lune 13. 2007
Page A2
In the Neighborhood
What does Father's Day and celebrating it mean to you?
I ’m f r o m S o m a lia a n d w e
d o n 't c e le b r a te it th e r e so it
d o e s n 't m e a n a n y th in g to m e.
— Elham Bardhadle, 21
M y p a r e n ts liv e in a n o th e r
s ta te s o it's j u s t g o in g to b e
a p h o n e c a ll to m y d ad.
— Rain W alter-Y oung, 26
M y d a d p a s s e d 10 y e a r s a g o b u t
m y u n c le w a s re a lly c lo se w ith
him . S o I a m p r o b a b ly g o in g to
d o so m e th in g f o r m y u n c le sin c e
m y d a d i s n ’t h e r e a n y m o re .
— Hasani Belt, 20
Ethos Music Center founder Charles Lewis stood by the statue o f Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the
Oregon Convention Center with his supporters to announce his candidacy for the Portland City
Council.
Music Activist Runs for City Council
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
/ f e e l th a t fa th e r s w h o a r e a 't
th e re f o r th e ir c h ild r e n s h o u ld n 't
b e h o n o re d . T h a t h a p p e n s w a y
M y d a d j u s t w a n ts a
to o m u c h in th e A fr ic a n - A m e r i­
p r e s e n t. M y sib lin g s
c a n c o m m u n ity .
— Phi 1 imon Reda, 20
a n d I u su a lly g e t
to g e th e r w ith h im o n
F a th e r 's D a y.
— Kris Johnson, 24
N icole K onai . H ooper and
M ark W ashington /T he P or h
by
Cl’1' Jlnrtlanb (Ohseruer Established 1970
USPS 959-680 ____________________________________
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211
Charles H. Washington
E dito r M ichael Leighton
D is tr ib u tio n M anager : Mark W ashington
C reative D irector : Pau! N eufeldt
O ff ic e M anager : Kathy Linder
K eporier : Sarah Blount
Hi porter : Nicole Ronal Hooper
and O bserver
Send address changes to Portland
T he pieces began to m ove in the
chess gam e for City Hall last w eek
when an activist from northeast
Portland set his sights on a city
com m ission seat.
E thos M usic C e n te r fo u n d er
C harles L ew is’ announcem ent, al­
m ost a year before the M ay Pri mary
election, puts pressure on his former
em ployer Sam A dam s, w ho cur­
rently holds the seat, to m ake a
m ove for m ayor or accept a role as
incum bent in the race.
L ew is’ candidacy alsocam e with
the sym bolism o f picking up the
fallen torch from tw o civil rights
heroes. T he June 6 announcem ent
w as m ade next to the statue o f Dr.
M artin Luther King Jr. at the O r­
egon Convention C enter and on
th e a n n iv e r s a r y o f R o b e rt
K en n ed y 's assassination.
Lew is cited his w ork as a small-
business ow ner targeting tourists
and in the nonprofit youth o rgani­
zation Ethos. He also made mention
o f the fact that he helped raise
m oney for the King statue.
V ow ing to avoid special-inter­
est m oney and cam paign w aste,
Lew is said he plans to use public
monies from the city’s V oterO w ned
E lections law and use biodiesel
transportation in his cam paign.
He said his experience at Ethos,
located on K illingsw orth Street
b etw e en P o rtla n d ’s n o rth and
northeast neig h b o rh o o d s, b etter
positions him to represent city d i­
versity.
Instead o f his usual T -sh irt,
Lew is donned a suit and got a hair­
cut for the announcem ent.
To avoid a cal 1 for higher taxes or
c u ttin g
s e r v ic e s , h e sa id ,
"Portland’s creative com m unity can
develop innovative, cost-effective
s o lu tio n s
to
ad d ress
our
co m m unity’s social ills.”
Observer, P 0B o x 31 37 , Portland,
OR 9 7 2 0 8
E ditdr - in -C hikp , P ublisher :
Subscriptions are $60.00 per year
503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015
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and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York. NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers
AssiKiation, Serving Portland and Vancouver.
TAKE YOUR
SMALL BUSINESS
TO
THE NEXT LEVEL!
COMING JUNE 21, 2007
Use of Stun Guns Called Abusive
Women’s
death raises
questions
(A P )—A woman confronted
by O klahom a City police o u t­
side a hom eless shelter is the
latest exam ple o f som eone who
died after being shocked with
a Taser, an electric stun gun
designed to help officers sub­
due violent suspects w ithout
nightsticks or guns.
But in M ilisha T hom pson's
case, she w as already on the
ground and in handcuffs. Her
d eath has raised q u estio n s
about w hether police are abus­
ing the stun guns by using
them as a convenient labor-
saving device to control unco­
operative people.
"It's a legitim ate law -en­
forcem ent tool," said Florida
State U niversity crim inology
professor G eorge Kirkham , a
form er police officer. "But it's
supposed to be used as a defen­
sive weapon. The problem we're
seeing around the country is it's
being used abusively."
A m nesty International USA,
w hich has done a study on Taser
use, has counted 250 cases in
w hich people died after being
stunned with a Taser. T he hu­
man rights organization cannot
say w hether the shock from a
T a se r actu ally ca u se d those
deaths. But som e experts co n ­
tend the w eapon can be deadly,
particularly when used on sus­
pects who use drugs o r suffer
from heart problem s.
A blurry surveillance video
show s T hom pson running near
the hom eless shelter, seem ingly
Marvell Thompson holds a photo o f his agitated. The picture is poor, so
late wife, Milisha Thompson who died exactly w hat happens next is
after being stunned with a police taser unclear, but at som e point she
in Okahoma City while she was on the struggles with officers and is
shocked.
ground and in handcuffs. (AP photo)
MHWMMMWMI
Teen Sex Case Thrown Out
BROUGHT TO TOC BY SE V E S LOCAL PUBLIC AGENCIES
We are featuring two General Session Workshops:
How to Make Supplier Diversity Work for Your Goods and Services Company
• (target audience: small goods and services businesses)
Workforce Training: Pre-apprenticeship Programs that Help Contractors Meet
Their Goals
• (target audience: construction contractors with workforce requirements)
Additional Taking Your Small Business to the Next Level Workshops include:
• Effective Marketing: Balancing Technology with Touch
• Small Business Development Resources
Event:
Where:
When:
Doing Business with Local Public Agencies
PCC Cascade Campus
Terrell Hall
705 N. Killingsworth Street
Portland. OR 97217
Thursday, June 21,2007
8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Who should attend:
Information:
Registration:
Minority. Women, & Emerging
Small Business Owners
Greg Wollcy. 503.823.6860
gwollevfn.ci. Portland.or. us
Gale Hussey, 503.823.5057
uhussevioici. port land .or. us
Please notify the City of Portland no less than five (5) business days prior to
our event for ADA accommodations at 503.823.6860. by the City’s TTY
at 503.823.6868. or by the Oregon Relay Service at 1.800.735.2900.
(A P ) — T he law y er fo r G en arlo w
W ilso n , in p riso n for h av in g c o n s e n ­
sual oral sex w ith a 15-year-old girl
w hen he w as 17, said T u esd ay that
she is p u sh in g to get him released on
bond ev en th o u g h the d istric t a tto r­
ney o p p o se s the m ove.
On M o n d ay , a G e o rg ia ju d g e said
that W ilson sh o u ld be freed from
p riso n and not be listed on G e o rg ia ’s
sex o ffe n d e r reg istry , ca llin g the 10-
year m an d ato ry se n ten c e he receiv ed
“a grav e m isca rriag e o f ju s tic e ” that
v io lated the co n stitu tio n .
B u t s t a t e A tto r n e y G e n e r a l
Genarlow Wilson
T h u rb e r t B a k e r im m e d ia te ly a n ­
n o u n ced his in ten tio n to appeal the
d ec isio n , say in g the se n ten c e w as
valid.
T h at m eans that W ilson w ill re ­
m ain b eh in d b ars for now .
W ilson has alread y serv ed m ore
th an 28 m o n th s in prison.
A ju ry in 2005 found W ilson guilty
o f ag g ra v ate d ch ild m o le sta tio n for
having oral sex w ith a 15 -y ear-o ld girl
d u rin g a 2003 N ew Y e a r's Eve party
in v o lv in g alco h o l and m ariju an a. A l­
th o u g h the sex act w as co n se n su a l, it
w as illeg al u n d e rG e o rg ia law.
Join our Parade!
And Juneteenth/Passage Over Ceremony
Where is Dr. George Washington Carver?
Dr. King? Malcolm X?
Barbara Jordan?
Harriet Tubman?
Be your favorite person in Black History or Civil War History!
Be John Brown, Ulysses S. Grant or Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Or come dressed
As the most important people in all history—
Your own great grandparents
Saturday, June 16th
Celebrate All Day
Parade begins @ 12:30 PM on N.E. Jarrett and M.L.K. Jr Blvd
Juneteenth celebration is @ Jefferson High School Sports Field
And while we’re waiting for our forty acres and a mule ...
Let’s go for a National Holiday!
For more information call 358-2759,284-6152,283-2724 or 701-0457