERY Former Portland Police C hief Charles Moose is the top law enforcement officer in Mont gomery County, Md., where a strin g o f d e a d ly sn ip e r shootings goes unsolved. See related story on page A2. Former N.Y. Police Commlsh to Lead LAPD LOS ANGELES— FormerNew York City police commissioner William Bratton has been se lected as the new chief o f the Los Angeles Police Department, city officials said. Deep Divide on Iraq Response UNITED NATIONS — Russia criticized the draff U.S. resolu tion on Iraq, saying the docu ment is an unnecessary delay in the return o f weapons inspec tors. Meanwhile, British Prime MinisterTony Blair said inspec tors must get access to Saddam Hussein’s palaces. Breakthrough In Malaria Treatment Elontene Banks started shooting drugs when she was nine years old. Jean Davis wandered through a life o f crime and methamphetamine addiction be fore landing herself in prison. Gloria Reed was a drug addict for more than 22 years. The paths o f these three women crossed. Not on the streets during a drug deal, but while in recovery inside the safe walls o f the M iracles Club. It’s a place where miracles really do happen, club members say. But after 10 years o f service in north and north east Portland to a largely African-American membership, the drug-and-alcohol-ffee so cial club on the com er o f Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Mason may face closure or relocation because o f neigh borhood complaints and zoning issues. If we loose our building, a lot o f people will loose their lives,” Reed said. Miracles Club might have saved Reed's life. She has attended Narcotics Anony mous meetings and social events at Miracles for nine years and has been a member o f the volunteer board for five. After kicking her habit, Reed went back to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor. Davis also ended the cycle o f addiction when she started coming to Miracles eight years ago. Banks, who has been drug-free for six years, can say the same. She’s visited Miracles every day since it opened. She is grateful children can play pool and video games or eat hot dogs and candy at the Miracles Club snack bar manager “Junior G ’ and patron Claudia Pepin take a break outside the northeast Portland social club. The drug and alcohol free facility is in a battle over land use regulations and neighborhood complaints. PHOTO BY W Y N D E snack bar while their parents attend daily Alcoholics Anonymous and NA meetings. On Friday night, Banks brings her kids in for the weekly dance. “Where else can mothers on fixed in comes bring five or six kids,” she said. AN ALTERNATIVETO ADDICTION Before Miracles, many recovering ad dicts had to drive to Vancouver to attend drug-and-alcohol-free social events at the Personality Club. Another obstacle for re covering African Americans was that very few 12-step programs in the Portland area were ethnically diverse. The Miracles site has provided a safe environment for recovering addicts to so cialize and establish support communities since 1994. The facility offers a small conference room for meetings and a large social room with pool tables, a dance floor, a stage and a snack bar. Miracles is open from 7 a.m. well into the evening seven days a week and 24- hours a day during holidays when the threat D y ER/T h E PO RTLAND O B SER V E R o f relapse is most likely. There is a strict policy on sobriety and children are always welcome. “W e really provide a unique service for people who are struggling,” said Miracles Club Secretary Marvis Brown. "The recov ering community has a long arm. W e reach out to everybody - not just people with addictions, but sufferers o f domestic abuse and at risk youth, also. We offer resources, continued on page A8 City Council Candidates Visit Applegate An international team o f scien tists has achieved a break through that is expected to lead to the successful prevention and treatment o f malaria, a disease that kills 2.5 million people and infects 500 million each year worldwide. Event introduces kids to politics, encourages parents to vote FDA Renews Sprout Warning photos by D avid Federal health officials renewed i warnings that raw or even lightly cooked sprouts can cause seri ous food poisoning. The FDA reissued its warning because o f a late-summer E. coli outbreak in California caused by alfalfa sprouts. Gulf Coast Prepares for Lill NEW IBERIA, La. — Packing 110 mph wind, Hurricane Lili gained strength and churned toward the G ulf Coast, where residents braced for the second majorstorm inaweek. Louisiana ordered a state o f emergency, and thousands o f residents be gan e v a c u a tin g to h ig h e r ground. Bomb Kills U.S. Sollder In Phllllpines ZAMBOANGA, P h ilip p in e s- An explosion near an army camp where U.S. soldiers have been staying killed three people, in cluding an American, and in jured at least 25, offn witnesses said. P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver Serena Cruz and Randy Leonard field questions from students at Applegate Elementary. The city council candidates visited the north Portland school to introduce children to politics and encourage parents to vote. by D avid P lechl /T he P ortland O bserver Portland City Council candidates Serena Cruz and Randy Leonard made an appearance at Applegate elementary school Thursday to introduce kids to the political process. Taking time out o f a busy schedule made more hectic by a November election runoff, Cruz and Leonard stressed the importance o f good decision making to the students o f the north Portland elementary. tThe two candidates entertained pointed questions from a group o f student panelists representing each grade. “You are the future leaders o f America,” Cruz told the kids, who were a little unsure of what to make o f the two. The appearance was part o f the Vote For Children campaign designed to register more parents to vote. Students were given a home work assignment to find out if their parents are registered. If not, parents could come to the school and register on-site. Leonard stressed the importance o f fund ing for schools and told students to trust their gut when making choices in life. “I call it the tummy test,” said Leonard. “If your tummy hurts when you’re making a decision, you probably shouldn’t do it.” Cruz, who lives in the Boise neighbor hood, has stressed the importance o f com m unity safety and affordable housing throughout her campaign. “If w e’re safe because we lock every body up, that is one community I don’t want to live in,” she said. Cruz was instrumental in forming the Gang Violence Prevention Task Force with Port land police and the northeast community. The candidates are running for the coun cil post vacated by Charlie Hales who has taken a job in the private sector. Leonard is a 24 year veteran o f the Port land Fire Bureau and has served 9 years in the Oregon Legislature, representing east Portland since 1993 in both the House and the Senate. Applegate Principal Abby Meyers was happy the two could visit. The registration effort at the school already produced 22 new registered voters among parents. “W e’re actually registering people on site,” Meyers said. The last day to vote in the election is Tuesday, Nov. 5 when mail ballots must be received by election officials no later than 8 p.m. Postmarks will not count. Coalition Sets Table for Health Fair A m ajo r ca m p a ig n to im p ro v e the h ealth o f local resid en ts tak es p la ce S atu rd ay , O ct. 22 w hen the 7lh annual A frican A m erican n z» n nesg V illag e is held at the r B oys and G irls C lub on least M artin L uther K ing Jr. :v ard , from 9 a.m . - 4 p.m . e A frican A m erican H ealth tion is sp o n so rin g the free t as an in n o v a tiv e , ed u ca- 1 app ro ach to red u ce m ajo r tic d ise ase s like d ia b etes, ilic a tio n s fro m lo n g -te rm tin g and ca rd io v a sc u la r dis- ore than one tho u san d people expected to atten d . T h e fo cu s is on p re v e n tin g fu tu re h ealth p ro b lem s. H ealth care p ro fe ssio n a ls w ill o ffe r d en ial and sc reen in g w o rk ; b lood lead level testin g ; an em ia testin g ; foot m a ssag e and foot care; and v isio n and h earin g tests. A b lood m o bile; d o o r p rizes, m u sic and m ore w ill also be p art o f the event. T he exhibitors will include K ai ser P erm an en te, O reg o n H ealth S c ie n c e s U n iv e r s ity , L e g a c y E m an u el H o sp ital, the S usan G. K om en F o u n d atio n and the Eli L illy an d C o. T ak in g a cu ltu rally sp ecific a p p roach to reaching the b lack co m m unity, the co a litio n is also h o st ing a k ic k o ff ev en t for up to 50 b lack p asto rs from th e P o rtlan d area, en c o u rag in g them to p ro vide health ed u catio n to their c o n g reg atio n s. T h e g ro u p w ill m eet on T u esd ay , O ct. 15 at L egacy E m anuel H o sp ita l’s atrium , from 6:30 p m .-8 :3 0 p .m . Rev. B raxton from Mt. Z io n in S eattle is the sp ecial g u est sp eak er. “ W e know th ro u g h ed u catio n and in te rv e n tio n s th at w e can save lives an d turn the sta tistic s o n th is m in o r ity p o p u la tio n a ro u n d ,” said C o rliss M cK eev er, A frican A m erican H ealth C o a li tio n p resid en t. Corliss McKeever (left) and Dora Asana of the African American Health Coalition, are busy making plans for a free community health fair at the Blazer Boys and Girls Club on Saturday. Oct. 22. photo by M ark W ashwcton /T he P ortland O bserver I
