50^ Lead Blazer Arrested
Spirit of Community
Forward Zach Randolph
charged in local traffic stop
Franklin junior is youth
volunteer o f the year.
See story, page A5
See story, Metro, page A10
server
‘City of Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Establ
inesday • D ecem ber 03. 2003
Volume X X X III • N u m b e r 49
Week ¡n
TheReview
Police Brutality
Investigated
Nathaniel Jones, a 400-pound
black man died inCincinnati after
being struck repeatedly by po­
lice wielding metal nightsticks,
and the mayor said Monday a
videotape showed that the offic­
ers were defending themselves.
Black activists disagree and say
say the death Sunday was an-
otherexampleofbrutality involv­
ing Cincinnati police.
Court Clarifies Death
Imposed by Juries
The Supreme Court said it will
clarify the impact ofits ruling last
year that juries, not a judge, must
decide if a convicted killer lives
or dies. The high court forced
changes in the death penalty laws
of five states in 2002 because
those states gave judges the fi­
nal say.
Mideast Activists
Launch Symbolic Tready
Israeli and Palestinian activists
launched an unofficial peace
treaty aimed at ending one of the
world’s most intractable conflicts,
backed by a gathering of Nobel
peace prize winners including
former President Jimmy Carter.
The “G eneva A ccord" faces
strong opposition from Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
last-minute dissension within
Palestinian ranks.
World AIDS Day Launched
Tens of thousands of AIDS ac­
tivists and health workers rallied
worldwide on Monday to mark
World AIDS Day and officials
announced new initiatives and
millions of dollars in new funding
to combat the disease that has
infected 40 million people, and
kills more than 8,000 sufferers
everyday.
Roy Disney Resigns
Under Duress
In a sign of simmering tension at
the top of one of the nation’s
largest media giants, Walt Disney
Co. vicechairman Roy E. Disney
stepped down from the board of
directors and called on chairman
and chief executive M ichael
Eisner to resign in a scathing
letter. “It is my sincere belief that
it is you that should be leaving
and not me," Disney wrote to
Eisner. He also accused Eisner of
“m uzzling" his voice on the
board.
Bush Banks $1.75M
for Re-Election
President Bush hanked a fresh
$1.75 million for his re-election
campaign and celebrated signs
of revival in the manufacturing
sector, the hardest-hit segment
of the job market.
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1
Coach Troy Berry with the Benson Tech basketball team.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he
P ortland O bserver
Benson Coach Returns Home
Inspired past
meets the present
by J aymee R. C vti
T he P ortland O bserver
Troy Berry has encyclopedic knowledge
about the many years of championship qual­
ity basketball at Benson High School.
Now he’s dreaming of a future generation
o f student champions at Benson.
Barry took the reigns of the Benson boys
basketball program this fall after five years at
Lincoln High School where he put a once
downtrodden Lincoln team on a high-caliber
track for the first time in almost 40 years.
Berry ’ s demanding coaching style pushed
Lincoln athletes to their ultimate advan­
tage. In his first year, Lincoln was I in P i n
league and 2 in 21 overall. In his final year,
his teams were regular entries in the state
A member of Benson’s state champion­
ship basketball team in 1981, he has commit­
ted to his memory, a star-studded list of
Benson graduates who have gone far, us-
'To come back home and be able to
work with kids whose parents I ’ve known
over half my life, that’s pretty special.
- Benson Coach Troy Berry
basketball tournament and won the City
Championship for the first time since 1964.
Benson is a homecoming for this tal­
ented coach.
Brown Hired
to Direct
Neighborhoods
ing the northeast Portland school as a
launching board to successful careers in
college, the pros and in life.
He can go back years, name dropping
Benson’s entire lineup for ‘73, and many
others.
He draws inspiration front players past,
like Richard Washington, and passes that
enthusiasm on to his team.
“Richard was arguably the greatest prep
school player to come out of Portland, he’s
the reason I chose Benson when I moved to
Portland. The ‘73 team is probably one o f the
greatest teams to come out of Oregon.”
Berry said he remembers watching the
neighborhood change during his years at
Benson and winning the state championship
on his 18lh birthday.
“To come back home and be able to work
with kids whose parents , ’ve known over
continued
on page A5
Ushering in the Holidays
Portland native focuses
on solutions
Community leader Jimmy Brown has been named
director of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement
by Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard.
The African-American Brown isa25-yearpublic
service veteran with experience fighting on the front
lines for solutions to some of the city's most critical
problems. He most recently served in the Multnomah
County Department of Community Justice.
Leonard said he likes Brown’s leadership style.
“Jimmy Brown has a proven track record in bring­
ing together diverse groups of Portlanders to tackle
some of the toughest problems when solutions
have escaped others,” Leonard said.
Brown distinguished himself in a 20-year career
in community justice by developing the county’s
gang resource intervention team. He’s alsocredited
with developing and directing a school attendance
initiative to fight truancy, and a communities of
color initiative for high-risk African-American, His­
panic. Asian, Pacific-Islander and Native American
youth.
Brown also managed an intercultural strategies
plan, focusing on building cultural competence and
cross-cultural communication skills for Department
of Community Justice managers and staff members.
Brown is a Portland native. He graduated from
Jefferson High Schixtl in 1970 and holds a bachelor's
degree in Psychology from Lewis andClark College.
He and his wife, Kathy Brennan, have fourchildren:
Megan, 25, Ryan, 21, Taylor, 20 and Jordan, 17.
A 75-foot
Douglas fir was
lit up by more
than 5.000
lights Friday at
the city's 1 9 r'
annual tree
lighting cer­
emony at Pioneer
Courthouse
Square. The
holiday tree
will remain on
display through
Dec. 26.
, Pin w ir y M a r k W
vsiiim . ion ZI’ hi
P ori LANO O bserver
I