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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2005)
Page A2 March 16. 2005 ___________________Cl*e^inrthxnb (ß b se ru e r________ Are you a woman of a "certain age?" Are you a African American woman between 35 and 55 years old? Help us evaluate a program about sex and relationships! $20 for your time Fill out 2 surveys and try a new com puter software program <1 Board Votes for School Closures Massive layoffs add to woes Despite expected opposition from the community, the Port land School Board voted 6-0 Monday night to close Smith Elementary in southwest and Edwards Elementary in south east Portland. The board also voted to end Richmond Elementary in south east Portland as a neighborhood program, but it will keep the Japanese immersion program in tact. School board member Derry Jackson was not at the meeting, as he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating a restraining order against approaching his estranged wife. The school board has plans to vote on the entire closure plan on March 28, which could shut dow n A p p le g a te and K e n to n E le m e n ta ry and W hitaker andTubm an Middle Schools in north and northeast Portland, and merge seventh an d e ig h th g ra d e rs in to Jefferson High School. Declining enrollm ent and uncertain finances are what spurred the closures, and the outlook is that these factors will continue to decline for 10 more years. By the end of the 2005-2006 school year, Portland public schools could be facing a $51 million budget deficit, which could grow to $98 million w hen-. the Multnomah County income tax is eliminated in 2006. School officials said this defi cit would result in layoffs of 363 full-time teaching and staffing positions, as well as programs for English as a Second Lan guage, alternative and special education. Some bus routes could also be cut. Foxworth Proposes Safer Policy’ For more information about this research study call: 1-866-730-3211 This research study is being coixlurrcd by the ( Iregnn Center for \pplivd Science, Inc. with funding from the National Institutes of I lealth. l’here arc no sales or nulling lists invoiced. Responds to concerns over police shootings Portland Police may have to start thinking twice when a ve hicle is headed toward them. Under a new policy proposed by C hief Derrick Foxworth, there would be more of a re striction on officers from firing at moving vehicles. After several concerns voiced by the community and studies of police shootings, Foxw orth found that the current policy is ineffective. The fatal shooting in May 2(X)3 of Kendra James, an un armed 21 -year-old woman who tried to drive away during a police traffic stop, brought out rage from Portlanders concern ing this policy. Dr. Rev. Leroy H aynes, ___________ _________A J Police Chief Derrick Foxworth chairman of the Albina Ministe rial Alliance’sCoalition for Jus tice agrees with the new pro posal. He said it was one of the original recommendations that came from the Kendra James case. The new policy states that officers can not presume a mov ing vehicle is a weapon war ranting a use of deadly force. A moving vehicle with an inca pacitated driver could become an u n co n tro lled d angerous weapon, but gunshots could en danger passengers in the car who are not committing a crime. Rather than fire a gun, offic ers would have to find other ways to avert a vehicle. This does not completely prohibit use of a gun, however, if the officer has no other option. One ex ample would be being trapped in , a narrow, dead-end alley with a car headed toward them. NAACP Leader Runs for Senate My Music: Funky Soul Superstars Get down at an old school soul party, uniting the best R&B soul and funk artists from the 70 s and '80s. Patti LaBelle co-hosts with Isaac Hayes (A P ) F o rm e r N A A C P President Kweisi M fume said Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2006. It is with great pride and deep humility that I announce to you today my candidacy for the Senate of the United States,” Mfume said. M fume, who was a five- term U.S. congressm an be fore becom ing president of the National A ssociation for the Advancem ent o f Colored People, issued the statem ent a fter incum bent Paul S ar banes, 72, announced Friday Kweisi Mfume that he will not run for re- election. Mfume, 56, left the House in 1996. Mfume, whose adopted West African name translates to “con quering son of kings,” began his career as a dashiki-clad radio talk show host and political ac tivist in the 1970s. He also has been mentioned as a possible Democratic candi date for governor of Maryland. Maryland traditionally votes Democratic, and went for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. and actress Vivica A. Fox. Poor Health Tied to Death Rates S a tu rd a y at 9 :3 0 p m (AP) — Middle-age black men are dying at nearly twice the rate of white men of a simi lar age, reflecting lower incomes and poorer access to health care, according to a study by former Surgeon General David Satcher. While overall longevity for both black and whites has im proved over the past 40 years, the gap between the races has narrowed little, Satcher said. The elim ination o f this ra cial gap would prevent an es tim ated 83,570 early deaths annually, he said. Some 10,472 of those deaths occurred among black men who were 45 to 54 in 2000, according to research based on a death rate of 1,060 per 100,000 black men in that age group compared with a rate of 503 for white men. In 1960 the rates were 1,625 for black men and 932 for white men in that age group. One reason for the differ ences is that gains in health care access generally have not in- * 21 eluded black men unless they were older or disabled, Satcher said. For example, when Medi care became law, the average black man did not live long enough to become eligible, he said. Other factors include the rela tively low incomes of black men compared with whites, a rise in g u n -re la te d d e a th s am o n g blacks, their disproportionately high death rate from AIDS, and higher rates of heart disease and diabetes, Satcher said. SubscribeI 5O3-288-OO33 ^Jortlanh (Ohscrucr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 _____ ____________________ _______ 4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211 E ditor - in -C hief , P urluher Charles H. Washington E ditor Michael Leighton R eporter : Katherine Kovacich D istribution M anager : Mark Washington C reative D irector : Paul Neufeldt O ffice M anager : Kathy Linder Portland Observer, PO B ox3137, JJortlanb (¡Observer Portland. OR9 7 2 0 8 Periodical Postage paid In Portland. 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