D ecem ber 20, 2 0 0 6
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Autistic Boy Tasered
A classic soul
and rhythm and
blues singer/
songwriter, Liv
Warfield says
she kept her
voice a secret for
2 0 years, but the
Portland artist is
now getting
national expo
sure with a new
album and profile
on the Black
Entertainment
Network cable
jazz channel.
Police accused
of brutality
A local pastor is accusing P ortland police
o f brutality by firing four tasers at her great
grandson w ho is diagnosed w ith autism .
Sir. J. M illage. 15, the A frican-A m erican
great-grandson o f Pastor M ary O verstreet-
Sm ith, was determ ined a threat by police
o fficers when he was spotted w andering
around in the m iddle o f the night Dec. 5.
barefoot and shirtless.
O verstreet-S m ith said because o f his au
tism . M illage has a serious m ental disability.
He can hardly talk and has the m ind o f a 2-
year-old.
O fficer A ndrew G riggs said it was the “large
tan item ." possibly a large piece o f m etal, that
M illage w as holding, and his "fixed gaze" that
led him to fire the taser.
W hen he dropped to the ground after the
first taser hit his body and started scream ing,
police said they interpreted his cries as anger
rather than pain. W hen M illage refused to roll
onto his stom ach, they fired again.
B affled by his ability to take the shots, the
officer kept shooting - assum ing the boy was
"very high on drugs or possessed an extrem ely
high pain to lerance."
A backup officer, M ichael C hapm an then
struck him six tim es with his baton on his right
leg and right arm , police said.
M illage w as taken to A dventist M edical C en
ter w here he was released.
i - iioto bv S ean
O ’ C onnor /
T he : P ortland
O bserver
Liv Warfield’s
Straight Up Soul
continued
from Front
at all. My good friend Todd at the
Ambassador used to dress me up in
all sorts of characters, and that gave
me confidence to own my voice. For
a longtime I knew I could sing, but I
couldn’t show it.”
From one teacherto the next
It was during her karaoke days
Warlleldcameintocontact with Linda
Hombuckle, a homegrown Portland
blues and soul singer/songwriter.
Now likeafamily member, Warfield
first becam e acquainted with
Hombuckle from her seat in the back
of the Candlelight Cafe and Bar.
“ She taught me p resen ce,”
Warfield said. "How to use my soul,
how not to be afraid to be vulnerable
on stage."
For Warfield to embrace success
with style and ease, it took many
puzzle pieces falling into place.
But those pieces never rain from
the sky atop silver platters, and
Warfield doesn't advance too far in
her story before recalling tribula
tions far beyond overcoming a fear
of stage presence.
“Linda encouraged me to do my
own thing and put myself out there,"
she said. “And it's hard, especially
in a town of rock.”
Hombuckle is a part of the tight
knit soul community her young
protégé sees in an older Portland
generation. Their music, nurtured by
artists like Andy Stokes and the cult
lavorite band Pleasure, is something
she wants to see from today's R&B
musicians.
"It would be nice foryoung people
in Portland to get together,” she
said. "I sought out the guys in my
band. I think R& B soul singers should
do that instead of waiting for them to
come to you.”
Warfield's performance and tele
vision taping presented an opportu
nity for a bright future beyond Or
egon. It 2(X)7 brings the momentum
she and the hand have worked hard
to achieve, aspiring R&B singers
may find in her the inspiration to
jumpstart a new Portland soul scene.
‘Tis the Seasonfor Depression
person’s holiday blues, and as
the New Year comes and passes
many people find it difficult to
rockets. January is the month that stop self-m edicating which can
has the highest successful and at lead to suicidal thoughts and in
tempted suicide rates in the nation. tense depression.
"We see the crisis hotlines
It's common for people to not
peak massively right afterthe New realize that they are suffering from
Y ear’s," says Ozer.
holiday d epression sym ptom s
Harris S. M atarazzo is a self- and struggle to decide if it's sim
em ployed local attorney that spe ply the holiday blues or if they art-
cializes in mental health issues. suffering from a dangerous mood
He agrees that no, only do finan change.
cial restraints, over-com m ercial
M atarazzo runs into many
ization, personal loss and other people who have mood shifts
v ariab les increase d epression during the w inter months. "If
sym ptom s at this time o f year, but someone is feeling down but it is
it som eone is prone to depres not affecting their sleep, work or
sion the holidays can significantly general day to day life then it's
magnify the effect.
probably not that severe. How
“ M any people think that if ever, if they think som ething is
som eone has d ep ressio n that seriously wrong then they should
they can just snap out o f it and take action,” he says.
there is a huge stigma attached to
People should attem pt to rec
s u f f e r in g
from
i t ,” sa y s ognize the warning signs of se
M atarazzo, “Some o f my clients vere depression.
would ratheradm it to having HIV
"When patients describe how
then admit that they suffer from they are feeling they usually
d e p re ssio n .”
choose really vague or general
A lcohol, narcotics and exces words toexpress their emotions,"
sive eating also greatly contrib says Ozer. "People mostly choose
ute to the common symptoms of to use words like sadness, lone
depression sufferers.
liness, sleeplessness, exhaustion
“ A dding a d epressant or a and lack o f appetite."
stim ulant into a depressive equa
The most common symptoms
tion only makes the symptoms of depression are energy loss,
increase," says M atarazzo, “And sleeplessness, lack o f appetite
o v ereatin g m akes people d e and a general feeling o f unhappi
pressed and generally feel physi ness.
cally terrible as w ell.”
He says one in five people will
Ironically, the most common suffer from major depression at
resolution for New Y ear's is to leas, once in their life. Oregon
lose weight, while resolutions to and the Pacific Northwest have a
stop drinking ordiscontinue drug higher depression rate than other
use are among the top 10.
parts of the country. Some sus
"It's not as easy to keep reso pect it's due to the large amount
lutions as it is to say you'll keep of darkness and rain during the
them ," says Ozer, "I, helps if winter months.
people allow them selves to ac
There are warning signs for
cept the fact that they may no, be people that are more susceptible
able to achieve goals that they to dangerous depression such as
may have planned on."
those that may be isolated, have
O zer says,ha, excessive drink no family, have suffered from a
ing and eating often mask a traumatic event or have mental
continued
from Front
health problems.
O zer recommends to people
who think they may be suffering
from depression to consult a doc
tor whoean evaluate and treat the
sy m ptom s. E m ergency c risis
hotlines are also available for
people who need immediate help.
Crisis counselors make a plan
lor the callers that can involve an
immediate intervention or intro
duction o f available services that
offer help.
Multnomah County crisis line
is 503-988-4888 and the W ash
ington County crisis line is 503-
291-91 I I. Both are available 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
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