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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2004)
** Black History Month Exit Rasheed, Enter Shareef Five player swap sends Blazer forward packing for highly- regarded Shareef Abdur-Rahim. See Sports, Page B6 Established in 1970 ‘City of R oses’ www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIII • Number 6 Wednesday • Februaiy II, 2004 T W eek in TheReview / think my son's better than me. He's just as fast, he hits pretty good and he's got a little bit more knowledge at his age. Bush AWOL Charge Disputed Younger Lampkin Claims the Ring The W hite House, facing election- year questions about President B ush’s military service, released pay records and other information T uesday that it said sup p o rts B ush's assertion that he fulfilled his duty as a m em ber of the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Guard units were rarely called up to active duty in the Vietnam W ar era and the Reserves and the Guard acc aired reputations as draft havens for relatively affluent young white men. CIA Downplays Iraq Threat In his first public defense o f pre w ar intelligence, CIA D irector G eorge Tenet said that U.S. ana lysts had never claim ed Iraq was an im m inent threat, the main argu ment used by President Bush for going to war. T enet said analysts had varying opinions on the state o f Iraq ’ s chem ical, biological and nuclear w eapons program s and those differences w ere given to the W hite House. Search for Mad Cows Ends The A griculture D epartm ent said it is ending its search for addi tional cases o f m ad cow disease even though officials have not found all the anim als they sought after the nation’s first case turned up in D ecem ber r Death Penalty Fairness Attacked California now has 638 inm ates on death row, som e o f them for more than one murder. But som e o f the state’s counties have condem ned m any m ore inm ates than others o f sim ilar size, according to an A sso ciated Press review o f C orrections D epartm ent data. T he disparities are so pronounced that legal ex perts say capital punishm ent is being unfairly applied in C alifor- Protesters’ Records Subpoenaed In w hat may be the first subpoena o f its kind in decades, a federal ju d g e has ordered a university to turn over records about a gather ing o f anti-w ar activists. In addi tion to the subpoena o f D rake U n iv e r s ity , s u b p o e n a s w e re served this past w eek on four o f the activists who attended a Nov. 15 forum at the school, ordering them to appear before a grand jury- Ray Lampkin, former No. 1 lightweight contender Legend’s son competes for the Olympics, going pro by J aym ee R .C vti T he P ortland O bserver T h ere’s a new Lam pkin in the ring, and h e ’s picking up w here his fam ous dad, ’’Lightning Ray,” left off. Ray L am pkin III had his first boxing m atch only tw o years ago, w hen he w as 18. Today he has aspirations o f turning pro and quali fying for the O lym pic boxing team on Feb. 16 through 21 in Tunica, M iss. Lam pkin played basketball, foot ball and baseball for Roosevelt High School in north Portland. He said he turned to boxing because he was out o f sports to play. “I ju st w alked into the gym one day and started w inning fights,” he said. “Relentless Ray,” as his nickname ^ su g g e sts, c o n s id e rs h im s e lf a “scrappy” fighter. With the help o f his d ad ’s coaching, he’s m oved into position as the second-ranked feath erw eight fighter in the country. “I think my so n 's better than me. H e 's ju st as fast, he hits pretty good and h e ’s got a little bit more know ledge at his age,” said the form er No. 1 lightweight contender. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver “I ’m teaching him w hat I know and Featherweight Ray Lampkin III, a graduate of Roosevelt High School in north Portland, has eyes on that m akes a big difference.” a professional boxing career just like his dad, Portland boxing legend “ Lightning Ray" Lampkin. The senior Lam pkin started box- A truck packed with an estim ated 500 pounds o f explosives blew up T uesday m orning at a police sta tion south o f Baghdad as dozens o f w ould-be recruits lined up to apply for jobs. A hospital official said at least 50 people were killed and 50 others wounded. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver State Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, and John Canda, executive director of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, ask the public for help after gunfire sprays northeast Portland neighborhoods. H r I o -7 o © So: £ « □ v C C Sj 3 3 — UJ continued on page B6 Activists Make Call to Mothers 50 Die In Baghdad Truck Bombing c ing in 1957, won his first tourna ment in 1958 and m issed O lym pic tryouts to attend his fath er’s fu neral. Instead, he turned pro and becam e a boxing legend when he narrowly lost the world lightweight cham pionship in a fight lasting 14 rounds against Roberto Duran in Panam aC ity in 1975. Now his nam esake is after that same kind o f achievem ent. “W e’ve got the sam e name so it’sg o in g to be hard to get out o f his shadow but I want to win a world title,” said the younger Lam pkin. “He cam e close.” The elder Lam pkin has opened doors for his son and other A fri can-A m erican athletes in the state and the sport. He earned the dis tinction o f being the first African- American from Oregon to complete for the world title and first African A m erican boxer to be inducted into the O regon Hall o f Fame. Lam pkin III plans to turn pro after he goes to the upcom ing sum m er O lym pics in A thens, Greece. “ I ju st w ant to be a cham pion,” he said. His self-assurance is not w ith out merit W ith bronze and silver m etals for various tournam ents and a 29-5 record studding his resum e, he said his inexperience is the only thing that can hold him back from the O lym pics. “ I’ve been fighting guys who have been fighting since they’ve been in their teens,” the young Lam pkin said. “I’m still learning on the go." M others were am ong com m unity m em bers getting special m ention in acall tohelp stop local gun violence. State Sen. M argaret C arter and other activists addressed a group o f residents at N ortheast 18'h A venue and Junior Street on T hursday, the location w here 14-year-old T yniece M cC orvey was shot in the back of the head on Feb. I . T he A frican-A m erican leaders called on the com m unity to stop the Businesses, city also enlisted in curbing violence by J aymee R. C vti T he P ortland O bserver t violence plaguing inner city n eighbor ho o d s. “ I want to issue a call for all m others to know w here your children are, to have greater expectations for your children and encourage them in school,” said Carter. “ Yes, this is black-on-black crim e, but we need your help and the help o f all people o f this com m unity." The law m aker, educator and longtim e com m unity leader also called on the busi ness com m unity to create jo b s for young people and the city to help support after- school program s to keep young people o ff the streets. She asked churches to be a safe place for youth to hand over guns. The pleas cam e during a press conference called by the N ortheast C oalition o f N eigh borhoods, after a bloody w eekend o f five separate shooting incidents leaving three dead and M cC orvey hospitalized. A 16-year-old suspect w as arrested Fri day in M cC orvey’s shooting, charged with attem pted murder, first-degree assault and unlaw ful possessio n o f a w eapon. Eric M andley, w ho is being held in the county juvenile detention center, told police the bullet was not intended for M cCorvey. M andley is the only suspect arrested in co n n ectio n to any o f the five separate sh o o tin g s. Bradford H olm an, a m em ber o f the C oali tion o f Black M en. am plified the feelings o f m any at T hursday's forum . He referred to a perceived m istrust o f the police departm ent that prevents w itnesses o f crim e from com ing forward. “I want to talk to us black people. There is a call for information right now, but fear is holding us back," Holman said. "On theeveofBlack History Month, we call out to the dominant community to assist as and stand for trust” Capt. D orothy Elm ore said her role for building trust with young people is tw ofold, as the captain o f the School Police D ivision and as an A frican-A m erican mother. “ My roles intersect as a m entor, in and out o f uniform ," said Elm ore. She and her colleagues at the Portland Police D epartm ent are participating in the D ialogue C ircles program , going to schools to dispel m isconceptions about police. “W e’re taking o ff our guns, taking off our ; continued on page
