Bringing People Together
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‘City of Roses’
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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
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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>