PageA2 ib ‘ P o rtia n i» (O bse rtier February 13. 2008 Black History Month Obama Victories Begin to Mount Barack Wins Portland the remaining to be determined during Tuesday’s Nov. 19 Wash­ ington Primary Election. In Vancouver, Clark County Democrats reported that 8,299 people participated in theircaueuses. a record that far exceeded the previ­ ous high of 3,200 who participated in 2(X)4. County Republicans reported that 1,395 people showed up for their caucuses. In the count needed to win the D e m o c ra tic n o m in a tio n , C lin to n had 1,147 d e le g a te s versus 1,124 for O bam a before T u e sd a y 's prim aries and c a u ­ c u se s in W a sh in g to n , D .C ., M aryland and V irginia. Aides to Clinton said she was is in the midst of a difficult period in which she could lose 10 straight contests. She is hoping to rebound on March 4. in primaries in the big­ ger states Ohio and Texas, where both candidates have already be­ gun television advertising. Erodes Clinton delegate lead Straw Poll Illinois U.S. Sen Barack Obama won a straw poll at the Tiffany Center in down­ town Portland during a Feb. 5 election night party. More than 400 Dem o­ crats attended the Super Tuesday event. “There is so much enthu­ siasm for a change in direc­ tion in the W hite House,” said M eredith Wood Smith, chair of the Oregon Demo­ cratic Party. “ We will capi­ talize on the record interest in our early prim aries. We will ride this wave all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania A venue.” Sen. Barack Obama won the Vir­ ginia primary Tuesday and reached out for victories in nearby Mary­ land and the District of Columbia. Obama’s triumph made it six straight over Clinton, the former first lady, now struggling to keep up a race she once commanded. Last Saturday, Obama won ev­ ery county in Washington state's Democratic presidential caucuses. Obama got 68 percent of the total vote, compared to 31 percent for Clinton. On the Republican side in Washington. Sen. John McCain got 25.6 percent, compared to 23.3 per­ cent for Gov. Mike Huckabee and 21 percent for Rep. Ron Paul. All of the state’s national con­ vention delegates were at stake for Dem ocrats, while Republicans awarded half their delegates with Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-lll., visits a Metro transit station in Washington, D.C. Tuesday where voters were participating in a Democratic Party primary. (AP photo) Gang Violence Confronted After teenager gets shot BLACKUNITEDFUND O F O R E G O N Please consider donating to the Black United Fund during your workplace or employee giving campaign. Thanks to all of the companies that allow us to share wha, we are doing to help improve low-income communities! Visit our website at www.buldr.org to see if your company is listed, checkout our new video, and view the community calendar and job source page. The 18th Annual Cascade Festival of 1 F IL M S by R aymond R endi . iman T hi P ortland O bserver Gang experts are worried about spiraling youth violenee after a 15-year-old was shot and in jured near N o rth e a st K illin g w o rth Street and Cully Boulevard on Sunday. R u ssC o m o o f the Portland Po­ lice Bureau told KATU that he’s seen more gang members in the metropolitan area than at any time in the last 10 years that he’s worked gang enforcem ent. A ccording to Rob Ingram , youth-gang-prevention co o rd i­ nator for the m ayor’s office, the numbers of gang related incidents have increased, but said the exact amount may have been exagger­ ated at the encouragem ent o f the media. N onetheless, he argues that gang enforcem ent has been hurt by recent disinvestm ent in pre­ vention programs. “Portland had made some great strides, and then all o f a sudden we took a huge step backw ards,” Rob Ingram Ingram told the Portland O b­ server. "This office w asn't es­ tablished until 2006. and in 2005 all the outreach w orkers were taken off the street, so that put us back a little bit into prehistoric times.” W hile som e m oney has re­ turned for fighting gangs, he said the pro b lem had been c o m ­ pounded by the spread o f vio­ lence out o f its traditional north and northeast Portland urea. “T here’s still a lot of work to do,” he said. "W e've got five outreach w orkers total that are trying to cover the entire city.” Ingram said people need to rec­ ognize the exact scope of the prob­ lem in order for appropriate solu­ tions. "The gang mem bers continue to strategize, collaborate, grow and develop, and so we have to make sure that we do too,” he said. The time is always right to do what At the Housing Authority of Martin Luther King, Jr. Portland, we are committed to workforce and contracting diversity. We support participation of disadvantaged, minority-owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses on HAP projects. In 2008 we will be seeking partners for the rehabilitation of the Grove Hotel, the development of the downtown Resource Access Center, and various capital projects in our public housing portfolio. Visit our website at www.hapdx.org or call Jerry Walker, HAP’s Purchasing A C e le b ra tio n of B la c k H is to ry M onth a t PCC’s C a s c a d e C am pus Manager, at 503-802-8509 to learn about opportunities. February 1 - March 1,2008 Thursdays through Saturdays Free and Open to the Public Film List and Screening Times at www.africanfilmfestival.org Portland Community College i ♦ We’re all about your future. ♦ I