50j¿ 36 yccivs O c f Graduating Actors Present Showcase •com m unity servit See Focus, page B3, Inside gT ïta rila n h ©írgeruer R ncpc* ‘City n of f Roses’ ____i Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVI, Number 27 TLWeek ¡n The Review New York Explosive Divorce The gas-triggered explosion that flattened a $9 million. New York townhouse on Monday followed hateful divorce-related messages apparently from its owner. Dr. Nicholas Bartha,66. Bartha was in critical condition with sfecond- and third-degree burns Tuesday, and investigators are looking into the possibility of his suicide at­ tempt, denying his estranged wife any claim to the buidling. Commodores Singer Dies Milan B. Williams, an original member of the Commodores, died Tuesday, July 11 at 58, after a long battle with cancer. Prior tojoining The Commodores, Milan played in a rivaling band cal led The Jays. When The Jays disbanded, Milan joined the Commodores. He left the Commodores in 1989, alleg­ edly after refusing to perform with them in South Africa. See inside, page A 6. More Charges in Iraqi Murder Four m ore U.S. soldiers have been charged with rape and murder and a fifth with der­ eliction of duty, for the deaths of an Iraqi woman and her three rela­ tives, last M onth. E x-soldier Steven D. Green was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder. See story, page A2. Now Advocating Healthy People terminology: “Health and health care are not synonym ous,” K itzhaber says. “What we really want are healthy people.” by S arah B lount He named the Archimedes Move­ T he P ortland O bserver ment after a Greek mathematician, Though many think of it as a basic Imagine an Oregon where every resi­ famed for saying“Give me a lever human right, healthcare has become one dent has health care, regardless o f age or and a place to stand, and 1 can move of the world's largest and fastest-grow­ income. To conjure up such a vision, you the earth.” ing industries. Since the advent of mod­ must first push out images of squabbling Kitzhaber and the ancient Greek em medicine, the simplicity of health has politicians and candidates with earnest share lofty goals, but to understand grown complicted, and expensive: promises. You have to move past the why the former governor and emer­ 1800s - Americans received health legacy of crippled state and federal health gency room doctor believes he can care in their homes from midwives, phy- care structures, and past the status quo help the estimated 613,(XM) (about j sicians, homeopaths, and herbalists, pay­ system favoring the wealthy and the “de­ one in six) uninsured Oregonians, ing out of pocket until the last quarter of serving” poor. look back to 1989. the century. As science and technology This is precisely what formerGov. John That was the year Kitzhaber blossomed, the number of hospitals grew Kitzhaber has in mind, and to make the served as president of the State and a modern medical education system v isio n re a lity , h e ’s lau n ch ed the Senate, and Oregon made national was born. The demand for health care “Archimedes Movement.” The statewide headlines by passing Senate Bill 27. rose, as did the demand for increased grass roots organization is run by thou­ Refusing to accept existing federal standards for physicians and hospitals. sands o f volunteers, aiming to drive the Medicaid system, Oregon rewrote 1930-1940 Blue Cross becomes the universal health care debate past the and enacted several provisions of nation's first pre-paid health insurance, gridlock o f partisan politics. Medicaid law, extending coverage followed by Blue Shield, a physician- John Kitzhaber has launched the ‘Archimedes O f course, any meaningful change must to Oregonians below the federal created plan. Private health insurance is Movement' to drive a universal health care come from lawmakers, but Kitzhaber’s be­ poverty level. on its way to becoming well established. initiative. lief is that effective change comes from The law, having required federal 1960s Federal health insurance pro­ everyday people, not politicians. will focus initially on health care reform. waivers, forced Congress to examine their grams Medicare and Medicaid are cre­ Kitzhaber organized this broad vision Without spending any extra monies, he current program. It gained national exposure ated. Medicare covers individuals age 65 not as a detailed plan, but in response to suggests instead reallocating existing pub­ when Gov. Bill Clinton expressed support and over, or who meet other special crite­ agrowing population tired of the promises lic healthcare funds, (about $6.3 billion) and during the first 1992 presidential debate. ria. Medicaid provides health insurance found in transactional politics (vote for me redirect the spending to reflect a more sus­ President George H.W. Bush rejected the for individuals and families with low in­ and I’ll lower your taxes). tainable and effective system. Oregon Health Plan in 1992, but incoming comes and resources. Deciding not to seek a another term as The ground-up approach is unprec­ President Clinton passed it in 1993. State 1993-1994 - President Bill Clinton governor, he launched the direct-action e d en ted and stra ig h tfo rw a rd , and continued on page A6 continued on page A 6 Archimedes Movement in January - which Kitzhaber’s vision abandons even basic Ex-go vemor backs healthcare reform H is to r y o f H e a lth C a r e A Knott Street Boxing Champ Remembered After two years in Portland, Trail Blazer Sebastian T elfair was traded to the Boston Celtics. He says he is sorry to leave Port­ land behind, but the Blazers are hopeful that second-year player J a r r e tt Ja c k w ill d e v e lo p , making Telfair the choice for the trade. Chappelle “Lost Episodes” Surface Fans of Dave Chappel le have been in withdrawal since the comedian abruptly left his landmark series in April 2005. Now Comedy Cen­ tral has cobbled together three e p iso d es b ased on m aterial Chappelle recorded before his infam ous departure. C o-stars Donnell Rawlings and Charlie Murphy host "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes," premiering this week onComedyCentral. See story, page B3. Eight bombs hit Bombay, India's commuter raiI network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing at least 147 people and wounding more than 400 in what authori­ ties called a w ell-coordinated terrorist attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibil­ ity in the bombings. Restoration is coming for the historic and crumbling Billy Webb Elk's Lodge, a 1921 structure that once served as a YWCA for black residents. Preserving a Relic from the Past n u u * & £? O S’ 8 o is XI Z J r~~ Cs c¿ <0 c c D on £ < o on on 3 < U 5 5 LU & 5 Halim Rahsaan, a Portland legend in and out of the ring, died Friday, July 7 at the age of 63. Halim Rahsaan was a man who fought many battles. In the ring, the man who fought under the name Bill Cross was a boxing champion. In Portland, where he made his lifelong home, he was achampion forchange in the black community. Rahsaan’s final battle began when he suffered a stroke on July 3, ending when he passed away four days later on Friday. Rahsaan leaves his wife Frances and a large family, from his nine children to three great grandchildren. Rahsaan also leaves many friends and an entire community, young and old, who will remember his legacy. When his children were young, Rahsaan was already a prominent figure in Port­ land. As a member of several coalitions, ad­ visory committees and fronts, Rahsaan helped organize and provoke ,k. i N change in the face of > WW '¿¿fe- blatant and institutional racism. In the 1970s he converted to the Mus­ lim faith, changing his and his family' s name to Rahsaan. which means “the light.” He was a true leader Halim Rahsaan and a credit to Portland. One of his sons, Anthony, remembers seeing his father often in public and on television, but only halfway under­ standing what he stood for. When Anthony was a high school student, Rahsaan had successfully challenged Port­ land Public Schools, introducing black studies into the curriculum. “W e’re very proud," said his daughter Pamela Rahsaan- Miles, “but when we were young we took for granted that he touched a lot o f people.” Up until his final days, Rahsaan continued to touch the lives of many people. His life work in youth advocacy was extensive, and he most recently served as a drug and alcohol counselor at LifeWorks Northwest at the Northeast 33rd Avenue location. But perhaps it is Rahsaan's legacy as an amateur cham ­ pion, fighting as the local legend Bill Cross, which will linger in the minds of many Oregonians. Rahsaan put just as much heart into the ring as he had in the community. His reputation at the historic Knott Street Gym (now the Matt Dishman Community Center) earned him and his team the 1961 Na­ tional Championship, and in 1964 Rahsaan was a member of the 1964 United States Boxing Team Trials. In November 2001, the Knott Street Boxing Team was inducted into the Multi C ulture Sports Hall o f Fame, and most recently, in O ctober 2005, Rahsaan and the team lu. Series of Blasts in Bombay Ç i O rn 00 © Wednesday • |uly 12, 2006 for Telfair Unhappy about Trade u