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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
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‘City of Roses
www.portlandobserver.com
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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