Evacuee Re-grows Roots
50tf
Four years after the disaster,
Celeste Calvin earns her
degree and starts a new job
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Jefferson High Turns 100
Students, staff, alumni and friends
o f Jefferson High School are
celebrating 100 years o f history
story,
see See
story,
page page
Ax A2
See story, page A2
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, N um ber 21
Wednesday • May 27, 2009
Obama Picks First Hispanic
Supreme Court nominee
rises from the projects
U.S. Appeals Court
Judge Sonia
Sotomayor speaks after
President Barack
Obama Tuesday
announced her as his
choice o f nomination for
the Supreme Court
justice, to replace
retiring Justice David
Souter.
(AP) - President Barack O bam a chose federal appeals
judge Sonia Sotom ayor to becom e the nation's first H is
panic Suprem e Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as
"an inspiring woman" w ith both the intellect and com pas
sion to interpret the Constitution wisely.
O bam a said Sotom ayor has more experience as a judge
than any current m em ber o f the high court had when nom i
nated, adding she has earned the "respect o f colleagues
on the bench, the adm iration o f m any law yers who argue
cases in her court and the adoration o f her clerks, w ho look
to her as a mentor."
S ta n d in g n e x t to O b am a at th e W h ite H o u se,
Sotom ayor recalled a childhood spent in a housing
project in the Bronx as well as her upper-echelon legal
career: "1 strive never to forget the real world conse
quences o f my decisions on individuals, businesses and
governm ent."
Barring the unexpected, Senate confirm ation seems
likely, given the large Democratic majority. If approved,
she w ould join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the sec
ond w om an on the current court, the third in history.
She w ould succeed retiring Justice D avid Souter.
S enate M ajority L eader H arry Reid, D-Nev., issued
continued
on page A1
Input on PCC
Plans Missing
College’s intentions uncertain
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
T he lead ersh ip o f P o rtlan d C o m
m unity C olleg e has sold P ortland
on the value o f the institution. L ast
N o v em b e r it co n v in c e d v o ters to
green light a $374 m illion bond m ea
sure to expand fac ilities needed to
ac c o m m o d a te its b a llo o n in g stu
dent population.
B ut n o t e v e ry o n e is c h e e rin g .
Som e resid en ts o f the surrounding
H u m b o ld t n eig h b o rh o o d are an x
ious that as P C C 's C ascad e C am
pus exp an d s it w ill ho llo w out the
b u s in e s s c lu s te r a d ja c e n t to the
c a m p u s on K illin g sw o rth S tre et,
a n d w ill g iv e th e b o o t to
hom eow ners and renters.
N eig h b o rs are w o rrie d that the
v o te r-a p p ro v e d b o n d m oney w ill
g ive P C C a freehand to shape the
n e ig h b o rh o o d as it w is h e s , an d
h a s n 't d o n e e n o u g h p u b lic o u t
reach. T here are also u nansw ered
q u e s tio n s ab o u t the c o lle g e 's in
te n tio n s.
F or years resid en ts have w atched
as PC C has q u ie tly an n ex ed n earby
properties, som e o f them w ere ch er
ish e d co m m u n ity in stitu tio n s, in
c lu d in g tw o A fr ic a n A m e r ic a n
c h u r c h e s , p e o p le s ' h o m e s , an d
b u s in e s s e s .
Jord an a S ardo, b ranch o rg an izer
fo r the F reedom S ocialist Party, was
in v o lv e d w ith th e o p p o s itio n to
PCC's expansion in 2002. She recalls
people w ho had ju s t fin ish ed p a y
ing o ff their m ortgages only to have
them seized by the college.
Two y ears ago, PC C acq u ired the
P a r a g o n C lu b n e x t d o o r to th e
S ardo's B read and R oses co m m u
n ity ce n te r on K illin g sw o rth S treet
and left it em pty. S ardo d escrib es
th e v a c a n t b u ild in g as an "e y e
so re," w h ere p e o p le d u m p trash .
S he says she co m p lain ed to PCC
w ho haven 't responded.
In th e m e a n tim e sh e w o rr ie s
th a t th e p a rty h e a d q u a rte rs co u ld
continued
on page A8
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Community College must decide how it will expand offerings on its Cascade Campus in north
Portland while a neighborhood is anxious about losing more homes and businesses to college
development.
Mortgage Help gets Bogged Down in Bureaucracy
Slow going on
new consumer
protections
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Dodie Howard's greatest fear is that
she w ill lo se h e r h o m e a fte r her
husband's trucking business took a
fatal hit from the recession. Since last
fall Howard, w ho w orks as a buyer
for Safew ay, has been ca llin g her
lender, Citimortgage, in hopes that she
can sit down with a representative and
hopefully cut a deal.
However, Howard, 65, now worries
that her simple appeal will drow n in
her lender's dizzying labyrinth o f red
tape. W henever she calls she is trans
ferred num erous tim es, put on hold,
and is dism issed anytim e she pro
poses a resolution. M eanw hile she
has fallen $ 17,000 behind on mortgage
paym ents, and.has no idea if her bank
TLWeek in
The Review
Screams Lead to Children
A 7-year-old girl was rescued from the
Willamette River after 1 a.m. Saturday
after her screams were heard by a couple
who took their boat out to investigate.
Police believe the girl and her4-year-old
brother were victims of an attempted
photo by J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Dodie Howard fights to keep her Portland home out of foreclosure.
murder. See story, page A2
a cord hanging under the console.
Tyson Daughter Dies
Charity Builds Family Center
T he 4-year-old daughter o f form er
h e a v y w e ig h t ch a m p io n
M ike Tyson died T uesday,
a day after w hat police
called a "tragic accident"
at her Phoenix home. E xo
dus Tyson was playing on
a treadm ill when her head
apparently slipped inside
Catholic Charities has started co n
struction on a long-an
ticipated family center,
a 60,(MM) square foot, 4
story com plex in south
east Portland to house
nearly all o f its programs
and services. See story,
page A ll.
intends to foreclose.
"We can m ake payments. We're not
destitute. We've ju st lost an income,"
said Howard.
A bill aim ed at addressing the sort
o f situation the Howard's are facing
has been bogged down in Salem after
m o rtg a g e an d b a n k in g in te r e s ts
groaned that the bill would unfairly
burden them and lacked specifics.
S en ate B ill 6 28, sp o n so re d by
S u zanne B onam ici, D -B eav erto n ,
would require lenders to sit down with
the borrow er and a third-party m edia
tor before a house is foreclosed on.
But the bill faces powerful and well-
financed mortgage and banking lob
bies, like the Oregon Financial Ser
vices A ssociation, w hich has doled
out $32,000 over the last three years
to both Dem ocratic and Republican
members of the legislature and spends
even more on lobbying activities each
session.
Last month there were 342,038 fore
c lo su re s in O reg o n , ac co rd in g to
RealtyTrac.com . And it’s expected to
get w orse as O re g o n ’s u n em ploy
ment rate has soared to the second
worse in the nation.
“This bill does need some work,"
said Bonamici at the beginning o f the
bill’s first public hearing before the
S en ate's C o n su m er Protection and
Public Affairs Com m ittee, which she
chairs.
D uring public hearings financial
and m ortgage interests com plained
that there were unanswered questions
as to how the bill would be im ple
mented. For instance, it was unclear
how titles would be insured and how
it would gibe with federal programs
aimed at stopping foreclosures.
People representing banking and
financial interests also claim ed that
the bill w ould weigh down lenders
with unnecessary requirem ents and
co sts.
“Creating more burdens and more
Same-sex Ban Upheld
first round Friday. The Beavers missed
the postseason last year after winning
back-to-back College W orld Series.
The California Supreme C ourt T ues
day upheld a voter-approved ban on
same-sex marriage, but it also decided
that the estim ated 18,(MX) gay couples
who tied the knot before the law took
effect will stay wed.
continued
OSU Back at NCAAs
The Oregon State baseball team has
earned a bid to the NCAA T ourna
ment and will play Texas A&M in the
I
♦
on page A8