August 2 2 ,2 0 0 7 _________________________________________ il? c J J o r t l a t t b
Page A3
© b s e rü e r
Activist Makes
Legislative Run
the sources, because a lot o f these
people h av e n 't had treatm ent for
o f getting sponsors by making addictions.”
She sees m any more under
sure that her cam paign would have
the approval o f many Portland ad d ressed p ro b lem s stem m ing
leaders, including the incum bent from dem ographic changes in the
State Rep. Jackie D ingfelder and surrounding neighborhoods.
"W e’re dealing with persons
A fric a n -A m e ric a n S en. A vel
w
ho
c a n ’t afford to live in north
G o rd ly , th e le g is la to r s w h o
east Portland that
opened the seat.
are being moved
D ingfelder has
o u t to c e n tr a l
an n o u n ced plans
n o rth e a st w h ere
to ru n fo r G o rd ly 's
they had never re
s e n a te
se a t.
ally lived before,”
Gordly, a long-time
sh e sa y s. " O u r
D e m o c ra t w h o
schools w ere h av
changed to Inde
ing ad ifficu lt tim e
pendent a year
and now are much
ago, is giving up
m ore ch allen g ed
politics to teach at
dealing with racial
Portland State Uni
and class issues
versity.
because they have
L ik e G o rd ly ,
Boston may not be
to deal with the
d isp e rs e m e n t o f
one to sim ply tow Cyreena Boston
p e rs o n s d u e to
the party line in
garn erin g support, as she has gentrification.”
Traffic issues are also a high
show n in serving her Catholic
priority for her as she considers
C hurch council.
"Faith has been essential in how' this district is bisected by
developing my com passion,” she Sandy Boulevard. 82nd Avenue
says, “ but my faith has evolved to and Interstate 205.
“ I th in k the sp e cia l th in g
a point that I d o n ’t fit in with
everything the church stands for: ab o u t th is d istric t is that it is
ce n tral, so all the issues that
prim arily I’m very pro-choice.”
Boston considers access to all really reso n ate w ith w hat p e r
kinds o f health services and co m sons m ight call p ro p er n o rth
m unity policing top priorities fo ra east P ortland, all the issues that
district that is currently having are really p rev alen t in that co m
som e o f the most blatant prob m unity, but then again also the
lem s with prostitution in the city. issu es that are p rev alen t in m id
“The first step is to be very co u n ty and E ast C ounty such
honest (about prostitution),” she as P ark ro se, also resonate right
says. "The next step is looking at in the m iddle o f this d istric t.”
con tin u ed
Gov. Ted Kulonoski welcomes a delegation led by Oregon business entrepreneur Roy Jay for a bill signing ceremony for Project
Clean Slate. The program gives people a second chance to clear up criminal and civil court judgments.
Clean Slate Bill Enacted
A state that has been know n for
environm ental issues, the bottle bill,
m edical research and high technol
ogy projects has stepped forw ard,
led by Gov. Ted K ulongoski, with
support from nearly the entire 2007
O regon legislature to sign into law
House Bill 3054 which provides the
first funding steps for Project Clean
Slate.
The program is the brainchild of
O reg o n b u sin e ss e n tre p re n e u r,
Roy Jay and the A frican A m erican
C ham ber o f Com m erce, w hich has
assisted literally thousands o f indi
viduals regain dri vers-liccnse privi
leges, expunge m inor crim inal co n
victions and get back on track to
gain or upgrade em ploym ent, hous
ing and other opportunities.
"O regon is the first state to ever
have or fund a program such as
this,” says Jay. “W e applaud our
M ultnom ah County D istrict A ttor
ney, C ircuit Court Judges, Public
D efenders. Private A ttorneys, Law
Enforcement Officials, DM V, Child
Support and city officials show ing
that our citizens can all be on the
same page for w orthw hile projects
like this.”
The funding will help with basic
financial stability for the program
w hich was being handled prim arily
by volunteers, A frican-A m erican
C ham ber and Ja y ’s personal con
tributions over the past tw o years.
Bruce M elvin, a recipient o f the
Project Clean Slate program said in
an ABC Television interview “ it
was like a blessing from G od that
Project Clean Slate was there for
m e.” M elvin was able to pay o ff
over $3,000in delinquent traffic fines
through com m unity service and
attending personal and com m unity
responsibility w orkshops.
Project Clean Slate has caught
the attention o f m any, garnering
aw ards as well as national recogni
tion. At least tw o organizations are
considering Portland, O regon as a
site for their future convention sim
ply because o f the leadership dem
onstrated to assist local citizens.
Jay says that his staff is planning to
develop a tem plate w hich can be
utilized in other qualifying cities.
F o r m o re in fo rm atio n , v isit
projectcleanslate.com .
Popular Dolls Get
Multicultural Makeover
Evacuees
Still Hurting
con tin u ed
fro m Front
sistan ce to the B lack C itiz e n ’s
C o a litio n in n o rth east P ortland.
“ W e ’re trying to pick up w here
C a th o lic C h a ritie s left o ff,” says
S helly C u rry , o ffice m an ag e r fo r
the coalition.
C a th o lic C h a ritie s e stim a tes
that it has helped 3 ,1 0 0 people
relo cate in O regon. Its w ebsite
c a lls the influx “ a m icrocosm o f
N ew O rleans: h o m eo w n ers and
w elfare recip ien ts, sc ien tists and
salesm en, som e L atino and w hite;
m ost are A fric an -A m erica n .”
S ta f f m e m b e rs a t C a th o lic
C h a ritie s have found housing and
em p lo y m e n t for m any o f these
ev acu e es, the la tte r by w orking
w ith Portland C om m unity C ollege
and its c o n tin u in g ed u c atio n pro
g ram . T h ey h av e a lso h elp ed
ev a cu e es n av ig ate F ederal E m er
gen cy M anagem ent A d m in istra
tion rules to receiv e assista n ce in
as tim ely a m an n er as possible.
But th eir $ 3 50,000 fund to pro
vide these se rv ic es ran dry as the
d isa ste r b ecam e a m ore distan t
m em o ry , a c c o rd in g to D en n is
K eenan, C a th o lic C h a ritie s ’ e x
ec u tiv e directo r.
E vacuees w ere able to survive
fro m Front
by R aymond R endeeman /T he P ortland O bserver
Joe Scott and Sheila Sherman still do not have their pre-Katrina quality of life. They have been
struggling to meet basic needs ever since they left the shelter in San Antonio where they met.
w ith this help, but m any find it
im p o ssib le to buy an o th er house
o r even estab lish a w ard ro b e for
work without a financial jum pstart.
T he Black C itiz e n ’s C o alitio n
plans to keep so licitin g g ran ts for
K atrin a v ictim s, w ho have c o n
tin u ed to face h ig h er u n em p lo y
m ent and ev ictio n rates than the
g en eral po p u latio n .
“T he b ig g est ro ad b lo ck is that
afte r tw o y ears peo p le think that
the ev acu ees sh o u ld be on th eir
fe e t by n o w , an d e v e ry th in g
sh o u ld be r o s y ,” sa y s W illie
B row n, ex e cu tiv e d irecto r o f the
co alitio n . “ But does anyone build
an en tire life in tw o y ears?"
(A P) — Toy store aisles are
getting a m ulticultural makeover.
Bolstered by the success o f
N ickelodeon's popular bilingual
children's character. Dora the Ex
plorer, and the spending power of
the n atio n ’s grow ing m inority
population, toy retailers across the
country are filling their shelves with
dolls whose skin colors and facial
features reflect the girls and boys
who play with them.
Although black and Hispanic
dolls have been around for d e
cades. the new er incarnations try
harder at authenticity, rather than
sim ply tinting the hair and skin
from "w hite" doll molds.
Now, discount retailer Kmart
hopes to cash in on a growing
appetite for ethnic toys am ong
m inority consum ers, and their ris
ing spending power. It's launch
ing its own initiative this month,
putting dozens o f m ulticultural
dolls on shelves in each o f its
1.400 stores.
W hen the rollout is com pleted
this week. Kmart stores will sell
nearly four dozen types o f ethnic
dolls — anearly fourfold increase
from w h at's currently available.
The dolls are flanked by an adver
tising cam paign in the sto re's
circulars and designed to appeal to
black, Hispanic and Asian parents.
"W e needed to be relevant to
them ," said Philipp Elliott, a toy
m erchandise m anager at Kmart, a
subsidiary o f H offm an Estates-
based Sears Holdings Corp.
Becom ing relevant to minority
shoppers can reap big benefits.
A bout one in three Americans is a
minority, according to the U.S. C en
sus Bureau. Between 2006and 2011.
th e s p e n d in g p o w e r o f the
cou n try ’s blacks, Asians, Native
Am ericans and multiracial shop
pers is expected to grow 38 percent,
to $1.9 tri 11 ion.
"People want a doll and a story
that reflects who they are," said
Julie Parks, a spokesw om an for
M attel's Am erican G irl, which in
cludes N ative A m erican, Hispanic
and black historical dolls, as well as
dolls with myriad skin, eye and hair
colorcombinations. "There is som e
thing about seeing a reflection o f
them selves in that character and in
that doll that they can relate to."
The next generation o f dolls have
diverse eyes, noses and mouths
instead o f the traditional "w hite"
dolls whose skin was dyed and
w hose hair was tinted in a darker
shade.
Second Bird with
West Nile Found
S ig n alin g the estab lish m e n t o f
W est N ile v irus in the co u n ty , a
dead robin found last w eek in the
K enton n eig h b o rh o o d o f north
P o rtlan d is the second bird to test
po sitive for the potentially deadly
d ise ase .
“T h is co n firm s that W est N ile
virus ise sta b lish e d in M ultnom ah
C o u n ty th is y e a r,” says C h ris
W irth, M anager o f M ultnom ah
C o u n ty ’s V ecto r and N uisance
C o n trol. "W e have not seen any
h u m a n c a s e s o r i g i n a t i n g in
M u ltnom ah C o u n ty , hut it does
m ean that people need to take
p r e c a u tio n s a g a in s t m o s q u i
to e s ."
W est N ile V irus is prim arily an
in fection o f birds. It is spread
w hen a m osq u ito feeds on an in
fected bird and then b ites a h u
I
m an. B irds can n o t tran sm it the
d isease to hum ans, n o r can it be
tran sm itted thro u g h p erso n -to -
p e rso n c o n ta c t, a c c o r d in g to
W irth.
‘M ost peo p le in fec ted w ith
W est Nile virus will have no sym p
tom s o r a m ild, flu -lik e illn e ss,”
states G ary O xm an , M u ltn o m ah
C ounty P ublic H ealth O fficer.
“T he infection is m ore serio u s for
people ov er the age o f 50, and
also in people w ith su p p ressed
im m une sy stem s."
T he best d efen se ag ain st W est
N ile virus is for in d iv id u als to
p ro tect th e m se lv es from m o s
q u ito bites by e lim in a tin g all
sou rces o f sta n d in g w ater, by
avoiding the o u tsid e at daw n and
dusk, and by w earing long pants
and D E E T insect rep ellen t.
Mon t miss the vregon Jtate
r air!
W e’ve aAAeA over 50 programs, contests, anA
events for 2 0 0 7
5ee Lucha Litre wrestling, Aog agility
competitions, 6 8 0 ,competitions a n i more. Try out the climbing
wall or state parh in the new 5ports, Health &. Recreation area.
OREGON SIATI
Or slow Aown with wine tastings in the garien. A n i Aon’t worry, all
’
of your favorite attractions are still here Whatever your passion,
AUGUST ZM-SEPTEMBER ) IN SAIEM
K
ORECOMUATEFAIfLORC
S 't
you’ ll finA it at
the
2007
Oregon State Tair!
Gates open this year at 10 a m