50<
■tHwnunllv strvtee
Lower at the Pump
General Election Nov. 4
The average price o f
regular gas was $3.91 on
Tuesday, a drop o f 8 cents
a gallon from last week
Last Day to Register:
Oct. 14
www.oregonvotes.org
1-866-ORE- VOTES
VOTE
< ÎSartÎanh (©bgertœr
City of Roses
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Established in 1970
1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII, Number 33
.W eek in
The Review
Phelps Sets Olympic Record
A m e r ic a n
Dangerous Heroin on Streets
Portland police say three drug
overdose deaths over the w eek­
end are due to the trafficking o f
a dangerous form of heroin. Since
June, local authorities have re­
sponded to more than 115 heroin-
related calls.
Camp
Push: New
Voters
continued
on page A2
A Seat with History
Local Democrats
to Join Obama
at Convention
by L aura M eehan
T he P ortland O bserver
The countdow n has begun! The D em o­
cratic N ational Party Convention, which be­
gins on M onday, will nom inate Sen. Barack
O bam a o f Illinois as the first-ever African-
Am erican presidential candidate o f a major
political party.
And this year, the convention will make
history for the diversity o f Am erica in other
ways. Dem ocratic Party rules specify that at
least half o f the delegates will be women and
large blocksof representatives will m irror the
nation’s m inority populations.
O regon's convention delegation will in­
clude eight African Am ericans, seven H is­
panic A m ericans, tw o Native Am ericans,
four Asian Am ericans, and five mem bers o f
the gay com m unity.
Portland residents Shirley Minor, Bob
Boyer and M oses Ross are three o f the
convention delegates w ho have helped ex ­
ceed the state party’s diversity goals. W hile
P a k is ta n i P re s id e n t P e rv e z
M usharraf announced his resig­
n a tio n M o n ­
d ay to avoid
im p e ac h m e n t
c h a rg e s o v e r
his attem pts to
im p o s e
au­
thoritarian rule on his turbulent
nation. M any Pakistanis blam e
the rising militant violence in their
country on M usharrafs alliance
with the U nited States.
The Presentation Hall Jazz Band, hailing for New Orleans, is one of the headline acts at this weekend's
Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival.
Guns for Texas Teachers
<
continued
on page A2
Table set for
wine and jazz
Musharraf Resigns
A Texas school district will let
teachers bring guns to class this
fall, the district superintendent
said on Friday, in what experts
said appeared to be a first in the
United States.
they are excited about being present on this
historical occasion, they also are extrem ely
focused on the issues confronting Oregon
and the nation.
Boyer, a form er state senator and alternate
delegate for O bama, will go to Denver with
his wife to cast his vote should another
delegate become unable to participate.
Boyer described the growing excitem ent
he has w atched O bam a inspire in people
during his three cam paign visits during the
Primary.
He looks back at the 17,000 people who
Vancouver Festival Features Diverse Line Up
H e a v ily a rm e d in s u r g e n ts
m ounted tw o o f the biggest at­
tacks in years Tuesday in A f­
ghanistan, killing 10 French sol­
diers in an am bush and then send­
ing a squad o f suicide bom bers
in a failed assault on a U.S. base
near the Pakistan border.
A Portland w om an has been
charged with fatally stabbing a
man on 82nd Avenue she claim s
was trying to get her to w ork as
a prostitute. Police say Donyel
Hormats, 19 stabbed Christopher
Richardson, 21 once in the chest
after 8 p.m. on Friday. He died
later that night at a hospital.
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
photo by
Local political activists Moses Ross (from right) Shirley Minor and Robert Boyer gather at Barack Obama for President
headquarters on Northeast Killingsworth Street Sunday as they prepare to go to Denver as delegates to next week's National
Democratic Party Convention where Obama will become the first African American nominated for President.
Militants Kill 10 French
Alleged Pimp Murdered
Wednesday • August 20. 2008
Obama
s w im m e r
M ic h a e l
Phelps took
d o w n th e
grandest o f
O ly m p ic
re c o rd s
(A P )— Democratic presiden­
Saturday, earning tial
his eighth
hopeful gold
Barack O bam a's O r­
medal, one more than
ark Spitz
egon M cam
paign says it will co n ­
in 1972. Phelps now has 14Olym-
tinue its push to sign up new
pic gold m edals in total, more
voters for the N ovem ber elec­
than any other athlete.
tion, an effort that could help
produce the largest num ber o f
voters ever registered for an
O regon election.
So far this year D em ocrats
have added 122,518 registered
voters statew ide, m ainly be­
cause o f the heated May Pri ­
Williams Sisters Win Gold
m a ry rac e a n d th e O b am a
V enus and S erena W illiam s
cam paign’s intensive effort to
earned a gold medal in tennis at
register new voters. Republi­
the 2008 BeijingOlympicGames,
cans have lost 13,349 voters
beating A nabel M edina and V ir­
since the start o f the year.
ginia R uano in the final 6-2,6-0.
At a news briefing M onday,
O bam a's state director, Rob Hill,
Recovery Expected
said the 700,000eligible but un­
Trail Blazer
registered voters in O regon will
and NBA all
be a key cam paign focus in the
s ta r g u a rd
w eeks ahead.
B ra n d o n
"If we saw 100,(XX)new Demo­
R oy is ex
crats betw een the prim ary the
p e c te d
to
general election, w e’d be feeling
c o m p le te ly
pretty good,” Hill said.
recover from
If it's achieved, that num ber
knee surgery and be ready to
o f new Dem ocrats alone would
play w hen the season opens on
push total overall registration
Oct. 28, team officials announced
past the 2.14 m illion record that
T h u rs d a y , f o llo w in g
th e
w as set in the 2004 presidential
arthroscopic surgery.
election, in w hich D em ocrat
Push to Lower Drinking Age John Kerry defeated President
U niversity presidents from Pa­
Bush to win Oregon's seven elec­
cific, W illam ette and Lewis and
toral votes.
Clark have joined 100 other col­
If current trends continue "we
lege presidents from around the
could certainly reach that level
country w anting to see the legal
by the Oct. 14 registration dead­
drinking age low ered from 21 to
lin e ," sa id D o n H a m ilto n ,
18 because they believe the cur­
spokesm an for the O regon sec­
rent law encourages dangerous
retary o f state's office.
binge-drinking on their respec­
As o f right now, D em ocrats
tive cam puses.
m ake up 43 percent o f registered
H
www.portlandobserver.con
www.portlandobserver.com
Melissa Manchester
Nicholas Payton
Judy Collins
The 11th Annual V ancouver W ine & Jazz
Festival takes off this weekend, Friday, Aug. 22
through Sunday, Aug. 24 at Esther Short Park
in downtown Vancouver.
This year’s festival features a diverse lineup
o f vocal jazz, straight ahead, fusion, popular
and crossover artists.
The slate o f major bands includes G ram m y­
winning artists— as well as some of the music
icons o fth e past 3 0 years: Judy Collins. N icho­
las Payton, the Brubeck Brothers. BeauSoleil.
Melissa M anchester. The Rippinglons, The
Gospel Hum m ingbirds. Rita Coolidge. John
Pizzarelli, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Lo­
cal and regional jazz ensem bles will also be
performing.
The festival is recognized as one o fth e most
important jazz festivals on the W est Coast and
the largest event o f its kind in the Northwest.
In addition to the great m usic, the festival
features over 200 wines from around the world.
Attendees can sample w ines or purchase a
glass to sip with food from nine restaurants.
Cuisine ranges from Thai to N orthwest C u i­
sine to Southern barbecue. Art lovers can shop
the 50 fine artists from California. W ashington
and Oregon.
“The Festival is almost a sensory overload
o f music, art. wine and food" says Dr. M ichael
Kissinger, artistic director. “O ur goal has al­
ways been to create a rich artistic environm ent,
a palate from which people can sam ple and hear
great music, drink a nice Northwest wine, pur­
chase or com m ission a piece of art and just
immerse them selves in an arts-rich w eekend."
Tickets are available through TicketsW est
o u tle ts . F o r m o re in f o rm a tio n , v is it
vancouvcrwincjazz.com or call 360-906-0441.
I