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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2003)
<E!fc {lortlanò (Obseruer celebrates Black I lisiory Month Page A 8 February os. 2003 City Contracts Wanted continued from Front reach to small and emerging busi nesses; and women and minority- owned businesses. “We need to make sure people know how to do business with the city,” Klobertanz said. Roy Jay, president o f the Afri can American Chamber o f Com merce, applauds the city’s efforts but doesn’t think the proposal goes far enough. He said insurance and registra tion requirements for small busi nesses make it harder for minority firms to compete with the bigger These harriers prevent you from submitting a bid. ft -Roy Jay, African American Chamber of Commerce President outfits. “It doesn’t make sense for a potential contractor to be required to purchase a $1,000 liabi lity policy on a $5,000 job," he said. "T h at’s sort o f defeating the purpose." Jay said the insurance require ments are sometimes waived in much larger contracts, like those o f the downtown parking garages, but are often enforced for smaller con tracts. “ You have to jum p through so many hoops, they put in all these barriers that prevent you from submitting a bid," Jay said. The city has proposed adding two-and-a-half full-time positions to the Bureau o f Purchases O f fices to better connect with mi nority firms and follow a new eight point plan o f improvement. Portland police standby as school closes Tuesday at Whitaker-Lakeside Middle School in north east Portland. The Columbia Boulevard site was reactivated as a school last year when Whitaker on Northeast 39th Avenue, the former John Adams High School, closed for good because o f the dilapidated condition o f the building. Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health A program o l the African American Health Coalition. Inc Sponsored by the CDC (Centeis for Disease Control and Prevention) Wellness Within REACH: Mind, Body, and Soul Activity Calendar M on T u es W ed T hurs Fri Old School Matt Duhman 77 NE Knott Sat Alncan Dance Dance 10:00-11:00am 6JX)-7:OOpm Addo Ktudrxk Salvation Army 5325 N Wilfams, Water Aerobics Waler Aerobics 2:00 - 3:00pm U - . ! 2:00 3:00pm • 9 3 0 -10:30am N k kelson piiotos Wallong Crup Aerobics Aerobics 6:00-7:00 pm 7:30-8:30pm 9.00- 10:00am NiekffMO Keller Kdler (Meet inside the Lloyd Center in Walking Group front of Sears) 1230 pm rNKNcrSOW Malory Avenue Christian Church Aerobics 6307:30pm Nickersot (G jb ) . Parent Outreach Organizer Nell Simien came to chaperone students back and forth from classrooms and bathrooms on Thursday in response to threatening graffiti at the school. Body fondibomng DKonrke Peninsula Park. 700 N Portland Ike didn’t take it as seriously as the media made it out to be. Hampton 7:30-0:30 pm 3535 NE I5tb. Concern Low, Security High — Nell Simien, Parent Outreach Organizer Vug. Nattre'i Whitaker: Aerobics Aerobics 6 3 0 7:30pm 630-7:30pm Nickerson Nickerson 126 NE Alberta "M ust be 21 or ----- — r------ vi.vvn oosisi -vai UGIUIC Ol IUVVII up IU U IO III b 503-413-1850 Please receive approval from your doctor before beginning exercise class. All classes are free of charge! ■ AF ■ ■ Ij'WliHálMi' A frican A m e r ic a n H ea lth C o a litio n , Inc. 2800 N. Vancouver A v e , Suite 100 • Portland. OR 97227 • Phone:503-413-1850 E-mail: kdempsey@aahc-portland.org • Web: www aahc-portland.org F re e H IV m D ave P i echi ./T iif P ortland O bserver Northeast middle school locks down in I response to death threats B y W ynde D ver T he P ortland O bserver Death threats found in graffiti on a bathroom wall at a local middle school were probably a cry for at tention rather than a serious act o f anger, W hitaker M iddle School officials said. But the threats, which said 20 students and a teacher would die on Jan. 30, did not keep the school from going into lockdown by bring ing in uniformed police, security guards and parent chaperones. “Just because this was not o f a T e s t in g in N E P o r t la n d Tuesday and Thursday Evenings 5 :0 0 -8 :0 0 p.m, (last check in a t 7 :3 0 p.m .) NE H ealth Center MLK J r . Blvd. And NE Killingsworth high level ofconeem docs not mean we are not going to implement a high level o f s e c u r ity ,” said W hitaker Principal Tom Pickett. The threats were investigated by both school staff and teams o f police investigators, but no leads have turned up on who wrote the graffiti in an eighth grade g irl’s restroom. Pickett said he has talked to many o f his students and no one seems to know who would have a motive to make the threat. “The k ids are your eyes and your ears in a situation like this,” he said. "The student body knows al I thi ngs that go on with all people and they are telling us they honestly don’t know.” This fact leads Pickett to believe the culprit is a single girl with a low level ofangerand a high desire to get attention. He said there is very little anger between his students and not much gang activity on campus. W hitaker Middle School has a student body o f about 450 stu dents in grades sixth through eighth. Because o f media hype sur rounding the threats, Pickett said attendance on Thursday was be tween 60 and 65 percent. “ Parents got concerned," he said. "People thought we had a danger ous situation because the media almost predicted that a huge crime was about to happen. All the news stations made the incident seem considerably larger than it is.” But Parent Outreach Organizer Nell Simien, who came with other parent volunteers to chaperone students around on Thursday, said most parents she knew did not take it very seriously. “We came not because we were scared, but because we care,” Simien said. If the school does catch the per son responsible for the threatening writings, Pickett said they would be dealt with as school rules dictate. “The good thing about school discipline is that punishment al ways comes with a set o f helps,” Pickett said. “The student will have to deal with the consequences o f her actions, but we will do our best to help make her into a more pro ductive student. This is obviously a very bright kid - the graffiti was done in very good handwriting." Pickett said T hursday w ent smoothly and that tension was low. Hall monitors were eating pizza w hen the good new s cam e - Whitaker moved up from last year’s low rating on the State Schools Report Card to a satisfactory rat ing. Also, 84 percent o f W hitaker teachers have committed to a three- year school reform program that will allow the school to receive supplemental funding. “I’d prefer to focus on the posi tive things,” Pickett said. (Enter in rear door near Emerson, go to 2nd flo o r) Se habla espanol los M artes For more information on H IV qnd testing Call the Oregon A ID S Hotline 1 -8 0 0 -7 7 7 -A ID S A Whitaker Middle School students plastered the walls with positive signs to counter any hateful words or thoughts. Multnomah County Health Department Portland's Forecast: (old and flu likely. According to Surveillance Data Inc., your city has just been p u fo n alert for respiratory illness - which means the worst o f cold and flu season * about to hit Be prepared. Stock up now. A n d visit w v y w vtcks.com for weekly cold and flu updates ’ Excellent chance of relief. I