Jazz at S t Johns
Who’s That Clown
A street performer ’v
quest for more than
a living
See story, page A3
Cathedral Park Ë
Festival is this
weekend
See story inside, Metro section
Z Tiort land ffîbser“ er
' C ' i t u n t D u f f l e
‘City
of Roses
n n r tIn n d n h ç p rv f’
www.portlandobserver.com
F c ta k Established
lic h i« r l in IQ7Í1
In 1970
ia / ia / w
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII. N um ber 27
Wednesday • July 18. 2007
TLWeek in
The Review
Vick Indicted for Dogfights
A tlanta F alcons
q u a rte rb a c k
M ichael Vick and
three others were
indicted Tuesday
by a federal grand
ju ry on charges
related to illegal dogfighting. They
arecharged with violating federal
laws against competitive dogfight
ing, procuring and training pit bulls
for fighting and conducting the
enterprise across state lines. See
sto ry , page A2.
Plant Closes after Quake
Condo
Conversions
Sting
Japanese authorities shut dow n a
nuclear pow er plant Tuesday fol
lowing a leak o f radioactive waste
into the Sea o f Japan. The quake.
registering6.6on the Richter Scale,
killed at least nine people and in
jured another l.OtX). See sto ry ,
page A 2.
photo by
Pakistan Bomb Kills 7
A suicide bomber blew himself up
in the Pakistani capital Tuesday as
hundreds gathered for a rally fea
turing the country’s suspended
chiefjustice, police said. At least 12
people were killed in the explosion,
one of at least two deadly attacks in
the volatile country.
West Nile in Portland
A dead crow found in June in
northeast Portland tested posi
tive for W est N ile virus and was
the first appearance o f the virus in
M ultnom ah C ounty this year.
Health officials say to dum p any
standing w ater around your home
to prevent m osquitoes that carry
the virus from breeding.
S arah B lount /T he P ortland O bserver
Housing at Northeast 25th and Killingsworth is converted from rental apartments to condominiums, a growing trend
that adds to the gentrification of local neighborhoods. Former tenant Erin Wiser recalls his eviction notice giving him
less than 30 days to find new housing.
New law brings some relief to renters facing eviction
S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
T abor Hill A partm ents resident
Noreen Joynt received the letter in
January. “D eartenant,” it read, “this
letter is to inform you that your
property h a s a n e w o w n e ra n d m an
ager, effective im m ediately.”
From that point on, Joynt, 56,
described her life at the apartm ent
by
building as a living hell.
H er home o f seven years becam e
a construction zone, with siding
being ripped off the walls and pieces
o f moldy roof being throw n on the
ground behind her house. Joynt
and her boyfriend knew this work
w asn ’t ju st upgrades like the new
managers, Better A ssets M anage
ment, had told them. Her hom e and
47 other units were being noisily
and uncerem oniously converted to
condom inium s before their eyes.
It w asn’t until June - long after
the laundry m ach in es sto p p ed
working and repairs were hopeless
- that Joynt received the expected
letter o f condo conversion. She got
the notice on the same day she
received her eviction, giving her
Apartm ent ow ners like Better
less than a month to find new hous
Asset M anagem ent have long en
ing.
Joynt did find a nice house this joyed a process o f evicting tenants
month on 83rd and East Burnside, like Joynt and redeveloping in a few
with relocation assistance from the m onths tim e - even though a city
NW Pilot Project. But for her. the ordinance was supposed to pro
displacem ent began the first day tect tenants from such an unbal
she had to leave her house unw ill anced practice.
ingly for a few hours ju st to escape
continued
on page A5
the construction noise.
R&B Singer Collapses
R&B singer Kelly
R o w la n d c o l
lapsed from dehy
dration while per
form ing Sunday
in Lagos, Nigeria.
Rowland, 26, was
in the W est African nation as part
o f the T hisD ay M usic Festival.
The form er Destiny ’ s Child vocal
ist was hospitalized and is in good
condition.
Free Health in Spotlight
M ichael M oore’s new docum en
tary “Sicko” has given C u b a’s
free health system its best public
ity since Fidel C astro’s 1959 revo
lution, aC uban doctor who hosted
the film m aker’s visit said on M on
day. See story, page A2.
BET Defends “Hot Mess"
“ Hot G hetto M ess," a BET-pro-
duced show o f viewer-subm itted
hom e videos, is intended to chal
lenge and inspire “view ers to im
prove them selves and their com
munities,” said BET entertainment
head R eginald Hudlin. It’s no dif
ferent than what Bill Cosby is
doing lecturing about the prob
lems o f the (black (com m unity, he
added.
Llesenia Gonzalez, a bilingual nurse (left) helps Catalina and her three-month-old baby Jasmin at
the Children s Community Clinic, the health facility for underinsured children formerly known as the
North Portland Nurse Practitioners Clinic.
Clinic Positioned to
Help Underinsured
And preserve legacy to local youth
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
After a tum ultuous year, a local
health clinic has renewed its co m
mitment to underinsured youth by
continuing to w elcom e all patients
in the face of greater uncertainty
about healthcare.
The27-year-oldChildrcn'sCom -
m u n ity C lin ic at 27 N.E.
Killingsworth St, may have a new
name, director and location, but it
hasn’t altered its rebel spirit when
it com es to providing below-cost
pediatric health care.
“W e d o n 't ask any questions,"
says nurse M ardica Hicks, who
became director of the program May
7. “We just w ant all o f our families
to feel com fortable."
Q uestions about im m igration
status aside, the clin ic’s patient
survey reveals im pressive diver
sity with a 30 percent H ispanic, 30
percent white and 23 percent black
clientele. It logged 2,110 patient
I
Cljnjc
2 7 N.E. Killingsworth St.
photos by R aymond
R endi . eman /T he P ortland O bserver
visits last year, and it is on track to
exceed that num ber by hundreds
more this year.
M ariah Taylor, the founder and
director o f the program until she
was fired last year, cites higher
num bers while she w as director,
and reg rets that m any A frican
Am ericans have shunned the clinic
after her controversial departure.
A few visits to the clinic reveal
that the volume of patients is below
capacity. But the fam ilies o f pa
tients w ho trickle in represent a
wide variety o f ages and ethnicities,
and they consistently say that they
depend on the clinic’s services.
Many o f them were hesitant to go
on record, but one m other co u ld n 't
keep from gushing.
“I tried to get a follow -up im m u
nization for my daughter at other
clinics, but this was the only one
that would take us,” says C atalina,
a Spanish-speaking client w hose
remark has been translated for this
continued
on page A5