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.