‘City of Roses’ Jazz & H ip-H op 101 Locked O ut Free concert to put emphasis on cultural and artistic knowledge African Americans say they're routinely passed over as boxing officials See story in Focus, Section C See story in Metro, Section B nrtlnnù Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIV • Number 21 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • May 26. 2004 Traffic Stop Cultural Gap Tackled P hotoby J aymee R. C m / Forum draws 150, but not the police T he P ortland O bserver Deejay Kevin Berry says the old school sounds he played on KB00 made his ‘Time Sound'show popular in the African Ameri can community. But the lyrics o f some o f the rap music he played is cited as one reason for his dis m issal after 2 3 years. P o rtla n d p o lice o ffic e rs need tra in in g to h an d le ten se s itu a tio n s and m o to rists need to d e m o n stra te re s p o n s ib le b e h a v io r w h en sto p p e d by p o lic e , a c c o rd in g to the fo rm e r p re sid e n t o f th e N a tio n al B lack P ro secu to rs A s s o c ia tion. Deejay Yanked a t KBOO 'Time Sound' host fired; rap lyrics faulted B y J aymee R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver "Tim e Sound,” a long-running radio show on KBOO 90.7 will no longer provide a forum for news, inform ation, m usic and discus sion about issues affecting A frican A m eri cans after the station fired deejay Kevin Berry after 23 years o f volunteer service. B erry ’s plan to retire “T im e S o u n d ” in tw o years w as cut short w hen he received a letter from his program director, relieving him o f his show . T he reason cited w as failure to attend a m andatory pledge drive shift. But later, o fficials said he violated the public station’s policy on playing m usic th at could be co n sidered offensive. Berry had been a program m er and radio host at K B O O since 1981, playing som e hip-h o p and R & B , but m ostly old school artists such as A1 G reene and E arth, W ind & Fire and n ever hard-core, underground rap, he said. The show has served as a forum through the years fo r A frican A m ericans to vent and discuss issues affecting people o f color. continued y^ on page R4 Honing Skills Career paths mixed with anti-drug message B y J aymee R. C uti T he P orti . and O bserver ) t A s teens are m aking crucial d ecisio n s about th eir careers, a group o f Jefferso n students are also deciding and co n v in cin g th eir peers to stay aw ay from drugs. A gro u p o f Jefferson H igh School freshm an and sophom ores are learning video production skills under the d irection o f ex p erts from the I N orthw est Film C en ter in a project aim ed to keep k ids o ff drugs. I C lub D rug A w areness Project is an after school program at Jefferson, under the d irec tion o f teach er Phil H opkins and through a collaboration w ith O regon P artnership and the N orthw est Film C enter. Robert Conde learns to use sound equipment for a collaborative project between Jefferson High School. Oregon Partnership and the Northwest Film Center. continued y^ Weekm TheReview Towns Can’t Marry Out-Of-State Gays Three o f the four M assachusetts com m uni ties that m arried sam e-sex couples from outside the state have stopped issuing licenses to nonresidents after receiving a w arning o f prosecution from the state attor ney general. General Sanchez on Way Out Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. m ili tary official in Iraq, will be replaced as part ot com m and changes that have been in the w orks for several m onths, adm inistration officials said Tuesday. The Pentagon also suspended Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski from P hotos by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver on page A6 Camerawoman Angel Cobb shoots a drug awareness project with fellow Jefferson High School student Robert Conde. her com m and. Both have becom e sym bols o f lax supervision at the A bu G hraib prison w here U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi inm ates. continued yf on page R4 row inmate David Larry Nelson, who was less than three hours from execution Bust fall when the Supreme Court gave him a temporary reprieve. Records Show 5,500 Iraqis Killed Bush Sells Iraq Plan President Bush sought to rally global support for the transfer o f pow er in Iraq, saying that even E uro pean leaders w ho opposed the w ar now “share the sam e goal" o f a budding dem ocracy. Court Sides With Death Row Inmate S h ery l R o b in so n m ade h er c o m m en ts S atu rd ay to a b o u t 150 c o m m u n ity m em b ers at a so m e tim e s co n ten tio u s forum at S e lf E n h an ce m en t, Inc. in no rth P o rtlan d , titled “T ra ffic S to p s, C iv il R ig h ts an d Yo." T h e p u b lic d isc u ssio n w as an a ttem p t to c o n v e rt h o p e le ssn e ss in to e m p o w e rm e n t and turn a n g e r in to p o sitiv e en e rg y a fte r p o lice fa tally shot Ja m e s Ja h a r P erez and K en d ra Ja m e s, tw o un arm ed A fri c a n -A m e ric a n m o to rists w ith in a y ear, an d the p o lice sh o o tin g d eath o f Jo s e M ejia P o o t d u rin g a d is tu r ban ce at local p sy c h ia tric h o sp i tal. T h e m ost re c e n t sh o o tin g , the M arch 28 p o lice k illin g o f Ja h a r P erez d u rin g a traffic stop in the St. J o h n s c o m m u n ity , h a s a lre a d y been d eb a te d in p u b lic h earin g s. B ut a n g ry fe e lin g s rem ain am o n g p e o p le w ho say th ey h av e been sto p p ed u n fairly by p o lice becau se o f th e ir race. R o b in so n said c u ltu ra l d iffe r e n ces b etw een c itiz e n s an d p o lice can e x a c e rb a te traffic sto p s, an d d iv e rsity tra in in g can h elp safely b rid g e that c u ltu ra l gap. S h e sa id p o lic e o ff ic e rs a re fo rced to m ak e d iffic u lt and c o n tro v e rsia l d e c is io n s w ith in a m a t ter o f se c o n d s, so m e tim e s w ith o u t c o m p le te in fo rm atio n . “T h e re is no su ch th in g as a r o u t i n e t r a f f i c s t o p , ” s a id R o b in so n , w ho h as in v e s tig a te d fo r th e U .S . D e p a rtm e n t o f Ju s tic e h u n d re d s o f c a se s tie d to p o lice m isc o n d u c t. S h e said it w as im p o rta n t fo r p o lice o ffic e rs to receiv e e x te n siv e tra in in g on su ch s itu a tio n s and that o th e r c itie s h av e sp en t m il lio n s o f d o lla rs to im p ro v e h a n d lin g o f ten se situ a tio n s. C itiz e n s sh o u ld d e m o n s tra te re a s o n a b le b eh av io r, she said , su ch as tu rn ing o f f the e n g in e an d ra d io w hen sto p p e d by p o lice. O n e a u d ie n c e m em b er sh o u ted that he had a rig h t to listen to his rad io w ith o u t b ein g h arassed . “ W e h a v e to fo llo w r u l e s ,” R o b in so n said. “ D u rin g the traffic Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez The Supreme Court ailed unanimously that a convicted A labama k i Her can pursue an appeal claiming lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment in hiscase Justices said that lower courts were wrong to bkick appeals by death M ore than 5,500 Iraqis died violently in just Baghdad and three provinces in the first 12 m onths o f the occupation, an A s s o c ia te d P re s s su rv e y found. The toll from both crimi nal and political violence ran dram atically higher than vio lent deaths before the war, according to statistics from morgues. FBI Apologizes to Portland Lawyer Offering a rare public apology, the FBI admitted m istakenly linking a Portland law yer's fingerprint to one found near the Brandon Mayfield with wife Mona scene o f a terrorist bom bing in Spai blunder that led to his im prisonmenl more than tw o w eeks Brandon Mayl and his wife, Mona M ayfield, reacted t< a n n o u n c e m e n t M o n d ay . T h e c o i charges the governm ent with targeting tl because o f their M uslim faith. See sti p ag eA 2 . (A P photo)