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Super Bowl Spotlight
Jennifer Hudson in her first
public appearance since the
slayings o f her mother,
brother and
and nephew
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brother
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‘City of Roses
T i t v n f Rncp«’
p u n Established
h lich p d in in
1970
1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, Num ber 5
TUW eek in
The Review
WES Commuter Rail Opens
A fter nearly 15 years in the
m aking, the first TriM et WES
(W estside E xpress Service)
com m uter rail line opened for
regular service M onday, con­
necting the cities o f Beaverton,
T ig a rd ,
T u a la tin
an d
W ilsonville w ith rush hour
service. See sto ry , p ag e A2.
Obama Blames Himself on
Daschle Tax Controversy
President O bam a took respon­
sibility Tuesday for mistakes
in the handling o f the tax con­
tro v e rs y th a t le d to T o m
D aschle's w ithdraw al as his
nom inee to be health and hu­
m an services secretary. O bam a
told N BC "I'm frustrated with
m yself” for unintentionally
sending a m essage that there
are "two sets o f rules” for pay­
ing taxes, "one for prom inent
people and one for ordinary
folks."
Steelers Win In Wild Finish
The
P itts ­
burgh Steelers
d e fe a te d the
ArizonaCardi-
nals to win the
N F L ’s Super
B o w l X L III
football game
Sunday in Tam pa, Fla. Steelers
wide receiver Santonio Homes
got both feet in the end zone to
catch the gam e winning touch­
dow n
pass
fro m
B en
R oethlisberger w ith ju st 35
seconds left in the game.
Holder First Black A.G.
Eric Holder, President O bam a's
p ic k fo r th e
n a t io n ’s to p
law e n f o r c e ­
m en t o ffic e r,
w as sw orn in
Tuesday as at­
torney general,
prom ising to return the depart­
ment to a past standard o f fol­
low ing the facts and law w ith­
out regard to politics and ide­
ology. He is the first African-
A m erican to hold the post.
Cops with Bogus Degrees
Criminal charges won't be filed
against nine W ashington State
Patrol troopers who were in­
vestigated over w hether they
know ingly used phony college
degrees to obtain higher pay.
Four o f the troopers live in
Vancouver.
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Wednesday • February 4, 2009
What
t0 Eat?
More often it’s
organic and local
by J akf . T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Intheearly 1970s Earl Butz.Nixon'sagricul-
ture secretary, adopted the m antra "get big, or
get out" and instituted policies that gave rise
to m assive agri-giants that dom inate the
country's food supply and put the squeeze on
the sm aller food producers.
But the story o f w hat people put in their
m ouths is beginning to change dram atically
because o f grocery outlets like Portland-based
New Seasons M arket.
The new model is
centered on provid­
ing people with or­
ganic, natural, and
locally grown food,
an audacious depar­
ture from the national
grocery chains New
S easo n s co m p eted
with when it opened
its first store in 1999.
Brian Rohter, New
Brian Rohter
S easo n s’ c h ie f ex ­
ecutive officer, sat down with the Portland
O bserver to discus the success o f his busi­
ness model in rough econom ic times, and why
the store isn't as pricey as you might think.
Rohter said New Seasons attem pts to tap
into a social current that has been gaining
steam.
A U.S. D epartm ent of A griculture report
states that the dem and for organic foods has
steadily risen over the last decade. Organics
m ade up 2.5 percent o f the retail food m arket
in 2005 and is expected to nearly double by
continued
on page A2
photo by J ake T homas /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Organic, natural and locally grown produce is m aking Portland-based New Seasons M arket a leader in a
grocery business th a t's changing with people's tastes. Produce clerk David Dryden attends to som e o f the
products a t the New Seasons Seven Comers store on Southeast Division Street.
Police Precinct Closures Considered
Economic grip
requires cuts
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
As the recession roars on nothing
seems to escape its icy grip, including
police services in Portland.
Facing a budget shortfall, the city is
requiring across the board cuts to the
tune o f five percent. For the Police Bu­
reau, it has resulted in plans for a m as­
sive reorganization that involves a
shuffle o f its personnel and the closing
o f two precincts — all in hopes that law
enforcem ent won't have to cut policing
programs.
Under the proposed plan, two of the
bureau's three precincts would be closed.
The North Precinct in the St. John's neigh­
borhood would become a police training
center. The Southeast Precinct off of
Burnside would tum into a traffic and
tactical operations division.
By reducing police operations and
management costs, fewer officers would
face layoffs, city officials said.
A nother option w ould be cutting
com m unity policing program s, such as
N eighborhood Response Team , which
assigns liaisons to neighborhood orga­
nizations to address livability issues.
This does not seem to be a route the city
w ants to take.
Several neighborhood associations
contacted for this story said they didn’t
feel as through they knew enough about
the proposal, but had concerns about
losing the two neighborhood precincts.
” Honestly, I think it's a horrible idea,”
said D am ien C hakw in, president o f the
L ents N eighborhood A ssociation in
S outheast.
He worries about a cut to any sort of
law enforcem ent services in an area of
the city that has been nicknamed "Felony
F lats.”
A representative for the Portland
Police Association couldn't be reached
for comment.
"I think that given the current eco­
nomic situation it sounds like there is a
truly good opportunity to save some
costs," said Brian Renauer, chair of
Portland State U niversity's department
o f crim inology and criminal justice.
However, he said that the police bu­
reau in its current form is more decentral­
ized and allow s for greater community
access and accountability.
Portland Police Spokesperson Mary
W heat said that the bureau's com mand
structure will stay largely intact so that
the police shouldn't be any less ac­
countable. In fact, under the plan there
will be an additional captain at each of
the three rem aining precincts. She also
added that both o f the former precinct
continued
on page A 9
Landmark Hotel Closed
T he C o lu m b ia G orge H otel,
the 1920s landm ark w hich has
housed the likes o f R udolph
V alentino, S hirley T em ple,
C alvin C oolidge and Franklin
R oosevelt, has closed. T he
o w n ers say they face health
p roblem s and m ore than $4
m illio n in m o rtg a g e d eb t,
w hile financing has run out
and tw o sa les have fallen
th ro u g h .
Film Festival
Honors Black History
Cascade campus
hosts 19th
annual event
75-year-old Sentenced
for Burying Dog Alive
A 75-year-old Forest G rove
man w ho buried his daughter's
dog alive has been sentenced
to 120 days in jail for m isde­
m eanor animal abuse. Hyrum
Long said Tuesday he w as try­
ing to euthanize the dog in
O ctober when he hit it on the
head with a ham m er and buried
it up to its neck. The dog was
rescued by police but later
euthanized by a veterinarian
because o f injuries and long­
term neglect.
I»
‘Azur and-Asmar: The Princes' Quest,' Is inspired by North African fairytale that
has captivated the imaginations o f children and adults alike. Baba Wagud
DiakltA o f Mali, an artist, author and Cascade Festival of African Films commit­
tee member, will serve as host and storyteller during Its Portland screening.
T he 19th annual Cascade Festi­
val o f African Films, held in honor or
Black History M onth at Portland
C o m m u n ity C o lle g e 's C ascad e
C am pus in north Portland, will open
Friday, Feb. 6 with a lineup o f more
than 20 screenings from or about
th e A fric a n c o n tin e n t p la y in g
through M arch 7.
A lw ays free and open to the
public, the festival attracted more
than 5,000 film goers last year. The
current line-up, begins with the ad­
venture film “Zaina" Rider o f the
f
A tla s ,” d ire c te d by B o u rle m
G u e rd jo u o f M o ro c c o , at
M cM enam ins Kennedy School,
5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.
T he renow ned African A m eri­
can director Charles Burnett will be
this y ear’s featured director. He
will present his epic film, “Namibia:
The Struggle for Liberation," star­
ring Carl Lumbly, Danny G lover,
Joel Haikali and O bed Emvula, as
the centerpiece film on Friday, Feb.
20 at the Hollyw ood Theater.
Kevin Arkadic will introduce
and discuss his docum entary film,
“FESPA C O ,” a behind-the scenes
look at the Pan-African Film Festi­
val through the eyes o f six filmmak-
continued
yf
on page A 9
: