May 20, 2009 Page A2 Early Call for Rose Festival Celebration Waterfront Village opens for Memorial Day weekend For the first time ever. Water­ front Village opens Friday for the Memorial Day weekend. The new three-w eekend format offers a whole extra weekend of Rose Fes­ tival fun. N estled betw een P ortland's downtown business district and the W illam ette R iver at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Wa­ terfront Village provides a park­ load of whimsical kids adventures, hysterical vaudevillian acts, fes­ tive bands, and thousands of smil­ ing families each day. Event hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, except Friday, May 22 when gates open at 5 p.m. Also Friday, at approximately at 9:45 p.m. on the waterfront, the Rose Festival Fireworks Spectacular will light up the evening sky. O th er m ajor R ose F estiv al For the first time ever, Waterfront Village at Tom McCall Park, downtown, will open for the Memorial Day weekend on Friday. The early opening will give Portlanders three weekends to take in the rides, booths and music during the annual Rose Festival. Resources for Businesses P o rtla n d S ta te U niversity’s Business O ut­ reach Program helps small b u s in e s s e s , in c lu d in g , e m e rg in g , m in o rity and w om en-ow ned b u sinesses, achieve their potential while providing opportunities for learning. With a full-tim e staff and undergraduate business stu ­ dents, the program provides an array o f co nsulting se r­ vices, including in-depth mar­ ket research, business plan d e v e lo p m e n t, in te r a c tiv e workshops, one-on-one busi­ ness consultation, and more. Not only do entrepreneurs discover their own strengths and p o te n tia ls, so do the PSU students. Projects range from book­ keeping to m arketing a new product. To learn more about get­ ting involved with the PSU Business Outreach Program, email bop@ sba.pdx.edu or call 503-72540820. BUSES RETURN TO events include the Starlight Pa­ rade, downtown on Saturday, May 30 at 8:30 p.m. The Junior Parade is on Wednesday, June 3 at 1 p.m. in the Hollywood District, start­ ing at 52nd and Sandy Boulevard. The Grand Floral Parade is Sat­ urday, June 6 at 10 a.m., starting from the Memorial Coliseum to downtown Portland. Highlights include a fantastic lineup of 15 beautiful floats, in­ cluding Reser's Beauty and the Beast and an offering from St. Mary's Academy, celebrating 150 years of educating local young women; 112 horses, carrying rid­ ers, pulling w agons and even dancing; more music than ever, in c lu d in g 19 great m arching bands; the most special entries in recent history, giving everyone something to cheer about! The drum line and dancers from Portland's Self Enhancement,' Inc. will share their pride and passion as they lead the parade. The Q ueen C oronation pre­ cedes the Grand Floral parade, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Coli­ seum. Poisoned Soldiers Get Hearing Lawmaker calls for compensation by J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver Larry Roberta, a former O r­ egon guardsm an, remembers a strange yellow substance staining the sand and c o n ­ crete as he stood guard over KBR w orkers who were re­ constructing a w ater plant in southern Iraq. The substance blew onto his chicken patty at meal times and into his face during the day. Now he can barely walk to his mailbox without needing to puff on an inhaler, and has to take painkillers every single day. R oberta w as one o f h u n ­ dreds o f mem bers of the O r­ egon and Indiana N ational G uards who were exposed to sodium dichrom ate, a cancer- causing chem ical, while they guarded KBR (a H aliburton subsidiary) w orkers in 2003. A num ber o f these soldiers have become extremely ill. L a st w e e k th e O re g o n House Rule Com m ittee heard emotional testimony concern­ ing House Bill 3480, which would set aside $20,000 for O regon guardsm en who d e­ velop cancer from their expo­ sure to this chem ical. Rep. Chip Shields, D-Port- land, who sponsored the bill, acknow ledged at the hearing that the amount of money was small, but the bill shines light of the failure of KBR and the country to look after these soldiers. “Passing this bill is a very m odest recognition of their p a in an d s a c r if ic e ,” sa id Shields, who added that docu­ ments from a law suit against KBR and a congressional in­ vestigation leave “virtually no doubt” that the company was aware that soldiers were be­ ing exposed to these chem i­ cals. S cott A shby, another O r­ eg o n g u a rd sm a n , c h o c k e d back tears as he recalled be­ ing told by the m ilitary that the substance w a sn ’t a big deal w hile he w atch ed his comrades fall ill. “ I stand her today to ask for help," he said. The bill passed the com m it­ tee and is now b e fo re the H o u se W ays an d M e a n s Committee. Neil Kelly Scholarship Winners « 5TH AND 6TH AVENUES DOWNTOWN MAY 24 T he w in n e rs are A q to s Five outstanding high school seniors - all residents of north G irim a o f J e ffe rs o n H igh and northeast Portland - were School, Amy Marsha of Grant awarded Neil Kelly Memorial High School, Shantel Monk of S c h o la rsh ip s F riday at the De La Salle North C atholic A lbina Rotary F oundation’s H igh S ch o o l, and S hreen a scholarship awards luncheon. Narend and Shawn Spears of H ig h S c h o o l. E ach stu d e n t re c e iv e d a B e n so n $1,000 annual college scholar­ Q uanisha Anderson of Jesuit ship, which will renew annually High School. Each o f the students was for three more years, following them as they pursue their un­ selected for their strong aca­ dem ic sk ills, but also o u t­ dergraduate studies. s ta n d in g se rv ic e to th e ir school, family and community. T he sch o larsh ip program was started 12 years ago to encourage higher education in north and northeast Port­ la n d and a lso h o n o r th e memory of Neil Kelly, who started Neil Kelly Co. in the Albina community in 1947 and spent decades in community service, with particular em ­ phasis on education. USE CROSSWALKS OBEY ALL SIGNS AND SIGNALS NO RIGHT TURNS i * im : ■ 3 S » "»J „620™ ------ NmnCtunvl f a ] TR I ® nut J itim i W HERE RUBBER M EETS TH E RUNW AY MET N o rth Runw ay E xtensio n P ro je c t See where it takes you. Flight pattern and noise changes at PDX this summer Learn more at www.flypdx.com, and click on PDX North Runway Extension ‘n’f JJo ri lattò (Observer © PO R T OF PORTLAND Established 1970 USPS 9 5 9 - 6 8 0 __________________________________ 4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211 Eturon-iN-CmKt, Pimi.isHm: Charles H. Washington EniToe M ichael Leighton D is T K iH i r io N M snahi . h : Mark W ashington C reative D irector : Paul N eufeldt ■ The Ptirtland Observer welcomes freelance sub­ missions Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned if accompa­ nied by a self addressed envelope A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in «»thee pu b li­ cations or personal usage without the written con­ sent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad © 2008 T H E P O R TLA N D OBSERVER A L L R IO H T S R E S E R V E D . 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