t
City of Roses
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII. Number 49
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • December 19. 2007
.Week ¡n
The Review
Fuel Standards Boosted
M arking the first increase in auto­
m obile fuel econom y in 32 years,
an energy bill boosting m ileage
m andates by 40 percent to 35 miles
per gallon passed the House 314-
1 (X) Tuesday. The laws would also
require increased energy efficiency
standards for appl iances and bui Id-
ings.
Christmas
at The GrOftO
Roy Leads Blazers Streak
Back-to-back
W e s te rn
C o n fe re n c e
Player o f the
W eek B ran ­
don Roy had
24 points and
eight assists
to le a d th e
Portland Trai 1B lazers to their eighth
straight victory, 88-76overthe New
O rleans H ornets on M onday night.
The Chapel o f Mary at The Grotto is
adorned for the Christmas season
as the sanctuary o ff Northeast 85th
Avenue and Sandy Boulevard hosts
its Festival o f Lights. The 20th-
annual event takes place with a
backdrop o f a half-million lights,
outdoor caroling, theatrical perfor­
mances, a petting zoo and puppet
theater. Gates will be open each
night through Dec. 30 from 5 to
9:30 p.m., except Christmas Day.
See sports, page A7.
Smith Defends Lott
S p e a k in g on
the Senate floor
T uesday, Sen.
G ordon Smith,
R-Ore. offered a
passionate d e­
fense o f the pro­
se g re g a tio n ist
com m ents m ade by his colleague
and friend. Sen. Trent Lott three
years ago, asserting that Lott was
m isconstrued w hen he asserted
that if Strom T hurm ond's Dixicrat
1948 presidential ticket had won
"we w ouldn't have had all these
problem s over all these years."
Wife Accidentally Killed
V V 4* '
kfile'd his
Osbrink, 23, while
----- ing a pistol from a
holster in the couple's Tualatin
apartm ent Sunday night. Her hus­
band, 24-year-old Ryan Michael
O sbrink was scheduled to start
w o rk w ith th e C lark C o u n ty
S h eriffs O ffice on W ednesday.
Sweetener Tax Proposed
T o trim the city ’s w aistline and
health-care budget, San Francisco
M ayor G avin Newsom proposed
M onday charging stores a fee for
selling drinks sweetened with high-
fructose com syrup, a culprit in the
nationw ide obesity epidemic.
Car Mangles Crowd
Nine Egyptians were killed and
seven injured on M onday when a
car with failed brakes ploughed
into a crow d o f hundreds celebrat­
ing a religious festival on the Red
Sea coast.
Inmates Make Escape
Police were still searching this week
for tw o inm ates from the high-se­
curity unit o f New Jersey’s Union
County jail w ho used photos o f
bikini-clad w omen to hide holes
they used to escape Saturday.
Congress Urged to Overhaul Foster Care
tem ," said W illiam C. Bell, president and
ch ief executive officer o f Casey Family Pro­
gram s. “ By focusing on im proving the w ell­
being o f children and fam ilies o f color, we
have an opportunity to create a more fair and
equitable system for all children and families
and to substantially reduce the need for
African A m ericans and Caucasians within
sim ilar incom e groups.
The G A O also docum ented unequal treat­
ment o f A frican-A m erican children in re­
ceiving services from child-w elfare agen­
cies: they stay in foster care longer; they are
A dvocates concerned about disparities
moved to different foster hom es more fre­
in the child-w elfare system testi­
quently; they are less likely to be
fied last week before the U.S. House
reunited with their own families,
W ays and M eans Com m ittee, cit­
and they have less chance o f find­
ing the need for all children to grow
ing an alternative or adoptive fam ­
up in safe and caring fam ilies with
ily willing to make a lifelong perma­
equal access to opportunity.
nent com m itm ent.
Representatives from theC asey-
The G A O recom m endations in­
C SSP A lliance for Racial Equity in
clude
am ending child-w elfare fi­
Chi Id Wei fare called a recent G ov­
nancing.
im proving technical as­
ernm ent Accountability O ffice re­
sistance
and
accountability, e x ­
port on the over-representation of
panding
com
m
unity supports and
A frican-A m erican children in the
services,
and
increasing
cultural
child welfare system a “clarion call
com
petenciesof
child-welfare
lead­
to action” for everyone w ho cares
ers
and
staff.
about the nation’s children and
The alliance proposes several
families.
specific
action steps, including sup­
A lliance leaders called for rais­
port
for
program
s and services that
ing aw areness about the over-rep­
encourage
lifelong
fam ily connec­
resentation o f A frican-A m erican
tions
for
children.
This requires
children in foster care and for rec­
am
ending
the
federal
financing
ognizing this as an urgent problem
structure
to
prom
ote
more
family
that requires im m ediate action.
preservation
and
prevention
efforts
“O uroverarching objective must
that keep children from entering
be to ensure that every child and
in to care, thereby helping increase
fam ily, regardless o f race, culture
safe
reunification, guardianship
or ethnicity, receives the best and Regina Schofield, managing director o f public policy for Seattle-based Casey Family Programs,
care,
kinship
care and post-perm a­
m ost appropriate support at each speaks during a Capitol Hill briefing on disparities in the foster-care system. Looking on is Patrick
nency
efforts.
and every encounter in the sys­ McCarthy o f Annie E. Casey Foundation.
To fix disparities,
unequal treatment
foster care in the generations ahead.”
The report, African A merican Children in
Foster Care, found that A frican-A m erican
children are much more likely to languish in
foster care, even though research shows no
significant difference in the overall inci­
dence o f child abuse and neglect between
Community Centers Celebrate KWANZA A
Special activities planned
Kwanzaa, a unique holiday cel­
ebrating the strengths and accom ­
plishm ents o f the A frican-A m eri­
can com m unity, will be celebrated
a, two Portland Parks and Recre­
ation sites serving north and north­
east Portland.
On W ednesday. Dec. 26. the
Matt D ishm an C om ipunity Center,
77N .E. Knott St., will honorthe first
day of K w anzaa, IJm oja (a Swahili
word for unity), with a presentation
o f the Feast o f the Seven Tables
and perf orm ance by Liquid M oves
Entertainment. The event runs from
5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the candle
lighting at 6:30 p.m.
The Interstate Firehouse Cultural
C e n te r, 5340 N. Interstate, honors
Kujichagulia (self-determination),
the second day o f Kwanzaa, with live
performances by poets and ifrum-
mers throughout the IFCC gallery
from 4:30 to 7:30 p.nt. on Thursday,
Dec. 27. The candle lighting cer­
emony will be held at 6:30 p.m.
IF C C a lso is p re s e n tin g a
Kwanzaa Marketplace from 11 a m.
to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays
through Dec. 30. The M arketplace
w ill a lso be o p en d u rin g th e
K ujichaguliacelebrationonT hurs
day. Dec. 27.
G reat gifts and art finds by A t ri -
<
>
can A m erican artists will be avail­
able. as well as art supplies, décor,
and ideas for creating one's own
K wanzaa Celebration. A rtists fea­
tured at the M arketplace include
DonnaSmith, Renee Mitchell. Kemi
A rig ib o n , V iv ie n n e M a th is ,
K ahunya W ario, M arsalis Brown.
GG, Rom aine Harris, Jaim e Lee
C h ristian a. W anda W right and
Blacque Butterfly.
The IFCC Gallery will feature the
w orks o f artists G G , M o, Art
A lexander. Raym ond A lexander,
Adrienc C ruz. Helen M ontgom ery
and W anda W right, each o f whom
have created an altar dedicated to
A family celebrates Kwanzaa.
<
continued
on page A3