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