50tf Remember to Vote! Ballots Due Tuesday, May 18 (T ill' ffîbsertier ‘Qty of Roses Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIV • Number 19 T,Weekin ThcReview Wednesday • May 12. 2004 Superintendent Chuck Moore shows o ff New Columbia 's paved streets and infrastructure with Shelly Marchesi of the Housing Authority of Portland and Leslie Esinga, the project's resident community liaison. The new roads are connected to streets in the surrounding neighborhoods, eliminating the isolation o f the now demolished Columbia Villa. Mandela Criticizes War in Iraq photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver Nelson Mandela looked frail and joked about being an old man, but the former South African presi dent remained combative Mon day, lashing out at the United States and Britain over Iraq in a speech billed as his swan song before Parliament. Teen Chooses Not to Blow Himself Up A Palestinian teenager who de cided against blowing himself up in Jerusalem caused panic in a West Bank security office when he went for help. Dispute Over Custody of Saddam The United States has pledged to hand over Saddam Hussein and dozens of other suspects to Iraqi authorities by the time the U.S.- led coalition transfers power to Iraq next month, the head of Iraq’s war crimes tribunal saidTuesday. The Pentagon disputed the re port. Poll: British Want Troops Out of Iraq A majority of Britons surveyed in an opinion poll published Mon day want British troops to leave Iraq by the end of June. Red Cross: Iraqi Abuse Widespread A Red Cross report disclosed Monday that U.S. officers mis treated inmates at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison by keeping them naked in totally dark, empty cells. While many detainees were quickly released or no longer mis treated after interrogation, high- ranking officials in Saddam Hussein’s government - includ ing those listed on the U.S. military's deck of cards - were held for months in solitary confine ment. Newspapers Sue Over Erasure The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American filed a law suit Monday against the U.S. Marshals Service over an inci dent in April in which a federal marshal erased reporters’ record ings of a speech Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave to high school students. New Columbia Construction Begins Neighborhood designed for pride, high morale by J aymee R. C u n T he P ortland O bserver The biggest neighborhood redevelop ment in the history of the Housing Author ity of Portland is moving into its next phase: construction. Demolition is complete for Columbia Villa’s 462 units in north Portland, making way for New Columbia, which aims to de concentrate poverty by building a mixed- economy development including market rate and affordable homes for sale, apart ments and duplexes, public housing and section-8 units — 850 homes in all. “You’ll live in a neighbi rhood where you’re not distinguished by your income,” said Shelly Marchesi, Housing Authority communication director. A Columbia Villa reunion planned for July 21 is an opportunity for staff to touch base with former tenants, ask them about their current housing and whether they plan to return to New Columbia in 2005. A poll taken last summer indicated that 70 percentofColumbia Villa residents wished to return after renovations were complete. Officials at the Housing Authority iden tified relocation as their biggest challenge with the project and appointed a relocation manager to ease the process. With relocation behind them, one of the latest challenge to strike the housing agency was not receiving an expected $6.4 million demolition grant. To recoup costs, Marchesi said the bud get was reconfigured, using more demoli tion and less deconstruction. Despite that multi-million dollar setback, New Columbia is right on target, according to Marchesi, on schedule and on budget. The project is scheduled for completion in 2006, with re-occupancy beginning in the summer of 2(X)5. Besides a federal Hope VI grant, totaling $35 million. theCity of Portland has pledged $20 million to the project and the Housing Authority has procured $90 million of in vestment from pubic, private and charitable sources. The project is at $ 145 million of its projected $ 150 million budget. Besides sound plumbing, electrical, ven tilation, fire safety and disabled accessibil ity, New Columbia Residents can expect vast neighborhood improvements from Columbia Villa. continued on page A2 Investments to Boost Northeast Aimed at revitalizing Martin Luther King Boulevard properties Tax credits and loans totaling $100 million are earmarked to revitalize areas along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and other parts of northeast Portland. ing and Shaver streets. The Family of Funds organization will take up residency there, fueling a mixed-use commercial retail project now possible by having a tenant. Money will also be allotted to various projects along a 12-block span on King, including the Vanport Square project be tween Alberta and Killingsworth Streets and investment in Lents, Interstate Av- Economic Productivity Rises The productivity of America’s companies rose solidly in the opening quarter of this year, and new filings for jobless benefits plunged last week to their lowest level in more than three years, good news for the country’s eco nomic health. photo by M ark W ashing ton / T he P ortland O bserver Roosevelt High School mural artists Alex Clay (from left), Ashley Elliott, school monitor Phil Thompson, Bounmy Sittthiso, Steve Him andJamele Sanders. Roosevelt Diversity Celebrated Students, faculty create timeless mural PHOTO by c o •r, zu o ri cd B „ o O C .> > r < a £2 ■ u û£ u u. “ J C O »C CD 0s C .5 C ri ~ c O Í 3 uj M ark W ashimítob / T he P ortland O bserver Civic leader Carl Taitón and Bridget Bayer of the Northeast Coalition o f Neighbor hoods welcome a commitment o f federal funds to revitalize properties along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Mayor Vera Katz made the announce ment last week of the $196.5 million of federal tax credits allocated to the city, $ 100 million will go to the Portland Family of Funds, an investment bank created by the Portland Development Commission for projects in northeast Portland. The money will be filtered through eq uity investments and low-interest loans, beginning with the historic Heritage Building on the boulevard between Fail- enue and in other low-income neighbor hoods. The Vanport project, under the direc tion of African American business leader Ray Leary, is a major focus of the urban development effort with plans to make several blocks into a shopping district with a major retail store as magnet to shoppers. continued yf on page A2 A new mural at Roosevelt High School is dedicated to the diversity of students and faculty, past and present. The mural painting project began in 2(X)I, with a service learning project collaboration betw een R o o sev elt's painting class and Uni versity of Portland stu dents. The mural has since evolved into a tribute to Roosevelt's diversity with the images of people who makeup the school's multicultural popu lation and an image of the St. Johns Bridge as a symbol of the school as a bridge to a greater world. The faces are semi-portraits, largely based on real Roosevelt students. One recogniz able figure in the mural is Phil T h o m p so n , the school’s campus moni tor, who is retiring after many years. The mural, which was recently completed, was designed and created by noted muralist Isaka Shamsud din from Portland State University and students of Roger Friedel, the art teacher at Roosevelt. The faces are semi-portraits, largely based on real Roosevelt students.