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Page A8
August 13. 2003
IL @ B ÍE R V A ® @ IR
Minority Business Fills High-Tech Void
Batteries Plus sells
‘juice’ that keeps
modem gadgets
running
State School Superin
tendent Susan Castillo
by J ay . m ee R. C lti
T he P ortland O bserver
A Portland business owner was really
put out after a series o f digital deaths. The
batteries for his cell phone, lap top com
puter and camcorder all died at the same
time. Instead o f resorting to the pre-digital
era, the setback sparked an idea for entre
preneur Jose Perez.
“There should be a business that de
votes itself to several types o f batteries,”
he said.
He answered an ad for Batteries Plus, a
national franchise selling the juice that
keep modem gadgets going. Batteries Plus
has 211 stores in 39 states.
Perez started the family battery busi
ness in Salem 1993 and opened another
Batteries Plus in Eugene in 1998. His new
est store opened at 4812 S.E. 82nd Ave. in
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland in July.
Miguel Perez manages the new Batteries Plus store at 4812 S.E. 82nd Ave.
“ I’ve never thought o f m yself as a mi
nority business ow ner,” said Perez, who
While more than halfof Perez’scustom-
One o f the unique products Perez sup
immigrated from Cuba to Chicago in 1961. ers are corporate clients, he likes working plies is a battery pack to soup up remote
“This country has received me with open with the novice digerati that come to his control cars. He also instal Is watch batter
arms with plenty o f opportunities in front shop with a heap o f gadgets that haven’t ies, carries security system batteries and
o f me if I worked for them.”
worked in years because o f their unusual replaces batteries for glucose monitors.
Perez runs his business with the help o f battery needs.
The store carries literally thousands o f
his sons and partners, Miguel and Tony.
“People sometimes walk in with a box batteries, Perez said.
According to Perez, his businesses are full o f di fterent gadgets that they have not
W ith a business blending the fun and
booming, and he plans to open new stores been able to find a battery pack for and we functional, Perez m easures his success
in northeast Portland’s Hollywood Dis quickly send them on their way with their by his return custom ers, who dem and to
trict and in Vancouver.
gadgets working. T hat’s a lot o f fun.”
be unplugged.
Brazilian Prison Break
(AP)— Eighty-fourinmatesffom
a maximum security prison in north
eastern Brazil escaped through a
tunnel Saturday, authorities said.
The inmates escaped from the
Silvio Porto prison in Joao Pessoa,
the capital o f Paraiba state, an
officer at the state's Public Secu
rity Office said.
Police recaptured one o f the
fugitives at a nearby beach sev
eral hours later.
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School
Spending
Plan Called
Disgraceful
State education
chief addresses
achievement gap
(AP) — In what was bi I led as her first
major policy speech since taking office,
state School Superintendent Susan
Castillo last week asked lawmakers not
to shortchange education.
Speaking to a roomful o f Oregon
school administrators, Castillo criticized
lawmakers in the Republican-controlled
House who support a $5.05 billion edu
cation spending package she described
as a “disgrace.”
At the state level, she said, schools
need a minimum of$5.3 billion to avoid
drastic cuts.
“ Legislators...should stand up and
acknowledge that they aren’t really
committed to ensuring that every child
will meet our standards; that they are
prepared to leave lots o f children be
hind.”
But she cautioned that educators
must not sit back and wait until the
money rolls in. Instead, they must spend
what they do have as effectively as
possible while trying to win public sup
port.
Political Leader Resigns Under Pressure
(A P) — The head o f M exico’s
largest leftist political party re
signed Saturday, blam ing an in
ternal cam paign to discredit her.
D em ocratic Revolution Presi
dent Rosario Robles had been
dogged by media reports that said
the p arty ’s debt was spiraling out
o f control under her direction.
“ W ith w illful m isrepresenta
tion and bad faith it w as leaked to
the press that our party owes
more than 600 m illion pesos ($55
m illion),” Robles said at a m eet
ing here o f the p arty ’s national
c o u n c il. “ N o th in g b u t fa lse
h o o d s.”
R obles estim ated the p arty ’s
current debt at closer to $24 m il
lion. The Dem ocratic Revolution
Party is M exico’s third largest
party.
Robles was appointed presi
dent in a chaotic internal election
Democratic
Revolution Party
President Rosario
Robles waves as
she leaves a hotel
after a meeting of
the party's national
council, Saturday in
Mexico City, where
she announced her
resignation. (AP
photo)
m arred by low turnout and w ide representation in C ongress d u r
T h e p a r ty h as g o v e rn e d
spread allegations o f fraud. She ing July 6 midterm elections, w in M exico City since 1997, when it
had prom ised to reunite squab ning 95 spots out o f 500, and won the c ity ’s first election for
bling factions.
co n so lid a te d its h old on the mayor. Before that, the president
The PRD nearly doubled its ca p ita l's local legislature.
chose who would serve as mayor.
A
African American
Health Coalition, Inc.
2003 Class Dates and Locations:
August 18:
5325 NE MLK (Urban League/Multkultural Center)
September 22:
October 20:
November 17:
December 15:
Class Time:
3930
3930
3930
3930
SE
SE
SE
SE
Division
Division
Division
Division
St. OHSU
St. OHSU
St. OHSU
St.—OHSU
slated fo r C u lly
6:30pm to 8:00pm
This class is FREE! NO registration required!
This class is sponsored by M u ltiK m a h C otm ty Health Department and OHSU
For inform ation, call 503-988-3037
Seeking women aged 18 to 30 to participate in a research
study evaluating an investigational vaccine to prevent herpes.
If you meet the criteria for enrollment, you will be invited to a
screening visit, which will involve a free herpes blood test as
well as free educational materials and counseling about herpes.
Those who qualify based on blood test results will be eligible to
enroll in the vaccine trial. Vaccine trial participants will be
reimbursed for time and travel. For more information or to see
if you qualify, call (503) 226-6678.
A fford ab le
A p artm en ts
P lanned
N e w housing
Richmond Clinic
Richmond Clinic
Richmond Clinic
Richmond Clink
INVESTIGATIONAL
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“I think that to a certain extent w e’ve
mishandled the situation by spending a
huge percentage o f our time complaining
about funding and not enough time talk
ing about our su ccesses,” she said.
“ People are more willing to invest in some
thing that is already good and getting
better than in something they think is
falling apart.”
Castillo also touched on the federal No
Child Left Behind act, which imposes higher
standards for teachers and progressively
harsher sanctions for schools whose stu
dents fail to show proficiency on state tests.
“I know that people feel that it is, at best,
an under-funded mandate,” Castillo said
o f the federal legislation, which became
law in January 2002. “But the fact is, one
o f the major premises o f No Child Left
Behind — the need to close the achieve
ment gap — is our premise, too.”
As for the next four years, Castillo said
her top priority was closing the achieve
ment gap — the disparity in academic
performance between whites and most
minorities, the English speaking and the
non-English speaking, the affluent and
the poor.
Castil lo said she wants districts to have .
tough achievement standards, recruit and
train a more di verse workforce and imple
ment full-day kindergarten.
September 6,2003
WM
Join us for tho 1st Annual Wsllnsss Within
REACH Walk Sat. Soptomfcor 6, 20011
Walk tho 1.5 nr 4-milo cours*.
When
Tho walk boplns at 9:00 n.m.
Othor avant activities bapln at 1:00 a.m.
For more Information
For m art information about participation or to
voluntaar contact
tho African American Health Coalition, Inc. at
S01-41S -1IS 0, wfcMmor@aahc-portlnnd.org or
mlold@aahc-partlond.orp
Where
Start and finish at Dawson Fork, located at
N. Vancoavor and Stanton In Portland, OR.
Why
The purpose of tho walk is to celebrate ear
community's health and sustain onpulnp free
physical activity classes for African Americans
in the Portland metro area.
Entry
Entry foo It $ 1 S por porton.
Westover Heights Clinic
2330 NW Flanders Suite 207
Portland, OR 97210
www.westQverheights.com
4
/
Seventy-one new apartm ent
units on both sides o f Northeast
Killingsworth Street in the Cully
Neighborhood will open to families
next July with household incomes
between 30 and 60 percent below
the area median income.
Homestead Capital, a nonprofit
organization that raises equity fi
nancing for affordable housing
throughout the West, is behind the
nearly $10 million venture, called
the Vi I la de Mariposas Apartments,
scheduled to be built at Northeast
50th and Killingsworth.
“With Northeast Portland’s av
erage market vacancy rate o f 2.5
percent versus w hat’s considered
to be a healthy vacancy rate o f 5
percent, the Villa de Mariposas
Apartments are fill ing a critical need,
particularly for large families," said
Deborah Saweuyer-Parks, presi
dent and CEO o f Homestead Capi
tal. “This project will provide safe,
family-oriented, quality housing
near jobs and transportation.”
Residents will be able choose from
on-site support services coordinated
by Multnomah County family re
source center staffand basic medical
and dental care will be available from
La Clinica de Buena Salud mobile
clinic.