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www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVI. Number 47
Wednesday • November 22. 2006
.Week in
The Review
Vanport
Square
Fills Up
Simpson ‘Tell Tale’ Destructs
The O. J . Si mpson book saga took
another twist T uesday when his
fo rm e r s is te r-in -la w , D enise
Brown, accused the media com ­
pany behind the project o f trying
to buy her family's silence for
"m illions o f dollars." The book,”
If I did it," was a sequel to the
crim inal and civil trials Simpson
faced over the 1995 murders of
his ex-w ife and her friend. See
story, page A2.
Business ‘condos’
model has appeal
AIDS Epidemic Growing
T heglobal HIV epidemic isgrow-
ing, leaving an estim ated 39.5
million people worldwide infected
with the deadly virus, the United
N ations said Tuesday. AIDS has
claim ed 2.9m illion lives thisyear
and another 4.3 million people
becam e infected with HIV, ac­
cording to the U.N. Spread o f the
disease was most noticeable in
East Asia, Eastern Europe and
Central Asia.
‘Kramer’ Apologizes
pho to by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
The Giving Season
were often victim s o f civil rights
abuses, but M ichael Richards
w ho played “ K ram er” in the
“Seinfeld” sitcom said his verbal
barrage during a stand-up rou­
tine was fueled by anger and not
bigotry. See story, page A7.
Corner Stone Community Church of God in Christ, 2216 N.E. Killingsworth St., and
Brothers on the Move celebrate the giving season with a Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner serv­
ing more than 500 people Saturday, including the homeless which were given free rides
to the church. Pictured from left are Larry Collins, Shantell Person, Sara Smith, Erin
Smith, Christy Montgomery and Gary Thomas.
by L ee P erlman
T he P orteano observer
Vanport Square is on its way to providing owner-
occupied life to Portland’s African A merican com ­
munity and other small businesses entrepreneurs.
Developers Ray Leary, Jcana W oolley and the
Portland D evelopm ent C om m ission broke ground
last month on what is Phase I of the project at 5225
N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., the renovation of
the old 22,000 square foot M arco M achine W orks
bui Iding, and creation o f an additional 16,000 square
feet o f retail space.
T he project is zeroing in on significant com m u­
nity goals, such as local services by local com pa­
nies and wealth creation for disadvantaged or
minority-owned firms.
So far, 17 businesses plan on setting up shop
inside the square, and most plan on ow ning their
own space. The list includes the ow ner o f Fife
Restaurant on Northeast Frem ont Street who plans
on opening a new seafood restaurant called Hard
Shell at the Vanport location.
Som e o f the other businesses are the Hom of
Africa, an Ethiopian restaurant; Living Color Beauty
Supply; Laura Carey Graphic Design; developer
Ben Kaiser; and Cascade Energy, a designer of
sustainable m anufacturing systems.
By ow ning the spaces inside Vanport Square,
the businesses collectively own the building as a
whole, in acom m ercial condom inium arrangement.
It is a model PDC hopes to replicate elsewhere.
The chance to own the space instead of renting
continued
on page A3
Marine Admits Killing
A third Marine has agreed to plead
guilty to lesser charges in the kill­
ing o f an unarmed Iraqi civilian, the
M arine’s attorney said Tuesday.
Lance CpI. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. was
part o f a squad o f seven Marines
and a sai lor who were charged wi th
kidnapping and murder and then
trying to cover it up.
Obama Wants Less Troops
c a lle d fo r a
"gradual and substantial" reduc­
tion o f U.S. forces from Iraq that
would begin in fourtosix months.
Imams Kicked Off Plane
M uslim leaders expressed out­
rage on T uesday after six imams
were rem oved from a com mercial
airline flight in Minnesota for what
they said was nothing more than
trying to say evening prayers.
See story, page A2.
Zoo Opens Horizons to Local Youth
Outreach responds
to equality hurdles
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
T he O regon Z oo has c o u n tless p ro ­
gram s p rom oting anim al d iv e rsity , but
w hen it com es to hiring m in o rity sta ff and
attractin g them as v isito rs, d ire c to r T ony
V ecchio has learned it’s e a sie r said than
do n e.
A lack o f m inority rep resen tatio n is
shared by zoos n atio n w id e, but it recently
hit hard at hom e w hen the O regon Z oo
attracted attention for an em p lo y ee w ho
posed next to the zoo train w ith c o n fe d e r­
ate flags, and an o th er arriv ed on his first
day sp o rtin g a b u m p er stick e r that d e ­
scrib ed the w hite race as E a rth ’s m ost
en d an g ered species.
Both em p lo y ees ap o lo g ized , but the
u n re la te d e v e n ts ca u se d c o n tro v e rs y .
W hile V ecchio says the in cid en ts w ere
not intended to be o ffen siv e, he adm its
that th e re is a larg er pro b lem w ith sh o rt­
com in g s in zoo sta ff d iv e rsity .
“ W e h av e o n e A fric a n A m e ric a n
zo o k eep er and w e ’ve attem p ted to hire
m ore through ads in m in o rity p apers but
it’s been to u g h ,” he said . “ W e ’ve also
tried through a v o lu n teer p ro g ram , but
the co o rd in a to r is fru strated becau se they
are not able to attract v o lu n te ers."
T he A ssociation o f Z o o s and A q u ari­
um s has recognized that zoos n atio n w id e
do not have d iverse w o rk fo rces w ith the
e x c e p tio n , V e c c h io sa y s, o f zo o s in
B row nsville, T ex as and D etro it.
“T h ere a re n 't a lot o f g o o d m o d els, and
th is is recognized as an in d u stry -w id e
p ro b lem .” he said.
T he zoo industry began tak in g its ow n
steps to ad dress d iv e rsity in 1999, by
creating the D iversity Special C om m ittee,
a g ro u p o f 10 zoo and aq u a riu m em ploy-
Sarah Caney (left) and Anastasia Maze are employed as student interns for the Oregon Zoo 's Animal Presenters program,
educating visitors at the nocturnal animals petting zoo at the World Forestry Center.
pho ro s by
M ark
W ashing ! on /T iie
P ortland O bserver
Fred Lee takes part in
an Oregon Zoo
program that brings
an ethnically diverse
group o f youth
together to make
animal presentations
to the public and
learn about career
opportunities.
ces from acro ss the nation. T he gro u p
add resses cu ltu re, gen d er, eth n icity and
religion, but co m m ittee m em ber an d O r­
egon Z oo cu ra to r G il G o m ez said it has
been a ch allen g e to ad v an ce racial d iv e r­
sity.
The com m ittee m eets tw ice a year, once
at a regional co n fe re n ce and then ag ain at
the national co n feren ce. D uring the rest
o f the year co m m ittee m em bers atten d
co lleg e recru itm en t fairs and m in o rity -
specific p ro g ram s in ag ricu ltu re.
O ne o f th e g ro u p ’s m ore c o n c re te
m oves, an in te rn sh ip p ro g ram w ith h is ­
torical black co lleg es, fell apart w h en its
cham pion D arrell M cF ad d en , d iv e rsity
com m ittee m em ber and form er D etroit Z oo
continued
on page A3