Merry Christmas
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Happy New Year
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‘City of Roses’
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV. Number SO
.Week in
TheReview
Attack on U.S. Base Kills 24
Pledge to drive sober
with red ribbons
Annan Won’t Resign
S e c re ta ry -
General Kofi
Annan reit­
erated Tues­
day he has
no intention
of resigning over allegations of
corruption in the U.N. oil-for-
food program and plans to move
ahead with sweeping changes at
the United Nations.
Slain Mother Knew Attacker
Military Accused
in Cuba Abuse
A civil liberties group is charg­
ing that military interrogators
at th e U .S. p riso n at
Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, some
posing as FBI agents, hum ili­
ated and abused detainees,
including inserting lit ciga­
rettes in their ears.
Mom Sues Wal-Mart
Over Suicide
Shayla Stewart, a diagnosed
manic-depressive and schizo­
phrenic, assaulted police of­
ficers and was arrested for at­
tacking a fellow customer at a
Denton, Texas Wal-Mart where
she had a prescription for anti­
psychotic medication. Given
those signs, her parents say,
another W al-Mart just seven
miles away should have never
sold her the shotgun she used
to kill herself at age 24 in 2003.
Sixth Harry Potter
Book Coming
Get ready for publishing’s ulti­
mate blockbuster sequel: Harry
Potter VI. The penultim ate
novel in J.K. Row ling’s mega­
selling series, “Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince,” will
goon sale 12:01 a.m .onJuly 16
in the United States, Britain
and four other countries.
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Wednesday • December 22. 2004
Get MADD for the Holidays
An explosion ripped through a
mess tent at a military base near
Mosul, Iraq where hundreds of
U.S. soldiers had just sat down
to lunch Tuesday, killing 24
people and wounding more than
60, officials said. A radical Mus­
lim group, the Ansar al-Sunnah
Army, claimed responsibility for
the deadliest attack on a U.S.
base in Iraq.
Bobbie Jo Stinnett and the
woman accused of strangling
her and cutting her baby from
her womb were photographed
together at a dog show months
before last w eek’s attack, a
woman who attended the show
said. Stinnett, 23, was eight
months pregnant when she was
stra n g le d at the hom e in
Skidmore, Mo.
w w w .portland observer.co m
photo bv M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Mothers Against Drunk Driving want to remind local residents that car keys only belong in the hands o f
sober drivers.
• •
TriMet
Called on
Double
Standard
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is asking
drivers to take responsibility for their own safety and the
safety of everyone on the road during the holiday season.
By tying red ribbons to their cars, drivers can show a
commitment to sober driving.
Tie One On For Safety is MADD’s largest public
awareness campaign, which began in 1986. The organiza­
tion advocating for sober driving pleas with the public to
“tie one on for safety" by attaching a red MADD ribbon
to a visible location on their vehicles to pledge to drive
safe, sober and buckled up because a seat belt is the best
defense against a drunk driver.
Tie One On For Safety began on Thanksgiving and
continues through New Year’s Day— the heaviest travel
season of the year and a time when drunk driving typically
increases.
In Oregon, 40 percent of traffic deaths, 207 out of 521
people, were alcohol related in 2(X)3.
Statistics show that those already convicted for drunk
driving are particularly high-risk offenders.
According to a MADD study, 32 percent of second­
time offenders with a suspended license and 61 percent of
suspended third-time offenders received violations or
were involved in crashes during their suspensions.
In 2002, MADD handed down grades, rating states on
political will, leadership and resources dedicated to win­
ning the war on drunk driving. Oregon received a B grade,
upstaged only by California, which received the highest
grade of a B+.
Nationally, the U.S. was handed a C.
For more information or to pick up a red ribbon, call the
local Chapter of MADD Oregon at 503-723-5040.
K eeping the H eat On
<
The heat will stay on
after Ed Scarborough,
owner o f Dad's Oil
make another
delivery to a north­
east Portland resi­
dence.
King holiday not treated
on par with others
bv J avmef . R. C m
T he P ortland O bserver
It may have started on a bus, but TriMet
is refusing to recognize slain civil rights
leader Martin Luther King’s birthday with
a full holiday schedule.
Although King Day was adopted as a
full holiday on par with Christmas and
Thanksgiving during union contract ne­
gotiations last March, TriM et will run
extended Saturday service, a partial holi­
day schedule, instead of Sunday service
as it adopts for every other full holiday.
“TriMet has made a separate holiday
scheduling policy for this one holiday,"
said Tri Met bus operator and local African-
American resident Laverne Ballard.
She is calling her employers out on what
she says is a double standard for the Mon­
day, Jan. 17 holiday.
Ballard has a petition forTriMet employ­
ees and community members who believe
King Day should be fully recognized by the
transit agency.
“It’s a community issue as well as from
an employee standpoint. I think it’s humili­
ating that the company, being a bus com­
pany of all things, is blatantly disrespect­
ing his legacy," said Ballard.
Hundreds of TriMet employees, many
with more than adecadc of seniority, will be
at work on King Day, including staffing
agents, road supervisors, maintenance
crews, fare inspectors, bus operators, dis­
patchers and rail operators.
According toTriMet, the modified Sat­
urday schedule is a direct response to
TriMet ridership on King Day. though
ridership does not factor into closures
on Christmas or other long-recognized
holidays.
continued
on pane A5
1
PHOTO BV
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland
O bserver
Energy assistance
a lifeline to many
Energy assistance programs are vital
to taking care of a basic heating needs for
some low-income families.
While the need to pay the high cost of
electricity, oil and natural gas farexceeds
the help available, state officials say, one
program totaling $ 16 million in relief for
low-income households will help keep
many houses warm through the winter.
Oregon Housing and Community Ser­
vices' Low-Income Energy Assistance
Funds (LIEAP) are available through the
non-profits Portland Impact, Human So­
lutions, Albina Ministerial Alliance and
YWCA.
The funds can be applied to a wide
range of heating sources including oil
heat, wood, propane and Northwest Natu­
ral gas. Both renters and homeowners are
eligible and must have documented en­
ergy costs. Applications are available
through local community action agencies
and local senior service agencies.
Energy assistance is also available from
Portland General Electric and Pacific
Power.
To be eligible, customers must meet
income guidelines and show that they are
in danger of having the electricity discon­
nected. The funds are distributed on a
first-come, first-served basis.
In general, the am ountof help available
to pay for heating bills, depends on the
n
type o f energy used as the primary heat­
ing source, the number of people in the
household and whether the household
currently receives subsidized housing.
Priority is given to seniors, the disabled
and households with young children.
Programs that distribute energy assis­
tance funds in Multnomah County in­
clude:
Albina Ministerial Alliance at 503-285-
0493; Human Solutions in east Multnomah
County at 866-223-1359 or Gresham at 866-
223-1359; IRCO - Asian Family Center at
503-235-9396; Portland Impact in southeast
Portland at 503-988-6000 or northeast Port­
land at 503-988-6020; St. Vincent de Paul at
503-235-8431; The Salvation Army at 503-
239-1266; and YWCA Housing Enrichment
Resources at 503-721 -6760.
♦