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‘City of Roses’
Volume XXXV, N um ber 35
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • August 24, 2005
.Week ¡n
TheReview
Bush Rebuffs
Ranch Protester
President Bush took on the Cali
fornia mother who has been defi
antly protesting outside his Texas
home, saying Tuesday that Cindy
Sheehan doesn’t represent the
views of most military families. “I
think those who advocate immedi
ate withdrawal from not only Iraq
but the Middle East are advocat
ing a policy that would weaken the
United States,” he said.
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
Actor Dies from Cancer
Brock Peters
M o c k in g b ird ,”
died Tuesday at his home after
battling pancreatic cancer. He was
78. Peters also played Admiral
Cartwright in tw oof the “Star Trek”
feature fdms, as well as various
characters on television shows.
Obesity Rates Up Nationwide
Like a lot o f people, the n ation’s
w eight problem is settling below
its w aistline. The states with the
h ighest percen tag es o f obese
adults are m ostly in the South. In
the entire nation, only Oregon
isn ’t getting fatter. Some 22.7
percent o f A m erican adults are
considered obese, says the ad
v o c a c y g ro u p T ru s t fo r
A m erica’s Health.
N.Y. Transit Boosts Security
New York will install 1,0 0 0 sur
veillance cam eras and 3,000 mo
tion sensors in its spraw ling
netw ork o f subw ays and com
m uter rail stations as part o f a
$212 million security upgrade and
c o u n te r te r r o r is m p la n a n
nounced Tuesday.
photo by I saiah
Opposition
IRAQ WAR
r .
Mothers of soldiers
killed take up cause
About 150 community members rallied
around the Alberta Co-op in northeast Port
land Aug. 17 in support of bringing troops
home from the Iraq War.
The group was part of an estimated 1,820
people taking part in vigils at 19 Portland
area locations in conjunction with commu
nities across the nation supporting Cindy
Sheehan, an anti-war protester and “peace
mom" who starting camping outside Presi
Gains Voice
dent Bush’sranch in Crawford, Texas at the
beginning of August.
Sheehan, o f C alifornia, lost her son in
Iraq and has hopes o f speaking with Bush
about bringing soldiers back home to
their fam ilies before more deaths occur.
She accuses Bush o f lying to the A m eri
The woman w hose son accused
M ichael Jackson o f child m oles
tation was charged with w elfare
fraud Tuesday for allegedly co l
lecting nearly $19,000 in pay
ments while making false claims.
J a c k s o n ’s law y ers p re se n te d
evidence that she and her fam ily
had received a $ 150,000 settle
ment in a law suit against a de
partm ent store and had other
m onies at a tim e when she was
claim ing to be poor.
PHOTO bv
The dance club ‘The Vue' is located on the corner o f Southwest Washington and
Third Avenue.
K atherine B lai kmore
T he P ortland O bserver
A local club manager who vowed off
playing hip-hop in response to recent down
town shootings apologized last week for
racist statements he made in a controver
sial e-mail.
Rami Makboul, club manager for The
Vue on Southwest Third Avenue and
Washington Street, originally wrote an e-
mail to Police Chief Derrick Foxworth and
Mayor Tom Potter on Aug. 10, agreeing
with an opinion from a former liquor control
officer that African Americans should be
kept away from the downtown club scene
and should stay in northeast Portland.
After realizing his e-mail was published
all over Portland, Makboul issued the fol-
by
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on page A6
K atherine
B lackmore /
T he P ortland
O bserver
Club Apologizes for Racist E-mail
Gyms cater to the
Regrets call for blacks to stay away
c
o
Oil
u
continued
Norma Roberts,
56, works out
with her per
sonal trainer
Martin Wilson
for an hour, two
to three times a
week at the 24-
Hour Fitness
location on
Halsey Street.
No End to Arctic Meltdown
en
•H n
can people about Iraq 's developm ent o f
w eapons o f mass destruction and its con
nection to al-Qaida.
Her protest in Crawford was broken Friday
when her mother fell ill to a stroke and she had
Fitness: A Fountain of Youth
Jackson Accuser Charged
The rate of ice melting in the Arctic
is increasing and a panel of re
searchers says it sees no natural
process that is likely to change
that trend. Within a century the
melting could lead to summertime
ice-free (Kean conditions not seen
in the area in a million years, the
group said Tuesday.
B oi ie /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Michelle Bruns o f Port Townsend, Wash., stands outside the Alberta Co-Op in northeast Portland during a vigil on Aug. 17, urging President
Bush to bring home troops in Iraq. Bruns has a son who served in the war overseas and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
lowing public apology:
“We apologize for the recent comments
made about African Americans and the gen
eral hip-hop listening community. The club
or the people involved within the club are in
no way, shape or form racist against any
ethnicities.
“The recent comments were made out of
frustrations due to the media and press
attributing the recent violent actions solely
to the Vue nightclub and we felt it was in the
best interest of everybody that goes down
town, not just African Americans, to stray
away from violence in general.
"We cannot control what happens out
side the club but we will do what we can to
continued
on page A6
older community
by K atherine B lackmore
T he P ortland O bserver
A, 56 years old, Norma Roberts certainly
doesn’t look the part. With a smile on her
toned face, she’s feeling younger since she
started working with a personal trainer a, a
gym more than two months ago. So far. she's
lost 7 pounds and continues to gain confi
dence in her health.
“I was training a lot on my own and didn't
have much success,” Roberts said. “I’ve
learned to strengthen my core and balance
to do exercises I've never been able to do.
Now I have a lot of strength."
W orking out for an hour, two to three
times a week, Roberts said, “I feel good.
Before. I was fatigued and just felt old. I was
>
always tired sitting around the office all day.
Now 1 come here and have fun. It lakes time
to come to the gym, but you gain so much
that it's worth it.”
Martin Wilson. Robert ’s personal trainer
at Portland's 24-Hour Fitness Halsey l<Ka-
tion, calls her a “success story" because
she's committed and consistent with her
exercise and diet.
Walking into the gym means being in a
bustle of all shapes and sizes lifting weights,
running on treadmills and wiping sweat from
their brows. Looking a little closer, you see
people of all ages searching for a fountain of
youth.
Even people in their 60s and 70s can
expect good results with a minimal fitness
routine. Senior men can expect to live 11
years longer, while senior females can look
continued
on page A 6