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The pOrtland Observer CORY COUGARS
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See special section C, inside
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‘City of Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV, Number 21
Wednesday • May 25, 2005
_ W eek ¡n
TheReview
Hennessee to be Installed Church Pastor
8 Soldiers Killed in 2 Days
Coretta Scott King to participate in ceremonies
A car bomb exploded Tuesday
near a Baghdad junior high school
for girls, killing six people, and
eight American soldiers were
killed in two days of insurgent
attacks in and around Baghdad,
the military said. The military an­
nounced that 13 American troops
have been killed since Sunday.
Website says al-Zarqawi
Wounded in Battle
A l-Q a id a ’s b ra n c h in Ira q ,
blam ed for num erous terror a t­
tacks on U.S. and Iraqi targets,
said T uesd ay in an In tern et
po stin g that its lead er, Abu
M usab al-Z arqaw i, had been
w ounded and called on sup­
porters to pray for his recovery.
Girl, 8, Found Buried Alive
An 8-year-old girl who was raped
and buried alive told a friend she
remembers her attacker towering
over her before she passed out,
then awoke seven hours later
beneath a pile o f rocks and con­
crete blocks when she heard the
voices of rescuers. The girl was
hospitalized in good condition
Monday and a teenage boy who
also had been staying at the home
was arrested.
Leno Suspicious of Accuser
“Tonight Show” host Jay Leno
testified Tuesday that the boy
who is now accusing Michael
Jack so n o f m o le sta tio n w as
“overly effusive” and sounded
suspicious in phone calls to him
but never ask ed for m oney.
Jackson’s defense called Leno to
support its claim that the boy’s
family schemed to get money from
celebrities and Jackson became
one of their targets.
Customer Records Stolen
M ore than 100,000 custom ers
o f W achoviaC orp. and Bank of
A m erica Corp, have been noti­
fied that bank em ployees may
h a v e sto le n th e ir fin a n c ia l
records and sold them to c o l­
lection agencies.
Parent Slams Van into School
A woman apparently upset over
the treatment o f her children by
o th e r stu d e n ts ra m m e d h er
minivan into the front o f their
Philadelphia school Tuesday. No
children were injured, but a bus
attendant standing inside the
school was slightly injured when
the van with the woman and three
children crashed into the front
door of the school.
‘Star Wars’ Earns Record
Moviegoers have turned out in
full force for the final chapter of
the “Star Wars” saga. Episode III
- Revenge of the Sith, which took
in $ 158 million since its opening
Thursday to shatter three-day
and four-day box office records.
by K atherine
K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
Rev. Matt Hennessee, a high-profile local
businessman and civil leader with political
buzz around his ears is going to have Coretta
Scott King, widow of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. by his side when he’s installed as
Pastor of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist
Church this weekend.
“She’s got a heart full of love and she
doesn’t meet any strangers,” Hennessee
said. “She carried on the work of her hus­
band in the most stoic and powerful way
possible. Leaders of countries have sought
her advice.”
When King found out that Hennessee
was going to seek pastor o f the north Port­
land church, one of the city’s oldest African-
American congregations, she wrote an un­
solicited letter to the church recommending
him for the post.
The letter was “warm, cordial and glow­
ing,” he said.
Hennessee first met the King family 15
years ago when he was assistant city man­
ager in Saginaw, Mich. King eventually took
him under her wing like a son. She’s never
missed his birthday.
“She is a very special woman. I think of her
world and all the things she’s got on her
mind and yet she’s always treated me as
though I am a member o f her very close
family,” Hennessee said.
King originally had plans to attend the
ceremony simply as a member of the congre­
gation, but the dates were moved after she
was asked to speak on Hennessee’s behalf.
She’s proud of him, and for good reason.
Hennessee has been an active member of
the Portland church community. Since being
elected pastor at Vancouver Avenue First
Baptist Church on Dec. 29 and beginning his
Sunday preaching duties on Jan. 15, more
than 80 people have joined the church. He
baptized 23 members only two Sundays ago.
W ithout any outreach yet from the pastor
himself, pople are joining simply by word of
mouth, via friends and family.
“The whole thing is amazing. There’s a
wonderful spirit,” he said. “I see this as a
vision to really rebuild our stature as a church
in this community.
"Rebuilding our youth and education
programs, opportunities to develop schol­
arships in high school, building youth choirs,
and the dance team. It’s also a time of real
support to put our arms around the senior
citizens so they know that in the twilight of
their lives w e’re taking care o f and support­
ing them.”
Explaining the process of an installation, he
Coretta Scott King
A Civil Rights
Legend by her
Own Right
photo by
A ntonio H arris
Portland civic leader Rev. Matt Hennessee will be Installed this weekend as
pastor o f Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, one o f Portland’s oldest African-
American congregations.
said, “The pastor is elected by the people and
selected by God. There is a period of time
between the time the person’s elected and the
person’s installed where both parties can see
God’s work in the church and to determine if
the two will get along with each other." Appar­
ently they’re getting along just fine.
“W e’re seeing young people, w e’re see­
ing families. It’s not about color, it's about
people,” said Della Frazier, the church’s
announcing clerk and coordinator of the
installment. “Matt is being instrumental in
working with the children, getting the young
couples and all nationalities to come into
church. We saw that he had a vision to take
it in a new direction.”
Becoming pastor will come one week
after another milestone for the 46-year-old.
Matt and Sharon Hennessee were mar­
ried last Saturday. She’s involved in the
church’s Sunday school program.
“T hat’s where she sees as her calling,”
continued
on page A8
C oretta Scott King, the w idow o f
the late Civil Rights cham pion Rev. Dr.
M artin L uther King Jr., has been in­
volved w ith civil rights since her youth.
At her alm a mater, A ntioch College,
she was a m em ber o f the N A A C P and
the college’s race relations and civil
liberties com m ittees.
She m et her future husband in 1951
w hen she arrived in B oston to finish
her musical training at N ew E ngland
C onservatory. He. w as a young m inis­
ter studying for his Ph.D . at Boston
U niversity at the time. T w o years later,
they w ere married.
T he couple then returned to the
South to fight for the civil liberties o f
black A m ericans.
By 1964, K ing’s husband w on the
N obel Peace Prize and th ey ’d had four
children. She becam e active in the
Southern C hristian L eadership C on­
fe re n c e and e v e n tu a lly g av e so lo
sp e e c h e s w hen she w a s n ’t at h e r
husband’s side.
O n April 4, 1968, King received
new s that her husband w as shot and
killed w hile giving a speech from a
hotel balcony. W hile this broke her
heart, she continued to be strong and
w ork for civil rights.
continued
on page A8
There Goes the Neighborhood
Maintaining properties require responsibility
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Home gardeners feel joy in
planting greenery, flowers and
m ow ing their lawns. M any
homeowners take pride in the
way their yard appears and it
says a lot about the character of
the residents. But in almost ev­
ery neighborhood there is al­
ways one eyesore yard and
house. It's the house that looks
as if the owners don’t care.
Yards become
quickly overgrown
during
the spring growing
season without
regular mainte­
nance violating
Portland’s nuisance
ordinance.
photo by N icoif . H oope r /
T he P ortland O bserver
A particular home in your own
neighborhood probably comes
to mind. The house may have a
car in the yard, foot high grass
or peeling paint. The house gives
the look of being completely
vacant, but people live there.
There are noise nuisances in
effort to prevent late night party­
ing, but there is also a housing
nuisance law to protect your
neighborhoods appearance and
safety. For example, grass that is
taller than 10 inches is not only
undesirable but also a fire haz­
ard.
As outlined on the city of
Portland’s website, exterior prop­
erty areas "shall be maintained
in a clean and sanitary condi­
tion." There’s no use for a wash­
ing machine on the back porch.
Anything that is not suited for
outdoor use should not be on a
lawn. A car that sits on private
property for more than one week
is violation of City Code Title 29.
Nuisance complaints trigger
a city inspection. A notice is
posted to the property address
and on a w e b site c a lle d
portlandmaps.com. If the ho­
meowner or renter is at fault
they have 15 days to correct
the situation. If it is not cor­
rected they get a second notice
and finally a court warrant or
lien against the property as­
sessing costs for cleanup.
Elderly homeowners may
not be able to do strenuous
yard work; but there are op­
tions for them to get assistance
with yard maintenance.
“We have a network of non­
profits and community organi­
zations that will do work at no
cost. Getting assistance from a
religious or neighborhood as­
sociation. We screen to see if
they are of limited income and
the City of Portland would as­
sist to a certain point,” said
Crystal Cowen, an administra­
tive supervisor for the neigh­
borhood inspection office.
continued
on page A 7