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‘City of Roses’
Established In 1970
©bsertier
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIII, Number 42
T lWeek ¡n
The Review
Ballots Due Tuesday, Nov. 4
Wednesday • October 29, 2008
Record Turnout Predicted
Cam paign's Final Stretch
Barack Obama and John McCain
fought for votes Tuesday on
critical ground in Pennsylvania,
the only D em o cratic state
McCain is still contesting on a
national political map growing
increasingly daunting. With just
one week to go, GOP doubts
about his chances for the presi
dency grew louder.
Plot Not Fully Formed
Two white supremacists from
Tennessee charged with plotting
to behead blacks across the coun
try and assassinate Barack Obama
while wearing white top hats and
tuxes were likely too disorganized
to carry out the plot, authorities
said, and their planning was
riddled with blunders.
Clue Points to Relative
The convicted felon suspected
in the Chicago slayings of Os-
car-winner Jennifer Hudson's
mother, brother and nephew
missed a parole violation hear
ing on the day of the murders. He
is in custody, but hasn’t been
charged in the murders. See
story, page A2.
Saltzman Heads Police Bureau
photo by M ark
Vote could
eclipse Nixon-
Kennedy race
Mayor-elect Sam
(AP) — Oregon voter turnout for
Adams on Mon
the
Nov. 4 election will set a m od
day named City
ern record, eclipsing the 86.5 per
C o m m issio n e r
cent turnout the state saw in the
Dan Saltzman to
head the Port
1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential
land Police Bureau. Police Chief
ra c e , S e c re ta ry o f S ta te B ill
Rosie Sizer praised the appoint
Bradbury is predicting.
ment. She had earlier objected to
"There are a lot o f people out
the possibility o f City Commis
there working to.make sure every
sioner Randy Leonard running
one votes. It's going to be an in
the police bureau.
B
Portland Hom e Prices Fall
Home prices in Portland, once
considered untouched by the
natio n 's housing d ow nturn,
posted another record low in
August with a 7.6 percent drop
compared to August 2007, ac
cording to a new report by Stan
dard & Poor's.
Detroit M ayor Sent to Jail
Form er D etroit
M ayor Kwame
K ilpatrick was
sent tojail for 120
days T uesday,
the finale to a sex
scandal that de
stroyed his reign at City Hall and
threw local government into dis
array for months.
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Rev. Charles McLeoud o f northeast Portland turns in his election ballot at an official drop site outside the Multnomah County Elections offices at
Southeast 10th and Morrison. The office will be open extended hours, including Saturday in advance of Tuesday’s Nov. 4 election.
His prediction came as the latest
tally showed the rate of mail ballot
returns is running slightly ahead o f
this time in the 2004 presidential
campaign, which had the second-
highest turnout in Oregon history
at 86.4 percent.
In O regon's 1960 presidential
contest, Republican Richard Nixon
d e fe a te d D e m o c ra t Jo h n F.
K ennedy. T hat w as back w hen
Oregon was considered one of the
m ost reliably R epublican states
west o f the Mississippi.
It's a different story this year.
Spurred by aggressive voter signup
efforts by Democratic presidential
contender Barack O bam a's cam
There are a lot o f people out
there working to make sure
everyone votes. It's going to be an
incredibly high turnout.
credibly high turnout," Bradbury
said.
- Secretary of State Bill Bradbury
paign and other groups. Democratic
voter registration has surged well
past Republicans in a state that has
been trending m ore Dem ocratic
blue in recent years.
Still, both Republicans and Demo
crats have been waging strong get-
out-the-vote efforts since local elec
tion officials began mailing ballots to
voters’ households Oct. 17.
A coordinated effort involving the
O b am a c a m p a ig n , D em o cratic
U .S. S e n a te c a n d id a te J e f f
M e rk le y ’s c a m p a ig n and the
Democratic Party o f Oregon has
been up and running in all 36 coun
ties, a spokesman said.
continued
on page A3
MLK Clinic Shadowed by Protesters
Planned Parenthood groundbreaking draws two sides
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
Supporters o f Planned Par
enthood, the family-planning
o rg a n iz a tio n d e d ic a te d to
w om en’s health issues, but
also controversial abortion ser
vices were shadowed by pro
testers at a groundbreaking
cerem ony last week for a new
P lan n ed P are n th o o d h e a d
Stephens W on ’t Drop Out
After his convic quarters at 3727 N.E. Martin
tion Monday on Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The protesters were outside
seven
felo n y
charges that he o f a cyclone fence that sur
lied about free
rounded the construction site,
hom e re n o v a protected by security guards
tions and other gifts who
from
a
politely
challenged those
wealthy oil contractor, Alaska
seeking to enter. Inside were
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens,
m em bers and supporters o f
84, refused to drop out of his re-
P lanned P arenthood o f the
election race.
Columbia Willamette.
D og Killed on TrIM et
The organization scheduled
A woman's small Pomeranian the Oct. 22 ceremony to break
was bitten by a 50-pound Rott
g ro u n d on a new 4 0 ,0 0 0
weiler mix without warning on a
sq u a re fo o t h e a d q u a rte rs
Tri Met bus in north Portland
Sunday. The attack broke the building that will increase its
small dog's neck and it bled to service while bringing 140 jobs
death in his owner's lap. The and retail facilities to the neigh
owner of the big dog, Leroy borhood.
Morley, was banned from riding
Planned P arenthood pur
T riM etfor30days.
chased the vacant property
from the Portland D evelop
ment Com mission. It will al
low them to consolidate admin
istrative functions, now d i
vided between rented offices.
The top two floors will be
•'com m unity service
H
photos by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Odessa Mangum carries an anti-abortion message to the
dedication o f a new Planned Parenthood clinic in northeast
Portland.
devoted to Planned Parent
hood adm inistrative offices,
together with meeting space
and classroom s w hich, ac
cording to the group’s market
ing director Liz Delapoer, will
be available for com m unity
use.
On the ground floor there
will be 5,000 square feet o f
re ta il s p a c e , in c lu d in g a
daycare facility. A new 5,000
square foot w om en’s health
clinic will replace one about
half this size that has operated
for years at N ortheast 15th
Avenue and Fremont Street.
Delapoer said the old clinic
treated 10,000 patients last
year and was “ maxed out" in
terms of capacity.
She said abortions accounted
for about 5 percent o f its ser
vices or about 17 abortions a
Lolenzo Poe (left) and other supporters of Planned Parent
hood attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Planned
Parenthood headquarters building at 3727 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. The site will be home to administrative staff
and a new health center.
month.
Other Planned Parenthood
services include annual health
e x a m s, c e rv ic a l c a n c e r
screening, breast cancer ex
aminations, contraception via
both birth control pills and sur
geries such as tubal ligation
and vasectomies; testing and
treatment for sexually trans
m itted diseases and AIDS;
pregnancy testing, and sexual
education.
Therese Ruesink o f north
east Portland and a mem ber
o f the National 40 Days for
Life coalition and the ad hoc
local P recious C h ild ren o f
P o rtlan d , called the future
clinic an “abortionary." She
objected to PDC using public
property to support the prac-
continued
yf
on page A3