50ft
Southern California * **
Wildfires Rage
Daylight Savings
Time Ends
w
kZ
y ^ C l f tj y
Clocks turn back one
^ un(jay at 2 a.m.
Hundreds o f homes tire destroyed
in wind- wh ipped flames
fJ o u r
* community
service
COI
-
See page A2, inside
‘City of Roses’
P
CtSlHI i C h nrl in
70
Established
in IQ
1970
Second Dead Cyclist
A c y c list w as killed M onday on
N orth Interstate A venue by a
garbage truck m aking a right turn
in a near replay o f an o th er fatal
crash that occu rred d ow ntow n
less than tw o w eeks ago, sp a rk ­
ing increased frustratio n ov er
how vehicles and bikes share
the road. S ee p ag e A 5.
New Orleans Flooding
A fter eight inches o f rain on M on­
day, fears o f another disaster on
the scale o f H urricane K atrina
eased as waist-high flood waters
began to recede Tuesday in New
O rleans once drainage pum ps be­
gan to keep up.
vvwvv.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII, Number 41
TUWeek in
The Review
tartari*! n /s ri I nn J r k U r n r i/a
Wednesday • October 24, 2007
East County Flash Point
Population
challenges
authorities
by R aymond
R endi . eman
T he P ortland O bserver
Increased police patrols near
G resham ’s border quelled a recent
series o f violent incidents, but law
enforcement alone can ’ t stop a num ­
ber o f social hurricanes gaining m o­
mentum in the growing suburb.
As with many parts o f Portland ’ s
crumbling outer ring o f neighbor­
hoods, much o f East County suffers
from disproportionate unem ploy­
ment, slumlord activity, high energy
costs and long com m uter distances.
T here’s a worry that violence will
resurface without further action.
A precipitous dem ographic shift
in the past decade m ade G resham
the state’s fourth-largest city w ith­
out the concentration o f urban ser­
vices to help those struggling with
change am id increasingly difficult
econom ic conditions.
The area around 162nd and East
Burnside had been a flash point
Leaders Organize March
C iv il-rig h ts leaders co n cern ed
about the legal m eans o f p ro s­
ecu ted cases like those that led
to the Jen a Six trial ca lle d T u e s­
day fo r A m ericans not to spend
any m oney on N ov. 2 as an e c o ­
nom ic b o y co tt o f the fed eral
g o v ern m e n t’s h andling o f hate
crim es. A N ov. 16 m arch on J u s­
tice D epartm ent head q u arters in
W ashington is also planned.
Obama Blasts FCC
D e m o c r a tic
p re s id e n tia l
fro n tru n n e r Sen. B arack O bam a
called “ irre sp o n sib le" a plan by
the R epublican ch airm an o f the
F ederal C o m m u n icatio n s C o m ­
m ission, criticiz in g M onday the
a g e n c y ’s reco rd in prom o tin g
m inority o w n ersh ip in m edia
co m p an ies as it co n sid ers the
elim in atio n o f a ban ag a in st a
single com pany ow ning a b ro ad ­
ca st station and a n ew sp ap er in
the sam e m arket.
photo by
GOP Conservative Contest
R udy G iuliani and M itt R om ney
d efended th e irc o n se rv a tiv e c re ­
d en tials in the face o f pointed
attac k s from ca m p a ig n riv als
S unday night in the m ost ag ­
g ressiv e d ebate to date o f R e­
p u b lican s in the race fo r the
W hite H ouse.
R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
Before beginning work in East County, Gresham resident Sarah Edmond (right) regularly rides Max
to Gateway Transit Center, which is near her daughter's daycare site.
Gresham Police Chief Carla Piluso defines a healthy community
as one that is safe, productive and violence-free. Her holistic
approach to gang prevention is outlined in the billboard pictured.
resulting from other social prob­
lems. say police, w ho believe that
their action will have little long­
term effect without a renewed effort
to partner with social-service agen­
cies that assist in areas outside the
traditional realm o f law enforcement.
"The challenge lor all of East
C ounty, not ju st Gresham , is that
funding dollars for the social ser­
vices is very limited." says Gresham
Police C hief C arla Piluso. "It’s not
a challenge ju st for law enforce­
ment; it’s a challenge for all those
pieces to the puzzle."
W ith an eye to relieving some of
continued
on pane A8
Bush Touts Missiles
Soon afte r D efense S ecretary
R obert G ates w arned o f a c tiv a t­
ing m issile -d e fe n se sites w ith ­
o ut “d efinitive p r o o f ’ o f a threat,
P re sid e n t B ush d e fe n d e d his
se cu rity p o lic ie s T u esd a y by
saying that p lans fo r U .S .-led
m issile system s in E urope are
u rgently needed to co u n te r an
em erging threat o f attack by Iran.
African Peace Prize
PERM IT
NO. 1 6 1 0
PORTLAND OR
US POSTAGE
PAID
PRESORT STD
F or d eliv erin g secu rity , health,
ed ucation and eco n o m ic d e v e l­
o p m e n t, fo rm e r M o z am b iq u e
P resident Joaq u im C h issan o re ­
ceived the inaugural P rice for
A chievem ent in A frican L ead er­
ship M onday. W ith a $5 m illion
initial paym ent, plus $ 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 a
y ear for life, the prize ex ceed s
the $1.3 m illion o f the N obel
Peace Prize.
HalLween
Harvest Fun
Desyre Blackburn, a student at Rachel Carson
Middle School in Aloha, finds a pumpkin that's
ju s t right for some Halloween fun during a
visit to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserv er
photo by
Blazers business portfolio, includ­
ing all team business activities, the
Rose Q uarter and Rose City Radio.
M iller most recently was vice
president and general m anager o f
Nike Basketball, responsible for the
the region’s Jordan Brand. Nike Basketball and
m o st s u c ­ Converse. An experienced busi­
cessful busi- ness and com m unity leader, he is a
n e s s m e n . nationally renowned role model for
and the im ­ youth and entrepreneurship.
Oden, drafted as a franchise turn­
portant role
c o m m u n ity around player in June, is a 7-foot
o r g a n i z a ­ center that began his basketball
tions play in career in high school w here he was
eg Oden
h e a lth , named 2(M 16 Naismith Prep Player of
vitality and the Year. He won numerous awards
z-term sustainability o f our re- during his college basketball c a ­
reer, including being named N ABC
1c was named president o f the National D efensive Player o f the
il Blazers in July and is respon- Year and A ssociated Press All-
p f n r Jill iis n t'c lk o f the T ru il
America First Team.
Equal Opportunity Focus
Blazer president, top pick to address Urban League
Larry G. M iller, president o f the
Portland Trail Blazers, will deliver
the keynote address at the Urban
League of P ortland's Equal O ppor­
tunity Day Aw ards Dinner on T ues­
d ay ,N o v .6. Trail B lazcrcenterand
num ber-one NBA draft pick Greg
O den will also address the annual
ev en t to suppo rt the n o n p ro fit
group’s education, em ploym ent,
senior services, econom ic devel­
opm ent and advocacy programs.
Oregon State Sen. A vel L. Gordly
o f Portland will be the recipient o f
the inaugural Urban League o f
Portland's Edwin C. "Bill" Berry
L e a d e rs h ip
Award, recog­
nizing a life­
time o f service
and ach iev e­
ment. Long­
tim e educator
an d sta u n c h
c o m m u n ity
a d v o c a t e Larry Miller
Carolyn Marie
Leonard wi 11 also be recognized for
outstanding service to the com m u ­
nity.
M iller will speak about his in ­
spiring journey to becom e one of
The them e o f this y ear’s dinner
is “The O pportunity Com pact -
Blueprint for Econom ic Equality",
an action plan developed in co n ­
cert with the National Urban League
to address the challenges faced by
urban com m unities.
H onorary co-chairs o f the event
will be civic activist Loen Dozono
and Sam B rooks, p resid en t o f
Brooks Staffing and chairm an of
the Portland B usiness Alliance.
KATU A nchor and Reporter Anna
Song will be the em cee.
A no-host reception begins at
5:45 p.m., follow ed by dinner and
the program at 6:45 p.m. at the O r­
egon Convention Center, located
at 777 N.E. M artin Luther King Jr.
Blvd. For ticket inform ation and
continued
I
on pane A8