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April 26. 2006
New Orleans Votes Along Racial Lines
Mayor Nagin to face
challenger in runoff
(A P) — In a com plete rever
sal o f support from four years
ago. New Orleans Mayor Ray
Nagin scored heavily w ith black
voters and was practically aban
doned by whites as he and Lt.
Gov. Mitch Landrieu won spots
in a mayoral runoff election.
The black incumbent, who
received most o f his support
from while voters in the 2(X)2
election, garnered less than It)
percent o f the vote Saturday in
predom inantly white precincts,
according to a consulting firm
analyzing demographic data for
the New Orleans Redevelop
ment Authority.
But Nagin, who offended
some white voters in January
when he suggested God wanted
New O rle a n s to re m a in a
“chocolate city,” saw black vot
ers rush to his defense. He re
ceived 65 percent or more of
the vote in predominantly black
neighborhoods, the consultant
found.
Landrieu, who is white, fin
ished with 29 percent o f the
overall vote to N agin's 38 per
cent. He finished second in black
neighborhoods tc Nagin and
second in white neighborhoods
Mayor Ray Nagin
Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu
to th ird -p lac e fin ish e r Ron Katrina.
Landrieu said Sunday that the
Forman, bolstering his claims
that he can help bring together num ber o f voters who chose
diverse groups to help New candidates other than Nagin
Orleans emerge from the dev dem onstrated that voters want
a s ta tio n left by H u rric a n e change. "This city, this great
city, calls for change," he said.
Nagin, a form er cable televi
sion executive seeking his sec
ond term as mayor, said his
overall win is an endorsem ent
o f his perform ance and his plans
for the city 's future.
“ I just feel w e're on the right
track, and people have verified
that to me," he said.
The numbers suggest it will
be a serious challenge for Nagin
to broaden his support in time
for the May 20 runoff.
“His one shot is to get enough
o f the whites who liked him four
years ago to like him again,"
said political an aly st Elliott
Stonecipher.
Those votes are all the more
important because the city is
w hiter than it was before Katrina
hit Aug. 29: Fewer than half the
city ’s 455,000 residents have
returned, most of those displaced
a re b la c k . Only about 20,000
e v a c u e e s p a rtic ip a te d in
Saturday’s election by absen
tee ballot, fax and satellite sta
tions, although an unknown num
ber returned to the city to vote in
person.
Nearly half o f voters in pre
dom inantly white areas turned
out, com pared with about 30
percent o f registered voters in
black neighborhrxxls. w hich also
tended to be the worst hit by
flooding.
A bout 36 percent o f the city ’s
297,000 eligible voters partici
pated in S aturday's election,
some traveling hundredsof miles
to help decide who w ill lead one
of the biggest urban reconstruc
tion projects in U.S. history.
M M N M M M M i
Tavern Robberies Arrest
A 43-year-old man has been
charged with two o f the recent
string o f robberies at Portland
bars and taverns during operat
ing hours.
Eric Lee Presley is accused
o f the March 20 robbery of
Thatcher’s Lounge in south
east Portland and northeast
Portland’s W ilshire Tavern on
M arch 23. He a ls o fa ces
charges o f unauthorized use of
a m otor vehicle, theft, kidnap
ping and assault.
Portland robbery detectives
said they used forensic evi
dence from the crime scenes
and witness accounts to link
Presley to the crimes. Addi
tionally, a victim's vehicle taken
d u rin g th e ro b b e ry o f
T hatcher’s Lounge was recov
ered and returned to its owner.
Vancouver Shocked by McDonalds Attack
Teen dies in
random
violence
Eric Presley
Authorities said there are ad
ditional suspects in both cases
and anyone with information is
a sk e d to c a ll D e te c tiv e
Christensen at 503-823-0266.
Fort Vancouver High School
s tu d e n ts an d th e g re a te r
Vancouver com m unity are in
shock and disbelief over the
death o f a teenage girl attacked
by a man with a knife last Thurs
d ay w h ile w o rk in g in a
M cD onald's restaurant.
Anna S vidersky was less than
a w eek aw ay from her 18lh
birthday when she was stabbed
several times in the chest.
A witness followed the attacker
from the restaurant and police
arrested David Sullivan a short
Anna Svidersky
time later. Sullivan is a registered
sex offender and suffers from
paranoid schizophrenia.
Svidersky, a Fort Vancouver
<*”
The m urder appeared to be
random, said Vancouver Police
C hief Brian Martinek. “We have
no reason to believe the two
knew each other.”
Sullivan told police he took
the knife into the V ancouver
M cD onald’s with the “intent to
hurt a fem ale,” according to a
Clark County Sheriff's deputy’s
statem ent.
Officers said Sullivan “com
plains o f feeling suicidal" and
made “bizarre statem ents” and
during a court appearance Fri
day in Clark County Superior
C o u rt, he was sh aking and
David Sullivan
twitching.
High School senior, was clean
According to court records,
ing a table near the end o f her he also has a crim inal history
work shift when Sullivan at that includes kidnapping and
tacked her, police said.
unlawful imprisonment.
* *****
. .**
Distractions Cause Most Accidents
Risks worst
than once
thought
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(AP) — Those sleep-
deprived, multitasking driv
ers - clutching cell phones,
fiddling with their radios or
applying lipstick - appar
ently are involved in an
awful lot o f crashes.
Distracted drivers were
involved in nearly eight out
o f 10 collisions or near
crashes, says a new study
released by the govern
A man talks on his cell phone as he drives. Distractions
ment.
R esearchers review ed are the leading cause o f automobile accidents. (AP photo)
thousands o f hours of video
Researchers said the report
and data from sensor monitors governm ent’s highway safety
showed the first links between
linked to more than 2 0 0 drivers, agency.
and pinpointed examples of what
A d riv er’s reaching for a crash risks and a driver’s activi
keeps drivers from paying close moving object increased the risk ties, from eating and talking to
o f a crash or potential collision receiving e-mail.
attention to the road.
“ All o f these activ ities are
“We see people on the road by nine times, according to re
ways talking on the phone, searchers at the National High m uch m ore dangerous than we
checking their stocks, checking way Traffic Safety A dm inistra th o u g h t b e f o r e ,” s a id Dr.
scores, fussing with their MP3 tion and the Virginia Tech Trans C harlie K lauer, a senior re
search associate at the in sti
players, reading e-mails, all whi le portation Institute.
tute.
D ata from police reports
They
found
that
the
risk
o
f
a
driving 40, 5 0 ,6 0 , 70 miles per
had
estim
ated that d riv er in at
hourand sometimes even faster,” crash increases alm ost three
said Jacqueline Glassnian. act fold when a driver is dialing a tention was a factor in about
25 percent o f crashes.
ing a d m in is tr a to r o f th e cell phone.
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il,r J ln rtla n b (Observer Established 1970
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