Talented Jefferson Dancers
Prestigious high school
dance troupe sets spring
concert dates
Take Back the Land
Radical calls fo r civil
disobedience to address
housing crisis
See Arts & Entertainment, page A ll
See story, page A2
‘City of Roses’
Volume XXXVIV, Num ber 17
.Week in
The Review
US Hu Deaths Likely
Federal offi­
cials warned
on Tuesday
that swine-
flu re la te d
deaths were
likely in the
U n ite d
States as the
disease that
killed scores in Mexico contin­
ued to spread across the world
and governments intensified
steps to battle the outbreak.
See story, page A2
Oregon Menu Calories
Law Passes Committee
An Oregon House committee
approved a bill that would re­
quire chain restaurants to
post calorie counts on menus
and reader boards. If the bill
passes the full House and
Senate, O regon would be­
come the second state to adopt
such a standard.
Urban League Chief Visits
National Urban League Presi­
dent and CEO Marc Mortal de­
livered a “State o f Black
America” report during a visit
to Portland
Monday, cit­
ing e ffe c ts
from a hous­
ing crisis and
a grow ing
gap between
the rich and
poor. See story, page A3.
Established in 1970
w w w .p o rtla n d o b se rve r.co m
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • April 29. 2009
Tailpipe Shudders
Scientist
blasts 12-
lane bridge
T he o p p o n en ts are c o n ­
cerned about the potential to
significantly add more tailpipe
emissions to an area that’s al­
ready one of the most toxic re­
gions of the city in terms of air
pollution and cancer-causing
chemicals.
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
The Columbia River Cross­
ing, a proposed new bridge link­
ing Vancouver to Portland, is
slated to be the largest public
works project ever undertaken
in the Pacific Northwest, with a
price tag of $4.2 billion.
The Portland City Council
gave approval to the most car-
friendly option for the bridge
with 12 lanes for automobiles.
Linda George
The decision last month has
In order to get a better handle
generated scores o f critics,
many of which recently congre­ on what the crossing will do to
gated in Portland’s Waterfront air quality; the Portland O b­
Park to rally against the project. server sat down with Linda
George, an atmospheric chem­
ist at Portland State University
who has extensively studied
the air pollution of the area.
“It’s going to make a bad situ­
ation worse,” said George, who
explained that putting more
tailpipes on the freeway could
easily exacerbate north and
northeast Portland’s already
poor air quality.
George said that there is no
way to expand lanes and de­
crease pollution in the long
term, and can’t think of any city
to have pulled off a sim ilar
project without contributing to
more pollution.
Cars are just dirty vehicles,
explained George. She points
out that research shows that
even cars that use clean energy
still emit chemicals harmful to
human health. Tires alone kick
co n tin u e d
on p a g e A 7
P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
1-5 runs smooth during Monday's early evening commute
in north Portland. But will it clog up when the freeway is
fed by 1 2 lanes as proposed with a new 1-5 bridge at
Jantzen Beach. Opponents fear a future o f gridlock with
pollution emitting tailpipes.
Farmers Market to Open in Northeast
Authorities say a bicyclist died
late Monday afternoon when
he collided with a pickup near
the intersection of Northeast
Weidler Street and 106th Av­
enue. Portland Police said the
adult male was riding eastbound
on a one-way westbound street.
Neighborhood activists
Paige Coleman and David
Sweet usher in a new
farmers market which
makes its debut this
Sunday at northeast
Portland's King School Park.
The market will open each
Sunday through Sept. 27
offering home grown
produce, flowers, cheese
and meats.
Specter Shifts to
Democrat
photo by M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Bicyclist Killed
V eteran R e­
publican Arlen
S p e c te r
of
Pennsylvania
switched par­
ket will commence Sunday, May
ties Tuesday, a
3 and be open from 10 a.m. to 2
m o d e ra te 's d efectio n that
p.m. every Sunday through Sept
pushed Democrats to within a
27 in the King School Park park­
vote of the 60 needed to over- j
ing lot at 4815 N.E. Seventh Ave.
come filibusters and enact Presi -
A joint venture by Portland
dent Obama's top legislative by L ee P erlman
Fanners’ Market and the North­
priorities.
east C oalition o f N eighbor­
T he P ortland O bserver
“The farmers are coming!” hoods, the market will feature
Governor Expands Oregon
proclaim the flyers, and orga­ more than 40 food booths sell­
Unemployment Benefits
Gov. Kulongoski signed a law nizers hope that local residents ing locally created produce,
last week that creates an alter­ will too - and become involved. flow ers, cheese and m eats.
The new King Farmers Mar- There will also be prepared
native base year to count wages
Venture to
bind diverse
communities
for unemployment benefits, al -
lowing 6,000 more jobless Or­
egonians to qualify.
PCC Cascade Job Fair
foods from local restaurants,
cooking demonstrations, music
and entertainment, and infor­
mation about local activities.
Sabin neighborhood volun­
teer David Sweet, the chair of
the market's organizing commit­
tee, is thrilled about the poten­
tial for building a sense of com­
munity between multicultural
populations.
“Among the things we have
in common, one of the most
common is food,” he told the
Portland Observer. “This is an
opportunity to break bread to­
gether. At the grocery is where
you run into your neighbors.
The Farmers Market will decid­
edly be that sort of place. It’s
an open air community where
you can come early, bring your
kids and watch them play in the
park and enjoy a cup of coffee.
There’ll also be a connection
to the source of the food - you
can meet the farmers who pro­
duced it, which is an experience
you don't get at the grocery.”
Northeast Coalition execu­
tive Paige Coleman adds that
there will be electronic machines
on site allowing people with
food stamps to use their Oregon
Trail cards. Not only that, she
says, the coalition hopes to in­
stitute a Neighbors Feeding
co n tin u ed
yf
on p a g e A 7
Local Kids Get Excited About Science
More than 40employers will be
featured at the Portland Com­
munity College’s 12th annual
Cascade Job Fair, a free event
open to the public from 11 a.m
to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5 in
the
s c h o o l’s
N orth i by J ake T homas
Killingsworth Street gym.
T he P ortland O bserver
The first year was a good
PDX Housing Prices Fall
A new monthly report finds one for north Portland's Lego
Portland-area home prices fell Robotics team, the Joybots.
14.4 percent in February, com­ A fter com peting against 20
pared to the same month a year other schools in Portland and
earlier, the biggest drop in real southw est W ashington, they
estate values since the 1980s. I m ade it all the way to the
q u a lify in g tournam ent and
walked away with the top prize
for engineering teamwork.
T he L ego R o b otics p ro ­
gram, sponsored by Oregon
R o b o tic s T o u rn a m e n t and
photo by J ake T homas /T iie P ortland O bserver
O utreach Program, seeks to
Rayawine Paris joins her north Portland Joybots teammates to line up objects that
get kids excited about science
represent environmental concerns in a Lego Robotics competition.
and tech n o lo g y by having
teams build and program ro­ ric a n -A m e ric a n fra te rn ity
E rnest H artzog, a retired the Joybots had the only ro-
sp earheaded the pro ject in school administrator who vol- botics teams from the metro
bots to perform tasks
Kappa Alpha Psi, a local Af- north and northeast Portland, unteered on the program, said area com posed prim arily of
•'c o m m u n ity service
With Lego
Robotics
competition
people of color.
T he stu d en ts from three
groups divided by age met af­
ter school and on the w eek­
ends to build ro b o ts from
Legos and other m aterials,
and then programmed them to
perform tasks.
A n to n io Ja c k s o n , w ho
heads the fraternity, said that
it was important to have a pro­
gram like this in the area.
The Joybots, m ade up of
nine to 14 year olds, may have
won the prize for teamwork,
but in the b e g in n in g they
struggled to get along, said
Rayawnie Paris, a l()-year-old
student at Cathedral School.
“In the beginning we didn’t
work together." said Pans. “But
we wanted to win it so much we
sta rte d being nice to each
other.’*
On Sunday, Bethel AME
c o n tin u e d
y^
on p a g e A 7