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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2003)
50/ Black History Month World Class Celebrated dance troupe returns to Portland See feature stories, inside See story, Metro section inside City of Roses Established In 1970 Volume XXXIII • Number 9 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • February 26. 2003 Lincoln Dream Team IRS bills homeless man $6 million I fSalem, Ore. resident John Ranier had made enough money to owe the federal tax agency $6 million, he probably wouldn’t be home less. The Internal Revenue Ser vice mistakenly handed him a big bill, claiming he needed to pay nearly $6 million. To owe that much. Ramer, who travels the Sa lem city streets on a mountain bike, would have to have earned about $ 15 million in one year, Coach Berry inspires excellence Budget cuts call for drastic measures A school administrator in Dollar Bay, Mich, has proposed a job cut - his'own - to help the district fight a growing budget deficit. Super intendent Robert Barrette said he plans to recommend eliminating his position. “I cost money," Bar rette said. “I’ve looked at every- Jhing else but there’s just not a lot Jo cut in our budget.” B y W ynde D yer T he P ortland O bserver The southwest hills o f Portland are a far cry from the small town o f Galesburg, III. where Troy Berry grew up or even the inner eastside o f Portland where he played ball for Benson High School. But as the head boys varsity basketball coach at Lincoln High, Berry knows how to put him self in his ele ment. “I'm a black coach up here in a school without a lot o f black students - but I’ve got a job to do and I take my job very seriously,” Berry said. “I want to teach these kids the direct relationship between life and basket ball I want to prepare them to be successful young men on and o ff the court.” Lincoln athletes might learn from Berry's example. He grew up playing various sports in Galesburg - a town o f about 35,000 where sports were so ingrained in the fabric o f life that residents had to buy season tickets a year in advance order to get a seat at a high school basketball game. “It was a great time,” Berry said. “The whole community got involved in sports - and not just high school sports. They came out for little league, junior high school bas ketball, you name it.” After his family moved to northeast Port land, it w asn’t long before Berry led the Benson varsity basketball team to the state title in 1981 They won the game on his birthday. Berry remembers. If things keep heading in the same direc tion as they are for Lincoln, a team that was I -17 in league and 2 -2 1 overall when Berry ‘Freedom fries’ replace French fries Y ou can get fries with your I burger, but don’t ask for French i fries. Neal Rowland, theow nerof C ubbie’s in Beaufort, N.C. only J Lincoln High Basketball Coach Troy Berry (left) gives Sophomore Latravis Turner some pointers on good shooting form. Turner said Berry has been a good role model for him in a school where he rarely sees other black faces. sells his fried potato strips as “freedom fries” - a decision that com es as A m ericans w atch | Coach Harris Leads By Example PHOTO BY W ynde French officials back away from by D avid P lechl support for possible war in Iraq. T he P ortland O bserver “Because o f C ubbie’s support I When Velaida Harris arrived at Lincoln for our troops, we no longer serve High School to coach girls varsity basket French fries. We now serve free ball she was sure the mo ve wou Id be tempo dom fries,” says a sign in the rary. restaurant’s window. “ I’m only going to be here one year,” she told the staff. Frozen Cat Carcasses Harris had her mind set on the same More than 100 cats and the fro position at Jefferson High School. zen carcasses o f 82 others were “But M i It never retired,” she said o f long removed from the home o f a | time Jefferson coach Milt Adams. “And Mesilla Park, N.M. woman living after I was there a year I thought, maybe I alone in a four-bedroom house, should be here.” authorities said. Police went to Harris felt I ike she could assume a unique the home Tuesday after receiv role in the lives o f the girls she coached at ing reports o f foul odors Animal this mostly white high school in southwest Control officers helped to re Portland. move about 70 cats T uesday and “How many ofthese kids have an African returned the next day for the re maining 30cats. Inside a kitchen freezer, officers found 82 frozen cats - each inside a one-gallon I freezer bag bearing a brief de scription and date. A 24-year-old man fleeing police apparently wasn’t satisfied with ju st one stolen car. Police in H annibal, Mo. said Mark D. O ’Brien broke into a half-dozen cars and crashed or abandoned them before finally being taken into custody Friday. He was charged with violating his proba tion from a previous auto-theft offense. (AP) — This could be the year that Oregon’s state commissions on the rights o f women and minorities finally fall prey to the budget ax. The leaders o f the state ’ s Commission for Women, and the commissions for Asian, Free Nike’s float to shore Thousands o f pairs o f N ike bas ketball shoes are washing up on beaches from W ashington to | continued yf Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Velaida Harris directs a winning program at Lincoln High. photo by D avid P lechl / T he P ortland O bserver on page A 7 continued y^ on page .47 Budget Ax May Chop Commissions on Women, Minorities Groups that ensure laws don’t adversely affect constituents could loose funding One car wasn’t enough American in their lives?” she said. “Why not stay here and be an example?” And that is precisely how Harris leads and coaches - by example. “ Ifthey see me working hard to make them better they’re going to respond to that,” she said ofher promising team o f young women. Harris has set the bar pretty high. The Lincoln girls finished as league champs in 1999and 2 0 0 1. This year, herteam ended up third in league and is heading into the 2nd round o f playoffs Thursday with a match against Thurston. Harris herself was a fanatical hoopster in high school and college and said coaching is something she has always wanted to do. “Just trying to impress skills o f the game D yer / T he P ortland O bserver Black and Hispanic affairs, say they've been eyed for elimination many times before. But this year, the state is reel ing from one o f its largest revenue shortfalls ever. On top ofthat, the Hispanic commission is only now recovering from a series o f financial blun ders and management problems. And the Commission for Women was singled out by an influential business-lobbying group as a government body that could be trimmed as one o f “54 ways Oregon can save its own economic bacon.” The four commissions actually would receive a combined 17.7 percent funding increase under Gov. Ted K ulongoski's pro posed budget for 2003-05. Mary Ellen Glynn, K ulogoski's spokes woman, said the governor approved the increase because he believes in the com mis sions’ work. She said the looming shortfall is so massi vc that the $645,292 al location for the groups would make only a small differ ence. Each group acts as a liaison between the public, the Legislature and government agen cies. Common concerns include reducing gender and race discrimination in housing, employment and education. They also do community outreach and lobby to ensure new laws w on't adversely affect minorities and women. Rep. Randy Miller, R-West Linn, said most o f those efforts cou Id be accompl ished without state money. He said the work is valuable, but if the public believes in it they can provide support through private dona tions. “I think an awful lot o f observers think that if something has to be put on hold that might be a good place to start.” said Miller, continued y^ on page A3 Northeast Displacement Stirs Passion A laskaaffer spilling from acon- tainer ship in Northern Califor nia. There’s just one hitch to | Town Hall addresses neighborhoods strained by housing issues finding a free pair. “Nike forgot to tie the laces, so you have to find m ates,” said Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who tracks sneakers, toys and [ B y D avid P lechl T he P ortland O bserver other flotsam across the sea. 3D o u T '^vision monitors were glowing >bby. Preparations were made ieras were put into position. A ion on gentrification in north- rtland was about to begin. Icome to Northeast Passage,” .'diator Bruce Broussard, ad- g the live studio audience at d Cable Access on Martin King Jr. Boulevard last Tues- ;ning. screening o f the film by ius Swart and the town hall hat followed was designed to spur debate on the changing plight o f local communities in the face o f rede velopment and rising housing costs. ‘Northeast Passage’ follows the stories o f local residents by taking a close look at changing perspectives on low-income housing and the role t if individuals in the community. The opening scenes o f the film clearly show that change in a montage o f real estate properties in various stages o f repair and disrepair. Over the clips o f footage com m u nity members discuss their dreams o f home ownership and self-destiny Darrell Millner.a black studies pro fessor for Portland State University, then introduce viewers to O regon’s early black exclusion laws and retraces the history o f the northeast Portland community. “Oregon was not a place where blacks were going to be welcome,” Millncrsaid. He added that the Albina district would eventual ly be determined as the ‘black area o f residence.' “The only black residential area in Oregon,” he added. The influx o f African Americans to Portland during World War II made white investors wary at a time when the effects o f segregation were still strong. In the 80s, a gang scare worsened the trend and blacks found it difficult to even be considered for home ow n ership in an era ofwidespread redlining - the practice o f rental and buyer dis crimination. continued I y^ on page A J photo by D avid P le < h i TT he P ortland O bserv er Alex Dorsey (center) attends a town hall meeting on gentrification in north and northeast Portland with her son (left) and other community members. I
