Local Student
Discovers Africa
50£
years
Trip confronts misconceptions
of
•'community service
•.
See Page A6
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. . .
‘City of Roses’
.
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. . . ____ i l __ .^.
www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV, Number 29
Wednesday • |uly 13, 2005
itWcekin
TheReview
Child, Gunman Killed in
L.A. Police Shootout
A toddler was shot and killed
w hen her father used her as a
shield in a gunbattle w ith police
follow ing an hours-long stand
off, officials said. T he m an also
died and an officer w as w ounded.
T he man killed Sunday night after
an hours-long standoff w as iden
tified as Jose Raul Lem os, and the
girl, about 17 m onths old, w as his
d aughter. T he c h ild ’s m other,
L orena Lopez, said she pleaded
w ith officers to hold their fire.
Countdown Begins for
Discovery Launch
For the first tim e since the C olum
bia tragedy, N A S A ’s countdow n
clocks w ere ticking dow n the
hours, m inutes and seconds to
launch, heightening the anticipa
tion for a W ednesday liftoff o f
D iscovery, he countdow n for the
first space shuttle flight in 2 1/2
years w ent well this w eek, with no
technical problem s. T he co u n t
dow n began Sunday evening as
H urricane D ennis battered the
Florida P anhandleoff to the north
w est.
Tightened
Transit
Security
Worker suspended
for racial slurs
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
W hen a loved one passes aw ay, friends
and fam ily usually hope for the utm ost care,
respect and honor w hen dealing with the
deceased - in funeral services, in burial and in
remembrance.
But in April, a form er cem etery em ployee o f
Rose City C em etery in N E Portland filed a
com plaint claim ing that m anager M ike O rcutt
had abused corpses and m ade racial slurs
when discussing deceased clients.
A ccording to fo rm ertrain ee F loyd D ecker,
m anaging director M ike O rcutt m ade racist
rem arks tow ard deceased A frican-A m ericans
that were going to be buried at Rose City
Cemetery.
E arlier this year, D ecker alleges one inci
dent where an A frican-A m erican w om an w ho
had died o f breast cancer w as referred to as a
"nigger lady that needed to be dead.” A ppar
ently the “n-w ord” w as com m only used to
describe blacks at the m ortuary. In addition.
D ecker claim s that in other instances, d e
ceased clients w ere referred to in a sexual or
size-phobic m anner.
Rose City C em etery isn ’t aw are o f any
com plaints against em ployees since its o pen
ing in 1905. C urrently, 35 percent o f the d e
ceased that reside at Rose City C em etery are
A frican-A m erican. T here are policies in place
that dem and the highest respect to the d e
ceased and their family.
State Sen. A vel G ordly has com m ended the
state ’ s M ortuary and C em etery B oard for pun-
ishing O rcutt for the offensive behavior and
com m ents m ade in the w orkplace.
continued
photo B i
Portland Police Officer
Simmons patrols the Rose
Quarter Max Station, as
part o f the heightened
security measures being
taken after recent terrorist
attacks in London.
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
A former employee o f Rose City Cemetery in NE Portland was recently accused of
abusing corpses and using racial slurs in relation to his clients.
on page A7
«MMM
■HM M
London Explosions Kill 52,
Wound 700
F our blasts rocked the London
subw ay and tore open a packed
double-decker bus last w eek, send-
ing bloodied victim s fleeing in the
w orst attack on L ondon since
W orld W ar 11. At least 52 people
were ki I led and more than 7 0 0 were
w ounded in the terror attacks. An
organization calling itself “T he
Secret O rganization o f al-Q aida in
E urope” claim ed responsibility.
See full story on A2.
Gulf Coast Cleans Up From
Hurricane Dennis
W ith a sigh o f relief, G u lf C oast
r e s id e n ts b e g a n h u r r ic a n e
cleanup. H urricane D ennis hit the
storm -w eary Florida Panhandle
and A labam a coast on Sunday
w ith less force than forecasters
feared, sparing the region the w ide
spread destruction caused by Ivan
last Septem ber. T here w as scat
tered flooding in Florida and G eor
gia, and m ore than 680,(XX) cu s
tom ers in four states w ere w ithout
pow er, with som e likely to be out
for three w eeks o r more.
PHOTO BY KATHERINE Bl.A C K M O R E / T h E PORTLAND OBSERVER
Bars like the Wooden Chicken in northeast Portland
take extra precautions checking identification to prevent
underage drinking.
PHOTO BY NICOLE
H oo PE r /T HE PORTLAND O llSERY ER
James Miller, founder o f Assured Compliance, is using his past
experience with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to help local
bars, clubs and taverns meet their regulatory obligations.
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Enforcer turns
retirement into
a business
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Jam es M iller is helping local
bars; clubs and taverns reduce the
risk o f liquor license fines, suspen
sions and term inations.
L ast year, a fte r re tirin g from
the O L C C (O reg o n L iq u o r C o n
trol C o m m issio n ), he fo u n d ed the
co m p an y A ssu red C o m p lia n ce to
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
use w h at he k n o w s ab o u t liq u o r
law s to start his ow n b u sin e ss
and h elp e sta b lish m e n ts se rv in g
alco h o l n av ig ate th e m an y p it-
falls o f reg u la tio n s.
L ike the retail b u sin ess uses
“ m ystery shoppers” to test the skills
o f its com pany em ployees, M iller
uses decoys to test the skills o f
people em ployed in the liquor serv
ing business.
“M y fam ily has been supportive
and w onderful. M any ju st w onder,
how com e no one ev er thought o f
this before," said Miller.
T he b u sin ess has p ro g ressed
Decoy Drinkers
o ffe re d this serv ice to b ars w here
an o ffe n se has o cc u rre d . M iller
fin d s that ev en w ith the v erifier,
m an y b a rte n d e rs o r b o u n c e rs
d o n ’t use the m ach in e. If a b a r
te n d e r is cau g h t n ot c h e ck in g
ID s, th ey can face a p o ten tial
spot faulty ID 's.
The ID m achines are a com puter c ita tio n and get a n o tice o f v io la
like contraption that stores legal tio n from the O L C C . U su ally th is
data from across the country It fin e is no less than $9(X).
T he training M iller provides in
works sim ilar to a credit and debit
cludes
tips for checking identifica
card. W hen a bar patron is not of
tion,
how
to pass the decoy tests
legal age, an alarm goes off, but for
and
how
look
for signs o f intoxica-
others the verifier states the age o f
the patron.
continued y ^ on page A6
Both the O L C C and p olice have
from at first em ploying decoys to
catch bars and stores selling alco
hol to minors, to now m onitoring
bartenders w ho are not follow ing
protocol when establishm ents have
installed electronic devices that can
I
I
London attacks
spur alerts in
Portland
Follow ing last w eek ’s terror
attacks on L o n d o n ’s m ass tran
sit system , the U nited S tates put
up its security radar, recogniz
ing a high alert for possible copy
cat attacks. Until culprits and
m ethods o f the attacks are real
ized, transit system s in cities
around the country, including
Portland, are tightening their
safety m easures.
A cc o rd in g to a sta te m en t
m ade last w eek by M ayor T om
Potter, “O urcom m unity rem ains
safe and secure, w ith hundreds
o f dedicated people w orking to
insure P o rtlan d is p ro tected .
Federal officials have assured
us that no new threats have been
directed at the Pacific N orth
w est.”
A lthough no specific threats
to O regon have been m ade. Pot
ter said, the city is increasing its
readiness level to orange for its
ground transportation facilities.
Statew ide city and tran sp o r
tation w orkers have been told to
be fully aw are at all tim es o f their
surroundings. C itizens are e n
couraged to report any suspi
cious activity.
Extra precautions are being
taken on T ri-M et. A m trak and
G reyhound, am ong others.
Riders should expect to see
additional officers at som e stops
and in public gathering places
like Pioneer Square. PG E Park
and the Rose Q uarter.
“T he goal o f terrorists is to
create fear.” Potter said. “They
w in only w hen good and decent
people succum b to the clim ate
fear they create with these kinds
o f barbaric acts. W e cannot let
our fears m ake us suspicious of
each other, or be afraid to live
our
liv e s
c o m p le te ly .
Portlanders can do their part by
rem aining calm and living their
lives norm ally. W hile each o f us
has a responsibility to be v ig i
lant, w e also sh o u ld n 't o v erre
act.”
See full story on recent Lon
don attacks on page A2.