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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2003)
F7 Wellness Exercise Building Confidence African Americans attack cardiovascular disease Young ladies prepare for Les Femmes and Debutante Ball See story,*Metro section, inside See story, M etro section, inside • t v n f O n c D c ' ’City of Roses ___ I m tn ______ L Established In 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIII • Number 25 Wednesday • June 18. 2003 Players on the Rise Smuggling Suspect Caught Investigators believe a 25-year- old Honduran woman was the ringleader o f the nation’s dead liest sm uggling attem pt that ended in the deaths o f 19 people cram med into a stifling trailer. Prosecutors unsealed an indict ment Monday accusing Karla Patricia Chavez and 13 others o f organizing or facilitating the trip that ended May 14 when the crowded trai ler was found aban doned at a truck stop in Victoria, 100 miles southwest o f Hous ton. Seventeen immigrants died at the scene, and two others died later. Cedale Doyle (left) and Kevyn Green o f Benson High School were among a large group o f high-achieving basketball players from around the country who participated in last weekend's Inner City Players Basketball tournament at Grant High School. The ICP program is noted for developing great athletic skills but also “men of substance" who overcome life's obstacles with good character and academics. See story in Sports, page B6. No Calm Before More Storms Emergency officials braced for more rain following storms that sent torrents o f mud and water down already saturated hillsides in central Appalachia, forcing dozens o f people to flee their homes and blocking roads. More than 50 homes were heavi ly dam aged or destroyed in the Charles ton area o f West Virginia and officials declared a state o f emer gency. Gov. Bob Wise asked President Bush to designate the county a disaster area. Boxing Match Death A woman died o f head injuries two days after being pummeled in an am ateur boxing bout and police opened an investigation Tuesday into the fight. Stacy Young, 30, suffered swelling and bleeding in the brain during Sat urday night’s bout in Florida. She d ied M o n d ay n ig h t at B ayfront M edical C enter in Sarasota, hospital spokesman Bill Hervey said. Bush Defends Iraq War President Bush shot back Tues day at those suggesting his ad ministration inflated prewar intel ligence data on Iraq’s weapons program. He said the most impor tant fact was that “the people o f Iraq are ffee.” *i know there’sa lot o f revisionist history going on. But he is no longer a threat to the free world,” Bush said as he pro moted his domestic agenda at a community college in a Wash ington, D.C. suburb. Rape and Murder Up from Last Year Crime resumed its declineoverall last year, even though the num bers o f murders and rapes in creased. the FBI reported. The FBI’spreliminary UniformCrime Report found a 0.2 percent de crease in the number o f crimes reported to the pol ice or other law enforcement agencies in 2002, as compared with2001. That resumed a trend that began in 1991. photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver Rose Sisters Homecoming Women from north Portland school are coming home 1930s. A t the tim e, som e students w ere bashful about w here they graduated from, because the school was stigm atized as a place for bad girls, but today, alum ni say they are proud o f the self-respecting w omen the sisters taught them to be. by J aymef . R. C uti “ W e w ere m ischievous, and w e w ere T he P ortland O bserver m outhy, but m ost o f us cam e from bad Sisters o f the G ood Shepherd are cel hom es. The courts sent us here,” said G race ebrating 101 years in Ruble-Bell, graduating Portland with a reunion from V illa St. Rose in A o f s ta ff and students 1956. fro m V illa St. R ose The school eventual ly School. The reunion is closed when the aging from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday sisters and director re at the Rosem ont Court tired, but the historic site A partm ents at 597 N. has been renovated, and D ekum St. now serves as an apart For the Sisters o f the ment building for the eld G ood Shepard, former - Former Villa S t Rose student erly. s ta ff and teach ers o f Grace Ruble-Bell In its heyday, how V illa St. Rose and Rose ever, 7 or 8 nuns were Industrial School, their girls are com ing responsible for m ore than 130 high school home. girls sent to Vi Ila St. Rose by social w orkers photo by R on W ashincton /T he P ortland O bserver V illa St. Rose School, form erly Rose because o f fam ily or truancy problem s. Former students Carol Wonner (from left) and Grace Rubel-Bell join their Industrial School, w as a boarding school in continued on page A3 former school directress, Sister Frances Louise, on the grounds o f the north Portland for teens in trouble in the former Villa St. Rose School at 597 N. Dekum. This was our home. We lived together, slept together, ate together, fought together and made up together. Hard Times for Jobs Unemployment higher for minorities by J aymef . R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver photo by R on W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver While so many throughout the city are unemployed, Manuel Garcia has held onto his job at the Fast Trip on Martin Luther king Boulevard for 7 years * It may not come as a surprise to local residents looking for work that Portland has an exceptionally high jobless rate. According to statistics released by the Bureau o f Labor and state Employment Di vision, the unemployment rate is 8.2 percent in Portland compared to 7.5 percent for the state and 6 .1 percent nationally. State economist Art Aryer said the Port land area has been “hit very hard” by an economic downturn Minority employment is especially grim. Nationally, 10.8 percent o f African Ameri cans were unemployed in May. For m inori ties in Portland, however, the latest data shows 15.8 percent o f African Americans and 7.8 percent o f Latinos are unemployed. Last week. House Democratic Leader » Nancy Pelosi said the country is facing the worst economic record in almost 50 years, with 3.1 million people losing their jobs since January 2001. “The Bush administration record isclear: America is nearly $3 trillion deeper in dept, and has lost more than 3 million jobs. In last minute negotiations on a $350 bi 11 ion tax cut. House Republ icans chose not to expand the child tax credit to lower income families, leaving behind 12 million children from working and military families. A lthough evidence o f recovery for Portland's economy has been shelved, cer tain industries are doing unseasonably well. As o f May. manufacturing added 1,200 jobs, after shedding 8.500jobsjust a year ago. Leisure and hospitality employment showed strength by adding 3,200 jobs in hotels, res taurants and the tourism industry Construction added 1,500jobs, 400 more than expected in the spring season. Banking and real estate gained 300jobs, but the rate was slower than the average seasonal gain. V