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.