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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2007)
Bringing People Together - , y w /m o n '/v . v e n i r e ' ‘City of Roses’ f g jr TLWeek ¡n Thc Review Political Preacher Dead T he Rev. Jerry Falw ell, the tele vision e v a n g e list w ho founded the M oral M a jority and used it to m old the reli gious right into a political force, died T uesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73. See story, page A2. Soldiers Missing U.S. aircraft in Iraq dropped leaf lets seeking information about three U.S. soldiers feared captured by al- Q aida, as tro o p s inten sified a search Tuesday despite a w arning front the terror group that the hunt will endanger the captives' lives. Few Minorities on TV Talk The influential Sunday TV new s talk show s are overw helm ingly dom inated by w hite m en. with w om en, blacks and Latinos having little presence, a liberal m edia w atchdog said M onday. Blacks m ade up about 7 percent o f those appearing on most o f the programs, w hile Latinos m ade up about 1 percent, M edia M atters said. See sto ry , p ag e A2. Stamps Cost More § j 8 / See Metro Metro section, section, inside inside See ^ n rtía n h (©bsertœr Established in 1970 T h e c o s t to d eliverafirst- class card or le tte r w as raised to 41 cents for the f ir s t o u n c e M onday, a 2- cent increase. The post office is also introducing extra changes for large or odd-shaped mail. wvvw.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVII. Number 19 g Community is the focus fo r Saturday's Art Hop featuring local talent and • unsung heroes k m , ,• Wednesday • May 16. 2007 Leadership Role is Welcome Surprise Young advocate new Portland NAACP president by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver W hen C h a rle n e M cG ee w as e le c te d p resid e n t o f th e P o rtlan d N A A C P , she w a sn ’t w ell v erse d in th e o rg a n iz a tio n ’s h isto ry , no r d id she k now w hy th e local b ran c h w en t d e fu n c t fo r ab o u t a y ear. B ut a lot has c h a n g e d sin c e th e 25- y e a r-o ld s to p p e d by a P o rtla n d N a tio n a l A s s o c ia tio n fo r th e A d v a n c e m ent o f C o lo re d P erso n s m e etin g on A pril 28 to see h o w she co u ld help and left as its new lead er. It tu r n s o u t m u c h o f th e c r o w d knew M cG ee an d re c o g n iz e d h er a d v o ca cy w ork w ith in th e co m m u n ity ; they s u c c e ssfu lly n o m in a te d h er in a not- so -sy m b o lic m o v e to b rin g so m e y o u th ful en e rg y to th e re e m e rg in g b ran ch . N ow , a s sh e faces a d elu g e o f d u tie s w ith in o n e o f th e m o st re sp e c te d and h isto ric al n atio n al a d v o c ac y g ro u p s for c iv il rig h ts, M cG ee is n ’t a b o u t to be w eig h e d d o w n by past n eg a tiv ity w ithin the local o rg a n iz a tio n . S h e’s focused and poised to elim inate disparities that existed w hen the N A A C P w as form ed w hile responding to racial issues created by m odem society. “ I d o n ’t k n o w a n y th in g th a t o c c u rre d in the p ast - th is is d e fin ite ly a clea n sla te ,” sh e said. S h o rtly fo llo w in g h e r su rp rise n o m i n atio n , M cG ee w as w h isk e d o ff to a reg io n a l m e etin g in L as V egas, w h ere she u n d e rw e n t in te n siv e tra in in g and g o t a c ra sh c o u rse in th e h isto ry o f the c e n tu r y -o ld g ro u p . T h e in fo rm a tio n - photo by S arah B loi nt /T iie P orti . and O bserver Charlene McGee, 25, plans to build up membership in the Portland branch of the NAACP with grassroots advocacy. p ac k ed w eek en d also a llo w e d M cG ee to m eet m o re th an 3 0 0 if h er fellow le a d e r s a c r o s s th e w e s te r n U n ite d S tate s. It w as th e re sh e learn ed she is the y o u n g e st N A A C P b ran ch p resid e n t in th e reg io n an d p o ssib ly th e co u n try . M cG ee, a native o f L iberia, lied the civil w ar-torn African country and m oved to O regon with her fam ily in 1993. She graduated from O regon State U niversity in 2004, m oved back to Portland a couple years ago and now holds w hat she calls her dream jo b , w orking as a coordinator w ith in the M u ltnom ah C o u n ty H ealth Department's African American Dispar ity Project. M c G e e ’s p ro fe ssio n a l resp o n sib ility to ad d re ss racial h ealth d isp a ritie s fall rig h t into p lace w ith h er new post at the continued on page A 6 Name Loses Popularity K atrina dropped m ore than 100 slots last year on the baby-nam e popularity list com piled by the Social Security A dm inistration. H ow ever, in Louisiana and M is sissippi, the slates m ost affected by the hurricane, the nam e's popu larity increased 260 percent, ac cording to the same data. Road Rage Survey For the second consecutive year, rude M iam i drivers have earned the city the title o f w orst road rage in asu rv ey releasedT uesday. Port land was ranked as the city with the friendliest drivers. Cruise Ship Trouble T h e E m press o f the N orth, a riverboat style cruise ship with Portland ties, ran aground o ff the A laska coast and took on water early M onday. M ore than 200 pas sengers w ere transferred to nearby ships. T he crew was able to stabi lize the ship and it m ade it to a nearby port on its ow n power. Performing Arts Revitalizes Corner Ethos showcases more talent by R aymond R endleman T he P ortland O bserver “It was definitely rocking; it was hot,” says organizer Travis H un tington of last w eek's premiere show at Ethos. A renovated E thos M usic C en- te r a n d C a f é o n the c o r n e ro f W il lia m s A v e n u e a n d N o rth K iilingsw orth Street now features w eekly o p en -m ic rev u es in a new re c ita l hall n am ed a fte r T om B rum m , a com m u n ity and e c o nom ic d ev elo p m en t o fficial. From now on, the Ethos site will be the epicenter for up-and-com ing perform ers every Friday night be ginning at 7:30. Last Friday’s show only went until 11 p.m., but the center will stay open as late as necessary to accom m odate build ing interest. “O ur goal is to create the best open-m ic night Portland has ever seen," said Charles Lewis, Ethos' founder and ex ecutive director. P erfo rm ers w ill be attracted by the o p p o rtu n ity to hook up w ith E th o s’ live feed to P ortland C o m m unity M ed ia C h an n el 23. T he F rid ay night b ro ad c asts are a d i rect link to o v er 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 h o u se h o ld s th ree tim es a w eek through reru n s T u esd a y s at 9 a.m . on C hannel 1 1 and Friday afternoons at 4 p.m . on C h an n el 22. Created in 1998 in direct response to school budget cuts, Ethos is also show ing o ff its success in organiz ing private lessons, group classes, perform ance and ensem ble oppor tunities to thousands o f students each year. From 3-6 pm this Saturday, the center will host an open house o f fering a preview o f various pro grams. continued on page A3 photo by M ark W ashington /T he P orti . and O bserver Travis Huntington (left) and Charles Lewis welcome the community to the renovated Ethos Music Center and Café on the corner o f Williams Avenue and North Kiilingsworth Street. Momentum Builds for Vanport Square Development Magic Johnson 24-Hour Fitness wins approval by L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver Vanport Square, the m inority- ow ned com m ercial and retail devel o p m en t u n d er co n stru c tio n on Northeast M artin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, got a major boost last week when the Portland D evelop ment Commissiort gave up 1.7 acres A Magic Johnson 24-Hour Fitness will be built at Northeast Alberta and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, replacing the existing Living Color Beauty Supply store and a vacant warehouse. Living Color plans to move into another the first phase o f Vanport Square, now under construction a couple of blocks north. o f land for a Magic Johnson 24- Hour Fitness center. The site facing MLK and Alberta Street will replace an old store and a v;tt ant warehouse for a new 35,000 square foot fitness facility. 218- space parking garage and a coffee shop. T h e d ev e lo p e rs arc Ray Leary, a Itxal African A merican continued on page Af>