50£
years
r n m m u n ifv s e rvi
‘City of Roses’
Special
Coverage
Issue
Black
Hollywood Bound
A send off party fo r
Miss Oregon USA
Sharitha McKenzie
Month
See story, page A 8
3Jox*tl;tnò Observer
070
Established in 1 1970
Volume XXXVII. Number 9
.........
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • Februaiy 28, 2007
mmhnm
.Week ¡n
Thc Review
I
Dream
Turns
t0 Dust
Clyde a Dance Star
Popular former
Portland Trail
BlazerstarClyde
Drexlerwillbein
the new cast of
the te le v isio n
series “Dancing
With the Stars” when it returns for
its fourth television season on
March 19,h. Drexler, 44, a forward
and a Hall of Famer, played for
Portland from 19 84-1992 and later
played for Houston.
John Adams
destruction ends
amazing chapter
Homelessness Down
T he C ity o f P o rtla n d and
Multnomah County announced
Tuesday that dramatic progress is
being made on the number of people
who sleep on Portland’s streets, a
70 percent reduction in the num­
ber of chronically homeless people
who were living out doors two
years ago.
Farrakhan's Farewell
Nation of Islam
le a d e r
L o u is
F a rrak h an w as
greeted by cheers
and chants from
tens of thousands
as he returned to
the public eye just long enough to
say he would be leaving it soon.
Farrakhan. who ceded leadership
duties last year because of illness,
spoke for nearly two hours Sun­
day. See story, page A2.
Sharpton Wants DNA Test
The Rev. A1
S h a rp to n
said he wants
a DNA test to
d e te rm in e
whether he is
re la te d
to
former segregationist Sen. Strom
T hurm ond through his g reat­
grandfather, a slave owned by an
ancestor of the late senator. “I
c a n ’t find out anything more
sh o c k in g than I 'v e alread y
learned,” Sharpton told the Daily
News. See story, page A2.
Fred Jones a Blazer
, The Portland Trail
J
Blazers traded
guardJuan Dixon
to thc lo ro n to
’feL S r ,' ' 11’1'"
lla > , l "
1 ;
JH kii d I ted
Jones. Jones is a
University o f Oregon grad and
lives in Portland during the off­
season. He went to Barlow High in
Gresham and was twice named O r­
egon Class 4A Player o f the year.
See story, page B6.
Bombs Nearly Hit Cheney
It is unclear how a suicide homher
was able to get close to a U.S. base
in Afghanistan where Vice Presi­
dent Dick Cheney was staying,
the White House said Tuesday.
“People are stilI investigating what
happened," said W hite House
spokesman Tony Snow.
by
S arah B lount
T hi P ortland O bserver
The demolition of the John Adams-Whitaker
school site ends an amazing chapter of educa­
tion ex peri mentation in north and northeast
Portland, with decisive community talks about
future development still to come.
The school tear down is on schedule, said
Justin Devers, assistant director of facilities and
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver asset management for Portland Public Schools.
Bruce Vittitoe takes part in the demolition o f the former John Adams High School in northeast Portland. Vittitoe said
He said the building should be completely gone
there have been many overnight thefts of wire and other supplies.
within the next month and a half, with site im­
provements wrapped up by mid to late May.
The 269,899 square-foot building opened as
John Adams HighSchool in the fall of 1969. The
school closed due to low enrollment in 1981 and
was then renamed Whitaker Middle School,
until the school closed for good in 2001 because
of hazardous construction and a buildup of
radon.
The building sat empty - to the tune of nearly
$7(X ).(H H t in maintenance, utilities and insurance
- until the district made a decision last summer
to raze the building with demolition crews arriv­
John Adams High
ing in early January.
School Principal
Once the school is razed, the district plans to
Robert Schwartz
grade the site, plant grass and maintain the
and student
property until it is sold.
Donald Means
“W e're also looking at doing something in­
(right) on campus
during the opening teresting with the Adams-Whitaker signage to
commemorate the building,” Devers said.
1969-70 school
The district expects to complete the project
year. In 1970
under
budget, totalling $2.1 million for demoli­
feature spread,
tion
and
site improvements. However, the Final
Newsweek Maga­
chapter
in
the building’s saga has been slightly
zine called Adams
problematic
due to a hazardous history. Abate­
“the most interest­
ment
crews
were slowed down by asbestos
ing public school in
removal
when
they discovered a larger amount
the U.S. today."
than anticipated, and a representative from the
hazardous materials company said it had been "a
horrible job to work on.” with break-ins and
vandalism nightly.
there will be no white roof peeking up last new high school built for Portland
by S arah B lount
The property, just north of Killingsworth
from partial view along N ortheast Public Schools closed as Adams in 1981.
T he P ortland O bserver
Street and west of 42nd Avenue, is loosely
Say your final goodbyes to John Killingsworth S ’M and it will be that after graduating only 12 classes.
secured with overnight patrols, but not enough
Talking with those who lived it offers
Adams High School - a goodbye that has much easier for us to forget one of
to keep away vandals, or to keep wire and other
O regon's most interesting and tragic high insight as to what was right - and what
been a long time in thc making.
salvageable materials.
went wrong. The questions are plentiful,
The building's days are now num­ school stories.
Portland Police Sgt. Brian Schmautz said eight
Everyone except for the students, and the answers may never be clear.
bered, with wrecking balls bringing about
crime reports have been taken at the site this
thc school’s Final chapter as they crush teachers and staff who played a part in an
continued
on pageA 6
continued
on page A6
concrete slabs into sand and rubble. Soon experiment that shaped their lives. The
What Went Wrong at John Adams?
Black Stars Make History Again at Oscars
“Dreamgirls.”
thc red carpet before the cer­
“ Receiving this honor tonight emony.
Although Jesse Jackson noted
tells me that it's possible, it is
possible for a kid from East Texas, that the Academy of Motion Pic­
raised in South Central L.A. and ture Arts & Sciences includes
The 79th annual Oscars fea­ C arso n , w ho b e lie v e s in his only I 10 A frican-A m ericans out
tured the most ethnically varied dream s, commits him self to them o f 5,830 m embers, the recogni­
lineup ever, with stars and sto­ with his heart, to touch them and tion of stars o f color has been
ries that reflect the grow ing
increasingly frequent.
m u ltic u ltu ra lism ta k in g root
A fter a long history o f the
Academy Awards being a largely
around the globe.
all-w hite affair (Chris Rock once
“ What a wonderful night. Such
called the O scars a "million white
diversity in the room " said Ellen
DeGeneres, serving as O scar host
man march ") this was the third
year where multiple black actors
for the first time, “ in a year when
won Oscars.
there's been so many negative
things said about people's race,
Denzel W ashington (“Training
D a y ” ) and
H a lle
B erry
religion and sexual orientation."
-Beyonce Knowles
A frican A m e ric a n s F orest
(“M onster's B all") m em orably
W hitaker won best actor for his
shattered the O scars' racial ce il­
frightful yet charism atic perfor­ to have them happen," W hitaker ing in 2002, the firs, time blacks
mance as Ugandan dictator Idi said as he accepted his award.
won both lead-acting prizes.
Amin: while Jennifer Hudson, a
"It's a wonderful year to he an
In 2005, Jamie Foxx(“Ray")and
form er "A m erican Idol" contes­ A fric a n -A m e ric a n
a c to r ," Morgan Freeman (“ M illion D ol­
tant. scored thc best supporting B ey o n c e K n o w le s, w ho co- lar Baby”) won Academy Awards,
actress award lor her debut per­ starred with Eddie Murphy and
continued
on page A8
fo rm a n c e in thc m u sic a l Hudson in “D ream girls,” said on
Biggest winner
is diversity
it’s a
wonderful year
to be an African-
American actor.
Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson hold up their Oscars at the
79th Annual Academy awards Sunday. Whitaker won for best
actor and Hudson won for best supporting actress. (AP photo)
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