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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2005)
A Future Depends on It Parents unite to volunteer at local schools and help kids succeed See story, Metro seetion inside (¡Observer ‘City of Roses’ Established in 1970 Volume XXXV, Number 38 Committed to Cultural Diversity w w w .portlandobserver.com Wednesday • September 14, 2005 rlWeekin TheReview Hurricane Victims Welcomed Bush Admits Mistakes Church provides housing President Bush tim e to o k re s p o n s ib ility T u e s d a y fo r federal govern m ent m istakes in dealing with H urricane K atrina and suggested the calam ity raised broader q ues tio n s ab o u t the g o v e rn m e n t’s ability to handle both natural d i sasters and terror attacks. “To the extent that the federal governm ent d id n ’t fully do its jo b right, 1 take responsibility,” he said. Death Toll More Than 400 H urricane K atrina’s death toll in L ouisiana clim bed to 423 T ues day, up from 279 a day before. The ju m p cam e as recovery w orkers turned m ore and m ore o f their at tention to gathering up and count ing the corpses in a city all but em ptied out o f the living. See story, page A2. Nursing Home Charged The ow ners o f a N ew O rleans nursing hom e w here 34 people were found dead after H urricane Katrina have been arrested and charged with 34 counts o f negli gent hom icide for not evacuating their patients, even after buses were offered by governm ent offi c ia ls , th e L o u isia n a a tto rn e y g eneral’s office said Tuesday. Ophelia Threatens East Coast V ulnerable islands o ff the Caroli- nas w ere evacuated and m ainland schools w ere closed Tuesday as erratic T ropical Storm O phelia wobbled c loser to land wi th a threat o f flooding rain. A hurricane w arn ing was in effect from Georgetown, S.C., to North C aro lin a's Cape Lookout. by K atherine B lackmore T he P ortland O bserver Since Saturday, the Pow erhouse T em ple Church o f G od in Christ serving north and northeast P ort land has received a slew o f d o n a tions for H urricane Katrina survi vors brought to Portland by the congregation. Church Pastor M ary O verstreet sold her vacation hom e in A rizona and cashed in tw o certificates o f deposit to help 22 people with hous ing and utilities. She has offered to pay rent for 20 apartm ents in P ort land, but the hom es need basic necessities like furniture, bedding, tow els and other item s to m ake them livable. T he church ’s pew s are already full o f bags and boxes, but the co m m unity is encouraged to continue w ith support, as it’ 11 take aw hile for victim s to get back on their feet. “W e w ant to thank the people photo by M ark VV ashington /T he P ortland O bserver and all th ey ’ve done,” said A nna Local volunteers stand among the pews filled with donations for Hurricane Katrina victims at the Powerhouse Temple Church o f God. Forbes, H urricane Katrina displace Pictured (from left) are Perlia Bell and her 3-year-old grandson Ty Juan James, Christina Forbes, Kimberly Cox and Grace Forbes. m ent coordinator for the church. R ather than ju st give people a cot to sleep are also vital to continue to pay for housing ees to Portland, m ore than 245 survivors o f A W elcom e O regon C om m ittee has been on, she said, they hope to give a fam ilies a “Love one another,” Forbes said. “E x the storm have arrived through the help o f organized by com m unity groups and faith- key to an ap artm en t instead. A lthough tend a helping hand and extend kindness.” fam ily, friends and local churches. H un b ased o rg an izatio n s to m ake h u rrican e clothes and household item s for the victim s A lthough the Federal Em ergency M an dreds more A m ericans displaced from the continued on page A 6 are m uch appreciated, m onetary donations agem ent A gency has not send any ev acu G ulf Coast could arrive in the next few weeks. Neighborhood Torn by Evacuee Court Nominee Under Fire Concerns Suprem e C ourt n om in ee John R oberts jo u s t ed w ith D em o cratic senators T uesday at his c o n firm a tio n h ea rin g to be ch ief justice, dodging their at tem pts to pin dow n his opinions on abortion, voting rights and other legal issues. Sen. Edw ard M. K en n ed y , D -M ass., d escrib ed som e o f his w ritings as a “narrow, cram ped and m ean-spirited view ” that failed to show a full apprecia tion o f discrim ination. See related Many want to help, others raise issues story, page A2. U.S. Launches Iraq Strikes U.S. forces w idened their opera tions against insurgents in north ern Iraq on Tuesday, launching an attack on the E uphrates R iver stronghold o f H aditha only days after evicting m ilitants from Tai A far. R esid en ts also rep o rted A m erican air strikes in the sam e J-egion nearQ aim . 1 1 Ë3 2 photo by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver Jim Gruetzke, manager o f safety and security for the Red Cross, talks outside the former Washington High School in southeast Portland with volunteers Debbie Ellis (left) and Linda Johnson. The school is being used to provide 24-hour assistance to Katrina Hurricane survivors, Resource Shelter Assists Arrivals Former school open 24-hours for help by K atherine B lackmore T he P ortland O bserver I C ross officials m ade a decision to staff the form er shelter site 24 hours a day to provide resources to survivors com ing to Portland on their ow n to stay with fam ily or friends. "S om e o f (the victim s) look com pletely exhausted and traum atized, but they just want to get their lives back together," M iller said. By T uesday, 245 people had been helped by the Red Cross, with each fam ily or individual being assig n ed a M u ltn o m ah County casew orker to keep re covering lives on track. A lthough the high school isn 't being used as a shelter, various local agencies are using the site from 9a.m . to 5 p.m. tooffer vouch ers fo r h o u sin g , b u s p asses, — Mary Miller, Red Cross communications director m eals and clothing, as w ell as em ergency health care and m en M ary Miller, com m unications directorfor tal health services. Red C ross volunteers are the Red C ross O regon Trail Chapter, said also available at al 1 tim es to provide i mmedi - that fam ilies are continuing to visit the site continued on page A6 for help from a variety o f local organizations. The story is about helping about people in need, but there's also the story about how we all came together as a community. P o r tla n d ’s o n c e a b a n d o n e d W a s h in g to n H ig h School has becom e a bustle o f com m unity resources over the last week, anxiously aw ait ing the arrival o f H urricane K atrina victims. A lthough it w as announced last Friday that a large cluster o f people w ould no longer be airlifted to Portland through the Fed eral Em ergency M anagem ent A gency, that h asn 't stopped others that have been d is placed from com ing to Portland. On Sunday, M ayor Tom Potter and Red by L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver People helping survivors displaced by H urricane K atrina ran into concerns o v er the backgrounds o f possible ev acu ees and charges o f racism at a co m m u nity m eeting in southeast Portland. T he issues w ere raised last w eek when B uckm an neighborhood residents spoke to plans to use the form er W ashington High School as an em ergency sh elter for up to 1,000 G u lf C oast residents. T he federal governm ent has since said the shelter will not be needed, but the Red C ross still plans to use the school as a resource center and training facility to help displaced G u lf C oast residents. Buckm an N eighborhixxl A ssociation C h air Susan Lindsay said her initial c o n cern was packing so m any people into one building, w arehousing people, ro b bing them o f theirdignity and subjecting them to the sort o f abuse they ex p e ri enced in the New O rleans S uperdom e and H ouston A strodom e. W hile about h alf o f a meeti ng dra wi ng about 75 people w anted to know how they could help, about h alf had concerns about possible “crim inal elem ents" or other im pacts on the com m unity. “W hat w as supposed to be an infor m ational m eeting unfortunately becam e tainted by m isunderstandings, frustra tion and m edia hype," said Anne Hughes, another Buckm an N eighborhood o ffi cial. She also found press coverage o f the event “som ew hat inciteful." Kathryn Jackson, an A frican-A m eri can w om an living in E astm oreland, said it w as “sad and sham eful that w e have to hum anize a situation w here w e have fel low hum an beings in need.” H er rem a rk s p ro d u c e d sh o u ts o f p ro test from o th e rs w h o in sisted th e ir continued on page A6