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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2006)
50j¿ 36 , of community service OUSING® See inside, pages A4-A8 __ Final Touches on New Columbia See page A3, inside ® ISartíanú (Observer ‘City of Roses Established in 1970 Volume XXXVI, Number 13 .W eek ¡n The Review Midwest Storms Leave 28 Dead T hunderstorm s packing torna does and hail as big as softballs ripped through eight states last weekend, killing at least 28 people, injuring scores and destroying hundreds o f hom es in the South and M idw est. T e n n e sse e w as h it h a r d e s t, w ith to r n a d o e s strik in g five w estern co u n ties S unday and k illing 23 people, in c lu d in g an in fa n t a n d his g ran d p a re n ts and a fam ily o f four. Academy Withdraws From Jeff The staff o f a proposed alterna tive school has w ithdraw n its pro gram on the Jefferson High School cam pus. The A cadem y o f C har acter and Ethics, a nonreligious program aim ed at at-risk students, was proposed by Mt. O livet Bap tist C hurch, but concerns from Jefferson parents about religious issues entering the curriculum led the academ y’s staff to look else where. Red Cross Cleans House Facing criticism after Katrina, the American Red Cross is relinquish ing control over som e aid dollars and cracking dow n internally on w aste and abuse. The nation’s la rg e st c h a rity p ro m ise d 1 the changes in a statem ent to a Sen ate panel M onday, follow ing its acknow ledgm ent last year that its $2 billion response to the G ulf Coast storm fell short. See sto ry , page A2 Portland School Closings Tarnish Image School doors are slam m ing shut, chipping aw ay at P ortland’s sta tus as one o f A m erica’s m ost “liv able cities” , the A ssociated Press reports. T hey said the school system ’s sizable deficit and drop in enrollm ent is an impetus for parents m oving tow ard lower- priced housing in the s u b u rb s ,, Hollywood Films Sold Online “Brokeback Mountain” and “King Kong” will be the first m ajor m ov ies available to own online, as H ollyw ood studios will start sell ing digital versions o f film son the Internet this week. The film scan’t be burned onto a disc for viewing on a DVD player, but six studios said M onday that sales will begin through the dow nload W eb site www.Movielink.com Focus on Warming Disasters An ad cam paign from the advo cacy group Environm ental D e fense hopes to convince A m eri cans there’sstill tim e to do som e thing about global w arm ing, but many scientists are n 't so sure it can be avoided. "I'm not sure that anyone can stop it," John W alsh, w ho studies global change at the University o f Alaska in Fairbanks. l c o 03 u. o s o 1 o O C bm <*■ > O' 5 t *- 03 ¿2 > O m J £ ~ 2D 03 C y 00 oo s . c J r 1 ZJ 2D — LU o X C u. Z) <u www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • April 5. 2006 Seven Portland Schools Will Close New budget means 17 schools expand to K-8 by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Portland Public Schools Superintendent V ickie Phillips proposed $7.2 million in cuts and $6.6 million in new spending at a budget proposal Monday. The follow ing morning, Phillips announced a four-year district plan to clo se seven sch o o ls: R ieke, H um boldt, H ollyrood, C larendon and Rose City Park elem entarles, Kellogg M iddle School and an u n d e c id e d s o u th e a s t e le m e n ta ry . 17 elem entaries will reconfigure into K indergar ten through eighth grade. Phillips said clo sures will be phased in over m ultiple years - w e’ll see little m ovem ent this fall, and more dram atic m ovem ent next year. School sizes will stay the same, around 4(X)-600 students. 2(X)6-07 budget proposals include: no wage or health benefit prem ium increases for PPS em ployees. Preserving O utdoor School and high school athletics, but making further cuts in central adm inistration and services, saving alm ost $8 million. T h ey ’ll reduce custodial costs by 10 percent, and elim inate most non- m andated school bus routes. District-wide closures and reconfigurations mean students at Humboldt Elemen T he budget proposal does not continue tary (4915 N. Gantenbein) will soon move to the expanded Ockley Green Middle one-tim e priority funds approved last year. School (6031 N. Montana) PH oto BY M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver The school district will redirect dollars to invest in textbooks and curriculum m aterials, staff to help principals and supports for special programs. The additional revenue will allow Portland P ublic S ch o o ls to p h ase in the school reconfiguration plans. In north and northeast Portland, Rose City Park will close and students will m ove to G re gory Heights, expanding to K-8. T hey’ll phase o u t P o rts m o u th an d c lo se C la re n d o n elementaries, and expand Astor and Peninsula elementaries to K-8. H um boldt Elem entary will close, and stu dents will move to O ckley G reen M iddle School. The district will phase out and annex H ollyrood Elem entary, m oving students to Fem w ood M iddle School and expanding to K-8,alsoexpanding Laurelhurst and Irvington elem entaries to K-8. T h ey ’ll close Rose City Park Elem entary and expand to K-8 at G regory H eights el ementary. In southeast Portland, plans are to expand to K-8 and add program s to B ridger Elem en tary, phase out the current Binnsmead Middle School program , and expand Clark and M arysville elem entaries to K-8. Kellogg M iddle School will close and students will move to Hosford M iddle School. The district will close either D uniway, Grout, Lewis or Llewellyn elementaries. In west Portland, Rieke Elem entary will close and Skyline Elem entary will expand to K-8. Publicly Funded Candidates Join Council Race Voter owned elections introduce grassroots contenders by S arah B loijnt T he P ortland O bserver The size o f a candidate’s political cam paign typically depends on the size o f their w allet and reputation, often leaving little room for low- profile contenders. This year’s race for two seats on City Council could break through all the “typicals” o f elections, with three candi dates having qualified for the experim ental V oter O w ned Elections. A lso referred to as Public Cam paign Fi nance, C om m issioner Erik S ten’s am bitious voter reform is designed to attract candidates w ithout the capital to launch a m ajor campaign. O n his w ebsite, he calls it a “people-pow ered” process, getting back to o u r dem ocratic roots. The taxpayer-funded system has its share o f opposition, but eluded a repeal attem pt spear headed by the First Things First com m ittee, backed by the Portland Business Alliance. T he deadline toqualify for public fundingfor the city elections was M arch 30, for primary elections on M ay 16. Three candidates quali fied to receive public funding - Am anda Fritz fo r C om m issio n er n um ber three (running City Council hopeful Amanda Fritz was among the first to become a publicly against commissioner Dan Saltzman), and Emilie funded candidate. Fritz is part o f the new “voter owned elections ’ system that Boyles and Erik Sten and for seat num ber two. levels the playing field in city political races. Lucinda Tate, w h o ’s running for num ber th re e , file d h e r re q u e s t ju s t b e fo re T hursday’s deadline: her request is under City review. I f s too early to tell how the process will work, but in theory, here is an explanation: The candidates decide to participate, agree ing to run their cam paigns using only pub lic funds and allow ed in-kind contributions (goods or services with m onetary value). A fter they voluntarily sign a Declaration o f Intent to Participate, candidates m ust prove they can rally com m unity support by co l lecting 1.000 contributions o f $5 each. At the beginning o f their cam paign can didates may also accept private contribu tions, lim ited to $ 100 from any source, but no more than $ 15,000. O nce qualified, th ey ’re eligible to re- ceive an initial primary allocation of $ 150,000 for their cam paign. If n o n - p a r tic ip a tin g c a n d id a te s outspend certified candidates, the city will provide m atching funds up to $ 150,000 per office, di vided and distributed equally toall eligible candidates. T w o o f the qualified candidates are grassroots citizens who may not have had a chance in the old system. Am anda Fritz is a perfect example. W ithacasual, non-politico appearance, the OHSU nurse and longtime continued y f on page A3 Courting A Sense of Community Housing site sees better days ahead B y S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Between Jefferson High School and North Sum ner Street sits a cluster o f four aging public housing develop ments. The co urty ard 's failing infra structure provides bleak dw ellings for 85 households in the Humboldt neigh borhood. but residents face big plans for their outdated homes. Iris Court has needed some love and attention for many years, which made it an ideal candidate for the Housing Authority of Portland's second round of public housing revitalization. The housing authority was awarded a $ 16.9 million HOPE VI grant from the depart ment o f Housing and Urban Develop ment in October 2005. A total of $40 million will go toward a renovation of the 1940’s complex that suffers from a disproportionate number o f concrete slabs to trees and greenery. photo by M ark W ashington AT he P ortland O bserver T he housing authority expects to Humboldt Gardens residents Claudia Rhone (far left) and Azzie Winston (third from left) join com plete the physical transform ation community builder Myriam Demezas (second from left) and site manager Felicia Poe (right) at by fall 2(X)8, with 129 very-low to mod- the north Portland complex formerly known as Iris Court. erate incom e housing units and a new nam e H um boldt G ardens. 21 affordable hom es adjacent to the site will attract households at or below 80 percent o f the area m edian family income. An on-site m ixed-use building will include rental housing and ground floor space, reserved for a N eighbor- htxxl Network C enter providing co m puter and Internet access, a H ead Stan C enter, a C om m unity Policing contact office, and a m anagem ent office. Hum boldt G ardens follow s on the heels o f New C olum bia, a larger, 80- acre com m unity in north Portland. M ike Andrews, the director o f co m m unity revitalization with the housing authority, said this new project will be a m odest change com pared to the $ 153 m illion HO PE VI project at New Columbia. “ It d o esn 't lend itself to such a com preh en siv e alteration o f land- conrinued y^ on page A 2