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¿ c^ n rtía n h ffîbsertier
‘City ot Roses’
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 42
TlWeekin
TheReview
U S Blamed for Ambush
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • October 27. 2004
Vote Comes In
Iraq’s interim prime minister
blamed the U.S.-led coalition
Tuesday for “great negligence”
in the ambush that killed about
50 Iraqi soldiers heading home
after graduation from a U.S.-run
training course, and warned of
an escalation of terrorist attacks.
b y J aymee R. C uti
T he : P ortland O bserver
Usher Hip Hop
Artist of Year
U sher won H ip-H op A rtist of
the Year and H ip-H op Song of
the Y ear at the Radio M usic
A w ards. Linkin Park grabbed
the A lternative Rock Song o f
the Y ear and Rock A rtist o f
the Year.
Bush Signs
Corporate Tax-Cut
With no fanfare. President Bush
signed the most sweeping re
write of corporate tax law in
nearly two decades, showering
$ 136 billion in new tax breaks on
businesses, farmers and other
groups.
Rehnquist
May
Return
to Work
Chief Justice
W illiam H.
R e h n q u is t
may be back
on the job next week, although
some physicians questioned
whether his treatment for thy
roid cancer would sideline him
longer.
Turnout
looks huge
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
More people are voting in the Nov. 2
presidential election and ballots are coming
in sooner than in the 2000 election, report
both local and national elections officials.
The key to victory for either Democrat Sen.
JohnF. Kerry or Republican George W. Bush
is expected to be the turnout o f supporters
from each campaign. Polls show the race is
too close to call.
The Multnomah County Democratic Party
office in northeast Portland is being swamped
with volunteers, assigning canvassing and
phone bank jobs to a record number of people
that have offered their time and services for
the cause.
“A lot of us feel like this is the last stand.
People are fighting for our core beliefs of
what America should be like,” said Jeff
Merrick, chairman of the Multnomah County
Democrats.
According to figures from his office, 20,000
people are currently volunteering for the
Oregon Democrats, which is more than in any
other state.
‘T h is is unprecedented. W e’ve set a new
bar that might be hard to meet in the future but
this is definitely an unprecedented year,"
Merrick said.
The Multnomah County Elections office
says voter turnout has increased overall in
this election and voters are turning ballots in
sooner.
“The numbers have gone up overall,” said
Eric Sample, a spokesman for the elections
office.
As an example, four days into the Novem
ber 2000 presidential election in Oregon, 13
percent of ballots were received, compared to
four days into this general election with 16
Sam Smith (left) and Isham Harris hit Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with nonpartisan information about voting
rules and rights.
continued
'y f
on page A 7
Ballot Drop Off Sites
Vote-by-mail ballots m ust be received at county elections offices by 8
p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Postmarks do not count.
Police Kill Boston Fan
Multnomah County Elections,
1040 S.E. Morrison, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Boston police said they would
quit using the pepper-spray
gun that killed a college stu
dent during a row dy Red Sox
celeb ratio n , sw itching to a
w eapon that fires the pellets
at a low er velocity.
Special H ours:
• Saturday, Oct. 3 0 ,9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• M onday, Nov. 1,8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 2 ,7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Pioneer Courthouse Square,
Motor Voter Express Drop Site
Violent Crime Down
Violent crime fell last year, with
only a slight uptick in murders
marring the overall trend of
fewer crimes across the coun
try, the FBI said in its annual
crime report.
•
•
•
•
•
Stolen Lyrics
Returned to Bono
Friday, Oct. 29, Noon - 5 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 3 0 ,1 0 a.m .- 5 :3 0 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 31, I p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
M onday, Nov. 1 ,8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 2 ,8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
24-Hour Ballot Drop Boxes
• A-Boy S upply, 7365 S.V '. Barbur BI vd.
• G oodw ill S tore, 3134 N. Lombard St.
• G re sh am B ran ch .ib ra ry , 385 N.W. Miller Ave.
• M idland B ran c h L ib ra ry , 805 S.E. 122nd Ave.
• U.S. B ank. NE 39th Avenue and Tillamook
Due to a change in store policy, Gresham Fred Meyer, Interstate Fred
M ey
ind Peninsula Fred M eyer are no longer available as drop site
loc
s.
A long-lost briefcase full o f
notes and lyrics that w ere in
tended for the 1981 U2 album
“O ctober” has been returned,
23 years after it w as stolen at
a P ortland concert.
Multnomah County Libraries
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Allison Hanson o f southeast Portland is one o f hundreds o f local residents who struggles to
find affordable housing.
Public Housing in Crisis
Section 8 cuts may
reduce vouchers
by J aymef . R. C u n
T he P ortiand O bserver
Already struggling to keep up with the need
for housing vouchers for low-income residents,
the Housing Authority o f Portland now faces
cuts to the program.
The agency faces a range o f possible options
to reduce Section 8 subsidy costs to the tune of
$700,000, the amount of an annual shortfall from the
federal government. Section 8 housing assistance
enables low-income people and families to live
where they choose with rental assistance pay
ments.
Proposed cuts to the program include providing
the same level o f support to fewer people or less
support to the same number of people.
Options include reducing the size o f the subsidy
co n tin u ed
on page A 8
Ballots may be delivered to any M ultnomah County library during
norm al operating hours through 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
• C e n tral L ib ra ry - 801 S.W. 1 Oth Ave.
• G re s h a m -3 8 5 N.W. M iller St.
• H ollyw ood-4040N .E. Tillamook St.
• M idland 805 SE 122nd Ave.
• H illsdale L ib ra ry 1525 S.W Sunset Blvd.
• A lbina - 3605 N.E. 15th Ave.
• Belm ont -1038 S.E. 39th Ave.
• C apitol Hill 10723 S.W Capitol Hwy.
• Fairview -( olum bia 1520 N.E. Village St.
• G reg o ry H eights - 7921 N.E. Sandy Blvd.
• Holgate - 7905 S.E. Holgate Blvd.
• N orth P o rtlan d - 512 N. Killingsworth St.
• N orthw est - 2300 N.W. Thurm an St.
• Rockwood 17917 S.E. Stark St.
• St. Jo h n s - 7510 N. Charleston Ave.
• Sellw ood-M oreland 7 8 6 0 S.E. 13th Ave.
• W oodstock - 6008 S.E. 49th Ave.