m . poi rllaixlobserv er.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
October 01. 2003
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Don’t Lego of the Fun
Lego m aster bui Ider visits Port
land to challenge kids and learn
tips and tricks with Legos. Help
build the Portland skyline with
Legos from 3 to 7 p.m. Oct. 3,11
a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 4 and noon to
5 p.m. O ct. 5 at Pioneer Court
h o u s e S q u a re , 71 5 SW
Morrison St. For more inform a
tion, call 800-422-5346.
Black Poetry Week
Celebrate Black Poetry Week
with the N orthw est A frican
American Writers Workshop at
1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 and join
the new book discussion group
featuring fiction by A frican
American at 1 p.m. Oct. 12 and the
second Sunday o f every month
at Barnes & Noble, Lloyd Center.
1317 Lloyd Center.
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Chimps Gone Wild
Lakita Logan (left) and
Terenie Fairson are
ROOTS organizers,
working to build unity
between people o f color.
Jane Goodall brings enthusiasts
closer to nature with "Wi Id Chim
panzees,” from Oct. 17 through
( May at the Omnimax Theater.
1945 Se Water Ave. Tickets are
$8.50. Formore information, visit
P hoto by M ark W ashington
T he P ortland O bserver
www.wiidchunpanzees.org.
Doors of Creativity
Northwest Medical Teams spon
sons the multi-media exhibit“Win-
dows o f Need, Doors o f Hope
from Nov. 12 through 18 at the
Doubletree Inn, LloydCentcr. For
m o re
in fo rm a tio n ,
v isit
www mwniedicalteams.org or call
503-624-1000.
Spin-doctors Unspun
Radical Women hosts a work
sh o p d isc u ssin g th e B ush
adm inistration's latest call for
funding in the war on terrorism
and the strain it will put on work
ing women, at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 .8 19 N.
Killingsworth. Formore infonna
tion,cal!503-240-4462.
* High Energy
The Community Energy Project
holds a series o f free workshops
to help make consumers energy
conscious. W orkshops on water
conservation are at 12:30 p.m
Oct. 3and 10a.m.Oct.6atOHSU,
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd
and at 6:30 p.m. at Peninsula Park
Community Center, 700 N . Port
land Blvd. The project also in
eludes weatherizing workshops
throughout September and O c
tober. For more information, cal I
503-284-6827.
C om m on T h rea d s
People of color
build unity through
shared experiences
by J aymee R .C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
Amid a racially charged climate, with
gentrification, racial profiling and bias on
the tongues o f many community leaders,
cries for unity echo throughout the city.
And whi le many organizations are meant
to bring people o f color together, one dis
tinctly identifies that minorities are divided
by different backgrounds.
“People assume because w e’re people o f
color, w e’re unified, and that’sa misconcep-
tion,” said Lakita Logan.directorofReclaim-
NMWNMMMMMI
ing Our Origins Through Struggle ( ROOTS).
“To build a strong movement, we need to
address what has separated us.”
ROOTS, which celebrated its one-year
anniversary in July, is a community based
organization that aims to bring together
people o f color to learn about each others’
diverse backgrounds, discuss factors that
divide minority communities and bui Id unity
through the common experience o f being
Americans o f color.
The group o f 50 members is laying the
groundwork for a campaign addressing
gentrification and forced displacement.
Volunteers gather information by hitting the
streets o f north and northeast Port land neigh
borhoods, surveying residents about po
lice presence, rising housing costs, and
experiences within a neighborhood affected
by gentrification.
“If we don't lobby to keep people in this
community, one community will be forced
out, a new community wil I be here to replace
them and the community that once existed
here will be gone,” said Logan, speaking
about rising housing costs in the northeast.
This displacement, Logan said, primarily
affects elderly people o f color that have
lived in north and northeast Portland for
decades.
ROOTS members have successfully lob
bied the city for $ 150,000 to help residents
stay in their homes. The contract extends
through January, and money is still avail
able, Logan said.
ROOTS is also creating an arts education
program, beginning with a film series. The
first viewing is “All Power to the People” on
Natural Gas Bills Go Up
Impact Hurts Most as Winter Approaches
«
Customers o f Northwest Natural Gas, serving the Portland area,
will experience higher natural gas bills in the coming months due to
! more expensive wholesale natural gas prices.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission approved the new rates
last week to take effect Oct. I . The commission adjusts rates once
a year to reflect changes in the wholesale price o f natural gas. The
company makes no additional profit from these rate adjustments,
D isc o v e r P o r tla n d 's g ree n
space from 10 to 11 a.m. S atur
days with guided tours by park
Volunteers. On Oct. 4, m eet at
the G lobal G arden at H arold
O liver S chool'sparking lot. On
Oct. 11. meet at Peninsula Park,
next to sunken rose garden. On
Nov. 1, m eet at the W hitaker
Ponds visitor center.
officials said.
Pounding Pavement
Fitness fanatics will lace up
their tennies for the 32nd An
nual P ortland M arathon on
Sunday, Oct. 5 at 7 a.m. The
event starts in front o f C ity
Hall, 1221 SW 4lh Ave. and fin
ishes at the Justice Center, 1120
SW 3rd Ave. Registration is
$125. Formore information,call
5 0 3 -2 2 6 -1 1 1 1
or
visit
w w w .portlandm arathon.org.
Moving Moments
«
Tuesday, Oct. 14.
“W e’re exposing people to history o f
communities o f color and how movements
have been built in this country,” Logan said.
Educated in Portland, and a graduate o f
Roosevelt 11 igh School, Logan says she had
very little exposure to American civil rights
movements and the history o f American
minorities.
ROOTS organizers are recruiting volun
teers and collaborating with charter schools
and alternative education programs to iden
tify the kind o f material lacking in public
education. Their plan is to build a curricu
lum, supplementing public education, which
educates kids about their backgrounds and
connects them with their roots.
Formore in formation, or to volunteer, call
5O3-288-4O2I.
MMNMMMMIMmiMMnnMaM
Green Walks
The IFCC offers Life Movement
dance classes and workshops.
Our Breathing Body is on Oct. 11
and Touch Stones is on Nov. I
and 8. All workshops are between
10 a.m. and I p.m. at the dance
studio. 5340 N. Interstate Ave.
W orkshop prices range between
$45 and $60. To register, call 503-
284-1908.
B
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Villa Homes Come Crashing Down
In one o f the biggest rehabilitation projects of its kind, demolition work begins at Columbia Villa in
north Portland. The Housing Authority of Portland is tearing down 462 units of World War II era housing
to make room for New Columbia, a full-service neighborhood that 's being built from the ground up.
Current and recent Villa families are guaranteed first access to the new subsidized housing that will be
built on the site over the next two years. New Columbia will also feature owner-occupied homes.
>
“We know that any increase can be difficult for households and
businesses to absorb. However, although Yvholesale prices are
higher due to variety o f market forces, fortunately they are not as
high as we previously expected,” Commission Chairman Lee Beyer
! said.
The monthly bill for a typical residential customer who uses 61.5
therms will increase by 4.5 percent. The typical custom er’s bill will
go from $60.04 to $62.71, an increase o f $2.67.
In January, a typical residential customer’s consumption o f 13 1
therms would result in a billing increase from $121.11 to $ 126.80.
Commercial and industrial customers will see an increase ofbetween
4.9 to 5.6 percent.
The boost in prices is on top o f a 1.1 percent general rate increase
Northwest Naniral received just four weeks ago.
Beyer said there are things customers can do to reduce the impact
o f these increases, especially during the upcoming winter months,
when the effect on their bills will be more noticeable.
Residents can set up an equal payment plan to spread high winter
bills over a 12-month period, turn the thermostat down, install a
programmable thermostat that automatically reduce heat at night or
while the house is unoccupied, and ask for an energy audit.
Utilities are required to provide free energy audits. They also
provide incentives such as rebates or loans for recommended
conservation measures.
For example, sealing cracks, gaps and other places where air leaks
can generally result in a 10 percent heating and cooling savings, and
fully insulating a residence generally results in up to 30 percent
j savings on a heating bill.
I