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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 2008)
www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On M etro Hoops for Obama Candidate's brother-in- law referees local voter registration event Legend profiled in American Maste rs document a ry See page B7 See Arts and Entertainment, inside Il!‘ ^Jnvtlanb (©bscruer /^om iriu nity C a le n d a r A p ril 30. 2008 Responding to Rising Food Costs Courthouse Tours W ednesday, April 30 from 9a.m . to 3 p.m., the public is invited to a free tour o f the M ultnom ah County C ourthouse and Jus tice C enter, 1120 S.W . Third Ave. The tours are m ade available as part o f C om m unity Law Week. Mayoral Candidates W ednesday, April 30, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.. Reflections Coffeehouse and Book store, 446 N.E. K illingsw orth, will host a Red Beans & Rice d inner as an opportu nity to meet P ortland’s m ayoral candi dates. For more information, call 503-445- 1321or503-267-8713. Chosen Generation Concert Friday, May 2, Chosen G eneration at 7 p.m. will be undergoing their first live recording at the C rossroads C om m unity Church, 7708 N.E. 78th St. in Vancouver. All are invited to attend. For m ore infor mation, call 503-577-9239. Garden Clean-Up Party Saturday, May 3 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m „ the Portland Parks & R ecreation’s com munity gardens project will sponsor the spring clean-up o f the Cully C om m unity G arden at N ortheast 4 2 nd Avenue and K illingsw orth Street. To volunteer, call 503-823-1612. Local markets shift products, strategies tóy * T. by R aymond R endleman T he P ortland O bserver E ven if you d o n ’t d riv e, the ev e r-c lim b in g co st o f oil will hit y o u r w allet in the su p erm ark et. A shopping basket filled with 16 basic food items asked 8 percent more from consum ers on average in M arch than in Decem ber, according to the Am erican Farm Bureau F edera tion. The organization expects the trend to continue as the reliably higher price o f gas during the sum m er contributes to packaging and transportation expenditures. L o o k in g fo r w ay s a ro u n d th e s e e x p e n s e s , m o re P ortland ers have been cro w d in g farm ers m ark ets and buying in bulk. T he effec ts o f the u n u su ally rap id rise in p rices have becom e ev id en t in m ore than the nu m b ers at the New Seasons M arket on N o rth east 33rd A venue. T he sto re ’s butchers have b egun stocking m ore pork and ch ick en as dem and in creases for ty p es o f m eat that w ill fill the fryer at the old costs. continued on page H4 Gardens Children’s Day S unday, M ay 4 from noon t o 4 p.m ., the P o rtland Ja p an ese G ard en s, 611 S.W . K ingston D r., inv ites fam ilies to enjoy the beauty o f the g ard en s fo r c h ild re n ’s day. For m ore inform ation call 503-542- 0280. May Day Celebration Sunday, M ay 4, at 1 p.m., the Freedom Socialist Party and the Bread & Roses Center, 8 19 N. Ki 11 ingsworth St., wi 11 host a lunch ($8) and discussion o f "V iva la Raza; A History o f C hicano Identity and Resistance,” with the author and activist M ega Cornish. OHS Doggie Dash photos by R aymond R endi . eman /T he P ortland O bserver Saturday, M ay 10 at 9 : 15 a.m., the annual Oregon H um ane Society tw o-m ile fun run/w alk for everyone and their dog be gins at N aito Parkway continuing along W aterfront Park. T he event is follow ed by a day o f fun for all. New Seasons Market butchers in northeast Portland are among those making changes in response to the rising cost o f food. A Manager’s Passion Cosmic Catastrophes The Planetarium Sky T heater at Mt. Hood C om m unity C ollege - G resham Cam pus, will explore the m ysteries o f C osm ic C a tastrophes, on M onday May 12 at 7 and 8 p .m .;$ l adm ission. Educate, Empower, Engage Thursday, May 15, the Portland N A A C P Branch Freedom Fund D inner will take place at the Sheraton Portland A irport Hotel, 8235 N.E. Airport W ay; doors open at 6 p.m., and dinner is at 7 p.m. Tickets m ust be purchased by M ay 7. V isit Pdxnaacp.org for more inform ation. Bicyclists: Know Your Legal Rights W ednesday, May 14 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., join the free vehicle-law class sponsored by the B icyc le Tran spoliation A11 i ance at 233 N.W. 5th Ave. T o register, call 503- 2264)676. Great Slough Clean Up Saturday, M ay 17 from 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers will enjoy a m orning paddle while searching for and rem oving litter from a tw o-m ile stretch o f the C olum bia Slough. To get involved, call 503-281- 1132. Remodeling Seminars Saturday, May 10, beginning at 9:30 a.m., Neil Kelly Show room s at 804 N. A lberta St., and 15573 S.W. Bangy Road in Lake O sw ego, will host free kitchen and bath rem odeling seminars. For more inform a tion, visit N eilkelly.com o r call 503-335- 9204. Growing Gifts Friends ofT rees, is currently offering the opportunity to give the gift o f trees; for m ore in fo rm atio n , visit the w eb at F riendsofTrees.org. Homebuyer Programs P D C 's h o m e b u y e r -a s s is ta n c e p r o gram s ad dress the gap in hom e o w n er ship rates betw een w hites and c o m m u nities o f color. For in form ation about the new and exp an d ed h o m e b u y ers' assistance program s, visit P dc.us/nhp o rcall 503-823-3400. Don Jones. New Seasons Market manager for the Concordia store at Northeast 33rd Avenue and Killingsworth Street, considers worker effectiveness and customers ’ satisfaction as first priorities. New Seasons Concordia store m anager Don Jones believes there is no magic form ula for his mission to create an environm ent that allow s em ployees to give the best service to custom ers possible. Jones docs have a lot o f tricks up his sleeve, from his know ledge o f produce’s percentage o f intake to his ability to find five types o f shredded coconut in less than 15 seconds. D eeper into conversation, he will argue that the keys to successful m anagem ent lie in com m unication and flexibility. Forexam ple, Jones is happy to let any em ployee try out many different roles in the store. “As clichéd as it may sound. I really do believe in em pow ering people, training em ployees, and in giv- continued on page U4 Principal Tackles Child Obesity In P ortsm outh's PE class for 6th and 7th graders, the goal is to pro duce sweat. Students wear athletic uniform s, which is not the case at many public schools, in order to erase worries about dirtying per sonal clothing and to increase ac tive participation with a sense of unity. by R aymond R endleman Lopez sees a need for focus in T he P ortland O bserver the Hispanic community that makes Healthy habits for students and up half o f Portsm outh's approxi their fam ilies have becom e a crusade mately 550 students, with another for the principal of Portsmouth School 20 percent from each of the black in north Portland. and w hite populations. To target child obesity, Antonio Many o f the school's families Lopez has developed regular after recently immigrated and have taken school w orkshops that teach par to eating fast food as they lose the ents about the im portance o f physi cooking routines o f their countries cal routines through dance, cooking o f origin. Also, they often had ac and healthy grocery shopping on a custom ed to walking every where in budget. He even hired a second physi their com pact com m unities, and cal education teacher to increase A m erica's car culture com es as a Portsmouth students' tim e in the gym shock to their bodies. to at least 50 m inutes tw ice a week, All o f the fliers advertising the PHOTO BY R AYMOND RENDI EMAN/T i IE P o RTI.ANDO bs E RY I R which the district has frow ned upon classes, including the words on the because many schools have cut PE Portsmouth School Principal Antonio Lopez makes each student walk through a salad bar at outside m arquee, list notices first in lunch as only the beginning o f a comprehensive set o f programs that target child obesity. due to financial constraints. English, then in Spanish. Lopez argues that extra concen W hile som e schools in the district w ellbeing," he says. A rapid increase in obesity in neighbor tration on PE is essential to sustaining stru g g le w ith d e c lin in g en ro llm e n t, It all started when Lopez decided to hood kids and in students across the com prehensive w ellness education, in Portsm outh's major problem consists of bring fruits and vegetables rather than nation has been hard on Lopez, seeing addition to aiding students' psyche w hile too many students fo rth e num b ero fclass- fried snacks to a parent-teacher meeting. in other classes. Citing the help o f d ed i diseases like type two diabetes much more nm m savailable. The K-8 school will have The M ultnom ah County Health D epart often in youth. "So it has been one o f my cated group o f about 40 parent volun to send its sixth graders to G eorge M iddle ment on April 10 presented him with this passions that it is not only the educational teers. he know s he co u ld n 't m aintain the year's Public Health Hero aw ard for co m w ellbeing that I'm in charge o f ... but also m ovem ent toward health in schixils w ith continued on page H4 munity leadership. h o w w e ca n s u p p o rt th e p h y s ic a l out active com m unity support. Portsmouth recognized for innovative techniques f 1