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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2005)
^^JJortlanb © hserüer Page A2 July 13. 2005 Londoners Dealing With Bombing Aftermath Death toll up to 52; 700 people wounded (AP) - Police raised the death toll in London’s terrorist bombings to 52 this week as forensics experts identified the first of the victims - a 53-year-old mother of two from outside London. Prime Minis ter Tony Blair promised a "vigorous and intense” manhunt for the attackers. As workers searched the twisted wreck age for more bodies, millions of London ers rode subways and buses to and from work, tense but intent on resuming their routines four days after the strikes. "W e won’t let asm allgroupof terrorists change the way we live,” London’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, said defiantly. In a somber address to the House of Commons, his first since Thursday’s at tacks, Blair said it seemed probable that Islamic extremists were responsible for what he denounced as a "murderous car- A wrecked double decker bus near Tavistock Square after an explosion in central London on Thursday, July 7. (AP photo) nage o f the innocent.” No specific intelligence could have pre vented the strikes, he said. Officials raised the confirmed death toll, which had stood at 49, to 52 as workers searched for corpses in mangled subway cars marooned in a hot, dusty, rat-infested tunnel, and warned that the body count likely would climb. Three subway trains and a double- decker bus also were destroyed in the attacks, which wounded 700 people. Fifty- six remained hospitalized Monday, many in critical condition, officials said. Public transit officials said the number of passengers using London’s bus and subway network, which handles 3 million people on a typical day, was back to nor mal Monday. But commuters were jittery, understand ably rattled by numerous security alerts and evacuations triggered by travelers temporarily abandoning their bags, and some people played it safe by taking taxis. Local Security Expanded Two Portland Police Officers patrol the Rose Quarter Max Station, working to up security to prevent a copy-cat terrorist attack. P hoto by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver G-8 Leaders Agree to $50B in African Aid (A P) - W orld leaders last week c o n c lu d e d an ec o n o m ic sum m it shaken by terrorism , offering an “alternative to the hatred” - a $50 billion aid package for A frica and up to $9 billion in additional support for the Palestinians over the next three years. “W e speak today in the shadow o f terrorism , but it will not obscure w hat we cam e here to achieve,” B ritish Prim e M inister T ony Blair, the sum m it host, said to close the three-day gathering. “It is in the nature o f politics that w e do not achieve absolutely every thing we hope to achieve, but none theless I believe we have m ade very substantial progress indeed,” Blair told reporters at a closing new s co nference. W ith a last-m inute pledge from Japan, B lair w on a key victory, announcing that aid to A frica w ould rise from the current $25 billion annually to $50 billion by 2010. The U nited States did not m ake any ad ditional pledges beyond B ush’s an nouncem ent last w eek that he would seek to double U.S. aid to A frica by 2010. A t a separate new s conference, F rench P resident Jacques Chirac said finding new w ays to finance rich country support for A frica was crucial. He put in a plug for his idea to have all countries levy a new tax on international airline tickets to support poverty relief. T he United States opposed this idea. Tennessee Arson Burns Two Black Churches, Motive Questioned tionally set,” Mayor Tom Pedigo said. No injuries were reported in the fires, which broke out just before 5 a.m. within two blocks in the town 75 miles southeast of Nashville. The churches that burned were (AP) - Arson fires broke out Fri day in seven buildings within a couple of blocks, destroying a black church, heavily damaging another one and doing lesser damage to five vacant houses, authorities said. “All of them have been inten- on the same street, police detective Allen Selby said. As firefighters arrived to fight one fire, Selby said, “they looked down the street and the other church was fully in volved.” No arrests have been made but »? io k ln ’ th e O c e a n F B B Q & B re w Fest J u ly 15th -17th • Free Admission • Oregon State BBQ Cham pionship, Over $10,000 in cash and prizes • IFOCE sanctioned am ateur and professional rib eating contests • Beer sam pling from NW Breweries • $10 souvenir mug (Includes 3 Beer Sam ples) • $1 Individual beer sam ple tickets • Proceeds Live Musi “Busines Interested in be For sch ? contact: seufer@nwlink.com kwindscasino.com O h i nook^YVi n d CASINO RESORT It's Better a t the Beach! i . i ooo z-tiitizxz^ix the mayor said authorities are pur suing some tips. Roberts Street Church of Christ w as d e stro y e d w hile K ynette U nited M ethodist C hurch was heavily dam aged. Both served black congregations, Pedigo said. About 5 percent of Sparta’s 5,000 residents are black, according to census figures. “I think as far as the total commu nity is concerned, I don’t see any racial implications to it,” Pedigo said. “W e’re searching all avenues we can. We want to find the answer to this as soon as possible, and 1 think we can.” The five unoccupied houses were less seriously damaged, with only one receiving what authorities de scribed as moderate damage. Project Clean Slate a Success Legal help given to community for new start R ai . ph M unson F or the P ortland O bserver by It lived up to the billing and made believers out o f nearly everyone that witnessed another jewel that puts Portland head and shoulders above any other city in the county. Project Clean Slate was an all day event designed to help many people “at risk” in predominately urban communities by regaining driver’s license privileges and taking the first steps in getting certain crimi nal convictions removed from their records. The project was supported by such organizations as Highland United Church, who provided 50 volunteers to assist, and Better People, a local based organization that works with ex-felons. Warren Insurance Agency who was on hand to help with writing new poli cies to get their driver’s licenses back. From downtown professionals to gang m em bers and beyond, people stood in line to get their lives back on track and exchanged stories of how they got there. They stood around the block, down the street and throughout the plaza of the newly constructed Portland Community College Cascade Cam pus Public Service building for up to 10 hours waiti ng patiently to talk with attorneys and have a judge M H IL A N AMERIO » CHAMBER OF COM A long line o f people waited at PCC Cascade recently to receive help through Project Clean Slate. hear their plea for a clean slate. Roy Jay, business owner, Presi dent of the African American Cham ber of Commerce and mastermind behind Project Clean Slate, spent countless volunteer hours work ing with the District A ttorney’s office, judges, police, community colleges, businesses and other or ganizations to make the project, the first o f its kind in the country, an outstanding success. “This is just a matter of putting together the right people for the team” Jay said. The African American Chamber used its credibility and reputation to solicit their members and corpo rate supporters to assist on this project. Jay said because o f the large demand, the organization is already working on a second event, possi bly in the fall or winter o f 2005. There are also hopes to include the City o f Gresham in the next event. At www.projectcleanslate.com ad ditional information is provided for those that were pre-registered at the original event but were not able to be serviced. Others can also pre register on the site or call the Afri can American Chamber offices at 503-343-5117 fora registration form. Man Stabbed in Northwest Portland On M onday, July 11, 2005, at 12:17 p.m., Portland Police re sponded to a reported stabbing on the corner o f Northwest 23rd Av enue and Northwest Hoyt Street. O fficers arrived and learned that a 62-year-okl Tigard resident was holding the door at the R am ’s Head while his wife entered the restaurant. As he held the door, a 38-year-old suspect stabbed him in the back. The stabbing appears to have been com pletely unpro voked and the suspect and victim were strangers. The victim fell to the ground as the suspect fled the area. Several citizens chased the suspect as oth ers called 911. The victim was trans ported to Emanuel Hospital for sur gery. O fficers released a suspect description including information that the suspect was wearing some type o f cast or soft bandage on his arm. O fficers quickly established a perim eter around the area and Hillsboro PD sent a K-9 to assist in the search. As officers were com pleting their search o f the area, a citizens li ving in the 24(X) block of Northwest W estover called 9 11 to report that someone m atching the description o f the stabbing sus pect was hiding in their back yard. Officers quickly converged on the area and arrested the suspect. Either during the foot pursuit or during the arrest process the sus pect re-injured his arm and was transported to Portland Adventist Hospital.
