Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2004)
Toxic Fish in Willamette Waterfront Blues Fest Stage prepared for Independence Day fun 0- * Fishing advisory posted See story, Focus Section C See story, Metro section B ffîirse riie r ‘City of Roses’ Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIV • Number 24 Week in TheReview www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • lune 23, 2004 Qetting Ready for the Rail Clinton Book Hits Shelves Eager for a few seconds of I face time with their idol, hun dreds of Bill Clinton’s fans) Selena Malone, a recent high school graduate, demonstrates poise and restraint preparing for this weekend’s Les Femmes Debutante Ball. lined up Tuesday near a Man hattan bookstore where he I was scheduled to sign copies of his new memoir, “My Life.' S. Korean Hostage Beheaded An Iraqi militant group be-1 headed its South Korean hos tage, officials said Tuesday, just hours after a go-between said the execution had been delayed and there were nego tiations for the man’s release. | Smoking: Quit It At least half, and perhaps as I many as two-thirds, of people who begin smoking in their youth are eventually killed by the habit, according to a mam moth 50-year medical study | by British researchers. U.S. Admits Rise In Terror Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Rom-1 ney, whose state is the only one to recognize gay mar riages, urged passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions, even as the conservative who wrote a federal law denying recognition to such marriages said that current law was| sufficient. M ark W ashington / T he Secretary of State Colin I Powell announced a sharp in crease last year in victims of terrorism worldwide, correct ing findings that were used to bolster President Bush’s claim of success in countering this | scourge of violence. Same-Sex Marriage Amendment PHOTO BY P ortiani ) O bserver D e b u ta n te s o f 2004 by J aymee R. C u n T he P ortland O bserver If you’ve ever heard that debutantes are back in fashion, one local group reminds us that they never left. Les Femmes has a long history in Port land. dating back to the 1950s. The African- American civic group annually helps young women learn social graces, proper behavior and training in the finer points o f life. This began during a time when finishing school was reserved for wealthy, white women. This year, Les Femmes is presenting 14 young ladies to the community at the Les Femmes annual Debutante Ball at 7 p m. Saturday, June 26 at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel at 8235 N.E. Airport Way. All o f the debutantes being honored are graduates from area high schools and are eligible for the Les Femmes college scholar ship fund. According to Pauline Bradford, a histo rian for Les Femmes, the organization affords members many opportunities, from making continued P ushing B a ck against aids Symposium to tell reality of disease African Americans were misled about th e d a n g e ro u s an d d e a d ly c o n s e quences o f AIDS, a disease th a t’s a f The global HIV/AIDS epi fecting them at record rates, experts demic is threatening efforts to | say. O rganizers and health officials have achieve sexual and reproduc created a free com m unity sym posium tive health goals that are sup-1 discussing HIV and AIDS in the A fri posed to improve the lives of can-A m erican com m unity on Friday, women and reduce poverty, June 25 from 4 to 9 p.m. at S elf E nhance the head of the United Na-| m ent, Inc., 3920 N. Kerby Ave. tions population agency said. “ Back in early 80s, we heard in the A fric a n -A m e ric a n co m m u n ity th at U.S. to Hand Over Saddam AIDS is a white, gay m ale disease. U n The United States will hand I fortunately, that was a lie,” said M ardica over legal authority but retain H icks, an event organizer and executive physical custody of Saddam vice president o f New Earth M anage Hussein and an undetermined | m ent Corp. number of other former re A ccording to the C enters for D is photo by M ark W ashington AT h e P ortland O bserver gime figures to the interim I ease C ontrol statistics, although A fri Mardica Hicks (from left) leads a discussion on HIV/AIDS prevention in the African- Iraqi government as soon as can A m ericans m ake up ju st 12 percent American community with community advocates Hilton Levias and Taha Gad. AIDS Threatens Reproductive Health Iraqi courts issue warrants for their arrest and request the | transfer, a U.S. official said. by J aymef . R. C im T he P ortland O bserver B O r-, O © CZ5 o f the national population, 19 percent o f reported AIDS cases today are from A frican A m ericans. The local sym posium is the resu lt o f collaboration betw een SEI, the P ort land chapter o f The Links, an A frican- A m erican organization, C ascade AIDS Project, the M ultnom ah C ounty H ealth D epartm ent, Portland State U niversity and other organizations. A rea residents who attend the sym posium are “going to leave with an understanding that we are all at risk for HIV and A ID S, that this disease is 100 percent preventable, and that we as a com m unity can turn this around,” Hicks said. The objective is to get inform ation out to A frican A m ericans about the d ise ase’s devastating im pact on the com m unity, to identify risky behavior, to stress the im portance o f g etting tested and to inform participants about continued yf on page A 6 Excessive Force Resolution Submitted Advocates push for change at City Hall zu ii © on page A 6 Community advocates led by the Albina Ministerial Alliance have submitted a reso lution to the Portland City Council to toughen local laws holding police officers account able for use o f excessive force. An ad hoc coalition o f the A frican- A m erican group o f church leaders, pre sented the resolution at a C ity Council m eeting last w eek during a public co m m ent segm ent. It called for the removal and severe disci pline of Officer Jason Sery, who shot and killed unarmed African-American motorist James Jahar Perez on March 28 in the St. Johns community o f north Portland. T he reso lu tio n also stip u lates that Portland’s police officers should receive community-approvedcultural diversity train- Finally, the resolution addresses racial profiling, stating that no police action should be made on the basis o f race. “We have marched in the streets. We > We have marched in the streets. We have felt the community's anger and frustration. Now we are taking our words to City Council for policy changes. — Dr. LeRoy Haynes, chalrof the Albina Ministerial Alliance ing and that officers receive 22 weeks of training in the police academy, as a com bi nation o f field, classroom and consultation training, prior to the 14-weeks of on-the-job training currently in place. have felt the com m unity's anger and frus tration No w we are taki ng our words to City Council for policy changes," said Dr. LeRoy Haynes, chair of the AMA. The proposed new regulations also are 1 a response to the death of Kendra James, an African-American woman shot and killed by police while trying to flee a traffic stop in May 2003 on the North Skidmore Street 1-5 over pass. “We have said ‘neveragain’ and yet many o f the policies and much o f the training that led to the death of Kendra James continue on, as we saw with the death o f James Jahar Perez," Haynes said. City commissioners did not address or d is c u s s th e p ro p o sa l d u rin g la st W ednesday's session and the resolution could virtually be ignored unless a com m is sioner takes up the cause. The AMA urges churches, citizens and other groups to support their resolution through letter writing and calling city politi cians. To get involved, call Haynes at 503-287- 0261.