JJnrtlanh © bserncr______
Page AH
October 4. 2006
SWASTIKAS
Trail Hate
nity members have stepped forw ard
to offer words o f encouragement
T his isn't the first time thechurch and donations, including the man
has been targeted. On Easter Sun ager of Longview's Sherwin-W ill
iams. Jerry Johnson, w ho attended
day 2005 the House of Prayer dis
eovered their lawn littered w ith plas the House of Prayer 2( ) years ago and
tic eggs containing racist m es donated paint for thechurch'sfacelift.
House o f Prayer faces Victoria
sa g es. T h re e m onths ago, the
church had four sw astikas painted Freeman Park, named for a black
on their door and a few weeks ago civil rights pioneer w ho fought to
it was burglarized o f their musical integrate L ongview ’s schools. A
colorful sign at the corner o f the
equipment.
“Every other month something park is blotted with white paint
has been happening," Janice Brad where swastikas were tagged. On
ley said. "It started with beer cans the opposite side, in the middle ol
the basketball court, a large spray
thrown at the church."
Bradley and her husband moved painted swastika is now a hop
to Longview from Olympia Iburand scotch square.
“I told the city to turn it into a
a h alf years ago to help Bishop
Jackson, who is 95. She said she hopscotch for my girls." said Pas
was aw are there are skinheads liv tor Bradley, w ho d id n 't need to
ing in Longview, although she's explain to his daughters what the
sw astika stood for.
not certain she has seen any.
"This is the kind of graffiti even
Detective Sgt. Jim Dufcha of the
Longview Police Department said kids d on’t like," he said.
photo hv M ark W ashington /T he P orit ani » O bserver
The vandals' spray paint co n
the city 's had few com plaints of
Jesse Neal puts final touches of new paint on the House of Prayer's windowsills. Racist graffiti forced the church to get a facelift,
tinued down the street where the
racist vandalism.
“ It’sc ro p p e d u p o n eo rtw o o th er Market Place grocery recently re he said. Longview Sherwin-Williams donated the paint.
tim es in the past three or four years, opened. Bradley said residents
Longview police had no solid names and w e'v e talked to a 16- dents. but will only get involved if dents are interested in holding a
but we d on’t have a problem ." he asked the market to hire more people
evidence to work from as o f T ues year-old boy that adm its to graffiti there is evidence o f federal civil town meeting and Bradley said the
o f color, and they did.
said.
rights violations or dom estic ter church would like to form a neigh
from four m onths ago," he said.
"They marked everyw here our day, according to Dufcha.
The city has worked swiftly to
The FBI is m onitoring the inci rorism allegations. Meanwhile, resi borhood watch group.
"W e’re trying to run down a few
remove all the graffiti, and com m u kids go”, Bradley noted.
continued
from Front
IHBB ■ I
A Different Kind of Gentrification
continued
Affordable condominiums
are built in a revitalized
Lertts Neighborhood. The
housing along with emerg
ing businesses is making
the southeast Portland
neighborhood attractive to
a diverse population from
ethnic Russians to African
Americans.
piloro by M ark W ashington /
T he P orit vnd O bserver
from Front
nian bakery/restaurant/night club w ill bring
around 60 jo b s to the area. PDC p ro v id ed
A rarat a sto refro n t grant, en ab lin g the
boom ing com p an y to b etter d istrib u te its
bread acro ss several w estern states and
host a n ig h tlife crow d alread y ce n tered in
the east P o rtland area.
“People in Lents have been begging for
new restaurant," M iller Dowell said.
T he eth n ic d iv ersity o f L ents is far from
lim ited to resid en ts o f E astern E uropean
d ecen t, w ith a ren aissan ce that has n u r
tu red eth n ic g ro u p s th ro u g h p ro g ram s
geared, but not restricted to, m inority c o m
m unities. T his includes A sian A m erican,
Hispanic, N ative A m erican, A frican A m eri
can and L atino h o m e-b u y in g fairs held in
or around Lents.
It was a busy and diverse sum m er in the
neighborhood, with the Lents C om m unity
M arket hosting a series o f three multicultural
festivals featuring food, music and dance.
The cultural festival was meant to engage all
segm ents o f the Lents com m unity and foster
cultural interaction.
The dram atic changes in Lents' cultural
population may best be illustrated through
P ortland's first ever international farm er's
market, w here nearly half o f the participating
farmers were immigrants.
Established by the non-profit Lents F<x>d
G roup next to Crossroads Plaza at Southeast
92nd Avenue and Foster Road, the sum m er
market recently w rapped up its first season,
but may become a w eekly event next year, as
m ore imm igrant vendors participate.
HOT. SWEATY.
REWARDING.
They don't do it for the money. Thejrdon't do it for the
fame. It is a hard job. It's dirty and sweaty and the
hours are crazy. But they (jet to make a difference.
Tin , com« into people's lives when something has
gone wrong and they do as much as they can to make
g hotter. On a day. to day basis they-have no idea what
kinds of situations will arise, what they'll he called
to handle.
The fire fighters of Redmond's Station H 1 are constantly
training lor emergencies they hope will never happen.
A state of the art training facility built with Lottery
profits helps them do it. The 3-S\tory, smoke proof,
water proof, brick and concrete tower allows central
Oregon fire fighters to practice just about every kind
of high risk maneuver they can imagine. Because when
stakes are high when people's lives are on the line
you don't want to leave anything to chance.
Support for I he services that help keep Oregonians safe
is just one of the ways Oregon wins when Oregonians
play. Lottery profits also go to economic development,
education and watershed enhancement across the state.
itd o e s c jo o d th in g s .o rg
f c
OREGON
LOTTI RY
It does good things
I
I