Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2007)
37 years 50j¿ f of * community serv service * <T i» Focus on Housing /I a n • i • *“ Special coverage issiu issue Building a Resume Al Mississippi's Pasta Bangs restaurant T Tin rt lattò nt P ‘City of Roses C rin U acpc Volume XXXVII, Number 13 TLWeek ¡n The Review Withdrawal Vote Passes D efying a veto threat, the D em o- cratic-controlled Senate signaled support T uesday for the w ith draw al o f U.S. com bat troops from Iraq by next M arch. Republican attem pts to scuttle the non-bind ing tim eline failed on a vote o f .SO- 48. The rol I cal I marked the Senate ’ s most forceful challenge to date of the adm inistration’s handling of the war. Established In 1970 www, port landobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • March 28, 2007 Public Schools Divided by Race Charter schools add to equation by R aymond R endleman T he P ortland O bserver Jefferson High School's m ajor ity-black dem ographics are not the Iraq Bombs Kill 58 result o f majority-black populations T w o truck bom bs in Iraq struck in its north and northeast Portland m arkets in Tai A far and a suicide territory. Even as gentrification car bom ber exploded his payload w hitens its surrounding neighbor near Ramadi on Tuesday — the hoods, Jefferson’s percentage of latest attacks in a surge o f violence hlack students increased 14 per outside the Iraqi capital. T he three cent in the past 14 years. At 68 bom bings killed at least 58 people, percent black, Jefferson now has including 48 in Tai Afar. more than tw o African American students for every student o f other noop Dogg Snubbed ethnicities. Rappers Snoop Just h a lf a m ile aw ay from D ogg and Sean Jefferson on North Interstate A v “D iddy” Com bs enue, the 66 percent w hite Trillium s c ra p p e d fiv e C harter School has alm ost exactly planned British the opposite dem ographics. co n certs T u es As Portland Public School board day after Snoop member Dilafruz W illiams says, "If D ogg was refused a visa to enter there’s a greater percentage o f white the country. Last A pril, Snoop kids in the Jefferson neighborhood, Dogg was arrested on suspicion of then they m ust be not going to their v io le n t d is o r d e r at L o n d o n n e ig h b o rh o o d h ig h s c h o o l." Heathrow A irport and was banned Je fferso n ’s main feeder m iddle from the United Kingdom for life. ? school, O ckley G reen, has more balanced dem ographics at 46 per Pet Food Cases Double The num ber o f Oregon pets sick cent black. Som e students o f Jefferso n ’s ened after eating tainted pet food alm ost doubled on M onday to 47 neighborhixtd have always attended cases, including 13 deaths. The private high schools or public mag latest figures include 31 cats and net programs like diverse Benson High School (34 percent white, 26 15 dogs being treated for kidney percent black, 26 percent A sian), but failure: the fatalities include seven the flood o f public charter schools cats and six dogs. has com plicated matters. Cancer Returns S tu d e n t f lig h t h as c a u s e d W h ite H o u s e Jefferson to capture ju st 26 percent P ress S ecretary o f its neighborhood student popu an d fo rm er Fox lation as opposed to 47 percent a telev isio n c o m decade ago. m e n tato r T ony Since the passage o f N o Child S n ow , 51, has Left Behind in 2002, the district has been diag n o sed w ith recurrence o f ca n ce r and the d isease has sp read to his liver, his d ep u ty said T uesday. He w as treated for co lon ca n ce r in 2005. V High school students make theii way to classes at Trillium, a public charter school that attracts a far higher percentage of non minority students than its close by neighbor Jefferson. Trillium also allows students a greater control over curriculum and projects that include the hallway mural. been forced to allocate funds to specialized charter schools that can draw students from all over the city, e s p e c ia lly from n eig h b o rh o o d , schools that failed Adequate Y early' P rogress ratings like Jefferson, w hose students had the right to tr a n s f e r under th e B u sh A dm inistration's law. W hile Jefferson struggled with federal requirem ents. Tri Ilium o ut grew its previous loqatiop. hear Tubm an M iddle School Jn d îfsb jg h school popdlation has m ore than doubled to 80 students in the past three years. The new majority-white Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public C harter High School, also serving north and northeast Port land, expects to have 4 0 0 students by 2009. Je fferso n has resp o n d ed by splining up into four academ ies, three to be located at the Jefferson Campus. In addition to single-sex acad em ies, there will be two academ ies o f arts, science and technology, which bear quite a bit o f resem blance, at least on paper, toTriIlium High School's sm aller size and "fo cus on im portant skills, such as writing, research methods andcom - puter literacy." It remains to be seen whether Je fferso n 's reco n fig u ratio n can stem the district’s increasing segre gation. The Young W om en's Academ y, to be inaugurated this fall at the Tubm an cam pus, will be adm inis trated by Aurora Lora, w ho says, continued on page A 8 Tax Help is Out There - Here s Where Accidental Overdose P layboy P lay m a te A nna N ic o le S m ith died o f an a c c i d e n ta l o v e r d o se o f a sle ep ing m edication and at least eig h t o th e r p re sc rip tion drugs, including m ethadone for pain and valium , o ffic ia ls d e term in ed M onday, six w eeks a f ter her death. Nonstop Lava Scientists say M ount St. Helens may be replacing m agma from a reservoir beneath the volcano as fast as it em erges as lava at the surface. It means that eruptions may continue for decades. piloro as S \ k \ ii B i . oi n i / I ' iii P o r u and O bserver AARP volunteer Carol Krikava (right) helps Fary B. Miles with her taxes at the Multicultural Senior Center on Northeast Killingsworth and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The assistance is free by appointment only each Friday through April 13. Taxpayers get two extra days, deadline is April 17 W hen northeast Portland resident Jane Steele retired, paying out o f pocket for tax return assistance was not an option. Fortunately she discovered free tax help at the M ulticultural Senior C enter in north east Portland where volunteers told her she was eligible for the earned income tax credit. Their expertise has m ade it easier for her to live on a fixed income. “ I'v e told my friends about this,” she said. "So they d o n 't have to pay additional taxes." Each year Steele and other senior citizens have their tax returns prepared for free by volunteers at a num ber o f sites around Port land. including the senior center at north east K illingsw orth and M artin Luther King Jr.B lvd. Tax volunteers are often accountants or bankers w ho undergo training through ad vocacy program s like the A m erican Asso ciation o f Retired Persons, w ho certifies volunteers through a training series at Port land C om m unity College. A A RP volunteers like DuW ayne Dockter help seniors each Friday from 9 a.m. to I p.m. C lients must make appointm ents for the eight slots available each week. D ockter said m issing the earned income credit is one o f the biggest m istakes people make when preparing their ow n tax returns. Fellow volunteer Carol Krikava added that many people aren 't aw are o f the ded u c tions they can make. That is where Tax Wise, the in-depth tax program they use, com es in handy. The Internal Revenue Service provides the A A RP with com puters and softw are. Krikava said. In addition to the senior center, many volunteers throughout Portland offer free help with federal tax returns. (R em em ber - this y ea r's deadline to file your returns has been extended to April 17 because April 15 falls on a Sunday and the District o f C olum bia celebrates a legal holiday on April 16. This deadline applies to all 2006 federal and state individual income tax returns.) • The A A R P and IRS help low to m oder ate-incom e taxpayers and individuals age 60 or older through walk-in visits on W ednes day. Saturday and Sunday through April 17 from 10a.m . to 4 p.m. on the west side o f the Lloyd C enter Mall, third floor near the food court, in suite 2010. Call Kathy Howell o f the IRS for more information, at 5(13-326-7256or I-8004129-1 (Mft • The A A R P also sponsors a program for continued on page A3 i.