Page A2
March 16. 2005
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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.
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