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__________ il’c JJortlanb ©hseruer________________ __ ____ October 12.200s
L aw
J ustice
Mail Key Theft Arrest
a N ortheast Kill-
Police arrested a
ingsw orth S treet
man Friday in the
apartment.
theft of mailbox keys
Portland Police
and stolen identi
Detectives
and the
ties.
U.S.
Postal
Inspec
Joe
V in c e n t
tor
led
the
investi
Johansen, 29, faces
gation.
tw o felony theft
The mailbox key
charges and a pa
thefts
required a
role violation. He’s
Joe Johansen
complete
change of
accused in connec
locks
to
mail
drop
off
boxes
tion with the theft of postal box
throughout
the
city.
keys and mail that were found in
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Minorities Get Few Katrina Contracts
Most go to businesses
with connections
(AP) — Minority-owned businesses say
they’re paying the price for the decision by
Congress and the Bush administration to waive
certain rules for Hurricane Katrina recovery
contracts.
About 1.5 percent of the $ 1.6 billion awarded
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
has gone to minority businesses, less than a
third of the 5 percent normally required.
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, and Rep.
Donald A. Manzullo, R-111., have asked the
Government Accountability Office to investi
gate whether small and minority-owned busi
nesses have been given a fair opportunity to
compete for Katrina contracts.
Andrew Jenkins doesn’t think so.
Once Katrina’s destructive waters receded,
he began making calls in hopes of a winning a
government contract for his Mississippi con
struction company.
Jenkins, who is black, says he watched in
frustration as the contracts went to others,
many of them larger, white-owned companies
with political ties to Washington.
“That just doesn’t smell right,” said Jenkins,
president of AJA Management and Technical
Services Inc. of Jackson, Miss., noting the
region has a higher percentage o f blacks and
minority-owned businesses that other areas of
the country.
To speed aid, many requirements normally
attached to governm ent contracting were
waived by Congress and the administration.
The result has been far more no-bid contracts
going to businesses that have an existing rela
tionship with the government.
There also was an easing of affirmative action
rules for contractors and a suspension o f a "pre
vailing wage” law that black lawmakers and busi
ness people believe will hurt the disproportion
ately large number of black hourly workers in the
region.
“It sends a bad message,” said Harry Alford,
president of the National BlackCham berofCom -
merce. “What they’re basically saying to the
minority in New Orleans is, ‘W e’ll make it harder
for you to find a job. And if you do, we’ 11 make sure
you get paid less.’”
The Department of Homeland Security, whose
FEMA division handles most of the contracts,
said it is committed to hiring smaller, disadvan
taged firms. But many of the no-bid awards were
given out to known players who could quickly
provide help in an emergency situation, spokes
man Larry Orluskie said.
The Labor Department also has said its deci
sion to temporarily suspend affirmative action
rules for first-time government contractors doing
Katrina work was motivated by a need to reduce
paperwork to speed emergency aid.
The Army Corps of Engineers has a better
record on minority contracts, with roughly 16
percent of the $637 million in Katrina contracts
going to minority-owned companies, according
to agency records.
At a recent meeting in Mississippi for minority
businesspeople with federal contracting officials,
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss„ said many of
the 100 owners walked out in anger when told
their best chance o f getting work was to seek
The president has talked about
small businesses being the engine o f
our economy, but when the time fo r
sound bites is over, his administra
tion still uses the same backroom —Rep. BennieThompson, D-
member, Congressional
deals to take care o f their friends. Miss.,
Black Caucus
i -{U rV u
............. ...............* •
• . — «
Andrew Jenkins, a Jackson, Miss.,
businessman, says he believes many
minority-owned businesses in the Gulf
Coast are being unfairly shut out of
Katrina-related contracts. (AP photo)
smaller subcontracts from the larger compa
nies.
The largercompanies include Kellogg, Brown
& Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., which
Vice President Dick Cheney headed from 1995
to 2000; and AshBritt Inc., a Florida company
with ties to M ississippi’s governor, Haley
Barbour, former chairman of the Republican
National Committee.
“The president has talked about small busi
nesses being the engine of our economy, but
when the time for sound bites is over his admin
istration still uses the same backroom deals to
take care of their friends,” said Thompson, a
member o f the Congressional Black Caucus.
The situation has exacerbated racial sensi
tivities that already were heightened by the
slow initial federal response to the New Orleans
flood. Many poor black residents didn’t get
help for days.
»
■<»•»»
E v a c u a t e d P r is o n e r s D e s c r ib e B e a t in g s
“L D F has w orked for decades
rights of the detain
Facility. The pretrial
in
L o u isia n a and b e lie v e s that
ees
have
been
vio
p riso n e r had been
the
alleg ed abuse at Jena re
lated.
e v a c u a ted to Jena
flects
the la rg e r c risis in the
The
inm
ates
said
from Jefferson Par
sta
te
’s
crim inal ju stic e sy stem ,”
that
correctional
o
f
ish Prison because
said
V
an
ita G upta, atto rn ey for
f ic e r s
at
Jen a
of storm dam age and
LD
F.
“T
he
racism and v iolence
sla p p e d , p u n c h e d ,
flooding.
th
at
Jen
a
d
e ta in e e s have d e
beat and kicked d e
E v e ry d e ta in e e
tainees and sprayed sc rib e d should have no place in
but one o f the 23 in
them unnecessarily any p ris o n .”
terview ed reported
The prisoners evacuated to
and repeatedly with
that he had been hit
Jena
because o f the hurricane had
pepper spray. Prim a
o r k ic k e d by th e
no
contact
with the outside world
rily A frican-A m eri
prison staff.
Vanita Gupta
for
the
first
tw o weeks. They were
cans, they also de
The claims are cred
not
allow
ed
to use the phone until
ible and serious enough to warrant scribed degrading treatm ent and
just
recently.
The inm ates also
an independent and comprehen racist language by the L ouisiana
com
plain
about
the lack o f m edi
sive federal investigation to deter state correctional officers, who
cal care at the facility.
mine whether the human and civil were prim arily white.
Rights groups
demand
investigation
Human Rights W atch and the
N A ACP Legal D efense and E du
cational Fund is asking the U.S.
Departm ent o f Justice to im m edi
ately investigate the alleged m is
treatm ent o f prisoners evacuated
from Hurricane Katrina.
Interview s by the tw o organi
z a tio n s re v e a le d w id e sp re a d
claim s of abuse against inmates
at L ouisiana’s Jena Correctional
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Driver Alert Near Schools
Police offer traffic safety tips
The Portland Police Bureau
is rem inding m otorists to be
m ore aw are o f pedestrians
now that school is in session.
Among the problem s seen
by officers are parents who
stop in front of the school in
traffic to drop o ff their chil
dren or park across the street,
leaving their children to cross
in the middle of the road.
A cco rd in g to Sgt. G ary
Cerotsky of the Traffic D ivi
sion, there is some confusion
when it com es to the 20 miles
per hour speed zone law around
schools.
Some zones post speed lim
its at 20 m iles per hour at all
tim es, some during periods of
flashing yellow lights, and
some during specific tim es of
day.
“W hen in doubt, drop it to
20 miles per hour,” said Sgt.
C erotsky.
O ffic e r Dan Liu o f the
\ d \ cinse with diversity//i Q 1,f ^Jortlaub
(©bfiCttWr
School Police Division said
there are other traffic laws
that can directly affect the
safety o f students.
“W atch for the flashing red
lig h ts on sto p p e d sc h o o l
buses during the loading and
off-loading o f students,” said
O ffic e r Liu. “ A nd d riv ers
sh o u ld not e n c ro a c h into
c ro s s w a lk s w hen c h ild ren
are using th em .”
O fficer Liu said that being
responsible goes both ways.
“Students shouldn’t assume
that vehicles will stop for
them ,” he said. “They are also
responsible, and should walk
across the street when it’s
safe and clear to do so.”
For more safety tips, as well
as inform ation about the Port
land Police B ureau’s School
Police D ivision, go to the
B u re a u ’s
w e b s ite
at
www.portlandpolicebureau.com
and click on the resources tab.
Call 5O3-2SS-OO33