Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2007)
50£ S pecial P • * years,, •^community service |i C U overage V V e id g C |SSUe Issue Black .. UnpredictableTour Jamie roxx Foxx J amie at at me the Rose Garden ~ See Arts & Entertainment, Section C w| T aaortUttit © h m m n t Roses R/ ’ ‘City of T itv Established in 107/1 1970 ycpc .......... Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVII, Number 8 _____ _ wvvw.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • February 21. 2007 .W e e k ¡n The Review Church Fire a Mystery T here’s still no cause found for a Feb. 5 fire that destroyed M orning Star M issionary Baptist Church in northeast Portland. Bureau o f A l cohol T obacco and Firearm s agent Colene Dom enche said Tuesday that she was not sure when results from the Oregon State Pol ice Crime Lab will be known. Tobacco Award Lost The U.S. Suprem e Court Tuesday threw out a $79.5 m illion punitive dam ages aw ard to a sm oker’s w id o w , an A fric a n -A m e ric a n woman from Portland. T he ruling was a victory for Philip Morris. See story, page A2. Britney Enters Rehab Britney Spears e n te re d reh ab T uesday after a bizarre weekend th a t in c lu d e d s h a v in g her head and g et ting a new tat to o . S p e a r s ’ m a n a g e r, L arry Rudolph, told People m agazine’s W eb site that Spears, 25, had vol untarily checked herself into an undisclosed treatm ent facility. Rescued from Mt. Hood Thanks to a high-tech electronic gadget and a big w arm dog named V elvet, three clim bers rescued M onday after a harrow ing fall and a night in the w ind and cold high on M ount Hood are expected to be fine. Hardaway Apologizes F o rm e r N B A A ll-S ta r T im H ard aw a y a p o lo g iz e d again S unday for his anti-gay r e m a rk s , a c k n o w le d g in g he made a major mistake by saying “ I hate gay people” when asked how he would react to having a gay teamm ate. See story, page B6. West Wins All-Star Game Kobe Bryant and the W est high rollers lit up the Vegas Strip with their ow n v ersio n o f Showtim e, rom ping past LeBron Jam es and the East 153- 132 in the NBA All-Star game Sun day. See sto ry , page B6. Chicken Joins Recall List The drum roll for tainted f<xxl con tinued M onday with a nationw ide recall o f O scar M ayer chicken breast strips for bacterial contam i nation. The chicken product joins recal Is in recent days for fresh and selected jars o f organic baby food, can talo u p e and peanut butter. Check the website fda.gov for daily updates. Eg 2 S o ih O' O' "2 c 3 -€L » .2? > & i C S 3 5 .2 —> tu photo m S ean O ’C onnor /T he P orti ani ) O bserver Jenny Diaz and her father Luis Sr. hold a banner in a rally to reunite their family during a demonstration at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Diaz family was split apart last fall when Luis' wife and their two children were deported back to their native Guatemala. Family Splitby Deportation Immigration issue brings Portland lawmaker to table bv S arah B i . ount T he P ortland O bserver A fam ily split apart by deportation has caught the attention o f State Sen. Avel G ordly, a local African A m erican law m aker w ho has sponsored tw o resolutions to keep American children from becom ing separated from their non-citizen parents. The im m igration issue has dram atically affected the life o f 12-year-okl Jenny Diaz 20. w ere escorted back to a country they fled the youngest chi Id of a family who settled in out o f fear, following death threats Luis Sr. the Portland area after fleeing G uatem ala in received after he helped form a w orkplace the early 1990s. union. W hen Luis arrived in the U. S. without docum ents in 1991 he im m edi Born and raised in Beaverton, Jenny is the only U.S. citizen in ately applied for political asylum, her family o f five that has thrived but it took 15 years for his appli in their suburban com m unity. cation to be considered. It was J e n n y w a s fo rc e d to say denied ju st over a year ago. goodbye to her mother, brother Last May, a Portland imm igra and sister in O ctober, after a long tion ju d g e denied another asy battle for citizenship meant d e lum claim because too much t i me portation back to G uatem ala. h a d p a s s e d an d to o m any Her m other Irma. 40, brother changes had occurred in Guate- Luis Jr„ 2 Land hersister Monica, Sen. Avel Gordly malasince 1991. Hiscurrentclaim Market Removes Tobacco Ads Example set for other stores African American health advo cates found troubling results re garding tobacco advertising when a local survey of 100 stores revealed an average of nearly 17 cigarette and other tobacco-related ads per store. The African American Tobacco P rev en tio n and E ducation Network’s Youth Coalition observed more than 1,671 advertisements, with almost two-thirds placed at children’s eye level. Now the coalition is encouraging retailers to remove such ads. On Friday, C harles Bedford, owner of Going Street Market, 4601 N. Williams Ave., lent his efforts to the campaign. He was joined by several community activists, includ ing JoAnn Bowman, associate di rector of Oregon Action: nurse prac titioner Mariah Taylor; and Darryl! LC Moch. executive director of Brother to Brother; to remove all tobacco ads in his neighborhtMxl market. Coalition leaders also spoke about tobacco's impact on the African- A m erican co m m unity and advertising’s powerful effect on compelling children to start smok ing. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Most people who smoke begin Going Street Market Owner Charles Bedford sets an example for the advocacy of before age 18; and 20 kids in Or African American health by taking down tobacco ads at his neighborhood store at egon start smoking every single day. 4601 N. Williams Ave. requests perm anent residence based on the length o f tim e he had been in this country, and the hardship his daughter would face if he were deported. U.S. Rep. David Wu. D-Ore. lost his ap peal for a federal law that would have autho rized the family to remain together w hile Luis litigated his appeal. Still. Jenny and her father have not given up hope, and support ers recently form ed the ad-hoc Jenny Diaz Reunite My Fam ily Foundation. W ith help from Sen. G ordly their case stands a better chance o f raising its profile statewide. continued on page A8 Advocates Tackle Youth Violence Lack of funding doesn't stop effort by S arah B u m nt T he P ortland O bserver Late last sum m er a heated panic filled the room o f a G ang Violence Task Force meeting, as north and northeast Portland parents and com m unity m em bers shared their frustra tions concerning youth violence in the wake o f lost anti-gang resources and cuts to youth advocacy program s. In the follow ing m onths a group o f indi viduals, led by youth m entor Roy Pittm an, gathered to respond to a dem and for greater com m unity responsibility when it com es to young people. W ithout much attention and with no funding they form ed a task force to address youth - w ayw ard and otherw ise - through advocacy and proactive attention. Pittman, a retired w restling coach who has worked and volunteered at Peninsula Park for 3 0 years, created a sim ilar program in the 1990s with anti-gang advocate John C'anda. w ho now w orks for M ayor Tom Potter. The tw o have seen their share o f co m m u nity talks that go now here, and realized po lice participation was necessary to encour age “com m unity policing." So Pittman in vited Portland officers Rod Beard Sr. and Asst. C hief Lynnae Berg to the table. “ Youth and police have alw ays been at odds." Pittm an said, "and this is a great way tor kids to look at police in a positive w ay." continued on page A3