Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.tom M arth 26. 2 0 0 } 4 ■ ■ ¿Hili' ^ o rtla n h (©bscruer C o ni ni u n i t a I e n d a SECTION Pacific Power Files for Rate Increase |A | MM mhm Online Adopt-a-Pet j The Oregon Humane Society has put a ne w twist on on-line person als. With just two clicks, those looking fora loving pet can find it with the dog, cat, rabbit or rodent of their choice by logging on to A f» y t . interested in pet adoption can scroll through photos o f all the | Utility cities rising costs of doing business pets available for adoption at the northeast Portland shelter and read pet profiles that are expanded | daily. Prostrate Cancer Prevention 'Providence is offering a new class for reducing the risk o f prostate cancer on Thursday, March 27 from7p.m. to8:30p.m. at4805 N.E. Glisan in the Providence Social | j Room. The class, called “Can Diet, Supplements and Herbs Reduce the Rick of Prostate Cancer?" will j be led by Dr. Miles Hassell, direc tor o f the Providence Integrative Medicine Program. For more in formation, call 503-216-4687. Community Wellness Fair H olladay Plaza Park, located across from the Lloyd Center, will host acommunity wellness fair on Friday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be several guest j j speakers and workshops lined up throughout the day to discuss with attendees such topics as i healthy cooking, blood pressure and diagnostic screening, fitness and glucose testing as well as | alternative and oriental medicine. There will be refreshments, door | J prizes, raffles and giveaw ays throughout the day. For more in formation, call 503-280-2221. Shrine Circus Visits Saturday and Sunday •The Shrine Circus will return to | the Memorial Coliseum on Satur day, March 29 and Sunday, March I Veterans For Peace Carl Shelley (left), a veteran o f World War II and Vietnam, attends a downtown peace rally with his wife. Mary. The event on Thursday was held the day after U.S. troops began bombing in Iraq. Shelley said statesm anship and the support o f the U.N. should have been enough to solve the conflict. ‘ I know when these young kids pick up pieces o f their buddies, they're not going to want war anymore," he said. photo bv D avid P i h hi TT he P ortland O bserver ' 30 with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sun-1 day. This family fun show for | “kids of all ages” features a full three-ring circus with clowns, acrobats, aerialists, elephants and J tigers. Tickets are available by : calling 503-682-4420or at the door | IVI e t l i c i n e IVI a n Business flourishes for first African-American Juneteenth Talent Search The Junetheenth A ssociation j chiropractor in Oregon prior to each performance. Northwest and Doris Café and Lounge in vite the community to a talent search for performers for | this year’s Juneteenth C é lé b ra -1 tion. Categories include g o sp e l,, jazz, blues, musicians, vocalists and comedians. The search will be judged by audience participa- : tion at auditions to be held at | Doris Café, located at 325 N.E. Russell, on Sunday, March 3 0 from 3p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more infor mation, call 503-287-9249. J Pacific Power has filed a general rate request with the Oregon Public Utility Com mission to recover rising costs for insur ance, pension funding and health care, among other costs. “These cost pressures are being faced by many businesses across the country, including those in the utility sector and Pacific Power is no exception," officials with the utility serving northeast Portland said. Pacific Power is asking for a net increase o f 4.9 percent for residential customers. If approved by the OPUC, the price changes would take effect early next year. "Our key goals are to deliver safe, reliable electricity, provide excellent customer ser vice and maintain stable, competitive prices,” said Don Furman, senior vice president of regulation for Pacific Power. “Even with this proposed rate increase Pacific Power will maintain its position as one o f the lowest- cost electricity providers in the region.” Rates for Pacific customers in Oregon have remained relatively flat over the past several years. For example, the average Pacific Power residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt- hours o f electricity a month was paying $66.48 in November 2000. Currently, that same customer is pay ing just $66.39 a month for their electricity service. Pacific Power attributes rising costs of doing business to external factors such as the downturn in financial markets. Internal cost controls have helped mitigate, but not totally cover, the impact o f these rising costs, officials said. If this rate request is approved, a residen tial customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month will see a monthly bill increase of $4.89. bv J avmee R. C ori T he P ortland O bserver Chiropractor Billy Flowers has al ways let his passion be his guide. Today, Flowers has a healthy chiro practic practice in northeast Portland, but 17 years ago, when his business opened, his job title could be described more accurately as “pioneer.” Flowers, 55, is the first African- American chiropractor in Oregon. He was led to chiropractic care as a pa tient. Standing more than six-and-a- half feet tall, with a blown out knee and seized up joints. Flow ers’ passion for basketball was ending at age 26. In college. Flowers was concerned about his health as his coaching staff com monly dispensed painkillers, ste roids, sedatives and barbiturates. But the prescriptions m ade him feel w orse, not better, and he sought the help o f a chiropractor to regain his health. His dreams shifted, and he found that if the adjustment o f his spine af fected nerves all over his body, then he too wanted to learn this powerful heal ing technique. “I latched onto a chiropractor who also happened to be a healer," said Flowers, who began studying chiro practic sciences after graduation. ThedecorofFlow ers’ office reflects his travels. As a collector of African art and artifacts, stepping into his office feels more like mini-museum space than the usual neutral doctor’s office with watercolor paintings. “The reason I’ve chosen to deco rate my office in a way that's Afro centric is that blacks are seldom in vited into a place o f business that photo bv M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver celebrates our culture that is still a business," Flowers said. “I want the Chiropractor Billy Flowers works on a realignm ent o f a people in this community to be rein patie nt's neck a t his office, located at 2 1 2 4 N.E. forced by who they are." Hancock. Flowers was the first African American chiropractor in Oregon when he opened up shop 1 7 continued y f on page BS years ago. s t Learn to Sing at MHCC Mount Hood Community College is always looking to add voices to its community-based choir. No audition is required. Those inter-1 ested can share their joy for music while learning to sight-read, im-1 prove vocal technique, explore choral literature and perform. The class begins March 31 and meets Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Gresham campus. For more information or to register, call 503-491-7571. Optimizing Energy and Stamina On Tuesday, April 1 from 7p.m .to I 8:30 p.m. naturopathic physician Dr. Jason Barker will highlight various ways everyday people continued yf on page B5 St. Vincent DePaul Wins $1 Million Contract Jose Calvo, Ernest Wesley, Le Canh and Otha Brown o f the St. Vincent DePaul Enter prises o f northeast Portland, assemble shelter-in-place kits for the protection against chemical weapons as p a rt o f a $1 m illion order from the U.S. Army. The not-for-profit business hires and trains workers with disabilities. Disabled workers assemble shelter- in-place kits for the Army A group of disabled Portland workers proved to be big winners last week when St. Vincent DePaul Enterprises o f northeast Portland was awarded a $ 1 million contract for the assembly o f 40,000 shelter- in-place kits to guard against a chemical contamination in the event of an accident at a U.S. Army weap ons depot. photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver * “ Bids cam e in from co m p eti tors all across the n atio n ,” said St. V incent C h ief E xecutive O f f ic e r B e n n e t J o h n s o n . “O u r p e o p le 's can -d o ' attitude and adherence to a ‘n o ex cu ses' motto m ade this endeav o r a reality ," Johnson said. T he k its, w h ich c o n s is t o f d u ct ta p e, c le a r p la stic an d in stru c tio n a l v id e o s d e s ig n e d to p ro tect local c itiz e n s in the case o f a leak or d isa ste r at a c h e m i cal w ea p o n s in c in e ra tio n fa c il ity , w ill be d istrib u te d to the re sid e n ts o f C a lh o u n C o u n ty , continued on page B3 A