August 20, 2008
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PageA2
Obama
Camp
Push: New
Voters
continued
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Health Walk at Dawson Park
Adwoa Thomas (from left), Maggie Gibson, Charlie Wilson, Doris Dines and Vera Harris meet at the Dawson Park finish line during
Saturday's Health Walk by African American Health Coalition. The annual event included a 1.5 mile loop and 5K walk, along with music, food
and fun.
from Front
voters in Oregon w hile Republicans account
lor 33 percent. T he rest are registered as
third-party or nonaffiliated voters.
The O bam a cam paign has opened nine
offices across the state and has thousands
o f volunteers w orking to m aintain its voter
registration gains to ensure that O regon's
stays in the Blue State colum n for the No­
vem ber election.
T he surge in D em ocratic registration
could give a boost to others on the D em o­
cratic ballot as well, in particular Senate
candidate Jeff M erkley, the state House
speaker trying to unseat Republican Sen.
G ordon Smith this fall.
"W hen we elect Sen. O bam a president, we
want to make sure we have the votes in the U.S.
Senate tocarry out his policies," said Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore., who took part in Monday's
Obama briefing. "Speaker Merkley will be one
o f those votes in support."
Hill, m eanw hile, called O regon "a huge
part o f our overall strategy forw inning," but
said it was too early to say w hether O bam a
would be returning to Oregon to cam paign
this fall. The Illinois D em ocrat made several
cam paign sw ings through O regon in the
primary election.
Sim ilarly, Republican contender John
M cCain's spokesm an, Rick G orka, declined
to com m ent on w hether M cCain's future
travel plans might include a stop in O regon
Taking a Seat with History
continued
from Front
cam e to see the candidate at
Memorial Coliseum— the first time
it was full since the Blazers won
the playoffs and later the 75,(XM)
people showed up for O bam a at
W aterfront Park.
Citing failures of the Bush ad­
ministration. Boyer looks forward
to the changes O bam a cham pi­
ons, and is encouraged by the
inspiration hiscandidate has gen­
erated in younger generations.
Boyer is happy to see an A fri­
can A m erican presidential candi­
date nom inated, but also has great
faith in O b am a's ability to effect
positive change, saying, “ H e's
very intelligent, a scholar. H e’s a
very progressive young man,
having worked in areas ot orga­
nizing and civil rights law. Being
young, h e 's up-to-date, too."
Ross is one o f O reg o n ’s com ­
m itted delegates to U.S. Sen.
Hillary Clinton, but he too is ex ­
cited about being a w itness to
history.
He applauds a decision by
O bam a to place C linton's nam e in
nom ination as an honor to r her
close race to becom e the first
w oman nom inated for president.
As a person with H ispanic
roots, he hopes the convention
will help him build ties for his
Latino voter outreach efforts. He
will also record day-by-day infor­
mation for public consum ption
on his blog, m osesross.com .
O bam a delegate M inoris most
excited by the chance to bring the
nation a m essage about the need
for family-wage jobs, jo b training,
affordable higher education, uni­
versal healthcare and sustainable
retirem ent program s.
“ I hope I can carry word, from
O regon to the pow ers that be,
that this state, this econom y,
needs some help,” she says.
M inor says, "O bam a has the
ability to pull a good team to­
gether. T h at’s w hat I’m excited
ab o u t.”
She urges O bam a supporters
to get active now — canvassing,
urging friends and fam ily to at­
tend rallies and m ake phone
calls— as the Oct. 14 deadline
for voter registration for the Nov.
4 election approaches rapidly.
T hose interested in w itness­
ing the convention w ith other
O bam a supporters at local gath­
ering spots can get m ore infor­
m a tio n u n d e r " U p c o m in g
Events” by visiting the w ebsite
or.barackobam a.com .
As Boyer says, " It's history­
m akingtim e.”
Obama Acceptance Speech Party Scheduled
The com m unity is invited to
celebrate the nom ination o f Sen.
Barack O bam a for President as he
makes his acceptance speech in
Denver during a healthy, alcohol­
free event at Hands On M edicine,
a prim ary care clinic at 5 3 1 1 N.
V ancouver Ave.
A tent in the parking lot behind
the building will accom m odate
the T hursday, Aug. 28 celebra­
tion, scheduled to begin at 5:30
p.m. and hosted by State Rep.
Chip Shields and Shelda Holmes,
S ta te S en . M a rg a re t C a rte r,
C o u n ty C o m m is s io n e r J e ff
C ogan and M etro Counci lor Rex
Burkholder.
R S V P on th e w eb at
chipshields.com
NEW S E A S O N S
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
Y o u r fa v o rite n e ig h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s to re n o w d e liv e rs
g r o c e r ie s rig h t to y o u r h o m e o r o ffic e .
photo by M ark
W asiiington /T he P ortland O bserver
Omar Murphy, 11. gets ready for school with a haircut by
Tarrance Atkins o f Headquarters in Cuts we Trust, 1465A
N.E. Prescott St.
Haircuts for Kids
Kids ages 6 to 15 are invited to
get ready for school with free
haircuts on T uesday, Sept. 2 front
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at S elf E nhance­
m ent, Inc., 3920 N. Kerby Ave.
SEI and som e o f Portland’s
finest barbers are giving back to
the com m unity by sponsoring
and donating their tim e and labor
for the event.
Raffles, prizes, food and drinks
will be provided. Participants are
urged to arrive with no products
in their hair.
In Loving Memory
Lorri Marzette Rice Ellis
Funeral services for Lorri M arzette Rice
Ellis, a former Portland resident w hodied on
June 24, 2008 in Sacram ento, Calif., were
held June 19 at G o d ’s Next Level M inistry
in Sacram ento.
She w as born Feb. 28. 1958 in Portland.
Her m other w as D orris Sylvester.
She and her brother, Keith were adopted
by W illis Rice. A younger brother. M arcus,
joined the family several years later. Her life
was further enriched 36 years later with the introduction o f her “tw in"
brother Luther.
She found her true mission in life after becom inga member o fG o d ’s
Next Level M inistry underthe leadershipof a Pastor M artinez. But her
need to serve and love was not exclusive to her church.
Lorri loved her fam ily, including her grandfather John H Sylvester
Sr., w ho preceded her in death. Survivors that will miss her vibrant
sprit include her m other, Dorris L. Brown and stepfather Eugene
Brown o f Beaum ont. Calif.; her father W illis R. Rice o f Portland;
grandm other T helm a M. Sylvester o f Portland; brothers Keith Rice
of San Jose.C alif., L ulherT um er of Brooklyn, N.Y., and M arcus Rice
o f Los A ngeles; and several other family m em bers and friends.
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