Tourney Brings
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Baby Cut from Womb
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A Beaverton woman is
charged in the murder
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Volume XXXVIV. Number 23
www.Dortlandobserver.com
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • lune 10, 2009
Green Economy or Green Divide?
Workers
face many
obstacles
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
On a hot, m uggy day outside
o f R igler Elem entary School in
northeast Portland the leather
boots and je a n s o f four H is
panic im m igrants pick up dust
as they w ork to fill a layered pit
with carefully placed rocks and
gravel.
T he m en are constructing a
biosw ale, a landscape elem ent
that filters pollution from run
off water. T hey are participants
in a landscape training program
sp o n so red by V erde, a n o n
profit that helps low -incom e
people develop skills that will
help them land jobs in the com
ing “green econom y,” or even
start their ow n business.
G reen jo b s have been have
been hailed as a way to revital
ize the econom y w hile protect
ing the natural world. Som e are
pinning their hopes that these
jo bs will be a vehicle o f social
photo by J ake T homas TT he P ortland O bserver
Workers stand near a bioswale, a form o f “green" environmental construction meant to
catch polluted rain water outside o f Rigler Elementary School in northeast Portland. The
men are in a program offered by Verde, a non-profit that offers green landscape training
to traditionally marginalized groups.
mobility for traditionally disad
v antaged groups. But as the
g ree n tid e w ash es o v e r the
country there are still obstacles
to ensure that it lifts up previ
ously m arginalized people.
It’s not clear what the poten
tial green jo b s might hold, in
part, because there is no com
mon definition o f what a green
job entails. But in term s o f the
new economy, the work often
includes jobs to create renew
able energy, or traditional blue
collar jo b s that have an eco-
friendly element.
A ccording to the U .S. E n
ergy Inform ation A dm inistra
tion, generation o f renewable
energy is slated to rise from 418
billion kilowatt hours to 730 bil
lion by 2030, which will certainly
create some jobs.
Some are hoping that green
jobs will be a boon to com m u
nities of color, which already
make less than their white coun
terparts. According to the Ur
ban Institute, a third of all fami
lies with children are in poverty
and the median wage for black
men was $ 12.48 an hour in 2005
com pared to $ 17.48 for whites.
The O bam a A dm inistration
and Congress are pinning their
Mississippi non-profit
celebrates 10 years
by J ake T homas
T he P orti . and O bserver
At the ReBuilding C enter on
M ississippi Avenue sounds of
people lifting, dragging, and
d ropping heavy co n stru ctio n
m aterials echoes through the
sp raw lin g co m p lex o v e r the
softly blaring soul m usic play
ing in the background.
People lug hulking doors, dig
through bins o f lamp fixtures, and
inquisitively gaze at windows.
This looks like it could be any
other supply stop for hom e re
furbishm ent, but it isn ’t.
The ReBuilding Center is part
o f the non-profit O ur United Vil
lages, seeks to reshape the way
people think about objects and
how they put together houses.
The center champions the con
cept o f “deconstruction,” which
m e a n s b u ild in g m a te ria ls
s h o u ld n ’t be to s s e d o n ce a
building is taken down, but re
used. It has grown steadily from
its humble beginning in a small
storefront to becom ing one o f
the nation’s largest non-profit
reuse centers.
O n T h ursday Ju n e 11, the
center at 3625 N. M ississippi
Ave., will celebrate its 10th birth
day from 6 to 8 p.m. It will in
clude food from local vendors
and will showcase some o f the
special projects that have been
created with recycled materials.
T w o h u n d re d p e o p le are
served and eight tons o f waste
are diverted everyday by the
R eB u ild in g en ter said C h ris
Bekem eier, the assistant direc
tor for O ur United Villages.
T he idea behind the center is
photo by J ake T homas /T he
P ortland O bserver
Chris Bekemeier o f Our United Villages shows off some o f the salvaged plumbing
fixtures at the ReBuilding Center on North M ississippi Avenue, the non-profit warehouse
o f building supplies obtained for resale and reuse.
simple: The cycle o f people fill
ing landfills with usable items
w h ile b u y in g n ew o n e s is
w astefu l an d d o e s n 't u tilize
p eo p les’ creativity, explained
Bekemeier.
"Portland is so full o f creative
people that there is no end to
ideas people come up with that
people never thought of before,"
said Bekemeier, who has seen
people construct greenhouses.
chicken coops, and almost en
tire houses by creatively using
salv ag ed w ood, d o o rs, w in
dows, plumbing and light fix
tures. Often times building m a
terials are used for something
hopes that a green economy will
revitalize the country’s battered
m iddle class and will provide
greater social m obility for the
poor. This year’s stimulus pack
age included m illions o f dollars
in tax credits to spur green tech
nology, and the O bam a A dm in
istration has launched in itia
tives to connect residents o f
HUD housing with training for
green jobs, although they have
yet to be spelled out.
The state o f Oregon is also
on board. It has mandated that
25 percent o f all energy come
from renewable energy by 2025,
and offers tax credits to encour
age businesses ranging from
h o m e b u ild in g to h y b rid v e
h icles to becom e m ore eco-
friendly. Local leaders are also
in the process o f wooing clean
energy com panies to jo in the
ranks of existing companies, like
th e H ills b o ro - b a s e d S o la r
World.
W hile these jo b s are being
created there are a num ber of
o rg an iz atio n s, local and n a
tional, that w ant to make sure
that disadvantaged groups will
be prepared to hitch their w ag
ons to the green gravy train.
continued
on page A l l
other than their intended pur
pose, said Bekemeier. For in
stance, a door can become a floor
board, or a window a mirror.
She adds that reusing an ob
ject honors the place it once had
in som eone’s life.
"That beautiful lamp shade
that was in grandma’s house that
lit up their life for decades is
thrown away; it's sad," she said.
Salvaged materials tend to be
cheaper than brand new ones
by 5 0 to 9 0 p e r c e n t, sa id
B ekem eier who can vouch for
the soundness of every object
in the 52,500 square foot ware
house.
"The hazardous stuff is what
I'm looking for," said A ngel
Bean, a salvage specialist who
scours donated material for rot,
mold lead-based paint, and any
thing that might make it unsafe.
The mission o f the center also
e x te n d s b ey o n d o b je c ts to
people. Our United Villages, the
continued
on page A11
Grant Junior Rules Roseria
Parking Taken, Neighbors Stunned
Rachel Seeman o f Grant High
School m ade history Saturday,
becom ing the first Rose F esti
val queen from her northeast
Portland school in 43 years.
In a cerem ony at M em orial
Coliseum , Seem an, learned she
had been ch o sen q u een . A
G ra n t H ig h S ch o o l s tu d e n t
h asn 't h eld that h o n o r since
1966.
O ne o f thee ju n io rs on the
Portland Rose Festival Court,
Seem an said she was shocked,
excited and amazed.
She plans to go to college
after she graduates from high
school and go into the m edical
field.
Seem an and her court rode in
the G rand Floral P arade in a
horse-draw n wagon
The 2009 court includes 14
princesses, each representing
an area school.
Last year, festival organizers
made some changes to the court
selection process - they broad
ened the court to include a stu-
R esid en ts o f a local sen io r and d isab led housing
co m p lex are sm artin g after all the cu rb sid e parking
sp aces acro ss the street from th eir n o rth east P o rt
land ap artm en t w ere sud d en ly taken aw ay w ith no
o p p o rtu n ity to p articip ate in the d ecision.
T he p ark in g on N o rth east Sixth A venue across
fro m th e W alnut P ark A p a rtm e n ts w as re c e n tly
m arked w ith new sig n s that say “ R eserved for P o
lic e V eh icles O n ly .” T h e e n tire b lo c k b etw e en
R oselaw n and E m erson A venues w as im p acted by
the action.
P ortland T ransportation D epartm ent o fficials said
the restric tio n s w ent up at the request o f the nearby
N o rth east P olice P recinct w hich said it needed 40
sp aces to m ake room for its m erg er w ith the North
P recinct.
.
,
,
1
continued
Rachel Seeman o f Grant High
School is the first Rose Festi
val Queen from the northeast
Portland school since 1966.
.Week in
The Review
Tax Measures Approved
dent outside the regular partici
pating high schools and prin
cesses w ere selected by a ju d g
ing panel instead o f by each
school's student body.
M easures to raise taxes on
O reg o n c o rp o ra tio n s and
people in upper income brack
ets have been narrowly ap
proved by the O regon House.
“Reserved for police
vehicles only’ takes
up a block o f North
east Sixth Avenue
across from the
Walnut Park senior
and disabled housing
complex. The resi
dents are upset, but
officials say they have
no standing in the
decision.
photo by M ark
W ashing -
ton /T he P ortland
O bserver
on page A l l
Both bills now move to the O r
egon Senate.
Blues Queen Remembered
KokoTaylor.a
b lu e s m u s i
cian popularly
known as the
"Queen o f the
Blues" died on
June 3 after
com plications from surgery for
gastrointestinal bleeding. T ay
lor, 80, was known pri mari I y for
her rough powerful vocals and
traditional blues stylings.
have jum ped30 to 40 cents in
the past month. In Oregon, the
average price for a gallon of
regular rose last week to $2.68.
Pump Prices on Rise
If you've hit the pump recently,
your pocketbook has probably
noticed: gas prices are going
up. Across the country, prices
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iiim m u n in i c r v t c v