50fí Turn Your Clocks Back Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday Make Your Vote Count Ballot: due Tuesday at 8 p. tTbe ¿ 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.