Construction
Empowers
H ousing
Special Edition
Women learn skills, teamwork
and help community
inside pages A5 and A6
Story on page A5
(Oh g er Her
‘City of Roses’
Volume XXXV, Number 12
Established In 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • March 23, 2005
’Week ¡n
ThcReview
Deadly
Shooting
Second
for Officer
Oregon Soldiers Home
Grand Jury
to hear case
About 700 Oregon soldiers came
home last weekend from Iraq af­
ter being away for 18 months.
After a prayer and brief remem­
brance of those who died, they
reunited with their families at Fort
Lewis, Wash. The 162nd Infan­
try division is based in Cottage
Grove. Eight members of the bat­
talion died in Iraq.
Violence Skews Elections
Five years of violence, intimida­
tion, voting irregularities and
re stric tiv e le g isla tio n have
skewed Zim babw e’s electoral
playing field in favor of Presi­
dent Robert M ugabe’s party,
Human Rights Watch said in a
report Monday, days before new
parliamentary elections.
School Shooting Kills 10
The suspect in the worst U.S.
school shooting since Colum ­
bine smiled and waved as he
gunned down five students, a
teacher and a guard, asking one
of his victims whether he be­
lieved in God, witnesses said.
The Minnesota teen’s grandfa­
ther and his grandfather’s wife
also were found dead, and the
boy killed himself. See story on
page A2.
Feeding Tube
Ruling Appealed
A federal judge in Florida on
Tuesday refused to order the
reinsertion o f Terri Schiavo’s
feeding tube, denying an em er­
gency request from the brain­
damaged woman’s parents. The
parents’ lawyer quickly filed a
notice of appeal. The ruling came
after feverish action by Presi­
dent Bush and Congress on leg­
islation allowing the contentious
case to be reviewed by federal
courts.
Undocumented
Workers Surge
The nation’s undocumented im­
migrant population surged to 10.3
million last year, spurred largely
by the arrivals of unauthorized
Mexicans in the United States
finding job opportunities, ac­
cording to a report released
M onday.
Embargo Pressure on EU
European Union leaders faced
pressure from the United States
and other nations Tuesday to
maintain a 15-year em bargo on
w eapons sales to C hina in the
w ake o f B eijing’s new law au ­
thorizing a m ilitary attack on
Taiwan.
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Gasoline
Prices Sting
Broadway Shell station attendant Donnie
Crawford works the pump as record gasoline
prices drain pockets. The national average
retail price for all three grades has increased
to $2.13 per gallon, the highest ever. But in
Portland, prices are even higher. Along with
sharp hikes in the cost o f crude oil, an
analyst predicts more sticker shock in the
days ahead because o f seasonal changes
and strong demand.
photos by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
>
Activist Sets Sight on School Board
Charles McGee
is a young man
with a mission
K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
by
A sa 19-year-old African Ameri­
can who has gone through the Port­
land Public School System, Charles
McGee has had a recent first hand
look at the obvious need for change
in the system. That’s why he’s run­
ning on the May ballot to replace the
seat of Derry Jackson on the Port­
land School Board to cover north
and northeast Portland.
He’s got tough competition, run­
ning in the election with 42-year-old
Dan Ryan, director of university
development at Portland State Uni­
versity and 60-year-old Steve Buel,
a former middle school teacher who
previously served on the board from
1979 to 1983.
But age isn't a factor for the con­
fident and articulate McGee, apoliti­
cal science and cultural anthropol­
ogy student at Portland State.
He cites such great leaders as
Martin Luther King Jr., John F.
Kennedy and Moses as all being
young people who lead people in a
positive way.
“Age is not a requirement for
leadership,” McGee said. “I am old
enough to risk my life for my coun­
try, to die for my country. I’m old
enough to drive a car and possibly
risk killing a family. I am old enough
to vote on policies. I am qualified
enough to vote on the decisions
that will have an impact on my gen­
eration.”
McGee was the youngest person
on the d istric t-w id e S tu d e n t
Achievement Committee, was the
founder of the Black Student Union
at Franklin High School, was in­
volved with the creation of the Black
Student LeadershipConference. and
helped to dissolve some issues
around police shootings.
"I was very active during the
police shootings when there was a
Board
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photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserved
School Board Candidate Charles McGee stands outside his campaign headquarters at 15th and
Killingsworth Streets in northeast Portland.
" We need to include more parents in the
process by always including them and saying
there is a spot at the table fo r them.
- Charles McGee
lot of strife in the community,”
McGee said. “I helped to bargain
the relationship Something I’ve
been very good at is talking to my
peers, talking to people who are on
the ground, communicating to them
the issues from the other side o f the
street, being that middle person
and bridging that gap between gov­
ernment and the community to see
how they can better serve the
schools and the children.”
McGee first realized the impor­
tance of education through his fa­
ther. a former government official
from North Liberia who fled the
dangers of a bloody civil war in 1993
toeventually settle in Portland. His
father went on to become a teacher
at Vocational Village High School
and McCoy Academy.
“I started to value teachers,"
McGee said. “When you live with a
teacher who is teaching at-risk
young people who are sometimes
forgotten about in society, you start
to realize the importance of the field.
I started to learn the importance of
family and what it means to be an
American."
Following by example, McGee
sees how necessary it is to have
A
parents involved in the steps of
learning.
“ I want to close the achievement
gap. We need to include more par­
ents in the process by always in­
cluding them and saying there is a
spot at the table for them," McGee
said. “One of the greatest mandates
of the Portland Public School Board
is to ask questions and I do not
believe that is occurring. When a
policy is presented you never hear
discourse betw een m em bers. I
would be the type of board member
continued
on page A6
In his second fatal shooting
during 16 years on the force, Port­
land Police Officer Terry Kruger
fired the shot that killed 40-year-
old Ronald Riebling Jr., ending a
hostage standoff that lasted three
hours early Sunday in southeast
Portland.
Riebling was holding an um­
brella wrapped in cloth when the
fatal b u lle t
struck him, not
a rifle as offic­
ers suspected,
police said.
Kruger is a
law en fo rc e ­
m ent sn ip e r
and member of
the b u re a u ’s
Special Em er­ Ronald
gency R e a c ­
Riebling Jr.
tion Team and
killed Sunday
is currently on
paidadministra-
tiv e leave. A
M u ltn o m a h
C ounty grand
jury will hear the
case next week.
On Feb. 28,
1996, K ruger
shot and killed
Deontae J.
D e o n ta e
J.
Keller killed
Keller, 20, a lo­
in 1996
cal
A fric a n
American who was driving a car
police said was used in a drive-by
shooting earlier in the day.
Police said Kellerjumped out of
the car and threatened them with a
gun. A grand jury ruled the death
justifiable homicide. But K eller's
father, Joe “Bean” Keller contin­
ues to wage a fight for justice on
behalf o f his son.
He accuses police of a cover­
up, arguing his son was critically
wounded and then left for hours
w ithout medical attention in a back
yard near north ShaverStreet, some
distance from the vehicle. He
points out that the alleged gun his
son possessed had no fingerprints
on it and was found on the other
side o f 6-foot fence.
In
S u n d a y 's
sh o o tin g ,
Riebl i ng ’ s former gi rl friend, cal led
police when Riebling broke into
her home. She was outside when
officers arrived, but her three chil­
dren were inside the duplex with
R iebl i ng during the standoff. None
were injured.
In an interview w ith detec­
tives M onday, K ruger said he
saw Riebling com e to the door
holding w hat he thought was a
rifle and sw inging it in front of
him “as if he was aim ing at offic­
ers from the hip," said Sgt. Brian
Schmautz.
Initially the officers fired two
beanbag rounds in an attempt to
take him into custody, but this
didn't have an effect.
Riebling went back inside. SERT
officers said they heard someone
inside yell that he had a gun.
W hen R eibling stepped ou,
again, Kruger saw Reibling turn
toward him and raise the object to
his shoulder as if he were aiming a
rifle at him, Schmautz said.
Afterthe shooting, police found
no weapons on Riebling or in the
duplex.
Court records show Riebling
had assault, drunken driving and
drug convictions dating to 2001.
I