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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 2004)
Student Authors at Sabin Northeast school kids finish book trilogy See story in Metro, inside ¿T 3]lnrnattit ©bseruer ‘City of Roses’ Established in 1970 Volume XXXIII • N um ber 10 T,Weekin TheReview Obesity Creeping Pass Smoking As Top Killer More Americans will die o f obe sity than from smoking if current trends persist, which would make being fat the nation’s top cause of preventable death. w w w .p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • March 17.2004 OU> TOW c Fresno Man Accused of Mass Murder, Incest A m ak esh ift m em o rial o f stu ffe d a n i mals, balloons and flo w ers grew on the sid e w a lk in front of a home where a man is accused of killing nine of his fam ily members, some that police said may have been the product of incest with his own daughters. See story on page A5. NCER China Fights Against ‘Social Evils’ China's government pledged to intensify the fight against what it considers social evils - street crime and terrorism, Falun Gong and the corrupt officials that are under mining leaders’ claims of putting people first. T i'X i ‘ - - ___ J o i Gasoline Climbing to Record Prices The Energy Department reported that nationwide retail gasoline prices averaged $ 1.72 per gallon last week. Meanwhile, the price of oil surged to $37.44 per barrel on futures markets, the highest level in more than a year. ‘Passion’ Approaching $350 Million “The Passion of the Christ” was the top film for a third straight weekend, taking in $31.7 million and pushing its total beyond a quarter of a billion dollars. Millions Protest in Spain; Suspects Identified Police identified five Moroccan suspects in the Madrid train bomb ings and the death tol 1 rose to 201. More than a million demonstra tors jammed the streets of Madrid on Friday night to protest terror attacks. See story, page A7. M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver TURNAROUND Alleged Ecoterrorist Arrested in Canada A fu g itiv e rad ical e n v i ro n m e n ta lis t from Portland has been a rre ste d on c h a rg e s of setting fire to logging and cement trucks in 2001. Michael Scarpitti was arrested Saturday while try ing to shoplift some bolt cutters in Victoria, British Columbia. Cana dian police realized he was a fugi tive when his fingerprints were run through a database. See story, page A5. photo by . Laurie Palmer overcame her own troubled past to help others who face drug and alcohol problems in her work at the Old Town Clinic. Laurie Palmer helps others after helping herself and a lc o h -i "tervention specialist, was one o f same struggles she has trium phed over. 25 women nationwide recently honored for Today, her life is rich with family, volunteerism m aking a positive difference in the lives of and stable em ploym ent. She has fully trans wom en living in poverty. formed from a chi Idhood and young adulthood Palm er received a W oman o f Trium ph award marred in chaos. at the 25th Anniversary Gala for W omen Work! Palm er ran away from home, prostituted, People d o n ’t often get credit for turning their at the National M useum o f W omen in the Arts lives around. Getting clean and sober, reuniting com m itted crim es and found herself in abusive in W ashington D.C. W om en Work! is an orga relationships. with family and becoming a respectable mem- nization dedicated to the econom ic security of b e ro f society is som etimes reward enough, but women and families through policies, programs and partnerships. a national aw ards gala never hurts deserving honorees. By overcom ing her own past. Palmer is now Laurie Palmer, the Old Town C linic’s drug changing the lives o f others who are facing the She received her wake up call when she was incarcerated in 1991 and her children became wards o f the state. continued Advocates Rally for Housing Affordable homes out of reach for many Area residents are asking the Portland City Council to support funding for affordable housing. A rally to encourage the allo cation o f $30 m illion to the c ity ’s Housing Investm ent Fund drew 200 people to the steps o f City Hall last week. Form er State Rep. Deborah K afoury, who recently served north and northeast Portland in the State L egislature, was the ch ief spokesm an for the event organized by the group A fford able Housing Now! Kafoury said that stable, af fordable housing rem ains out of re a c h fo r fa r to o m any Portlanders. “Housing is as important as schools, healthcare, jobs and the hungerproblem,"she said. “In fact, without affordable housing, re sources that we use to address these other issues are not effec tive.” O ther speakers emphasized the relationship betw een affordable housing and schools, hunger, h ealth care, ho m elessness, the econom y, and com m unity liv ability. Tony Jones, o f the Housing D evelopm ent Center, discussed how affordable housing creates family wage jobs. “Data shows that for every new unit we build, there isone full time construction job for a calendar year,” said Jones. “Investing in affordable housing is also invest ing in well paying jobs.” Perhaps the most powerful pre sentation on the rally was made by schools bus driver Diane Kahl.To i llustrate the magnitude of the hous ing crisis in the metro region, she asked the crowd to consider that 3,5OOchildren were homeless this past year. The housing advocates want the Portland City Council to re new its com m itm ent to the Hous ing Investm ent Fund. In 1996, Portland dedicated $30 m illion to a Housing Invest ment Fund to help meet the need for affordable housing. The fund was instrum ental in the devel opment o f 3,604 units of afford able housing, including the pres e rv a tio n o f r e n t-s u b s id iz e d photo BV M ark W ashim ; ton /T he P ortland O bserver units, creation units for large A f 80. Ernie Yazzolino dribbles two basketballs at the same families, and financing for inno time, showing he still has what it takes to play basketball with vative and successful housing area youth. Yazzolino is a Drug Free Basketball volunteer at the programs. Mt. Scott Community Center. on page AS Passion for the Game 80-year-old stays in shape to play ball, fight drugs, alcohol by J aymee R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver Ernie Y azzol i no has always loved sports and children. Being 80-years-old hasn’t kept him from his passion for the game and commitment to kids. Yazzolino is involved with Drug Free Basketball, where he is a staff supervisor for Sellwood Middle School for Saturday games with boys and girls, grades four through eight. But Y azzolino d o e sn ’t ju st preach the rules of the game. He practices them. At any given prac tice, Yazzolino can be seen at the Mt . Scot, Community Center, drib bling two balls at once or running up and down the court. “I also bowl twice a week," Yazzolino said. continued on page AS
