Betting
Rocks NBA
Dog Fight Scandal
Hits Home
Referee accused
o f fixing games
See Sports, page B6
Local investigators
say schemes are
hard to break up
See story, page A3
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII, Number 28
TLWeek ¡n
Thc Review
Minimum Wage Increases
Here to Stay
Officials
respond to
growing threat
Vick Banned from Training
The NFL has or­
d e re d A tla n ta
Falcons quarter­
back M ichael
Vick to stay away
from the team ’s
train in g cam p
until the league
reviews his fed­
eral dog fighting charges. Vick is
alleged to have violated laws
against dog fighting and gambling
while operating Bad Newz Ken­
nels on property Vick owns in
Surry, Va. See story in Sports,
page B6.
B
You Tube Debate
Tammy Faye Dies
Tammy Faye
M e ssn e r,
w ho
as
Tammy Faye
B a k k e r
h elp e d her
husband, Jim,
build an evan-
gelismempire
that collapsed in disgrace, died
Friday at her home near Kansas
City, Mo. Messner, 65, had battled
colon cancer since 1996 that more
recently spread to her lungs. A
family service was held Saturday
in a private cemetery.
Potter like Beatlemania
“Harry Potter
and
the
Deathly Hal­
07*«/
low s” is the
fastest-selling
book in his­
tory, with 8.3
m illion copies flying o ff the
shelves in the U.S and 2.65 million
in Britain during its first 24 hours
on the market. An executive with
publishing group Scholastic com ­
pared the anticipation and hyste­
ria to the Beatles' first visit to the
United States.
PERM IT
Q
NO. 1 6 1 0
g
PAID
US POSTAGE
PRESORT STD
ÌfH^PotltT
1
Wednesday • |uly25. 2007
West Nile Virus
The national minimum wage rose
70 cents to $5.85 an hour Tues­
day, the first increase in a decade.
The previous increase was 10
years ago, when President Bill
Clinton raised the minimum wage
40 cents. Government figures
show about 1.7 million people
earned $5.15 or less in 2006. More
than two dozen states including
Oregon and the District of Colum­
bia already have minimum wages
higher than the federal level.
Democratic presidential hopefuls
took part in the first campaign de­
bate hosted by a video-sharing
website YouTube and broadcaster
CNN Monday. More than 3,000
people broadcast their questions
to the candidates on topics includ­
ing same sex marriage, the war,
Darfur and reparations. A new poll
shows 47 percent of Americans
say they use the Internet for news
about political candidates.
www.portlandobserver.com
photo by R aymond
R endit man /T iie P ortland O bserver
Josh Henman wears hip-length waders to collect mosquito larvae in the stagnant water between
Delta Park and Interstate 5. The Multnomah County Health Department worker tests the larvae
daily for West Nile virus.
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
After finding a dead crow near
Northeast 63rd and Sandy Boule­
vard that tested positive for West
Nile virus last month, health offi­
cials emphasize public awareness
as the best means for preventing an
outbreak.
This first appearance of the po­
tentially deadly virus in Multnomah
County this year shows that pre­
vention campaigns will continue to
be necessary, said Chris Wirth,
vector m anager for the county
health department.
West Nile began to strike the
Portland area last year, when three
birds died of the virus, which is
transmitted by mosquito bites and
causes severe headache, weakness
and the rare case of death in hu­
mans.
W irth explains that infected
birds, such as blue jays and crows,
can pass the virus on to humans
and other animals indirectly when
they are bit by mosquitoes. Resi­
dents have reported a number of
dead birds in the area surrounded
by N.E. Killingsworth, Fremont,
Martin Luther King Boulevard and
82nd Avenue.
Health officials have watched
West Nile virus progress and in­
tensify across the country, so they
expect to see the problem increas­
ing here, even if everyone does
everything right during this damp
and hot part of the year when mos­
quitoes breed.
“I'd like to see us get through
another season without a human
case, but I'd agree that it’s only a
matter of time." says Carl Pierce,
who oversees the county's testing
efforts. "W e've been lucky so far.”
The main piece of the official
prevention effort is barely recog­
nized by the general population. It
involves trapping mosquitoes and
their larvae for West Nile testing.
"I tell a lot of people what I do,
and they're like. 'Really, I didn’t
know we had a problem ,"' says
Josh Henman, whose job it is to
collect mosquito larvae in the stag­
nant water between Delta Park and
Interstate 5. “West N ile's going to
hit us pretty bad sooner or later."
Mosquitoes have not yet tested
positive for West Nile in the county.
In the event that mosquitoes test
positive, officials can only redouble
the amount that they spray for
mosquitoes and test the mosqui­
toes that aren't killed.
Chickens are enlisted in another
aspect of the testing efforts. Being
naturally exposed to mosquito bites
in their coop on Northeast Colum­
bia Boulevard, the chickens' blood
is regularly tested for the presence
continued
on pape 45
Governor to
Sign Project
Clean Slate
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is planning a
ceremonial signing for House Bill 3054, which
will fund Project Clean Slate, a grass roots
program bom out of the African American
Chamber of Commerce to help local residents
remove some civil and criminal court barriers
that have prevented them from obtaining
employment, housing, education and other
opportunities.
Project Clean Slate turned from a onetime
event to an ongoing activity that has helped
thousands of people convert court and traffic
fines into community service. In addition,
some people qualify to have minor criminal
convictions expunged, which have been a
barrier in obtaining employment or promo­
tions.
The program was recognized by the 2005
Spirit of Portland Award. Martin Luther
King Drum M ajor for Justice Award and
2006 N ew sm akerof the Year Award, nom i­
nated by local journalists. It has become a
tem plate for sim ilar efforts in California and
is currently featured in the sum m er issue of
Fortune Small Business Magazine, which is
PHOTO BA R AYMOND R l NDI.E M AN/T i H P( IR 11 ANI e O bs E RA E B
distributed worldwide to millions of A m eri­
Community Transitional School Principal Cheryl Bickle joins students to break ground on a new permanent home for
can Express business card holders.
the school at Northeast Killingsworth Street near Cully Boulevard.
The bill will provide $275,000 to the Project
Clean Slate through their fiscal agent for the
next legislative biennium.
Roy Jay, African American chamber execu­
tive and founder of Clean Slate, says state-
one thing that doesn't change in their
funding will pay administrative costs for con­
lives," Bickle said. "Students need some
tinuing the program. He says his organization
by R aymond R endleman
In a little over a year, the school raised stability if they are going to succeed in
also plans to leverage the money and apply for
nearly $3.4 million for land purchase and school and life."
T he P orti . and O bserver
other grants in order to expand Clean Slate
Since money started pouring in for the
In spite of the unseasonable rain, the facility construction. The students helped
services to other Oregon communities.
project in May 2006. contributors have
Community Transitional School broke by raising $625.65 selling holiday cards.
A bipartisan groupof legislators, including
ground last week on its first permanent
Principal Cheryl Bickle said that home­ included more than 25 different founda­
Greg McPherson, Kevin Cameron, Jackie
school for Portland's homeless children at less students have a hard enough time tions. many businesses and hundreds of
Winters, Ginny Burdick, Kate Brown, Avel
Northeast Killingsworth and Cully, after adjusting to their families' frequent moves individuals. Bickle especially credits a fi­
Gordly. Margaret Carter and many others were
leasing sites for 17 years.
and their generally chaotic living condi­ nancial partnership between U.S. Bank and
supporters o f the bill, which was authored by
The ceremony, hosted by State Sen. tions, so changing school locations Portland Family of Funds.
Rep. Chip Shields of northeast Portland.
Many spoke to the work ethic of thc
Ryan Deckhart, honored a dream toend the brought on additional stress and inhibited
A tentative date for the signing ceremony
disruption ofmoving six times since teach­ learning.
c o n tin u e d
on p ane 4 5
is Wednesday morning on Aug. 8.
ing began at thc Portland YWCA in 1990.
“For most of our students, school is the
Homeless School Breaks Ground
Ending 17 years of disruptive moves