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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2008)
50j¿ 38 years Ballots Must be Returned by 8 p.m. on May 20 O) community service tz im n ttm ìlv R epresentatives for about 100 hom eless people cam ping in front o f City Hall cam e face-to-face with M ayor Tom Potter on M onday to lobby for a suspension o f a sit-lie ordinance until provisions could be made for the more than 1,000 Portlanders forced to sleep out- ! side each night. See story, A & E section Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVIII. Number 19 Homeless, Mayor Showdown Rap provides education ’ for inner-city elementary For more information, call Multnomah Countv Elections 503-988-372(1 ‘City of Roses’ T, Week ¡n Thc Review Street Smarts Classes Wednesday • May 7. 2008 Youth Lose Jammin 95.5 Hip-hop gives way to sports talk by R aymond R endi . eman T he P ortland O bserver Y oung P ortlanders w ere left S en. B a ra c k w ondering w hat would fill the void O b a m a sh o re d as the c ity 's only m ainstream hip- up his position as hop and R&B station, Jam m in 95.5, the front-runner becom es reform atted into sports withaprimary win talk radio by next week. inN orthC arolina In a m ove that som e insiders T uesd ay an d blam ed on the eco n o m y , "T he S en. H illa ry Game" will take the place o f hip-hop Rodham Clinton music, the Playhouse morning show sought to keep and everything else included in the h e r c a n d id a c y city’s largest beats station. competitive lead “ It’s very unfortunate," David ing a contest in Indiana that was ' Leiken, president and ow ner of too close to call. O regon and K en D ouble Tee Prom otions and the tucky are next in the primary sweep- Roseland Theater, told the Port stakes when votes are tallied on land O bserver on Tuesday. “W e’re May 20. See sto ry page A2. The days are numbered for the Jammin' 95.5 Street Team, the youth-oriented ambassadors o f going to miss the station." Leiken suspects that the local radio promotions and local hip-hop concerts. The photo was captured from the Street Team's Finally an MVP for Kobe radio market is hurting because o f MySpace website. K obe B ryant, regarded as the a dow nturn in advertising. He said N BA's best player for several years other m iddle-of-the-road formats, b e a rin g th e b ru n t o f th e bad a v e n u e fo r su p p o rt w ith the his role on Sunday evening's four- but never its most valuable, earned with its older audiences, can still econom y,” he says. "Big advertis changes. DJ OG One, also known hour Jam m in 95.5 "U nderground” the league’s M V P honor at last on attract the advertises selling big ers cut these stations first. as David Jackson, ju st collected show . T uesday after leading the Los ticket item s like a Lexus. Com m unity music activists who more than a ton o f clothes for low- “ In term s o f being able to get a A ngeles Lakers to the best record “Y outh-oriented (form ats) are worked on the station are losing an income families, thanks in part to weekly launch for up-and-com ing in the W estern Conference. Obama Shores Up Position artists, for good things getting started in the com m unity, it’sgoing to hurt, but folks like me are going to be OK because w e'v e been es tablished through various other co rp o ratio n s and n eighborhood centers," Jackson said. Since its inception in 1999 by Rose City Radio, Jam m in 95.5 has represented a type o f balance to conservative talk-show holdings ow ned by Paul Allen, the former Microsoft billionaire who alsoow ns the Portland Trail Blazers. "It will affect ourculture greatly because there are no other stations representing ju st rap and hip hop," said Portland hip-hop fan Bryan Dunning. "Jam m in also does pro motional and club events, and they are really involved in the diversity o f our com m unity." The station declined to comment saying, "D ue to the contract situa tion we ca n ’t say anything, but we w ill h av e an a n n o u n c e m e n t W ednesday at 7 a.m. Thank you." A m em ber o f the Jammin 95.5 Street Team who wished to remain anonym ous c o n firm e d the station's final days for the Portland O bserver at the Cineo de Mayo festival downtown, saying, "every thing will just be gone; w e’re not continued on page A6 Bleak Future for Gas Prices Oil futures blasted to a new record over $ 122 a barrel T uesday, gaining momentum as investors bought on a forecast o f much higher prices and on news hinting at supply short ages. Retail gas prices appear poised to rise to new records o f theirow n in com ing weeks. Blazers Look Some Soldiers to Return About 3,5(X) American soldiers are scheduled to leave Iraq in the com ing weeks, as part of the Pentagon's overall reduction in troop strength follow ing last y e a r 's ’ surge."C rit- J its have called for a quicker w ith draw al, but com m anders insist the slow pace is needed to prevent a sharper increase in violence. Team president has high hopes b \ Deadly Pacific Cyclone M yanm ar’s military government j raised its death toll from Cyclone Nargis on Tuesday to nearly 22,500, | with a further 4 1 ,(XX) missing. The United Nations' World Food Pro- j gram began doling out more than $ 10 mi I lion worth o f foreign aid. hut a lack o f specialized equipm entj slowed distribution of rice. Chilean Volcano Blast T h e C h a ite n volcano in Chile : sp e w e d la v a and blasted ash m ore than 12 m iles into the sky on T u es- day, prom pting a total evacuation o f a provincial capital and other settlem ents. Rains following the eruption have carpeted surround ing areas in ash and mud. Future photo by M ark W ashington /T iie P ortland O bserver Portland Trailblazers President Larry Miller looks forward to his second year with the NBA franchise and a team o f young players well-positioned to improve in comingyears. R aymond R endi . eman T he P ortland O bserver The Portland Trailblazers won only half their gam es this season, but opti mism runs high for the young team. “ M ore im p o rta n t than w in n in g gam es, one o f the great things that w e'v e accom plished this season is re ally reconnecting with thc fans." Blaz ers President Larry Miller told the Port land Observer. M iller is the African American busi ness leader who last sum m er left a posi tion as basketball executive at Nike for the city 's only professional franchise. He has oversaw the return o f sell-out crow ds at the Rose Garden, new com munity partnerships and a return to the enthusiasm for the Blazers after several years of decline. The excitem ent will build this fall when fans see the return o f Greg Oden, the team 's No. 1 draft pick who is recov ering from an injury, joining NBA All- Star and 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year Bran don Roy. The Blazers, with the youngest aver age player age o f any team in the league, consider them selves well-positioned to enhance their level o f play as they m a ture athletically and become skilled at working together. M iller says. “The window o f oppor tunity is growing for us as it closes on some other team s." Com m enting on last w eek's firing of Dallas M avericks coach Avery Johnson following that team 's loss in the play offs, M illerem phasized long-term com m itm ent with players and staff to d e velop the understanding and chem istry needed to win. "The coach can be a scapegoat som e tim es," he says. "It's easier to change the coach sometim es than it is toehange a bunch of the players." R ather than take the easy way out. M iller stressed the im p o rtan ce of reaching out to the com m unity. He sees good business sense in the team su p p o rtin g co m m u n ity ev en ts and scholarships that honor and increase the B lazers fan base, even w hen c o n sidering that Blazers ow ner Paul Allen has lost $1 billion since purchasing the team in 19X8. "The reality o f why I took this jo b is for me having the opportunity to he in this role of looking for ways to give back." Miller says. "Everything we do in the com munity we dounderthe theme o f ‘Make it B etter.'" Second Chance Extends to Gresham Clean Slate draws on success An aw ard-w inning program that has as sisted thousands o f local residents in get ting a second chance for em ploym ent, hous ing and other opportunities headed to East County last Saturday. P roject C lean S late, the civil and ju stic e system reh abilitatio n effo rt that o rig in ated w ith Roy Jay and the A frican A m erican C ham ber o f C om m erce, w as part o f ac o m - m u n ity e v e n t c a lle d C o m p a s s io n R ockw ood, held at P o rtlan d L u th eran S chool, 740 S.E. 182nd A ve. About 125 people took advantage o f ba sic inform ation on how to expunge certain convictions and judgm ents. The efforts were part of a larger mission to ensure access to fairness for all neighbor hoods, according to Jay, He said thc p ro g ram 's arrival in the Rockw ood area realized an overall com m u nity plan that was unveiled two years ago w ith C ounty D istrict A ttorney M ichael Schrunk when the effort was launched in north and northeast Portland. “East County has their fair share o f prob lems and people that really want to be pro ductive," Jay said. “ Hopefully, Project Clean continued yf on page 16 Lines form around a school in Gresham to participate in Project Clean Slate. the program that gives people a chance to expunge civil and criminal records. Saturday's event attracted an estimated 125 people.