January 26. 2005
C om m itted to C ultural D iversity
M etro
^ a r t la n h
© b se rv e r
SECTION
n i ni u n i t y
( ya I e n cl a r
Sustainable Food
A workshop to explore ways to
make foods affordable, nutritious
and culturally appropriate is
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 19 at St. Andrew C om m u­
nity Center, 4940 N.E. 8th Ave.
Cost is a $ 10 donation and lunch
will be provided. Call 503-221 -
1054 ext. 203 to register.
Parenting Classes
N ewborns d o n 't com e with in­
struction m anuals but parents
and parents-to-be can attend
c la sse s th ro u g h P ro v id e n ce
Health System s to learn about a
variety o f topics from pain and
childbirth to breastfeeding to
infant CPR and much more. For
a schedule o f events, call 503-
5 7 4 -6 5 9 5
or
v is it
w w w .providence.org./classes.
Preschool Open House
T illam o o k C ooperative P re­
schools holds its open house on
Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. at935 N.E. 33 Ave. Financial
aid isavailable. For more informa­
tion, call 503-234-1691.
Get in Shape
Get in shape with Portland Com ­
m unity C o lleg e’s non-credit
classes designed to get you
trimmed and toned in January.
Weight training: cardio circuit
revs up the class for 90 minutes
from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the newly
bui It gym of PCC’sCascade Cam­
pus, 705 N. Killingsworth. Cost is
$89 for 10 weeks. For more infor­
mation, call 503-978-5205.
PCC Skills
Learn how to build a W eb-based
business in a three-w eek class
from 6 to 9 p.m . T uesdays
through Feb. 8 in Room 130 of
Mt. T abor Hall at Portland C om ­
m unity C o lle g e ’s S o u th ea st
Center, 2305 S.E. 82 Ave. Cost is
$49. For m ore inform ation, call
503-788-6265.
B
African
Gospel
Acappella
Survivors of war
draw on music to
minister
T he sin g in g g ro u p A frican G o sp el
A cappella will perform a free concert at
George Fox University in Newberg at 7 p.m.
on Friday, Feb. 18 in Bauman Auditorium.
The public is invited. Donations will be
accepted.
African Gospel Acappella is com prised
o f six blind men from Liberia who have
survived a civil war, poverty, and other
hardships. The group was formed decades
ago while members attended the School for
the Blind in Monrovia, Liberia. Together,
they represent five different tribes and sing
in several native African languages as well
as English.
After the civil war started, all o f the men
were scattered. In 1992, they regrouped as
the “Inspirational Echoes o f the Blind.”
Through song and testim ony, they m inis­
tered throughout the city o f M onrovia and
beyond.
In 1998, all six men cam e to America and
toured 46 states as the "Liberian Acapella
Choir.” Through their ministry efforts, many
orphans in Liberia benefited by receiving
food and care.
The primary goal o f AGA is to share the
good news o f Jesus Christ through song
and testimony. Secondly, the group desires
to focus aw areness on the plight o f people
in Africa, especially the disabled.
G roup m em bers write and com pose their
ow n gospel songs. L ast year, the group
released its first CD , titled “For Me to Live
is C h rist.” T h eir second CD . titled “Y ulo
M un W oloh (There W ill Be a C hild Born
in B ethlehem ),” w as recently released.
P rior to form ing th eir cu rren t m inistry,
The Vancouver-based group African Gospel Acappella will perform a free concert at George Fox University in Newberg.
they toured the U nited States for four
years as L iberian G ospel A cappella, a
m inistry that aids orp h an ag es in the war-
torn country.
The V ancouver-based group currently
perform s in schools and churches in W ash­
ington and Oregon. In addition to perform­
ing, the men are each building a new life. Two
of the men have wives and children that are
still in Liberia and they are working toward
bringing them to the U.S.
The group has perform ed in more than
1,000 American schools and churches. For
more information on the group, visit the
AGA W eb site at w w w .africangospel.org.
Business Meeting
Join N orth/N ortheast Business
A ssociation m eetings on the
First M onday o f each month from
6 to 8 p.m. at Albina Com munity
Bank, 2(X)2 N.E. Martin Luther
King BI vd. Morning networking
m eetings are the third W ednes­
day o f each month from 7:30 to 9
a.m. at the Blazers Boys and Girls
Club, 5250 N.E. M artin Luther
King Blvd. For more inform a­
tion, call 503-249-0487 or visit
w w w .nneba.org.
Grading
Diets
Experts compare
low-carb, high-
carb benefits
Gain Computer Skills
The Sun program offers a com ­
puter class for parents at King
Elem entary School. To register,
call503-916-6156or503-319-3425.
Volunteer Option
If you are looking fora volunteer
opportunity, check out Bradley-
A ngle House to end dom estic
violence. Bilingual women and
w omen o f color are especially
needed. Forinformation.call 503-
282-9940.
Volunteer for Hospice
Kaiser Permanente offers train­
ing for hospice volunteers Tues-
days and Thursdays from 12:30
to 4 p.m. through Feb. 3 with one
Saturday session on Jan. 29. For
more inform ation or to register,
call503-499-5285or503-499-5408.
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers
a free diabetes support group
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third
Thursday at Alberta Simmons
Plaza, 6707 N.E. M artin Luther
King Jr Blvd. For more inform a­
tion, call 503-285-2484.
Creative Space For Dance
Aurora Dance Studio, 5433 N.E.
30th (at Killingsworth), offers an
array o f classes for children,
teens and adults at all levels of
ability. Call 503-249-0201 orvisit
online at w w w .hevanet.com /
auroradance for additional in­
formation.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
More than two dozen jobs will move to this long-blighted property on Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard and Holman
Street when remodeling is completed over the next few months.
Old Industrial Site Gets New Life
Company to bring
workforce to MLK
Boulevard
Matt Hennessee. "W e hope it will have a
very significant impact on the development
potential o f the entire area."
The long-blighted property is located near
the intersection o f Northeast Portland Bou­
levard, a key developm ent node identified in
The Portland Development Com m ission
has closed a land sale with
National Meeting Company for
the firm 's new corporate head­
quarters at 6360 N.E. Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
C onstruction has already
begun and the com pany in­
tends to occupy the building
by summer 2005, bringing more
than two dozen em ployees and
a creative, expanding business
to the northern part of the bou­
levard.
“This transaction may represent the most
important new com mercial business and
construction project on MLK since the
Adidas store in 1997," said PDC Chairman
considered crucial to help achieve com mu­
nity goals o f jo b creation and community
revitalization in the area which are key ele­
ments of the Oregon Convention Center
Urban Renewal Plan.
National Meeting Com pany, currently lo­
cated in the Central Eastside, is a 25-year old
Portland firm providing strategic planning,
creative design and produc­
tion, technical staging, and lo­
gistical management of live cor­
porate events. The company
also plans, manages and car­
ries out meetings and conven­
tions for a wide variety o f na­
tional and local clients.
The firm has about 30 em ­
ployees and will add a m ini­
mum of three additional people
to
its staff with a potential to
- POC Chairman Matt Hennessee
increase its workforce even fur­
ther in the next several years.
With this property acquisition, the com ­
the Albina Com m unity Plan. The nature and
quality of the property’s redevelopment is pany will invest in renovating and outfitting
We hope it will have a very
significant impact on the
development potential o f the
entire area.
continued
t
on page R5
Local medical experts are trying to re­
solve a controversy w hether a low -carbo­
hydrate or a high-carbohydrate diet is bet­
ter for the health of many m inorities dispro­
portionately affected by obesity and its
associated diseases, such as diabetes.
African-Americans, Latinos, and other
people of color who are overweight or obese
to enroll in the study.
Kaiser Perm anente’s C enter for Health
Research in north Portland is overseeing
the study as part of a grant from the National
Center forCom plem entary and A lternative
Medicine - a branch o f the National Insti­
tutes of Health.
CHR researchers along with medical ex ­
perts from Oregon Health and Sciences
University will conduct the five-year study
to com pare the safety and effectiveness of
a low -carbohydrate Atkins-style diet with
the more conventional high-carbohydrate
DASH diet.
T w o hundred and forty overweight or
obese people will be recruited for the study.
Participants will be given an intensive six-
month behavioral intervention program to
lose weight, and then receive long-term
counseling to maintain weight loss for the
next tw o years.
Low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets, such
as the Atkins and South Beach diets, have
becom e immensely popular among Ameri­
cans who are try ing to lose weight. Authors
of books about these diets claim they result
in rapid weight loss and improved disease
risk without hunger and any need to pay
continued
y^
on page R5