50/ Boycott Sidelined Blazer president makes diversity commitment See story in Sports, Page B6 Celebrating Bishop Hardy honored with family and friends See story in Religion, Page B4 0 jaartlan h (©bserlier i l l ' / of i f Roses ‘City n n r f I n c t» rt www.portlandobserver.com C cf Established *ik> lichoJ ir» in IO 7Í1 1970 J Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIII • Number 31 T,Weekin TheReview Death a Suicide, not Lynching R elatives o f a black m an, w hose hanging divided the rural co m ­ m unity o f Bella G lade, Fla., learned at an inquest that the n o o s e w a s p r o b a b ly h is g ran d m o th er’s bed sheet and agreed that his death w as likely a suicide and not a lynching. Gay High School Opens In NY N ew Y ork C ity is creating the n atio n 's first public high school f o r g a y s , b is e x u a ls a n d tr a n s g e n d e r s tu d e n ts . T h e H arvey M ilk High School will enroll about 100 students and open in a new ly renovated build­ ing in the fall. It is nam ed after San F rancisco’s First openly gay city supervisor, w ho w as assas­ sinated in 1978. iaaaaaj Wednesday • |uly 30, 2003 Utilities Battle Public Power Advocates Power struggle could hit northeast Portland residents in pocketbook BY JAYMEE R. Cl'TI T he P ortland O bserver C onfusion grow s for an increasingly hot topic, public pow er for M ultnom ah County, as voters are bom barded w ith m ixed m es­ sages and opposing view points. A m easure to form a M ultnom ah C ounty P eople’s U tility District on the Nov. 4 ballot is a special concern for residents and b usi­ nesses in north and northeast Portland. Pacific Power, a Portland-based company, supplies pow er to 68,000 custom ers from I- 5 on the w est, 1-84 on the south. N ortheast 122ml A venue on the east and the C olum bia R iver on the north. Body Identified As Patrick Dennehy Investigators w ould not co m ­ m ent on any new evidence in the c aseo fB ay lo rb ask etb all player Patrick Dennehy, w hose decom ­ posed body w as found in a field in W aco, T exas, after he had been m issing for m ore than six weeks. Nudists Try to Reclaim Beach O n the typical sum m er weekend, as m any as a couple hundred nude sunbathers g ath er in the “clothing-optional” section o f P ortland’s R ooster Rock State Park. B ut despite the continued popularity o f R ooster R ock’s nude beach, problem s during the years w ith voyeurs and sexual deviants lurking in overgrow n brush along trails have changed the area’scom plexion anddriven aw ay fam ilies, park officials say. V olunteers are w orking to clean up the problem s and reclaim the beach. Clinton Website has Spanish Version N ew Y ork Sen. H illary Rodham C linton, a star fund-raiser for the D em ocratic Party, is shifting her attention to raising m oney for her 2006 re-election bid. Friends o f H illary launched its W eb site M onday, com plete w ith a Span­ ish version, voter registration form s and interview s w ith the senator and her m other, D or­ othy Rodham . Liberian City Withstands Second Attack A second rebel group launched an all-out assault on President C h a rle s T a y lo r’s e m b a ttle d forces in the southeastern port city o f B uchanan, opening a new front. D eliberations on a peace m ission for the bloodied W est A frican nation show ed no sign o f progress. gg s Sheila Holden, regional manager for Pacific Power C om pany spokespeople say they are in jeo p ard y o f being driven out o f the com m u­ nity if the m easure passes, despite a reputa­ tion o f having the low est rates in the region, a history o f reliability and com m itm ent to im proving the com m unity. “ T h ere’s been a consistent com m itm ent from Pacific Pow er to em pow er the com m u­ nities w e serve, for businesses and (indi­ viduals) in north and northeast P ortland,” said Sheila H olden, regional m anager for Pacific P ow er and social service advocate. “A lot o f o u r effort is spent on being prom oters and supporters o f redevelop­ m ent and continuous com m itm ent to qual­ ity o f life in north and northeast Portland,” 2 ¡75 « Oi C O' 2J P ow er out o f Portland. “ W e intend to have a vigorous opposi­ tion cam paign against a PU D and have a good dialogue w ith o u r custom ers over the next several m onths to educate them about the bottom line risks to their pocketbook,” said Jon C oney, spokesman for Paci fie Power. T he U tility R eform Project, sponsors o f the PUD measure, say their target is PGE, and they have no intention o f squelching Paci fie P o w er's business. “A PU D may be our last chance to prevent Enron from using federal bankruptcy to split up PGE ’ s assets and sel 1 them out from under O regon regulation,” said Dan M eeks, a vol­ unteer attorney for the project. continued on page A 5 Fighting for public education has been his life’s work has strived to keep the federal governm ent financially responsible for the early child­ hood education program . H is current battle, suing the federal g overnm ent on b eh alf o f national H ead Start, has taken H em don to W ashington, D.C. m onthly to testify before C ongress. BY J a YMF-E R .C lIT l T he P ortland O bserver H em don cam e to Portland to study history W hen bum ping at Reed College. into Ron H erndon \ W h ile v o lu n ­ Every administration since Carter at the A lbina Head has tried to make changes in Head te e r in g f o r th e Start in n ortheast V IS T A ( V o lu n ­ Start that would have been harmful. Portland or hearing teers in Service to This one is the worst, absolutely the h im d is c u s s h is America) program, s tru g g le to sa v e most anti-Head Start administration. he worked on qual- H ead Start on the - Portland education activist and Head Start ity -o f-life issues local radio, he does administrator Ron Hemdon such as police pro­ w ell to hide his in­ tection and afford­ able housing in East H arlem and an all-black ner scrapper. H em don, a Portland resident o f m ore than 30 tow n in N ew Jersey. years, has spent his life fighting the uphill B efore b ecom ing the local Head Start di- Ron Herndon, president ofnational Head Start, fights to keep the program battle o f public education. continued on page A3 alive through a heap of resistance from the federal government. As president ofnational Head Start, Hemdon (A P ) — T h e n e w p re s id e n t o f th e N a tio n a l U rb a n L e a g u e s a id th a t th e n u m b e r o f b la c k s w ith b a c h e lo r ’s d e ­ g re e s is at an a ll- tim e h ig h , b u t w a rn e d th a t s u c c e s s in th e c la s s ro o m is m a rre d by ris in g in c a r c e ra tio n ra te s a n d c o v e rt racism . C ensus figures show that in 2002, 17 percent o f blacks ages 25 and older had a b ach elo r's degree, a record high. But M arc M orial said that achievem ent is overshad- § )£ > u! n o - r c M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Urban League Warns Against Hidden Racism <0 C* ■ u. X J X photo by Troy Mallos, a Pacific Power lineman (left) and Dylan Shulda, an apprentice lineman, maintain power in north and northeast Portland. Officials with the local utility say a proposal to take over Portland General Electric also threatens Pacific Power. O -