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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2003)
5Qé Park Upgrade Celebrated Sisters Rally Against Displacement Adidas opens public campus at form er Kaiser Hospital Protest tackles neighborhood 'revitalization' See story, Metro section, inside j V*W1 k \f'A See story. Page A 5 1 A h J c rtla n ó CgbsertS? wl PnC PC ‘City of Roses’ __I im n ___ __ _____ x l ____ ________ www.portlandobserver.com Established In 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIII • Number 27 Wednesday • July 02. 2003 Review Shooting Forum Fills Mt. Olivet Church Urban Surveillance System The Pentagon is developing an urban surveillance system that w ould use com puters and thou sands o f cam eras to track, record and analyze the m ovem ent o f every vehicle in a foreign city. D ubbed “C om bat Z ones T hat S ee," the project is designed to help the m ilitary protect troops and fight in cities overseas. But experts say the unclassi fied tech nology could easily be adapted to sp y on A m e ric a n s. T h e p r o j e c t ’s c e n te r p ie c e is groundbreaking com puter soft w are that is capable o f identify ing vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and ' passengers by face. States Without Budgets • The fiscal year began Tuesday with O regon lawmakers approv ing a short-term spending plans allowing governm ent to operate w hile a budgetary debate contin ues. For the third consecutive time, C alifornia began the fiscal year beginning in July w ithout a state budget after lawmakers were unable to break a partisan im passe over spending and taxes. Five other states also took their budget deliberations to the June 30 deadline w ithout reaching a final agreement. California faces a record $38.2 billion budget short fall and is operating for the first tim e com pletely on borrow ed money. Rlcln Stockpile Could Kill A com putertechnician from Spo kane, Wash., accused o f making a biological weapon, had enough pow dered ricin in his w ork cu bicle to kil 1 as many as 7,500 people. Prosecutors said Kenneth Olsen, 49, spent m ore than a year re searching undetectable poisons on the Internet, and hinted that he researched ways tokill his w ifeo f 28 years so he could continue an extram arital affair. Investigators found about 3 gram s o f ricin pow der in tw o test tubes and a ja r in O ls e n ’s locked file cab in e t, enough to kill 75 to as m any as 7,500 people, depending on how it was delivered, Assistant U.S. A ttorney S tephanie W hitaker said. African Americans demand justice, change in police policies by J aymee R. C irri dents. T he P ortland O bserver “W e’ve got to be able to live A fric a n A m e ric a n s and together feeling w e ’re safe,” other residents packed into a said Pat Lenzen, a w hite retired north Portland church T ues nurse living in P ortland for 39 day to attend a forum on the years. “ W e d id n ’t w ork it out p o lice sh o o tin g o f K endra 50 years ago, w e d id n ’ t w orked Jam es, an unarm ed, A frican- it out 25 years ago, w e have to A m erican w om an w ho w as w ork it out now .” killed M ay 5 during a traffic Silenced behind a shroud o f stop. im p e n d in g in v e s tig a tio n s , B lack leaders called for the union m eetings and a c iv il law session w ith police and pros suit from the Jam es fam ily, very ecutors after a secret grand few w hite leaders and city offi ju ry acquitted N orth Precinct cials have stepped forw ard to O fficer Scott M cC ollister o f pu b licly su p p o rt the Jam es any w rongdoing in the death. fam ily and dem and changes in T hey also see the results o f a the police departm ent. police b u reau ’s internal inves M ayor V era K atz w as on tigation into the shooting as vacation w hen the police bu another in a long list o f m iscar reau announced the com ple riages o f justices. tion o f the internal investiga Last week, Police ChiefM ark tion and did not issue a state K roeker recom m ended su s ment. pension for M cC ollister, w ho Friday, the m ay o r’s liaison shot the 2 1 -year-old as she for the pol ice departm ent, El ise tried to drive aw ay and escape M arshall, spoke for K atz in her arrest. absence. She said, “T he m ayor “ W e ’ve seen cases w here agrees w ith the proposed d is p eo p le have had w eap o n s, ciplinary action.” guns, knives, and have been N e ith e r K ro e k e r n o r apprehended w ith no pro b M arshall elaborated on how lems. The question rem ains long a “lengthily suspension w hether this w ould have hap is” or w hat is m eant by “seri pened i f K endra Jam es w as not ous discipline.” black,” said Rev. R oy Tate, City Comm issioner Erik Sten A lbina M inisterial A lliance declined to com m ent on the Derrick Foxworth and Scott Anderson, both assistant chiefs for the Portland Police Bureau, confer with president, w ho attended the discipline to rem ain neutral in Mayor Vera Katz during a public forum on the police shooting death o f Kendra James at Mt. Olivet Baptist forum. the event that the issue com es Church in north Portland Tuesday. T ate w as not satisfied w ith before the C ity Council. K ro ek er’s disciplinary decision Som e arrived at the forum seeking social “ I think the disciplinary action is very “ The event certainly underscores the fact “ Scott M cC ollister m ade poor judgm ents change and justice. light and I w ant to see that som ething wi 11 be that w e have a long w ay to go to truly by putting h im self and the other officers in “ I expect that peo p le w ill stand up in d one,” said Lee T hom as, an A frican A m eri im plem ent com m unity policing,” Sten said. h arm ’s way. W e think he should have been Portland and everyw here w here police are can T riM et bus driver. "1 certainly share the c h ie f sco n clu sio n that term inated,” Tate said. taking advantage o f th eir jo b s," said D or Lucifer A rnold, a black Portland resident i t shou Id have never com e to the place w here The stage at Mt. O livet Baptist C hurch was othy Stone, a local A frican A m erican resi o f 33 years, said unem ploym ent is pushing deadly force w as necessary.” di vided in halfby three rows ofnearly all white dent. “W e ’re told that if w e com m it a crim e black com m unities out o f their hom es and C om m issioner Jim Francesconi w ho has representatives from the city, county and w e pay for that crim e. W hen they com m it a h e ’s getting tired o fencountering racial pro also been absent from pubic events sur- police bureau on one side and mostly African crim e, it’s a coverup.” filing on the street. continued on page A 6 A m erican leaders on the other. O thers cam e seeking closure. U nity w as another focus o f area resi- J u ly F o u r th B la s t! Endangered Fish Saved Biologists and volunteers used buckets, nets and an electric- shock device this week to rem ove a rare species o f fish endangered by ash and other debris from an Arizona w ildfire that destroyed hundreds o f m ountaintop homes. More than 600G ila chubs, a m in now-like fish proposed for pro tection under the Endangered Species Act, w ere taken from the Sabino Creek and put aboard pickup trucks to be taken to the safety o f a hatchery and research centers. £3 sS Joy Johnston (left) and lidiko Plesko help customer Taricia Hampton decide on the perfect fireworks for her Fourth o f July celebration at the Interstate Fred Meyer store parking lot in north Portland. The forecast calls for temperatures in the low 80s for Friday's national holiday. photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver B s Blues to Rattle Downtown Waterfront 2 Waterfront celebration is one of the biggest Four days o f top draw er entertainm ent will delight §>g 0» o J? b . ~ C' O' S3 l_ U1 u. .a <u Cd c O <u c 1 O' 'Ll c O' on Cl — tu □ A dm ission is a daily donation per person o f $5 plus tw o Portland hosts the 16* annual Safew ay W aterfront Blues cans o f nonperishable food or $ 15 for a four-day pass. T his y e a r’s festival also celebrates the Y ear o f the The Y ear o f the Blues and W om en in Blues are them es Blues by offering more musical w orkshops, b luescruiscs for the second-largest blues festival in the nation, held on the Portland Spirit, films and special program m ing. The T hursday. July 3 through Sunday, July 6 at Tom M cCall ev e n t’s signature fireworks display is scheduled the W aterfront Park, dow ntow n. evening o f July 4. The stellar lineup includes roots-m usic icon Taj Mahal, The festival kicks o ff Thursday with a high-w attage young b lues-belter Susan T edeschi, legendary R&B lineup that includes Taj Mahal and the Hula B lues Band, diva Etta Jam es and b lues-rocker Steve M i Her, perform ing as a special guest w ith slide-guitar m aster Roy ) " W e 'v e been told that this is the best line up o f any blues concert across the country.” The festival is a fundraiser for the O regon Food Bank. crow ds during the Fourth o f July holiday w eekend when Festival. o s R ogers and harm onica ace N orton Buffalo. “ W e’re very jazz ed ,” said festival spokesperson Jean-K em pe W are. » continued on page A6 I Oregon Food Bank promoters expect jam-packed fun once again this Fourth o f July weekend as the Safeway Water front Blues Festival takes o ff from the downtown Portland waterfront. The 16"' annual event starts Thursday and continues through Sunday, photo by Valarie K. Davis Photography