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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2008)
50 jé years •'com m unity servi Scramble to Survive Hip Hop Helping Schools Food Stamps don't cover rising costs Leading acts come together fo r music programs See Health Matters, page B2 See story, Metro inside Œbi' < ‘City of Roses’ Established in 1970 w w w .p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVIII. N um ber 21 .Week ¡n The Review Wednesday • M ay 21, 2 0 0 8 Fighting a Stigma Kennedy has. Brain Tumor A c a n c e ro u s b r a in tu m o r cau sed the se i zure Sen. E d w a rd M. K en n e d y s u f fered ov er the w eekend, d o c tors said T uesday in a grim d ia g nosis for one o f A m erican p o li tics' m ost end u rin g figures. S ee story, p ag e A 3. Pernell Brown and Leslie Esinga walk the streets of New Columbia to check on neighborhood complaints and keep in touch with residents about concerns. Three-year-old New Columbia prioritizes safe activities Obama Packs Waterfront bv R aymond R endi . eman T he P ortland O bserver Sen. BaraCk O bam a drew the larg est political crow d in O regon h is tory S unday w hen 75,000 packed the P ortland W aterfront to hear the D em ocratic presidential c a n d id ate speak. S ee r e la te d s to r y , p ag e A2. Community organizers in the New Colum bia neighborhood o f north Portland gear up each spring to prom ote a safe environm ent, and this year th ey ’re confident that a full slate o f activities will prevent any flair-ups of violent activity. The first residents o f New C olum bia moved in during the spring o f 2005 as con struction replaced C olum bia Villa, the low cost public housing that had turned into a focal point o f gang-related concerns. Now that the new houses, apartm ents, streets and businesses that replaced the Villa will be fully occupied for the first sum mer, optim ism runs high, especially for the Housing A uthority of Portland and most of the neighborhood's 2,5(X) residents. "I never really felt as though this was an experim ent,” says Leslie Esinga, a H A Pem - ployee for New Colum bia who, as a single mother. I i ved i n Col u m b i a V i 11 a be fore safe t y concerns led to its razing in 2003. Quran Shooting Apology P resident Bush has ap ologized to Iraqi Prim e M in ister Nuri al- M aliki and p rom ised p ro sec u tion o f a U.S. so ld ier accused o f u sing a copy o f the Q uran for target practice, Iraqi officials said on T uesday. Oil Drives Downturn W all S treet tu m b led T uesday after oil prices spiked to a new record above $ 129 a barrel and a g o vernm ent report raised in v e s to rs’ con cern s about the im pact o f in f l a t i o n o n c o n s u m e r sp e n d in g . continued on pane AS P h ila d e lp h ia P o lice C o m m is sio n e r C harles FI. R am sey fired fo ur police o fficers w ho w ere cau g h t on telev isio n n ew s-h eli co p ter video b eating three su s p ec ts in a d ru g -re la te d trip le sh ooting on M ay 5. R am sey said three o th e r o ffic ers have been su spended and one o ffic er has been dem oted. In the Neighborhood by Ho moni » R endi kman /T he P orti photo by Officers Fired for Beating R aymond R endi . kman and M ark W ashington /T iie P ori land O bserver The gas prices are giving me extra motivation to do what ! should be doing already, which is bike to work. -Jan Underwood' and O bsery er Are your plans for Memorial Day weekend llliptlC tC cl b y t h e SOU1 111^2 COSt Ot g clS O llIie ? / don't ever drive because I can't afford it, but / hope to be able to buy a car someday. We’ve got to stay close to hom e. I hope it gets better, but what can we really do? -DawaGyaltsen -Shelli Curry Homeowner Rescue Plan A key S enate panel approved a h o m eo w n er rescue plan T u e s day to give ch e a p e r, g o v e rn m ent-backed m ortgages to up to 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 strapped borrow ers. It also in c lu d es to u g h e r re g u la tio n s f o r g o v e r n m e n t- s p o n so red m ortgage g ia n ts Fannie M ae and Freddie M ac. China Takes Toll R e scu e rs freed a 6 0 -y e a r-o ld w om an T u e sd a y w ho w as trap p ed for m ore than 195 hours after last w ee k ’s e a rth q u ak e and had survived by drin k in g ra in w ater, w hile the confirm ed death toll rose to m ore than 4 0 ,0 0 0 in a d isa ste r that left m ore than 5 m illion hom eless. Child Pornography Ruling T he S uprem e C o u rt's 7-to-2 d e cisio n M onday has upheld an effo rt by C o n g ress to m ake it illegal to o ffe r or prom ote child p o rn o g ra p h y . T he hig h c o u rt said the law p ro tects innocent ch ild ren from a thriving form o f a b u se . W ere being a lot wiser about the types o f business trips we take. Z now think about which car has better gas mileage and how many people we can fit in the ear. --Robert Bush --DaveForsIund \ll traveling has to be done in more moderation. -L arry Collins Roots Festival Celebrates Diversity cam p aimed at raising aw areness o f g eno cide and the current crisis in Darfur. "The art installation will show visitors through photos, histories, questions, m aps, and DVDs what happens during genocide and what people can be doing now to end the current ethnic cleansing in the D arfur re gion," says Katie-Jay Scott, com m unity outreach cixirdinatorol Stop G enocide Now. C am p Darfur was invited to participate because of its work to ignite social change and raises awareness. "This year’s them e o f diversity through politics and activism supports the idea that art. music, dance, and dialogue are great ways to honor a culture, but can also be used as a tool to preserve, cherish and ensure a culture's survival, "says Scott, "C am p D arfur w orks to create com m unity betw een those who can bring an end to genocide in Darf ur and the victims of the genocide in D arfur." The annual festival is alw ays held on Thursday because th a t's the day o f the week when the most students are on ca m pus. " It's difficult to determ ine how many people will attend since many sim ply drop in or walk th ro u g h ," says M eijer, “ But we are expecting more people than usual since we have such a fantastic schedule o f events planned." Event to heat up PSU Park Blocks C harity P rater T he P ortland O bserver by People o f all backgrounds will com e to gether to celebrate diversity on the Port land Stale U niversity cam pus for the third- annual Roots Festival, sponsored by the m ulticultural student groups. The festival will heat up beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 22 on the South Park Blocks. A ctivities will then continue until 8 p.mt The celebration will include local music and dance, international cuisines and a variety o f m ulticultural artwork. This y ea r's them e is “D iversity in Poli tics and A ctivism ," which will educate and inspire the com m unity to em brace civic engagem ent and a m ulticultural perspec tive in political action. “We are going to have local, hip-hop artist Lifesavas perform ing, and our first com m unity mural that the com m unity will participate in creating," says Leah Meijer, Roots Festival coordinator. "W hen it’s fin ished, it will be bn display in the Portland State University library." The Roots Festival has a full day o f fun and entertainm ent scheduled including reggae music, DJs, Native A m erican dance, hip hop and Latin dance lessons. “The Festival gives us a chance to ex plore our roots by celebrating and recogniz ing our sim ilarities,” says Meijer. S to p g e n o c id e n o w .o rg w ill d isp lay "Cam p Darfur "at the event, a mock refugee Native Americans from Painted Sky Northstar are among the diverse groups to perform Thursday at the Portland State University Roots Festival. Pictured are Colt Nicol o f the Cree nation, Mary Bodine o f the Warm Springs tribes, Betty Stephens o f the Dine/Yaktma nation, Rebecca Friedländer o f the Atnabascan native Alaskan nation and Reggie Johnson o f the Umatilla tribes. I O ther noteworthy events will include a speech from Charles M cG ee about his non profit Black Parent Initiative. M ikeS truw in will be perform ing acoustic roots m usic, the PSU Breakers will perform with DJs and Eatcho will be painting live. continued y f on page A2