50<
Tourney Upset
Bound for France
Jefferson falls in 4A opener
Local dancers go international
See story in Sports, page B6
‘City of Roses
See story, Metro section, inside
Established In 1970
Volume X X X III •
Number II
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • March 12. 2003
lh'Sew' M eek School C losure Stings
Man chokes for attention
Same northeast
neighborhood loses
yet another school
A short, dumpy man has been
going around Punta Gorda, Fla.
faking choking episodes, appar­
ently to get atten tio n from
w om en. He flails his arm s,
coughs and sputters. A fter a
woman rushes over to help, he
showers her with gratitude, hugs
and kisses. The sh e riffs office |
by M ichael L eighton
T he P ortland O bserver
has gotten about a half-dozen
calls about the Choking Man, as
the Charlotte Sun Herald dubbed
him. So far he has not committed
any crime, though a woman on
M onday went to the hospital
with an anxiety attack after an
encounter.
photo by
Brothel to serve dog’s life
D avid P lechi TT he P ortland O bserver
Meek Elementary sudent Aujha Robertson peeks out o f the
window below a sign that reads ‘ Save Our School. ’
A G erm an artist has applied for
a license to open a brothel in
B erlin for sexually frustrated
dogs. K arl-F rie d ric h L enze
says his brothel will be the first
o f its kind anyw here. T he 54-
y e a r-o ld sa y s he p la n s to
ch a rg e dog ow ners about $45
per h a lf hour o f happiness.
Lenze says if dogs cannot get |
w h a t th e y w a n t, th e y g et
cranky, just like people. He says
his establishm ent w ould offer J
N ortheast Portland residents
were left devastated and angry
Monday after the Portland School
Board decided to close Meek El­
em entary School at 4039 N.E.
Alberta Ct.
School district officials said the
closure, along with closing Brook­
lyn Elementary at 3830 S.E. 14th,
was because o f declining enroll­
ments and the effort to reduce dis­
trict expenses.
African American board mem­
bers Derry Jackson and Lolenzo
Poe were the only board members
voting against closing Meek. Poe
was the only board member to vote
against closing Brooklyn.
Meek parents, who packed into
the school district’s boardroom for
discussion on the closure issue,
said they felt they were being dis­
criminated against based on the
school neighborhood’s socioeco­
nomic status. Meek serves a low
income to working class neighbor­
hood.
Plans to close two other schools
serving more affluent families were
recently pulled from board consid­
eration, including Reike Elementary
in southwest Portland.
Poe said his issue was one o f
equity.
“It’s ingenuous and we are mak­
A Virginia court jury awarded
$800,000 to a woman who said she
was bitten on the breast by an |
b y W ynde D yer
T he P ortland O bserver
employee o f a Dairy Queen res­
taurant. Brenda K. Chappelcar I
testified that she went into the
restaurant in Ashland about 3:30
p.m.onDec.3l,2001,andaskedto j
A Southern California man who
becam e notorious in the 1980s
for forcing women to hand over
th eir underw ear at gunpoint
could be sentenced to life in
p ris o n u n d e r C a lif o r n ia ’s
“three strikes” law follow ing I
his conviction for com m ercial
burglary and possessing sto ­
len p ro p e rty . B ru ce A lle n ,
Lyons, 48, w as convicted o f |
breaking into a ch iro p racto r’s
office on O ct. 4 to obtain the |
phone num ber o f a w om an who
did not w ant to date him.
Fisher hooks cannabis
A Hong Kong angler made an
unexpected catch when his fish­
ing rod hooked onto a large bag
packed with cannabis. The 20-
year-old man was fishing o ff a
pier in Kowloon when he reeled
in a bag loaded with 15 ki lograms
o f the drug on Thursday night.
The drugs had been packed into
16 plastic bags and were soaked.
When dried out, the drugs would
have fetched an estimated $ 1.35
million in Hong Kong.
t
Attheageof35 Vanessa Gaston,
the new President and C hief Ex-
I e c u tiv e
I
-
,
.
photos by W ynde D yer /T he P ortland O bserver
fem ale impersonator Kevin Cook is seen reflected in a m irror as he pats dry his mascara before taking to the stage at
D a rc e lle XV S h o w p la ce fo r h is P o iso n W aters p e rfo rm a n c e . “ Fake e ye la s h e s are a trip , “ Cook sa id .
' • The way I see it, you 're not going to please
everyone, so you might as well just be
yourself
,
- female Impersonator “ Polson Waters" Kevin Cook
BLACK
B e a u ty
Kevin
Cook as
“Poison
Waters"
performs
at
Darcelle
’ Show-
;e at 8
7). and
0 p.m.
each
lay and
aturday
night.
Performer
pushes
aside
negative
stereotypes
to establish
unique
identity
= s
1» O'
— “3
-c
on o \
•=
.5 i^i
—
W
c
o
on
~
LU
on page AS
Young executive
brings extensive
experience to
the table
Damages won for
’Dracula’bite
‘Underwear Bandit' faces
life term in prison
continued
Urban
League
Gets New
President
patrons a variety o f carefully
v e tte d e m p lo y e e s o f bo th
sexes, room s for private en­
counters and even a bar w here
custom ers could sn iff out their
preferred partners.
use the phone book. Employee
Ayman Ahmed Hasabal la moved
beside her and pulled her sweater
down, scratching her chest, and
bit her on the breast. “I am like
Dracula,” Chappelear said he told
her.
ing certain allowances for certain
parts o f the community," he said.
Residents around Meek have
seen both public an d p riv ate
schools closed in their section o f
the city several times in recent
years.
Just a few blocks away from Meek,
W hitaker Middle School was
closed two years ago because o f
the di lapidated condition o f a bui Id-
ing that first housed John Adams
High School, which was closed in
the 1980s because o f declining en­
rollment. In 1986, the private St.
Charles Elem entary School on
northeast 42“’ and Emerson was
closed and in 1975, the historic and
public Kennedy Elementary School
by W ynde D yer
T he P ortland O bserver
There aren't many African American men who can
say they’ve never experienced racism. There aren't
many openly homosexual men who can say they’ve
never dealt with homophobia. But there is one - and
he wears a dress.
Kevin Cook is “Poison W aters” in Portland’s drag
community and for him, there is no line drawn between
black and white, gay and straight or male and female.
He thrives on blending those lines and showing
others with that people are just people and they’re all
beautiful.
“I just can’t relate when it comes to discrimina­
tion, ” Cook said. “I can’t say I ’ ve experienced racism
or homophobic stuff. I don’t listen to any negative
s tu f f - I don't have the energy to waste on anything
that isn’t positive. Either you ’re too black or not black
enough or you're too gay or not gay enough. The way
I see it, you’re not going to please everyone so you
might as well just be yourself.’
C ook’s optimism has made him not only a popular
performer on Friday and Saturday nights at Darcelle
XV Showplace, downtown at 208 N.W. Third, butalso
a role model for gay youth who are trying to accept
their sexuality.
Through his website,
Cook offers Dear Abby-style counseling to members
ofthecom m unityonhow todealw ithlife’sobstacles.
Through the ‘Ask Poison’ section o f the site. Cook
personally answers dozens o f professional and per-
continued
on page A 6
Kevin
Cook puts
the final
touches of
powder on
his face
before a
show.
e x p e r t - Vanessa Gaston
cn c e in
social services than many people
twice her age. She also has the
desire to help impoverished com ­
munities in her blood.
‘My mom was extremely com ­
mitted to serving the poor,” Gaston
said. “She was a social services
supervisor for 25 years. We grew
up poor, so we understood what
it’s like to struggle.”
Bom in Rapid City, S.D. to a
Native American mother and an
African American father, Gaston
spent her childhood just outside
the Pine Ridge Indian Reserva­
tion. Her parents encouraged her
to get an education and work hard
to be successful.
After high school, she briefly
attended Ohio State University
until she lost her residency status
and scholarships when her par­
ents moved to Alaska. With no
money to finish her education, she
decided to join the Army.
“The recruiter cam e around
to our dorm s and all he had to
say was, ‘ W e do have m oney for
co lleg e,’ and I was in ,” G aston
said.
Three years o f service as a
legal specialist for the Arm y took
her to G erm any, F rance and
Spain and gave her a chance to
test out her m anagerial skills
before she w as 21. G aston su ­
pervised the Public D efenders
O ffice at Fort Lewis before retir­
ing into the reserves.
A fter serving her duty, she took
a job in Tacoma, as an executive
assistant for the Martin Luther
King Center. The non-profit group
worked on homeless issues and
continued
k
on page A3