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www.portlandobserver.com
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII, Number 45
Wednesday • November 21, 2007
.Week in
Thc Review
Chavez on Fourth Avenue?
In response to the increasing
con tro v ersy su rro u n d in g the
proposal to honor C esar Chavez
by renaming Interstate A venue,
Portland’s City Council is now
looking into changing the signs
on Southw est Fourth Avenue
that passes in front o f City Hall
downtown. See photo, page A2.
Unusually Violent Weekend
A pair of siblings was among
those targeted during three sepa­
rate shootings that left a man
and woman dead ju st blocks
apart from each other in north
P o rtla n d la st w eek en d . See
sto ry , page A2.
McClellan Blames Bush
In his forthcoming book, Former
W hite House press secretary
Sco tt M cC lellan blam es his
form er bosses President Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney
for efforts to mislead the public
about the role of W hite House
aides in leaking the identity of a
CIA operative.
Transfer Called a Sham
An attorney on Monday called
the U.S. m ilitary’s plans to turn
over an aw ard-w inning A ssoci­
ated Press photographer to an
Iraqi court a "sham of due pro­
cess.” The m ilitary refuses to
say what evidence it has against
Bilal Hussein, the photographer
it has already im prisoned w ith­
out charges for more than 19
m onths.
Second Amendment Standoff
The Supreme Court said Tuesday
it will decide whether the District
of Columbia can ban handguns, a
case that could produce the most
in-depth examination of the con­
stitutional right to bear arms in
nearly 70 years.
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P orti . and O bserver
Marsha (from left), Marshay and Asianique share the spirit o f Thanksgiving with food donations and volunteer service during a free community dinner Saturday
at Highland Church on Northeast Alberta Street.
rized in the 2002 farm bill and both
programs are in desperate need of
new investments,” Bristol said.
"Hunger is an income issue,”
states Patti Whitney-Wise, execu­
tive director of the Oregon Hunger
Relief Task Force. "With the rising
Oregon had 11.9 percent of cs struggle to put food on the table,” income come at the same time sup­
cost of food, the food-stamp dollar
households struggling with hun­ said Rachel Bristol, chief executive plies at area food banks are the
doesn’t cover as much as it has in
ger or food insecurity, according to officer of the Oregon Food Bank. lowest in years.
the past. We have been losing
the latest figures from U.S. Depart­ "The high cost o f housing, health
Federal nutrition programs such
ground in the Food Stamp Program
ment of Agriculture's. Food inse­ care, childcare and fuel make it dif­ as food stamps and the Federal
for years because benefits were not
curity is the USDA term to describe ficult for low-income individuals Emergency Food Assistance Pro­
indexed to inflation. Most people
households that struggled with and fami I ies to have enough money gram used to help fill the gap.
affording enough food.
to pay for food.”
“But inflation has weakened both
continued
on page A 7
“Too many Oregon families
The dire consequences of low programs since they were reautho-
Struggling with Hunger
Food-bank
shelves are
going bare
Hate Crimes on Rise
Lawyers Break
Down Barriers
As civil-rights advocates increas­
ingly take to the streets to protest
what they call official indifference
to attacks agai nst minorities, hate-
crime incidents rose nearly eight
percent last year, the FBI reported
Monday. In Oregon and Wash­
ington. hate crimes are up slightly.
See story, page A2.
Blame Shifts Following Slip
University o f Oregon football
coach Mike Bellotti defended what
he called the decision of doctors
and starquarterback Dennis Dixon
to play with a preexisting knee
condition in Thursday’s loss to
Arizona that left Dixon injured and
Oregon down seven slots in the
rankings.
Big Easy Flips Politically
In one of the clearest signs yet of
Hurricane Katrina's lasting demo­
graphic impact, the New Orleans
City Council will have a white
majority for the first time in over
two decades after Saturday elec­
tions, decided largely along racial
lines.
The attorneys
that volunteer are
just wonderful, and
they 've done an
incredible amount
o f work fo r seniors.
photo by R aymond
R endi
eman /T he P orti . and O bserver
Senior Law Project volunteer lawyer Eric Kearney meets with Eva Ingram at her Gresham Manor
apartment to discuss issues concerning Social Security payments. After an initial meeting at a
senior center. Kearney and the other 100 or so legal experts who participate often make house
calls for elders that have trouble getting around.
I
w itnessed also by her son and
daughter, the m anagers delayed
in p ro v id in g c o m p e n sa tio n .
“ You regularly ask them when
they’re going to pay, and they
say it’s only been two m onths,
three months, four months, what
by R ay mond R endeeman
T he P ortland O bserver
have you,” Ingram says.
Legal issues can be a major
Ingram was reluctant to get
source of hassle and anxiety for professional help because she
anyone, regardless o f circum ­ feared paying a large sum just
stance. For those 60 and over, for a consultation. A fter the
decreased mobility and limited in­ senior-care facility failed to re­
come can make justice even more spond to a sm all-claim s ju d g ­
ment, she sought help at the
difficult to com e by.
The fact that seniors can have East County YWCA, which just
additional barriers to fair treat­ happened to be one o f the se­
ment led Legal Aid Services of nior centers hosting the Law
Oregon to create the Senior Law Project.
Project. Each month the program
organizes 25 free advisory clinics
at nine senior centers through­
out M ultnomah County.
In a pro-bono outreach effort
receiving increased attention and
overwhelming praise, the approxi­
m ately 100 volunteer law yers
serve about 1,000 seniors each
year.
"The attorneys that volunteer
are just w onderful, and they've
-LynneLloyd
done an incredible amount of work
for seniors," says Lynne Lloyd,
who helps oversee thc project.
Once she enlisted volunteer
Eva Ingram can attest from per­ lawyer Eric Kearney in the fight,
sonal experience to the project's she soon got paid back for the
helpfulness. A widow living on a ring. Kearney related with thc
fixed income, Ingram was horri­ m a n a g e r's concerns, but his
fied to find a ring o f hers missing phone calls m ade the senior-
from thc list o f items a previous care facility face a simple matter
senior-care facility had agreed to of rem uneration or court order.
keep vaulted w hile she rehabili­
Even arranging transporta-
tated from a stroke.
Despite the w ritten agreem ent
continued
on page A 6
By volunteering
to give seniors
free legal advice