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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2009)
Advocate for Youth Summer Film Festival David Miller can't say no to helping kids See story, page A3 OMSl features the best of the best ¡MAX fdms fo r summer See Arts & Entertainment, page A7 w ÎJortlanh OOhsertier CitV o of f Roses RoSCS ‘City Established in in 1970 Established 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVIV. N um ber 19 .Week in The Review Switched at Birth Tw o w om en sw itched at birth have met af ter 56 years and a life time of mix- up rum ors. DNA tests proved «that Kay Rene Qualls and Dee Ann Shafer were given to the w rong par ents after they were bom in 1953 at Pioneer M em orial H os pital in H eppner, Ore. Soldier Kills 5 Comrades An A m erican soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a m ilitary base in Iraq M onday, killing five fellow soldiers. Presi dent Barack O bam a said he was "sh o c k e d an d d e e p ly s a d dened" by the report. See sto ry , pageA 2. www n o rtla n n d d n o h b s se e rv rve e r r.co m m m w w w n .p rtla Dynamic Artist Wednesday • May 13. 2009 ‘Coming Home’ Art Hop pays tribute to Thelma Johnson Streat O ne o f P ortland’s m ost dy nam ic and historical artists is com ing home during the annual Art Hop celebration sponsored by the non-profit com m unity organization Art on Alberta. Saturday’s 10th annual event will feature works by the inter nationally acclaimed artist and dancer Thelm a Johnson Streat (1911-1959), the first A frican American woman to be collected by the prestigious M useum o f M odem Art in New York City. Unemployment Security President O bam a wants unem ploy ment insurance to becom e a step p in g sto n e fo r future w ork by m aking it easier to enroll in school or jo b train ing and keep your benefits. See Thelma Johnson Streat's ‘Rabbit Man' (above) and ‘Black Kings' (left) are works considered prime examples o f abstract expressionism. Up to 50 o f Streat’s original w o rk s, o n lo a n fro m th e Thelma Johnson Streat Project in Salem, will be on display for this one day celebration. Par ticipating Alberta Street galler ies showing Streat’s artwork are Ampersand, Black United Fund, Grow, Guardino Gallery, and Talisman. In addition, Ur story, page A2. Health of Social Security, Medicare Takes Plunge The financial health o f Social S ecurity and M edicare has w orsened because o f the se vere recession, and M edicare is now paying out m ore than it receives. T rustees o f the pro-1 gram s said T uesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year. You’re Not Fired M iss C alifornia USA can retain her crow n after questions arose about sem i-nude photographs taken o f her as a teenager and her association with a conservative advocacy group for m arriage, pageant owner Donald Trum p said Tues day. Clemens Denies Drug Use N ew York Y an k e e s b a s e b a ll p itc h e r R o g e r C lem en s broke his silence T ues day, again denying that form er p erso n al tr a in e r B ria n M cNam ee injected him with perform ance-enhancing drugs. C lem ens said he chose to speak out because it was the release date o f a book about his al leged drug use. Thelma Johnson Streat ban Arts Dance is incorporat ing S treat’s dance routines NE ALBINA Street into their Saturday performances. Art Hop will close 17 blocks o f N o rth e a st A lb e rta S treet from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to accom m o d a te o v e r 150 a r tis ts . craftspeople, music, dance and theater perform ances, interac tive art events along with food and other vendors. Two stages are being sponsored by Binks and Siren Nation. S tre a t w as in te rn a tio n a lly k now n in the m id -tw en tieth century for her visual and per fo rm a n ce art. She also p io neered work to prom ote inter- cultural understanding with a focus tow ards youth. She was fascinated with the pow er o f indigenous cultures to teach understanding, toler ance, and appreciation o f di versity. With hum ble begin n in g s in Y ak im a and Pendleton, she m oved to Port la n d an d g r a d u a te d fro m W ashington H igh School in continued on page A10 Rough Patch for Social Services County chair goes to the drawing board by J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver M ultnom ah County provides gov ernm ent services that are so bread- and-butter th ey 're often overlooked. B ut w ith th e c o u n ty ’s b u d g e t e n snared in the sagging econom y it’s looking at a 15 percent across the board cut. M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty C h a ir T ed W heeler is hoping to tum the crisis “But in the absence of in to an o p p o rtu n ity by them, you notice it,” he g o ad in g the L eg islatu re added. into enacting tax revenue T h e co u n ty g o v e rn reform. ment provides social ser He recently outlined the vices for the city’s most issue before the Eastside vulnerable citizens, such D em ocratic Club, a civic as the m entally ill, senior organization that provides citizen s, and dom estic a progressive forum to dis v io len ce v ictim s, said c u s s is s u e s an d c a n d i Wheeler. dates. During his 45 minute It also provides other talk, W heeler explained the services like jails, pros situation the county is in, ecutors, health clinics, and w hat h e’s doing to get Ted Wheeler and re-entry services for it out o f a rough patch. E v en W h e eler ad m its th at m ost inmates, he added. However, these services are being things the county does are “not very squeezed by the abysm al economy. sexy.” W heeler said h e’s trying to get the Legislature to change how the county is funded. He explained that the tax “kicker" law, w hich requires the state to partially refund income taxes if the am ount col lected is above what is projected, is problem atic. If the state collects more revenue than it expected that money should go into a “rainy day” fund for times like these, argued Wheeler. “T hat m ay have been great for a short term pop,” said W heeler o f the kicker. “ But now here we are a couple years later in a very tough economy with no meaningful reserves to fall back continued on page A3 Child Actor Gets a Taste of Hollywood Roles come after move to L.A. age range in Phoenix, Ariz. by J ake T homas He easily w on the com peti T he P ortland O bserver Alleged Nazi Hears Charges tion, w hich cam e with a cool Charles Lott Sr. always knew S itting in a w heelchair and $10,000 prize. He w ow ed the breathing through a nasal tube, that his son had a flair for the ju d g e s with a m onologue on theatrical, but d id n 't foresee his retired A m erican auto worker how he tries to avoid becoming John D em janjuk listened si fast rise as a child actor. e x a c tly lik e h is fa th e r w ho L o tt re m e m b e rs h is so n , lently T uesday as a Germ an! shares his same name. His m od judge read a 21-page warrant C harles Lott Jr., always w ant eling, and cold reads on the spot ing to put on a show in church. accusing him o f acting as an accessory to the m urder o f He would mimic the preacher 29,000 people at a Nazi death and w ould sneak on the stage when dancers were performing. camp. It annoyed his parents, but d e Cheaper Gas for Summer lighted everyone else. A fter a plunge in gas prices, L ott’s com fort being on stage A m ericans are expected to hit and natural talen t for acting the highw ays in larger numbers have quickly catapulted the ca this M emorial Day, giving a reer o f the 9-year-old Portland boost to the traditional start of native. H e's relocated to Los the sum m er driving season, A ngeles, and is slated to ap AAA said Tuesday. pear in big name films, like Iron M an 2. Lott Jr.'s start in acting o c cu rred suddenly. H is fam ily heard about a local acting com p etitio n last year, w here the w inner would have a chance to com pete with over 200 other Portland child actor Charles youths in the 6 to 10-year-old Lott Jr. Child actor Charles Lott Jr. poses next to a stunt car at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Lott was getting them in droves also im pressed the judges. “Pop! Cam eras everywhere I from headhunters. After care went," exclaim ed Lott of the at fully considering the slew of tention he got at the com peti offers by talent representatives L ott's family chose an agency, tion. Most fam ilies who take their H ines & Hunt, they felt they kids to auditions can hope to could trust. They quickly got a get maybe one call back. But deal for a national food chain. » follow ed by a Vitamin Water c o m m ercial fe a tu rin g Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. But L ott's rising star inevita bly meant a big change for him and his family. T h ere’s just not continued on page A 10