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‘City of Roses'
www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIII • Number 51
Wednesday • December 17. 2003
Church Building Back on Track
Saddam Hussein
Death Penalty
Wanted for Saddam
Exuberance over his capture still
fresh, Iraqi leaders said they want
to send Saddam Hussein to a
quick trial with an eye toward
executing him by summer. But
U.S. officials signaled the Iraqis
may have to wait.
Sen.Thurmond Had
Illegitimate Daughter
The late Sen. Strom Thurmond’s
family on Monday said it ac-
kno wledges a California woman' s
claim that she is his illegitimate
mixed-race daughter. “We hope
this acknowledgment will bring
closure for Ms. Williams,” the
fam ily's lawyer, J. Mark Taylor,
said in a brief statement.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T hk P ortland O bserver
Powell has Cancerous
Prostate Removed
Making final plans for the completion o f a new sanctuary and education center on North Summer Street between Michigan and Missouri avenues are
Emmanuel Temple Bishop A. A. Wells, S.B Deacon superintendent Billy Ploetz. senior pastor C.T. Wells and chief operations officer Rev. Franklin Alvey.
Secretary of State Colin Powell
underwent surgery to remove his
cancerous prostate gland. “Ev
erything went fine," his spokes
man said. “The doctors say he
had a localized prostate cancer,”
spokesm an Richard Boucher
said.
Delay ends for
Emmanuel Temple
dream house
Northwesterner Wins
$1M on ‘Survivor’
In a "Survivor” contest packed
with villains and indelible char
acters, Sandra Diaz-Twine, a
mother o f two from the North
west, had the staying power to
win the television game.
M ichael L eighton
T he P ortland O bserver
by
One of the most ambitious building projects for a
local African American house of worship is back on
track.
The Emmanuel Temple Full Gospel Pentecostal
Church will resume work Jan. 5 on a new 33.IXX) square
foot sanctuary and education center in north Port
land, church leaders said.
The resumption of building activity comes after a
complete halt on the $3.3 million project that was
adding years to the project, first started with site
preparation work in 1996 and construction in 1998.
Church operations officer Rev. Franklin A. Alvey
said financing to complete the entire project by May
of this coming year was made possible by a new bank
loan.
The church was recently able to improve its finan
cial standing by completing a transaction with Port
land Community College on the sale of the former
Renaissance Market property, a store the church
o p erated as a com m unity resource on N orth
KillingsworthStreet.
Alvey said the new church site, located just across
the street from Emmanuel Temple’sexisting church on
North Sumner Street between Michigan and Missouri
Gov’t to Relieve Flu
Vaccine Shortage
Landing a Career
The governm ent on M onday
an n o u n ced the purch ase o f
375,000 flu shots for adults,
scrambling toease vaccine short
ages in what is turning out to be
a harsh flu season.
High-achieving
students on path to
corporate success
Afghan Women Demand
Leadership Positions
The opening celebrations over,
A fg h a n ista n 's constitutional
council hit its first controversy,
with women delegates denounc
ing their colleagues for trying to
shut them out of leadership posi
tions.
BY JAYMEE R . C V T l
T he P ortland O bserver
photo by
M ark W ashington /T hk P orti . and O bserver
Cheryl Jorgensen (left) and Jensin Albright o f the Community Cycling Center
take a break from loading bikes for deserving kids this holiday season into the
Legacy Emanuel Hospital Atrium in north Portland.
Holiday Bike Success
Old bikes chained to poles and in base
ments got a spit polish and tune up before
they were donated this weekend to more
than 800 area kids.
The C om m unity Cycling C enter pro
vided low-income families with refurbished
bicycles and new helm ets last Sunday at
J
avenues, awaits $1.8 million in construction work.
Concrete foundations already built adjacent to the
new sanctuary will provide the building blocks for
church administration offices, a daycare and the A. A.
Wells Learning Center.
Bishop A. A. Wells is pastor of the church and a
long-time community leader.
The sanctuary will provide seating for 1,200 people,
making it the largest church in the community, Alvey
said.
Towering over the surrounding community and
rising above the eastside of 1-5. the sanctuary was
built during the initial construction phase, but will not
open until completion of the entire project.
All construction will be finished in time for a na
tional church convention the church is hosting in
June, Alvey said.
i
L e g a c y E m a n u e l H o sp ita l w ith
the help o f donations in the com m u
nity.
The group is continuing the holiday
bike drive, looking for roughly 2(X) more
bikes to meet their holiday goal of 1,000
bikes for kids.
C ollege ju n io r Leah W yatt was
plagued by the nagging obligation to
return to the University of Oregon. On
track for a career in corporate America.
Wyatt had been studying for a year at
the University of the Virgin Islands.
Last summer, business news in the
states underscored layoffs in major cor
porations as Wyatt considered loung
ing in a lush island city on St. Thomas,
working at a restaurant and soaking up
the sun.
photo by M ark W ashington /
“I was going to look fo ra permanent
T in P ortland O bserver
apartment in St. Thomas and I could
Leah Wyaff embarks on her career path as
have stayed there and not even gone
a communications assistant at TriMet.
back to school,” she said. “I considered
that for a second, but I knew my parents from St Thomas and accepted an internship
wouldn't go for it."
at TriMet.
But it was more than W yatt's com mit
Upon graduating last summer. Wyatt, 22,
ment to her parents that brought her back to began working full-time at TriMet as acom -
Portland to finish her senior year at the U of munications assistant in the community af
O. Wyatt knew she had an excellent shot at fairs office. She accredits her snuxith transi
escaping the fate of her job-hunting peers tion from student to professional to Inroads,
and landing a career. Instead o f working at an international internship program ensur
the mall. Wyatt had spent the previous ing that minority students are prepared for
summers interning at large corporations in
cun tin lied
on page A5
Oregon. She conducted phone interviews
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