Grading Neighborhoods
Coalition looks at heath
issues, local eyesores
See front Metro section, inside
serlu'r
wvvvv.portlandobserver.com
‘City of Roses'
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIII • Number 47
O re g o n
Schwarzenegger to
Repeal Illegal Immigrants’
Licenses
C a lif o r n ia ’s n ew g o v e rn o r .
1 s'JrJ:M'ngry
A rnold S c h w arzen eg g er, has
called the state legislature back
into a special session Tuesday.
Schw arzenegger w ants law m ak­
ers to reform w orkers’ co m p en ­
sation law, deal with the budget
deficit and repeal a bill granting
d riv e r's lic e n se s to u n d o c u ­
mented im migrants.
Food shortages,
low donations hurt
Court Passes on
Affirmative Action Case
Fresh o ff a divisive case involv­
ing affirm ative action in college
adm issions, a divided Suprem e
Court refused to consider the
constitutionality o f a D enver law
that gives m inority- and fem ale-
o w n e d c o n tr a c to r s a b e tte r
chance at w inning som e co n ­
tracts.
Protests Planned Over
Bush’s U.K. Visit
President Bush brought a force­
ful defense o f the Iraq invasion
to skeptical B ritons on Tuesday,
arguing that w ar is som etim es
necessary when certain values
are threatened. B u sh 's three-day
visit prom ised contrasting pic­
tures o f elegant cerem onies at
B uckingham Palace and noisy
street protests by thousands o f
anti-w ar dem onstrators.
First Woman Gov.
Elected In La.
Kathleen Blanco, m oving past
Wednesday • November 19. 2003
photo by M ark W ashington /T hk P ortland O bserver
Tisha Stigler, a sales manager at the US Bank on Northeast Martin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard, donates a bag o f groceries to needy Oregonians. Area residents
are being encouraged to donate to the Oregon Food Bank at US
Bank offices and Jiffy Lube locations through December.
W hile so many local residents are count­
ing their blessings at the start o f this holiday
season, new data indicates that much of
O regon is hungry and food donations are at
an all-tim e low.
U.S. Dept. o f A griculture figures indicate
that O regon's hunger and food insecurity
rates rem ain high com pared to the nation as
a whole. The data indicates that 13.7 percent
o f O regon households were "food insecure"
at tim es during the past year.
M ichael Leachm an, policy analyst forthe
O regon C enter for Public Policy, said the
data show s that in five percent o f Oregon
households, food insecurity was so severe
that one or more household m em bers went
hungry at som e point during the year.
O regon had the second highest hunger
rate in the nation, slightly behind Oklahom a.
Leachm an called on Gov. Ted Kulongoski
and other policy m akers to stay focused on
reducing hunger until it is clear substantial
progress is made.
A rea residents can help reduce hunger by
donating to the O regon Food Bank w here
collections are at the w orst level in years.
V olunteers hope to collect 125,000
pounds o f food through D ecem ber by
accepting grocery bags filled with nonper­
ishable food items at any US Bank branch
and Jiffy Lube location in M ultnom ah,
Clackamas, W ashington, Yamhill, Marion,
Polk and Clark counties.
The food bank is also gathering experi­
enced chefs and advanced home cooks
w ho are willing to share their expertise by
teaching cooking and nutrition classes to
low -incom e individuals.
O regon Fixxl Bank offers nutrition edu­
cation classes to com m unity agencies,
focusing on healthy eating habits, cook­
ing from scratch, nutrition basics, fixxl
handling and menu planning on a lim ited
budget.
To volunteer at the O regon Fixxl Bank
or for m ore inform ation about hunger in
O regon, visit w w w .oregonfoodbank.org
orcall 503-282-0555.
th e v ic to r y th a t m a d e h e r
L ouisiana's first fem ale gover­
nor, has begun sketching out her
plans for health care, education
and econom ic developm ent.
Bush Says U.S. In Iraq for
Duration
A day after the Iraq w ar’s dead­
liest single incident, President
Bush on Sunday m ourned the
A m ericans ki I led but said neither
escalating violence, a changing
political scene nor new threats
will hasten the U .S. ex it from Iraq.
Blazers Harvest Dinner
Builds Community Ties
A Trail Blazers harvest dinner brings a Thanksgiving-style dinner,
including turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and desserts, to
nearly 4,000 people. The guests were invited to the table by 50
community agencies, including Central City Concern, Portland Rescue
Mission, Loaves and Fishes and Albina Head Start.
WTC Memorial
Designs Displayed
The public will get its first look
this week at the design p ropos­
als for w hat could becom e the
m ost-visited m em orial in the
world - the victim s’ m onum ent
planned for the W orld T rade
C enter site.
GOP Medicare Plan
Rejected by Dems.
Choke Hold Kills New Copper Penny Patron
Death follows
struggle with
bar bouncer
P resident Bush and c o n g re s­
sional R epublican leaders are
selling their new M edicare p re­
scription drug plan, but so far,
not many D em ocrats are buying.
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M ark W ashing ton TT he P ortland O bserver
(A P) — A man w ho died after
a stru g g le w ith a b o u n cer at a
popular bar in the Lents neighbor­
hood o f southeast P ortland w as
strangled, according to the state
m edical ex am in er’s office.
N afatali T afito R u sia’s death
has been ruled a hom icide, but no
arrests have been m ade, and po­
lice continue to investigate.
A ccording to w itnesses, Rusia
w as at N ew C opper Penny club
S aturday night w ith fam ily and
friends. A fter a man kept approach­
ing a w om an at his table w ith
unw anted advances, w itnesses said
R usia and the o th er men at the
tab le got into a fig h t w ith the
intruder. B ouncers stepped in to
break up the fight.
W itn esses said they saw one
security official pu, a choke hold
on R usia. w ho w as about 6 feet 2
and w eighed 248 pounds.
“O ne bouncer had him in a l­
most like a full nelson, and o th er
guys w ere holding onto him and
trying to cart him o u t." said one
clubgoer, w ho w as re lu ctan t to
have his nam e published. "H e w as
struggling with the bouncers until
he dropped. H e 's on the floor.
H e ’s out.”
W hen police arrived and found
Rusia, he w as not breathing and
had no pulse. Police ad m in istered
c a rd io p u lm o n a ry re s u s c ita tio n ,
and param edics w ho resp o n d ed
tried as well but w ere u n su ccess­
ful.
Rusia w as taken by am b u lan ce
to P ortland A d v en tist H o sp ital,
w here he w as dead on arrival.
At the young m an ’s hom e M o n ­
day afternoon, fam ily m em b ers
said they had m any u nansw ered
q u estio n s an d said th ey h a d n ’t
been told R u sia 's cau se o f death.
" I t's very tragic that h is life
had to end like th is,” his sister
said. " W e 're still co n tactin g fam ­
ily and in the grieving pro cess."