Electrifying Theater
Storm Large
Memories race from childhood
to death row and from white
dresses to orange jump suits in
El Grito Del Bronx
Portland singer tackles her
life’s struggles in a raw,
musical production at
Portland Center Stage
See El Observador, page A7
See A&E, page A 11
w Worflarth ©bseruer
i i t u AT R n C P C
‘City
of Roses
P c l q K I ickiA/d in I 0 7 H
r \n r tIa n r ln h c p r \/p r r n m
www.portlandobserver.com
ia / ia j ia /
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, Number 14
Wednesday • April 8. 2009
Activists
Decry
12 lanes:
See a bridge to
more pollution
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Pastor Robin Wisner and April Murchinson voice their concerns to possible police bureau budget cuts. They are local volunteers with the
Bureau's Crisis Response Team which helps people cope with violent crime and other tragedies.
Crisis Team Fightsfor Survival
Program on
police cuts list
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
V alerie D io n n e som etim es has
people approach her in the grocery
store to thank her for helping them
in rough times.
D ionne is a volunteer w orker with
the Portland Police Bureau's Crisis
Response Team. The program pro­
vides trained volunteers for victim s
o f traum atic events as well as their
fam ilies and loved ones. They help
com fort people w ho are experienc­
ing events they thought they would
never face, like the violent death o f
a loved one, and help them with the
next steps.
However, with each city bureau
facing a 5 percent cut because o f the
bad economy, the program could end
up getting trimm ed.
Last week, over 20 volunteers and
others concerned about the program
gathered at the N ortheast Portland
Police Precinct to voice their con­
cerns.
A s s is ta n t P o lic e C h ie f B rian
M artinek was at the meeting to a n - .
sw er questions.
"I appreciate the passion and com ­
mitment you all have" said Martinek.
“1 have a lot o f respect for the people
in this room .”
M artinek w as vague on details,
saying at this stage he d o esn 't know
how the program will be trimm ed. It
might be merged with another pro­
gram , he said, and is hopeful that
City Council w on’t cut the police
b u rea u ’s budget as d rastically as
others.
photo by
The Police Bureau is in the pro­
cess o f reorganizing and its precinct
structure, w hich w ould close the
N orth and Southeast precincts, in
hopes o f not having to cut any pro­
gram s like crisis response.
M artinek w asn’t sure how much
m oney the crisis team runs on. A co­
ordinating officer and administrative
assistant are the program ’s only paid
positions. The team 's volunteers are
unpaid.
"We offer support for in ways of-
continued y f on page A3
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Honoring Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The King Elementary School Choir under the direction of Kathryn McVey honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's legacy of peace and non­
violence on the 41st anniversary of his death. The observance Saturday outside the Oregon Convention Center included a walk to the
Japanese-American Memorial Plaza, downtown, and speeches, and was sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the commission to
End Racism, and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon.
.Week in
The Review
State Looks at Huge Cuts
Every governm ent agency in Oregon
would be required to cut 30 percent o f
their budget to close a revenue gap of
at least $3 billion in the 2009-11 state
budget, lawmakers decided Friday. Still
the state has some cushion with re­
serves and proposed tax increases
that m ake it likely the final cut will be
less.
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U li
i jn r
IH b B
N.C. Takes NCCA Crown
The N orthC arolinaT arH eelsstom ped
out M ichigan S tate's inspirational run
for a NCAA basketball cham pionship
M onday night with an 89-72 blowout
that w asn ’t that close. See story,
pageAK
Lincoln Coach
Resigns
Brown Pleads
Not Guilty
Lincoln High School base­
ball coach Michael Todd
resigned Friday after alle­
gations that he Uxik three
18-year-old Lincoln base-
hall players to an adult en­
tertainment venue while in
San Francisco for a spring
break baseball tournament
Chris Brown pleaded not
guilty M onday to threat­
ening and assaulting his
girlfriend, fellow music star
Rihanna. The 19-year-old
R&B singer entered his Chris Brown
plea, speaking in a soft voice, while
Beating at MAX Station
standing alongside his lawyer, Mark
G eragos. His mother sat in the first Three Native A m ericans were beaten
last week while they waited for a MAX
row, red-eyed.
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
A g ree n lig h t to the m ost car-
friendly option for a proposed new 1-
5 Portland-Vancouver bridge has left
lin g erin g co n cern s o v er w hat the
health and environm ental impacts a
12-lane bridge will have on north and
northeast Portland neighborhoods.
According to environmental justice
advocates and federal Environm en­
tal Protection Agency documents, the
$4.2 billion project could end up pump­
ing more toxic chem icals into an area
that already is one o f the Portland’s
most polluted sections.
The proposed bridge is the C olum ­
bia River Crossing project’s center-
piece solution over concerns that the
Pacific Northwest's ballooning popu­
lation trends will severely strain trans­
portation infrastructure.
Last year, the Federal Highway and
Transit A dm inistration released rosy
d raft en v iro n m en tal im pact sta te ­
ments that estimate that under all op­
tions for building the bridge, which
included varying numbers of lanes,
use of light rail and motor vehicle tolls,
pollution em issions would actually
drop by 30 to 90 percent.
But the EPA has expressed serious
concerns over how those em ission
figures were drafted and asserts that
not enough inform ation or analysis
has gone into m easuring what im ­
pacts the bridge will have on air pol­
lution, along with water quality and
environm ental justice issues.
North and northeast Portland suf­
fers higher pollution im pacts than
many other areas o f the city because
o f its proximity to freeway em issions
and industrial pollutants. Chemicals
such as benzene, arsenic and form al­
dehyde contribute to elevated risk of
cancer, and diesel em issions in the
area are some 20 times the health stan­
dard.
Last month, the Portland City Coun­
cil approved the 12-Iane option for the
bridge on a 4 - 1 vote, the only dissent­
ing voice was that o f first term C om ­
missioner Amanda Fritz.
Fritz tried to tack on am endments
that would have required that health
and environm ental justice advocates
be put in oversight positions, but the
motions died for a lack o f a second.
"People were focused on the big
picture and not enough on the d e­
tails on how this will affect people in
north and northeast Portland," said
Fritz.
Jill Fuglister, the co-director o f the
Coalition for a Livable Future and a
member of the Columbia River Cross­
ing task force which was charged with
com ing up with options for the new
bridge, also opposed the 12-lane op­
tion.
"We are concerned about putting
m ore ta ilp ip e s on the road," said
continued y ^ on page A3
train at G oose Hollow in southwest
Portland. Police said five assailants
used slurs that referenced the victim 's
Native American heritage.