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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2007)
50$¿ Cinco de Mayo Four days of partying begins Thursday «■ years of •''community service See Metro section, inside T Tin rtlanb t v of nt P ncpc ‘City Roses ^^1 Deadly Month in Iraq April was the deadliest month for American forces this year in Iraq with over 100 soldiers killed. ll.S. troops have been increasingly de ployed on the streets of Baghdad and housed with Iraqi troops in joint security operations away from their heavily fortified bases, raising their vulnerability to attacks. Terrorism Rising Terrorist attacks w orldwide shot up 25 percent last year, particularly in Iraq where extremists usedcherni- cal w eapons and suicide bom bers to target crowds. O verall, the State D epartm ent says about 14,000 at tacks took place in 2006, claim ing more than 20,000 lives. Cam’Ron Doesn't Snitch Rap star C am ' Ron toldC N N 's Ander son C ooper that he follow s a code o f ethics by refusing to w ork with po lice. The Harlem born rapper said even if he lived next door to a serial killer, he would m ove instead o f inform the police. Freeway Collapse A section o f San Francisco bay area freeway burned and crumbled after a tanker carrying gasoline exploded on Sunday near Oakland. The free way funnels traffic onto the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The truck's driver walked away from the scene and called a taxi, which took him to a nearby hospital with sec ond-degree bums. Recall aftermath sparks interest in origins of food See Metro section, inside i- . i Established In 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVII. Number 17 ,,Week ¡n lhe Review Pet Food Caution Wednesday • May 2, 2007 De La Salle on Solid Ground Move to historic Kenton site begins by N icole R onal H ooper T he P ortland O bserver W hen K enton G rade School closed in 2005, the neighbors w on dered w hat would take its place. M any feared that it would turn into another M cM enam ins or even a W al-M art. But instead, it will be the new site for De La Salle Catholic High School. C u rre n tly , th e sch o o l holds classes in cram ped quarters at the Q ueen o f Peace C hurch Parish hall and school just a few blocks away. Tim H ennessey, De La S alle’s vice principal o f developm ent, said the current site is sim ply too small. “W e have to kick the principal out o f his office to have m eetings,” said H ennessey. But the lim ited space is about to change with even more room com ing for future growth. De La Salle has invited students, parents, faculty, com m unity lead ers and corporate partners to a g r o u n d b r e a k in g c e re m o n y W ednesday at the form er Kenton School site, a relatively large cam p u s b o rd e re d b e tw e e n N o rth Lom bard Street and Interstate Av- photo by N icole R onai . H ooper /T he P ortland O bserver On the steps o f the new site for De La Salle North Catholic High School, Tim Hennessy, the school's vice president of development with Freshman Darnell Peterson and Sophomore Michelle Perea. enue. Plans call for$ 10 million in reno vations and the construction o f a stand alone gym nasium to be com pleted by this sum m er and the school opening fo rclasses this fall. De La S alle’s student body re sem bles the diversity o f other inner city schools like Jefferson and continued on page A5 Child’s Color Brings Suit A ju dge has ruled that a couple can proceed with a lawsuit against a fertility clinic after the wife gave birth to a daughter w hose skin was thought to be too dark to be their c h ild . T h o m a s a n d N an c y A ndrew s, o f Com m ack, N.Y., say that they have been forced to raise a child who is not the same race, nationality or color that they are. Driving While Black A new federal study finds that black, H ispanic and w hite drivers are equal ly likely to be pul led over by police but blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and arrested. S ee sto ry , p a g e A 2 Citizenship Rallies T h ousands o f people protested across the country T uesday to dem and a path tocitizenship for an estim ated 12 million illegal im m i grants. O rganizers say im m igrants feel a sense o f urgency to keep im m igration reform from getting pushed to the back burner by the 2(X)8 presidential elections. Castro No Show C uban acting president and D e fense M inister Raul C astro at tended C u b a’s May Day parade T uesday in place o f the convalesc ing Fidel Castro, an event the island's 'm axim um leader' had at tended for decades without fail. photo by M ark W asiiington /T iie P ortland O bserv er Preparing for Washington, D.C. Honor The King Elementary Choir under the direction of Kathryn McVey performs outside their northeast Portland school in preparation for their performance in Washington, D.C. this June as representatives o f the National Anthem Project. Friday's community event was part of a series of fundraisers to pay for the group’s travel expenses. Donations are welcome by contacting McVey at King School, 503-916 6155. Heading Off Trouble at New Columbia Housing authority responds with positive changes by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Is N ew C olum bia haunted by its past? W hen the Housing Authority o f Portland replaced the old Colum bia Villa housing project in north Portland's Portsmouth neigh- borhixid. the m ulti-m illiondollarm ixed-use com m unity project becam e a source o f pride I and lessened crim e for hom eowners and renters. But violent activity began to crop up last sum m er within the neighborhood's cen terpiece o f M cCoy Park - spurring mobs of youth to gather at night and sometim es create racially charged violence. Leslie Fsinga. the neighborhood's co m munity liaison, said the problem s within New C olum bia are the same in other neigh borhoods. “T h ere's not enough activity for people to engage in," she said, adding that the housing authority has planned several ac tivities for the summ er, including a summer concert series and even an “old school fam ily reunion.” Also, the neighborhood Boys and G irls Club will open in June. If you visit M cCoy Park during the day you might think you stepped into the ideal com m unity - kids o f all ages clim bing play grounds. shooting basketball and zipping around on bikes and scooters. A com m unity garden grow s in the m iddle and a pavilion designates the southern end o f the park. But the change in the p ark 's tone is as sim ple as night and day. Esinga says that around 5 p.m., as parents are returning home from work, the younger kids go hom e and older teens begin to show up. Then the activity shifts to a basketball court at the northern end. W ith their arrival, especially since the w anner months have arri ved, has come some violence, which North Precinct Sgt. Tom M cGranahan says is partly due to residents who used to live in the old C olum bia Villa, but m ainly because o f the young people converging at New C olum bia from outside the com m unity. T h e cro w d s ran g e from p re-teen to tw entysom ethings, M cG ranahan said, and are part o f the sam e g roups that co n cen - enntinned yf on page A 5