5(V
ÎÏÏIje
w
Back in Style
Player of the Year
Ja Rule releases
com eback album
Benson's Amanda Boggan
piles up a list o f achievements
See Focus section, inside
if
See See
story
in in
Sports,
page
B3 B3
story
Sports,
page
£
jJorlktnh (DhseruTr
‘City of Roses’
Established in I970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 44
T, Week in
TheReview
ABA TEAM
Battle for Fallujah
There could be several more days
o f intense fighting in the U.S.-
led battle to retake Iraq’s rebel-
controlled city o f Fallujah, the
com m ander o f land forces said
on Tuesday, the second day of
the assault.
Yasser Arafat Critical
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • November IO. 2004
Ready fo r Tip-off
Portland is
‘Reigning’
basketballs
BY J a YMEE R . C u T l
T he P ortland O bserver
Y asser A ra fa t’s condition d e
teriorated dram atically as his
com a deepened, but the P ales
tin ian foreign m in ister said
T uesday he is “still alive" and
his brain, heart and lungs are
working.
Sudan, Rebels
to Sign Peace Pact
The Sudanese government and
rebel representatives signed ac
cords Tuesday aimed at ending
hostilities in the troubled w est
ern region o f Darfur and guaran
teeing aid groups access to 1.6
million civilians uprooted by the
conflict.
Who Owns Moral Values?
Fam ily values, traditional v a l
ues and now “m oral values.
M ost A m erican adults w ould
say they have them , and yet
that tw o-w ord phrase is the
focus o f an ideological tug-of-
w ar heightened by President
B ush’s re-election, w ith co n
servatives declaring principal
ow nership and liberals scram
bling to challenge them.
Portland’s newest basketball team is ready
to assert its reign on the city.
W hen the Portland Reign, the American
Basketball Association team, dribbles into
the Oregon Convention Center next week,
expect to see talent from the Pacific North
west at a venue which has never hosted a
sporting event and plans to draw in an audi
ence that didn’t previously have exposure to
sports at this level.
The team ’s founding partner, Portland
sports agent and paralegal Mary Liss, is the
first woman to own a basketball team.
She doesn’t expect to steal viewers from
the Portland Trail Blazers' audience. Liss has
something unique to offer: an intimate sta
dium, dubbed the Pepsi Palace and afford
able entertainm ent to fans o f high-caliber
basketball.
“Our dem ographic is families, which of
course is inclusive of elementary, middle,
high school and college kids, who can ’t nec
essarily afford going to one, much less tw'o
Blazers gam es in a season,” said Liss. “With
,
z,
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
our arena, there's not a bad seat in the house.”
C onvention C en ter s e r v e s a s h o m e court for M ary L iss a n d h e r A m erican B a ske tb a ll A sso c ia tio n fra n ch ise th e
R eign' S h e l s l ° 'n e d b y s o m e o f th e te a m 's top talent, including R obert Day (from left), Eric Dunn, Clift W hite
Reign ticket prices will range from $9.50 to
Chris B u ert a n d Terry Smith-Harris.
$41. The stadium is expected to hold a crowd
o f between 3,200 and 3,800.
break down only three times during the scouts or come from smaller schools.
McKinney, former Benson High star Robert
The arena is being constructed in an exhi season.
The team is coached by former Blazer Day, Sean Myrick formerly from the Univer-
bition hall of the Convention Center. It will
The team boasts a I i neup o f former Blazers Antonio Harvey and the roster includes
contain a semi-permanent court which will and players who were overlooked by NBA
continued
on page B.3
W ilson H igh S chool p la y er C h arles
I t /n
yf
Report: Minnesota
Healthiest State
New Mayor in Wings
M in n e so ta is th e n a tio n ’s
healthiest state, while Louisiana
is the least healthy, a ranking it
has held for 14 of the last 15 years
o f a national survey, officials
said.
Tax fo r schools, services retained
by M ichael L eighton
T he P ortland O bserver
Former Portland Police Chief and Mayor-elect Tom Potter wants to
restore programs in community policing soon after he takes office
January I He also has announced his intention to take over m anage
ment o f all the city’s bureaus for several months during the budgeting
process.
Potter, 64, beat conventional wisdom last week when he won the
election for mayor on a campaign that refused donations larger than
$ I (X) in the general election and $50 in the primary.
He beat City Com missioner Jim Francesconi in a grass-roots cam
Howard Dean is Back
Former presi
dential candi
date Howard
Dean is con
sidering a bid
to b e c o m e
chairm an o f
the national
D e m o c r a tic
Party.
Powell Tackles
Immigrant Amnesty
S e c r e ta r y o f S ta te C o lin ,
P o w e ll sa id T u e s d a y th a t
P re sid en t B ush w ill p la ce a
high p rio rity in his second
term on g ra n tin g legal statu s
to m illio n s o f m ig ra n ts w ho
live ille g a lly in the U nited |
S ta te s.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Grant High S ch o o l s winning o ffe n siv e line is co m p rise d o f (front row, from left) D akota Jo h n so n ,
H ea d C oach Gary Thorson, J o sh B ern stein , Hugh Gray; (b a ck row from left) M ichael Dyer,
Enrique Lopez, A ndrew Lindley a n d N d a m u ko n g S uh.
Grant Leads PIL into Playoffs
c
o
so
6
o o
j- r I
o t»-. r
O O
£ < 5
73 V-
> o
u.
—' C
.s
&
C C
3
□
~ ui
An extra large offensive team, with an aver
age w eightof264 pounds, is fast and arguably
one o f the best team s in Oregon.
Afterbeatingthe formerly unbeatable Madi
son team last Friday 28-0, Grant secured the
num ber one seed in the PIL and a co-champi -
onship with Lincoln High School.
Grant faces the Thurston Colts at Lincoln
High School on Friday, Nov. 12 at 5:30p.m. in
the first round o f OSA A football playoffs and a
run at the 4A state title.
The other state title contenders from Port
land are M adison which plays South Medford
High in M edford on Friday, Nov. 12, and
Lincoln which playsTualatin High at Lincoln on
Friday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.
paign that surpri sed many
residents. The m ayor’s
office is officially non
partisan, but Potter is
considered progressive
and was endorsed by the
M u ltn o m ah
C o u n ty
Democratic Party.
Sam Adams, the former
chief-of-staff to retiring
M ayor Vera Katz and a
Democrat in a non-parti
san race was also elected
to th e C ity C o u n c il
against Nick Fish.
T h e e le c tio n saw
Portland M ayor-elect Tom P otter
M ultnomah County vot
ers defeat a proposed repeal of a temporary income tax to support local
schools, health care and other social services. Portland voters over
whelming voted for Sen. John K eny for President.
However, civil rights advocates were disappointed in the statewide
passage of Ballot Measure 36. the gay-marriage ban that opponents
charged put discrimination into the Constitution.
Statewide, voters took a conservative line on other ballot measures
while returning a slate o f Democrats to statewide and federal offices,
including Sen. Ron Wyden.
U.S. House race. Democratic Rep. David Wu weathered allegations
o f long-ago sexual misconduct as he vanquished Republican chal
lenger Goli Ameri
Three Democratic statewide officials — Secretary of State Bill
Bradbury, Attorney General Hardy Myers and State Treasurer Randall
Edwards — brushed aside Republican challengers.
Democrats also made m ajor gains in legislative races, winning back
control of the state Senate and picked up three more seats in the House.
continued
y^
on page A2