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B B lack H istory M
onth
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- ____________________ February23.200s
California Storms Kill Six
7,16 Port land
O bserver Floods, tornadoes, avalanches wreak havoc
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E ditor :
M ic h a e l L e ig h to n
D istribution M anager :
M ark W a sh in g to n
C reative D irector :
P aul N e u fe ld t
(A P) - A deadly series o f storm s
across C alifornia spaw ned every­
thing from tornadoes toavalanehes,
flooding freew ays w ith steady rain
and sending rivers o f m ud crashing
through homes.
At least six deaths have been
blam ed on the storm, including a
w om an buried by an avalanche
north o f Lake Tahoe and others
who were victims of landslides, traf­
fic accidents, falling trees and flood­
ing.
M udslides forced A m trak o ffi­
cials to suspend service from Los
A ngeles to Santa Barbara. D ozens
o f hom es w ere evacuated or red-
tagged - m arked as uninhabitable -
because they w ere threatened by
sliding hillsides, authorities said.
N orthern C alifornia also w as hit
by severe thunderstorm s, hail and
at least tw o afternoon tornadoes in
the Sacram ento area that uprooted
tre e s an d d a m a g e d ro o fs an d
fences.
T he C alifornia H ighw ay Patrol
reported m ore than 300 crashes in a
14-hour period in Southern C alifor­
nia, com pared w ith 50 to 75 acci­
dents on a norm al, dry day.
A section o f the H ollyw ood Free­
w ay in Los A ngeles w as shut dow n
for several hours late M onday b e­
cause it w as flooded by as much as
5 feet o f water.
M ore than 31 inches o f rain has
fallen since July 1, the start o f the
reg io n ’s annual “w ater year” m ea­
suring period, the fifth w ettest on
record. T he record is 38.18 inches,
setin 1883-84.
■MMM
O ffice M anager :
K a th y L in d e r
A large rock slide closes Malibu Canyon Road near Los Angeles.
A deadly series o f storms across California spawned everything
from tornadoes to avalanches to flooded freeways. (AP photo)
N M M M N M H M M I
Iraq War Debated in Portland Forum
A ssistant E ottor :
Katherine Kovacich
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Protester
throws shoe at
war supporter
(A P) - H ow ard D ean, the new ly
m in ted lead er o f the D em o cratic
P arty , and fo rm e r P en tag o n ad ­
viser Richard Perle m ade clear their
o p p o sin g v iew s on the w ar in Iraq
d u rin g a d eb a te m arred by a p ro ­
te ste r w ho to ssed a shoe at P erle.
P erle had ju s t started his c o m ­
S c h n itz e r C o n c ert H all w h en a
p ro te ste r threw a shoe at him
b e f o r e b e in g d r a g g e d a w a y ,
scream ing, “Liar! L iar!”
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Howard Dean (left) debated Richard Perle a t the annual forum
held by Pacific University to honor Tom McCall, former governor
o f Oregon.
m ents T h u rsd ay at th e A rlen e
P erle w as a m ajo r p ro p o n en t o f
g o in g to kick S a d d a m ’s b u tt,”
ing fru it in Iraq an d d id n o th in g ”
said , ad d in g th at he d id n o t deny
D ean sa id T h u rs d a y , d ra w in g
ab o u t th e o th er, m o re d an g e ro u s
th at the a d m in istra tio n had m ade
ch eers from the crow d.
reg im es, he said.
m istak e s in Iraq.
P e rle sa id th e w a r in Ira q w as
P erle w as fo rc ed by o n e o f th e
But, P erle ad d ed , “ I w ill be su r­
D ean w as am o n g th e w a r’s m ost
ju s tif ie d b a se d on th e in te lli­
q u e stio n e rs to rec ast a co m m en t
p rised , y et a g a in , if w e d o n ot see
p ro m in e n t op p o n en ts.
the U S .-le d invasion o f Iraq, w hile
g e n c e a v a ila b le at th e tim e .
he m ade on S ep t. 22, 2 003, in
a sq u are in B ag h d ad n am ed after
In his new ro le as ch a irm an o f
“ S o m e tim e s th e th in g s w e h a v e
w h ich he p red ic ted th a t w ithin
th is p r e s i d e n t . ” H e d id n o t
the D em ocratic N ational C o m m it­
to d o are o b je c tio n a b le to o th ­
o ne y ear, th e re w o u ld be “a g ran d
sp ecify a tim e.
tee, D ean has stressed that D em o ­
e r s ,” he sa id .
sq u a re in B ag h d ad n am ed fo r
cra ts are stro n g er th an R e p u b li­
ca n s on defen se.
D ean also said th e B ush a d ­
P re sid en t B u sh .”
m in is tr a tio n h as ig n o re d th e
T h u rs d a y ’s d e b a te w as p art o f
the an n u al fo ru m held by P acific
“ I ’d be a fool n ot to reco g n ize
U n iv ersity to h o n o rT o m M cC all,
“ D efen se is a lot b ro ad e r than
m o u n tin g th reat in Iran and N orth
th a t it d id n o t h ap p e n on the
a fo rm e r R e p u b lic an g o v e rn o r o f
sw ag g erin g aro u n d say in g y o u ’re
K orea. “W e pick ed th e low h ang-
sc h ed u le I had in m in d ,” P erle
O regon.
Hanging Blamed
in Iraqi Death
(A P) - An Iraqi w hose corpse
w as photographed with grinning
U.S. soldiers at A bu G hraib died
u n d erC IA interrogation w hile in
a hanging position condem ned
by hum an rights groups as to r­
ture - suspended by his w rists,
with his hands cuffed behind his
back, according to reports re­
view ed by T he A ssociated Press,
T he death o f the p riso n er,
M a n a d e l a l-J a m a d i, b e c a m e
know n last year when the Abu
G hraib prison scandal broke. The
U.S. m ilitary said back then that
the death had been ruled a hom i­
cide. B u tth eex actcircu m stan ces
under w hich the man died were
not disclosed at the time.
T he prisoner died in a position
know n as “Palestinian hanging,”
the docum ents review ed by The
A P show . It is unclear w hether
that position w as approved by
the Bush adm inistration for use
in C IA interrogations.
T he spy agency, w hich faces
congressional scrutiny o ver its
detention and interrogation o f
terror suspects at the Baghdad
prison and elsew here, declined
to com m ent, as did the Justice
Departm ent.
Non-Combat Deaths Increase
Soldiers in Iraq
at peak levels
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(A P) - U.S. troops in Iraq have
suffered a rash o f fatal vehicle acci­
dents and other non-com bat deaths
in recent w eeks, even as the num ­
ber killed in insurgent attacks has
declined.
A lthough d etails o f recent acci­
dents have not been m ade public,
som e officials believe the ju m p in
their num ber can be explained in
part by turbulence from the troop
rotation that is now approaching
its peak, with tens o f thousands o f
troops arriving and like num bers
going home.
“T he sheer volum e o f soldiers
on the ground and high volum e o f
vehicular traffic m ay reflect a higher
rate o f individual accidents o r non­
battle injuries,” said Maj. R ichard
G oldenberg, spokesm an for the
42nd Infantry D ivision o f the New
Y ork Arm y N ational G uard, w hich
is com m anding a mixed Guard/regu-
lar Arm y task force responsible for
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an area o f north-central Iraq.
There currently are about 155,000
U.S. troops in Iraq, according to the
U.S. m ilitary. T hat is the highest
num ber o f the entire war, including
the initial invasion.
The num ber o f troops is expected
to drop to about 135,000 over the
next month or tw o as units that com ­
plete their one-year tours o f duty in
Iraq pack up and head for home.
NAACP in Social
Security Fray
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U.S. Army soldiers gather around
the crater left by a roadside bomb
attack on a U.S. Army convoy in
Mosul, Iraq. (AP photo)
Bush proposal
would hurt blacks,
leaders say
(A P ) - D en o u n c in g P resid en t
B u sh ’s plan fo r S o cial S ecu rity
refo rm as on e th a t w o u ld d is p ro ­
p o rtio n ately hurt b lack s. N A A C P
le ad ers ask ed to m eet w ith the
p resid e n t to d isc u ss th e issue,
the N A A C P c h a irm a n an n o u n ced
S atu rd ay .
Julian Bond, speaking at a new s
co n feren ce d u rin g the N ational
A ssociation for the A dvancem ent
o f C olored P e o p le 's annual m eet­
ing here, also said he expects to
nam e
th e
B a ltim o r e - b a s e d
o rg an izatio n ’s new president by
July.
“ I want someone with the fund­
raising ability of Bill Gates, with the
oratorical ability ofM artinlajtherKing
and the managerial ability o f someone
who’s managed big, big things suc­
cessfully and done well,” said Bond,
who has repeatedly declined to iden­
tify potential candidates.
A search com mittee has inter­
viewed more than 200 candidates to
replace Kweisi Mfume, who was
NAACP president for nine years and
resigned in December.
Last week, NAACP leaders asked
to meet with the president, submitting
a letter to the White House that de­
tailed their concerns over education
and unem ploym ent, but focused
largely on Bush’s plan to privatize
Social Security.
“This proposal is extremely dan-
gemus to us," said Hilary O. Shelton,
the N A ACP’s Washington bureau
chief.
Among married couples, twice as
many blacks as whites rely on Social
Security for their entire retirement in­
come, and blacks in their 50s are twice
as likely tobecomedisabled as whites,
he said.