Top Prep Players *n Nation to Battle Rose City Showcase Friday C l L itp / *. 4 © n rtla n b ©bsertier ‘City of Roses’ Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVI. Number 24 Wednesday • June 14. 2006 TLWeek in The Review Pleas Bush Sneaks Into Iraq Support President Bush assured Iraqis in a surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday that the United States stands with them and their new government. “It’s in our interest that Iraq succeed," he said. After a talk to the U.S. troops in the heavily fortified Green Zone, Bush flew by helicopter back to Air Force One under the cover of darkness. After School Program Trio on county panel propose cuts Congress Antes Up for Wars The House passed a $94.5 billion bill Tuesday to pay for continu ing U.S. military operations, hur­ ricane relief, bird flu preparations and border security at home. The bill contains $66 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan bringing the cost of the three- year-old war in Iraq to about $320 billion. Cleveland's Grace Crowned Grace Neal of Cleveland High S chool w as crowned Rose Festival Queen at M em o rial Coliseum Sat­ urday morning, just before the start of the Grand Floral Parade. The 18-year-old stu dent athlete is on her way to a career in journalism. Her hobbies include writing and running. <3* Rove Won’t Get Charged by M ichael L eighton T he P ortland O bserv er III I photo bv The Rose Garden Arena, the house that billionaire and Portland Trail Blazer owner Paul Allen built and then lost in bank­ ruptcy, is up for sale as part o f a plan to sell the NBA franchise. Would You Buy This Franchise? Blazer, arena for sale with buyers beware by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won’t be charged with any crimes in the investigation into the leak o f a CIA officer’s identity, his lawyer said Tuesday. The attor­ ney said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday. Rove is still expected to testify as a wit­ ness in the criminal indictment again st Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Coffee Counteracts Alcohol Coffee may counteract alcohol's poisonous effects on the liver and help prevent cirrhosis, research­ ers say. In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent. Four cups per day reduced the risk by 80 percent. Beer Fights Prostate Cancer Researchers from Oregon State University found that an ingredi­ ent in beer seems to help prevent prostate cancer, at least in lab ex­ periments. The trouble is you’d theoretically have todrink about 17 beers a day for any potential ben- • efit. And no one’s advising that. I s §* £ I Q. 0 3 o ¿ CZ) c/) O' C X ¿ O * £ h S' ~'i ri 3 _ ti) I M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver The Portland Trail Blazers and Rose Garden Arena are officially for sale - but with falling revenues, a dw indling fan base and players who continue to exer­ cise poor off-the-court behavior, buyer beware. Call it a multi-mil lion dollar two-for-one - ow ner Paul Allen officially put the Na­ tional Basketball A ssociation team on the market last week, along with the mammoth Rose Garden with its attractive luxury suites and club seating. Allen has lost money with the Blazers and their home court since he declared the Rose Garden bankrupt in 2004, handing it over to bondholders. Last February, he initiated a series of discussions with city, county and state officials, vaguely refer­ encing a possible public and private part­ nership to save the franchise. The “W e’d love to help but we can ’t” response came as no surprise. After years of lack­ luster performance, the Blaz­ ers wrapped up the 2005-2006 season with a 21-61 record, one o f the worst in the NBA. The losing streak, paired with players’ rap sheets, has caused these once loved sons o f Portland to free-fall even further from the public’s fa­ vor. Since their future has fallen into tumult, scores of basketball fans have reacted Zach Randolph, one o f the blazer's biggest stars to the shakeup by rolling their and most recent player to hurt his reputation for eyes in exasperation, rather off-the-court behavior. than holding their breath in Bu, the city w asn’t am biguous in their anticipation. response: The billionaire, who estim ates The big questions now: Who will buy a $100 million loss over the next three continued on page A6 seasons, w on't get any public assistance. Hundreds o f people served by an after school program for low income and minority children have rallied be­ fore the Multnomah County C om m is­ sion and sent em ails to individual com m issioners after a proposed 50 percent cut to the Schools Uniting N eighborhoods program. SUN schools provide critical pre­ ventive services to thousands o f low- income people in our com m unity and has trem endous support from schools, parents and community members, said Tony Hobson Sr., a local African- American leader and founder o f Self Enhancem ent, Inc. “These reductions, if passed would have a very serious impact on SE1 ser­ vices,” Hobson said. SE1 is a high-achieving academic in­ stitute of learning and social progress for mostly minority children in north and northeast Portland. But Hopson said 1,000 low-incom e children could be affected by the cuts across the county. He said the re­ duced services could include outreach se rv ic e s from north P o rtla n d to Gresham and cuts at Gresham High School, Ockley Green and Tubman Middle schools in north and northeast Portland. The proposed cuts are not part of a public budget process being led by Com­ mission Chair Diane Linn, bu, were made public las, week in a press release by the three commissioners who have collec­ tively and repeatedly opposed Linn on other issues. C om m issioners Lisa Naito, Maria Rojode Steffey and Serena Cruz Walsh called the cuts adm inistrative to create a “leaner and m eaner” SUN program that would put emphasis on after school “com ponents that are proven to meet the needs o f children." The trio, which has the m ajority on continued on page A3 Listening Sessions Acknowledge Profiling Police, activists and residents share testimonials by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserv er A listening session on racial profiling didn’t end with a stalemate, but rather in a rare state: Local residents and police offic­ ers didn't engage in heated debate, and both groups got a honest explanation of why people do the things they do. The emotional two-hour meeting June 8, par, of a five part-series organized by the advocacy group Oregon Action and led by Open Meadows Middle School students, managed to break through the surface of accusations, frustration and denial. A group of about 50 gathered a, the north Portland school to share their personal experiences. Collectively, the various accounts showed that for many people of color, police en­ counters are often unjust and unnecessary. Conversely, the session allowed police of­ ficers to explain how policy, administration and instinct influence their actions. O ne sp eak er, M ichael C huol o f Vancouver, said that while walking near his school in downtown Portland one day, po­ lice stopped him because he fit the descrip­ tion of another man. The officers confis­ cated all of his U.S. identification expect his Green Card. photo by I saiah B o , ie / T he P ortland O bserver Police officers and residents share their own often battling perceptions of racial profiling, during a community listening session held June 8 at Open Meadows Middle School. To this day he doesn't have the ID, he said. Acting Police Rosie Sizer acknowledged that police do make mistakes, including her. Sizertold her own story of racial profiling: a man fit a certain description, but after detaining and interrogating him and finding a clean record, he was released. Afterward, Sizer, who said she was surprised he’d never been arrested, thought to herself ‘you can’t judge a b