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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2007)
Hiliií ' Jäorthm ii (©bserlier years, community service (d W 1 í itu n f R n c o c ’ ‘City of Roses T e n s o f th o u sa n d s o f p ro te s te rs r a llie d T h u rs d a y in Jena, A rk. a g a in s t w h a t th e y see as a double standard o f prosecution for blacks and whites. The plight of the so-called Jena Six becam e a flashpoint for one the biggest civil- rights dem onstrations in years. See story, page A2. Protests in Myanmar T housands o f people protested against the m ilitary governm ent M yanm arT uesday, the eighth day o f street dem onstrations in the country which was formerly known as Burm a. P resident Bush an nounced new U.S. sanctions ac cusing the m ilitary dictatorship of im posing "a 19-year reign o f fear" that denies basic freedom s o f | speech, assem bly and worship. Minimum Wage to Rise Oregon has announced a 15-cents-1 per-hour cost-of-living increase, effective at the end o f this year, for I m inim um -w age workers. T he in crease to $7.95 an hour is signifi cantly higherthan the federal m ini mum w age o f $5.85 an hour. See | story, page A3. Food Bank Hurting T h e O re g o n Food Bank is hurting for do nations as its w areh o u se s h e lv e s go| em pty. In the last few weeks, | w eekly offer in g s have I dropped by 25- 75 percent and statew ide de liv e r ie s a re dow n 200,000 pounds per week, officials said. See story,page A i l . [ A Portland Public School District em ployee accused o f an insider theft ring pleaded no, guilty in court T uesday. Police arrested Cristan M ocan, 24, as he got off of a plane returning from a honey m oon in Fiji last week. Tw o others also faced charges in the case. Race for the Cure Record TheK om an Race for the Cure drew | nearly 50,fXM) people Sunday, a record for the annual Portland event raising m oney to fight and prevent breast cancer. Committed to Cultural Diversity Wednesday • September 26, 2007 24-Hour Fitness next in line for major MLK development bv L ee P erlman T he P ortland O bserver "A t this moment, things are look- ing great," Ray Leary says. The reference is to the local A f rican-A m erican leader’s V anport Square, a m ajor developm ent o f m inority-ow ned business in the hear, o f northeast Portland’s black community. The first store com ing to an en tirely rem olded block at 5225 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. will be the beauty supply outlet Living Color, set to open this month. Four teen other com m ercial spaces in the blo ck 's 30,000 square foot struc ture have been sold and are ex pected to open by the end o f D e cember. In addition, dem olition has b e gun on what wil 1 be the site o f Phase II o f V anport Square: the Pacific- N orthw est’s first M agic Johnson 24-H our Fitness facility, a signa ture sports fitness endeavor ow ned by the form er Los A ngeles Lakers star. It will take up an entire block north o f A lberta Street on M LK with tw o gym nasium s and full line o f athletic equipm ent. O th er b u sin e sse s w aitin g to open in the first phase are M arco Shaw , ow ner and head ch ef o f Fife restaurant, who will establish his new H ard S h ell re s ta u ra n t in V anport; Alem Grebrehi wat, ow ner o f the Q ueen o f Sheba Ethiopian restaurant; E dw ardo N orell, w ho will m ove his Norell Design bilin gual sign business from his garage to Vanport; Laurie Cary D esign; Nghi Tran ’ s State Farm office; C. P. A. Rick Harris; and Hung K im ’s Living Color. In a pioneering m ove, m ost of the new businesses will also own their sections o f building, making Vanport Phase I, a com m ercial con dominium. V anport Square is a trium ph for Leary and his partner, northeast Portland resident Jeana W oolley, but a hard-fought one. W hen the Portland Development Commission selected them to develop the site in 1999, they w ere part o f a develop m e n t te a m th a t f e a tu re d th e G erding-E dlen Co., creator o f the Pearl D istrict’s five square block Brewery Blocks project, and one of the city ’s largest and m ost prolific developers. The original plans w ere for a 500,000 square foot m ega-project that included rental housing, town homes, retail and office, and a 60,000 square foot grocery. At the tim e, Leary w asn ’t even an independent agent; he w as an em p lo y ee o f A didas, for whom he had helped an outlet store on N ortheast M LK and A lberta Street. But w hen no m ajor grocery or o th e r a n c h o r co u ld be fo u n d , G erding-Edlen dropped out. W hen Leary and W oolley secured a c all ing center to occupy the space, neighbors who had bought into the original concept felt betrayed; not ’ only did they oppose the new plan, but som e o f they called for Leary and W oolley to be replaced as d e velopers. continued on page A5 photo bv M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Ray Leary stands next to his major development “ Vanport Square, " soon to open on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the heart o f the African American community. Diversity Embraced on Killingsworth Three new minority-owned restaurants open w ith g r e a t b a r b e q u e in S t. J o h n s. T h e e n th u s ia s tic c u s to m e r c o m m e n ts th a t he p ro u d ly p o sts on his w e b site d o n ’t m is re p re se n t w h at y o u ’ll h e a r m ost p e o p le say as th e y le av e th e re sta u ra n t. by R aymond R endi . eman A lth o u g h th e n e ig h b o rh o o d T he P ortland O bserver a lre a d y h as m an y p o p u la r I t’s d iffic u lt to fin d tw o m in o r b a rb e q u e sp o ts . H a rriso n a t ity -o w n e d b u s in e s s e s w ith in a few trib u te s his su c c e ss to fin d in g b lo c k s o f o n e a n o th e r th e se d a y s on a street that lack ed a " rib o lo g ist" M ississip p i A v en u e o r A lb erta S treet, w h o u ses real sm o k e an d fre sh , h a v e n s fo r th e A fric a n -A m e ric a n n atu ra l m eats. c o m m u n ity a d e c a d e ag o . B ut on B u sin ess h as b een s lo w e r fo r N o rth K illin g sw o rth S tre e t th is y ear, J a m a l's o v e r th e p ast h a lf y ea r, a b u m p e r c ro p o f m in o rity -o w n e d th e s a m e a m o u n t o f tim e re s ta u ra n ts h as a p p e a re d . H a ro ld ’s h as b een o p en . T he harvest o f restau ran ts there is “ So far it's g o in g good, but w e no accident, either. H aro ld ’s B arbeque n e e d m o re c u s to m e r s ," sa y s o w n er H arold H arrison m oved clo ser J a m a l's W a el M o u sa , w h o se to the city ce n te r to take ad v an tag e o f u n c le o w n s th e r e s ta u r a n t. b u sin e ss-lo a n d e a ls, E ’N joni C afé “ People are co m in g back, though, Wael and Atef Mousa welcome customers to their new restaurant, Jamals Café, located at ow ner Sonya D a m te w sees becau se they like the fo o d .” K illingsw orth as P o rtla n d 's p rem iere 300 N. Killingsworth St. A sm all g ro u p o f d ieh ard s has p ilo tos by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserv er area to celebrate im m igrant co m m u already d isco v ered the im p re s nity and J a m a l’s C afé hopes to use the siv e list o f eight fish on the back street to repeat the su ccess o f a sim i o f Ja m a l's m enu. O n the front lar restaurant that the fam ily runs in a the m enu, y o u ’ll find the sta n div erse part o f C lev elan d . d ard set o f M idw estern hot sa n d N um erous factors thus co n trib u te w ic h e s an d h a m b u rg e rs th a t to th e su rg e in m in o rity v en tu res, M ousa ex p ects to be his bread including targeted in v estm en t through and b u tter d u rin g the school year. o rg an izatio n s like the P o rtland D evel M oney seem s to be alm o st a opm en t C om m issio n , a strong legacy ns n o n -issu e for D am tew , on the o f div ersity in the area and still rela o th e r h an d , as she o p e n e d tiv e ly low re n ts c o m p a re d to the E ’N jo n i's d o o rs for the first tim e am ount o f pedestrian traffic. last m onth. S ay in g that if she R estaurants hope to attract a high earn ed an y th in g , m ost o f it w ould volum e to ov erco m e large o v erh ead g o to c h a rity , she sta rted the costs asso ciated w ith such a rapidly restaurant m ostly as an e x p e ri g en trify in g area, and the new co m ers m ent in co m m u n ity building. to K illingsw orth are o ff to a d ecent A fter w o rk in g w ith A frican sta rt. refu g ees for 10 years. D am tew H a r o ld ’s d re w th e m o st im m e d i becam e sick o f the form al natu- a te s u c c e s s , p r o b a b ly b e c a u s e Harold Harrison, owner o f Harold's Barbecue, 902 N. Kilingsworth St., uses real smoke and H arriso n had a lre a d y tie d h is n am e conlinued on page A5 I T ; '2 S 3> s a = 'S 3 ¿ - , tu www.portlandobserver.com Vanport Square Near Complete Standing Up for Equality School Theft Ring Busted See story, Section B , .Week ¡n The Review Nike Tuesday unveiled what it said is the first shoe designed specifi cally for A m erican Indians, an ef fort aim ing at prom oting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates. The com pany says the A ir N ative N 7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape o f A m erican Indians, and has a culturally specific look. Í Established in 1970 Volume XXXVII, Number 37 Shoe for American Indians Z < t\ V fresh, natural meats to keep customers coming back. I ’T fl