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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2004)
Page A2 December 8. 2004 Black Cops File Lawsuit Baltimore officers claim hostile workplace (AP) — Tw enty-one black cur rent and form er Baltim ore city police officers filed a discrim ina tion law suit against the city, a l leging that nooses were hung in their lockers, dog feces was placed on their desks and zebra stripes were painted on pictures o f their m ixed-race children. The federal class-action law suit filed M onday accuses the d e partm ent o f condoning a hostile w orkplace, blocking black o ffic ers from prom otion, levying un even d isc ip lin e and retaliatin g against o fficers who spoke out against discrim ination. It also alleges that racism led to the firing last month o f form er police C om m issio n er K evin P. Clark. M ayor M artin O ’M alley said dom estic abuse allegations against the com m issioner, though unsub stantiated, had eroded his leader- sh ip ab ility . T he g ro u p o f o fficers seeks financial dam ages, the appoint ment o f an independent m onitor and the reinstatem ent o f fired o f ficers, am ong other restitution. Aging Rosa Parks to Live Rent Free Civil rights pioneer had faced eviction (AP) — Rosa Parks’ landlord has offered to let her stay in her Detroit apartment rent-free, two years after threatening to evict her when the owners said her caretakers missed rental payments. Parks’ doctors say the 91-year-old civil rights pioneer has dementia and is in poor health. Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit had been paying Parks’ rent, which had been as high as $ 1,800 a month, since August 2003, the Rev. Charles Adams said. “We did not want her set out in the street,” Adams said. “We didn’t want to make a big noise out of it.... It was a simple act of kindness.” In an October letter. Riverfront As sociates, which owns the apartment where Parks has lived since 1994, said she could stay for free for the rest of her life. “I thought it was the right thing to d o ,” m anaging p artn er Peter Cummings told the Detroit Free Press Rosa Parks for Monday’s editions. "This woman is an icon. She deserves an enormous amount of respect. In a way, I think it’s an honor to be able to accord her that respect.” Parks was 42 when she refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955. Her ar rest triggered a 381 -day boycott of the bus system organized by a then little- known Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Elaine Steele, who manages the nonprofit Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, told the newspaper that Parks gets proper care and eviction notices were sent in error in 2002. lU H W M M H M H M W M K IM g H N B M H M W M M m n M a H i More Deadly Attacks in Iraq (AP) — U.S. troops fought a gunbaltle with insurgents along a busy street in Baghdad on Monday, sending passers-by scurrying for cover, witnesses said, while five U.S. troops were reported killed in separate clashes in a volatile western prov ince as insurgents stepped up attacks ahead of next month’s elections. The violence came a day after gunmen ambushed a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammunitions dump near Tikrit, killing 17 and raising the death toll from three days of intensified insurgent attacks to at least 70 Iraqis. The attacks, focused in Baghdad and several cities to the north, appeared to be aimed at scaring off those who cooperate with the American military - whether police, national guardsmen, or ordinary people just looking for a paycheck. They also have targeted Kurdish militia men and Shiite worshippers in a possible bid to foment sectarian and ethnic unrest. The latest fighting in Baghdad broke out after armed rebels appeared on the busy Haifa Street, saying they were hunting for Iraqis collaborating with U.S.-led forces. Witnesses said they shot and killed a man they claimed was working for the Americans. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force also said three soldiers attached to the Marines died in two incidents Sunday in the western province, which includes the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. Earlier, the military said two Marines had been killed in action in Anbar on Friday. The brought to at least 1,276 the number of U.S. troops to have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Asso ciated Press count. US troops inspect the site where they detonated an abandoned car packed with explosives in Baghdad, Iraq on Monday. (AP photo) N H M M M M M H i Bush Dumps Civil Rights Chairwoman (AP) — President Bush on Monday moved to replace Mary Frances Berry, the outspoken chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission who has argued with every president since Jimmy Carter ap pointed her to the panel a quarter century ago. But Berry balked at leaving now, argu ing through a spokesman that she and vice chairman Cruz. Reynoso, who also is being replaced, have terms that run until midnight Jan. 2 1. The White House main tained that their six-year terms expired Sunday and that Berry and Reynoso had been replaced. The eight-member panel investigates Mary Frances Berry civil rights complaints and publicizes its findings. It has no enforcement power. Four years ago. Berry and the commission were heavily critical of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for his administration’s handling of the disputed presidential election won by his brother. The newly named commissioners are Gerald A. Reynolds, former assistant sec retary for the office of civil rights in the Education Department, and attorney Ashley L. Taylor of Richmond, Va. Bush intends to designate Reynolds the com mission chairman, succeeding Berry, and to name Abigail Themstroin, already a commission member, as vice chairperson. CaCckwett’s CofoniaC CfiapeC 20N.E. 14"’Avenue Portland, Oregon 97232 (503) 232-4111 The Pre-arrangement Concept D e n y se O. P eterso n Dear Family Member: Denyse Peterson represents funeral homes and cemeteries in the Portland Metro politan area. Many families have a difficult time getting through all the associated decisions, questions, grief and financial responsibilities that follow when a love one dies. Denyse’s responsibility is to provide information. 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Militants Storm US Consulate (AP) — Militants lobbing ex plosives forced their way into the heavily guarded U.S. consulate in Jiddah, Saudia Arabia on Monday before Saudi se cu rity fo rces stormed the compound and fought a gunbattle to end a four-hour standoff. Eight people, none Ameri can, were killed. The bold assault, the worst in the kingdom since May, demon strated that Saudi Arabia’s crack down on al-Qaida is still far from successful in the native land of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Saudi officials blam ed a “deviant” group - the government’s way of identifying al- Qaida extremists it holds respon sible for a string of terror strikes over the past two years. President Bush said the attack showed “terrorists are still on the move,” trying to intimidate Ameri cans and force the United States to withdraw from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Grow Your Small Business with the City of Portland Are you a small business owner? Are you interested in doing business with the City o f Portland? The City o f Portland is expanding contracting opportunities fo r small businesses in the Professional, Technical, and Expert Services Fields. These include areas such as architecture and engineering, information technology, training and meeting facilitation, marketing, outreach and graphic design, finance and insurance. Minority, women and emerging small business owners are encour aged to contact us, as well as to certify their businesses with the State o f Oregon. To learn ab o u t sm a ll b u siness co n tra c tin g opportunities, contact: Gregory J. Wolley, Program Coordinator Professional Services Marketing and Outreach S L M L , City of Portland iS r ' Bureau of Purchases (503)823-6860 gwolley@ci.portland.or.us Il!r Jln rtlan b ODbserner USPS 9 5 0 6 8 0 E s ta b lis h e d 1 9 7 0 _________________________________________ 4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin L u th e r King, Jr. Blvd., P o rtla n d. OR 9 7 2 1 1 Charles H. Washington Leighton R i p o r t e r : Jaymee R. Cuti D istribution M anac . fr : Mark W ashington C reative D irector : Paul Neufeldt O ffice M anager : Kathy Linder E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher : E d ito r : M ichael New Iraqi Prisoner Photos Found (AP) — The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detain ees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of pos sible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The far more brutal practices photo graphed in Abu Ghraib prison oc curred months later. An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. It is unclear who took the pictures, which the Navy said it was investigating after the AP furnished copies to get com ment. 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