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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
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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.