50£
‘City of Roses’
Special
Coverage
Issue
Black
Month
Support for St. Andrew
Local landmark is half way
through a campaign to
modernize facilities
See story, page A ll
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www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, Number 6
Wednesday • February II. 2009
Economic
Stimulus
Versions differ, but all pack a punch
by J ake T homas
T he P or i land O bserver
P H O TO
BY JAKE THOMAS/THE PORTLAND OBSERVER
Five stories o f housing dedicated to low and moderate Incomes proves popular on North Interstate Avenue
as the Patton Park Apartments open at full capacity this week and with a waiting list o f 500 people.
Housing Full at Opening
Patton Park built for economic relief
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
M elody Isom has li ved in north and
northeast Portland for years and has
witnessed the ups and downs o f eco
nomic growth. She’ sparticularly fond
o f one change, though- the new apart
ment she lives in.
Isom is one o f the newest residents
at Patton Park Apartments, an afford
able housing complex on North Inter
state Avenue just down from the
Killingsworth Max Light Rail Station.
“ I love it,” said Isom ofhernew pad,
which overlooks the city and the Cas
cade Mountains. It’ s an easy com
mute to her work on Swan Island, and
the rent is low enough to keep all her
other bills paid, she said.
Families and individuals are seeing
housing take a bigger bite out o f their
paychecks as properties values have
soared during the housing bubble.
North Portland has been no excep
tion.
Recently REACH Community De
velopment, a non-profit geared to
ward providing affordable housing,
continued y ^ o n p a g e A 8
The Senate version gives less
money in direct aide to states, which
could result in deeper cuts for
Oregon's budgets. One area that
could be particularly hard hit is
schools.
“We don't really know what the
affects will be," said Matt Shelby,
spokesperson for Portland Public
Schools, who said that there is a
difference of $4(X) million in direct
aide for Oregon between the House
and Senate of the bills.
More money means that PPS could
keep schools open and not have to
shuffle staff to cope with budget
As the economy sputters, teeters
and hemorrhages jobs, the state and
federal government are gearing up to
pump billions of dollars into infra
structure projects and tax breaks in
hopes of getting it humming again.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed $ 175
million state-wide stimulus bill last
week aimed at funding delayed main
tenance projects across the state.
It’s aimed at pumping money into the
local economy in hopes of getting
people back to work in a state that
has seen its unemployment numbers
ebb on 10 percent.
The U.S. House of Rep-
Urban League of
re se n ta tiv e s recen tly
Portland President
passed an $819 billion
Marcus Mundy says
economic stimulus bill to
community organi
h e lp the sta te s, give
zations o f color
people on public assis
might have funding
tance a boost in benefits,
slashed as final
and fund a long list of
stimulus package
infrastructure projects
is crafted.
that could put people back
to work, among other pro
visions. The bill also gives $500 tax cuts, said Shelby. It also meant more
credit to individuals and $ 1,000 to money for capital improvements of
couples to be passed along in small the aging schools, he added. Mon
increments with peoples' paychecks. day night, the school board passed
An analysis by the left-leaning a resolution supporting full funding.
The House and Senate bills need
Center for American Progress says
Oregon would get $6.37 billion, to be reconciled in conference. It's
with about 12 percent set aside to unclear how this will be accomplished
balance the budget. U nder the since the Senate bill only passed
same analysis o f the Senate’s ver with the support of three Republi
sion of the federal stimulus, the cans who wanted less money spent
state will get $7.07 billion, with on schools and other provisions.
“It's not a perfect bill," Julie
nearly 11 percent dedicated to help
Edwards,
spokesperson for Sen. Jeff
ing balance the state budget.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Merkley, D-Ore.
Edwards concedes that that a re
passed its version of the bill. Al
though this makes the stimulus closer cent Congressional Budget Office
to final passage, not everyone is
continued
on page A 9
cheering.
Decades of Forced Sterilizations Cast Ripples
Thought state sterilization laws
have been removed from the books,
institutionalized oppression against
those who are not wealthy, healthy
and white dove underground and
still influences social and political
policies today. “Perfection' seeks to
put a face and a heart to the continu
ing legacy of the Eugenics move-
Play tells about violations
of most personal rights
A secret with historical weight
that continues to cast silent, power
ful ripples in our community is told in
the play “Perfection,” currently on
stage for Black History Month at the
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center
in north Portland.
Oregon was part of a nationwide
movement o f forced sterilization of
men and women beginning in the
early 1900s through as late as 1971.
If you were on any governm ent
assistance, w elfare, foster care, if
you were a m inority with potential
o f becom ing a ward of the state
.Week in
The Review
your most personal rights could be
violated.
“Perfection" explores the human
fall oùt of social engineering through
the eyes of Anna May Dobbs, both
victim and col laborator of forced ster
ilizations during Oregon's little known
Eugenics era.
In 2000, fo rm er G ov. John
Kitzhaber issued a public apology to
the thousands of forced sterilization
victims in Oregon. It was the first time
many Oregonians had ever heard of
the state’s eight decades of partici
pation in the Eugenics.
you've come from and how you can
give back. That's one o f the m es
sages she carried with her Tuesday
on a visit to a W ashington. D.C.
social services center, where she
got down on the carpeted floor to
read with toddlers and, separately,
chatted up a group of teenagers.
$3 Trillion Attacks Crisis
First Lady Gives Back
First lady M ichelle Obam a says it is
im portant to think about w here
The Obama adm inistration. Federal
Reserve and Senate attacked the
deepening econom ic crisis Tuesday
with actions that could throw as
much as $3 trillion more in govern
ment and private funds into the fight
against frozen credit m arkets and
rising joblessness.
continued 'y^ o n page A !0
A play about the forced
sterilization o f men and
women during the Eugenics era,
especially for minorities and the
disadvantaged, takes the stage
for Black History Month at the
Interstate Firehouse Cultural
Center in north Portland.
Brown Booked
for Assault
P o lice
booked
singer Chris Brown
on Sunday for in
vestigation of mak
ing a criminal threat
after a woman ac
cused him of as
saulting her the night before the
Grammy Awards. The Los Angeles
Times has reported that the woman is
pop superstar Rihanna, his longtime
girlfriend.
Burgerville Eyes Beer, Wine
A B urgerville restaurant in the
Salm on C reek neighborhood of
V ancouver wants a liquor license
to serve beer and wine. The appli
cation drew a protest from Oregon
Partnership. The non-profit is con
cerned about any trend that would
combine alcohol sales in fast food
outlets with its young customers
and employees.
Gunfire Hurts Teenager
A suspected gang related shooting
critically injured a 15-year-old boy
on Sunday afternoon in the area of
Northeast 42nd and Emerson Street.
After he was shot in the chest, the
victim went to an acquaintance's
home for help and police eventually
found him there.
Birds Shifting North
An A udubon Society report on
Tuesday said climate change is push
ing American birds northward, with
some finches and chickadees mov
ing hundreds of miles into Canada's
Boreal Forest.