luly 8, 2009
^ ^ Jo rtla n h ODbseruer
Page A2
The Jackson
Brothers
accompany the
casket into the
memorial
service Tuesday
for Michael
Jackson at the
Staples Center
in Los Angeles.
(AP photo)
Jackson Farewell
tainer that ever lived,” Gordy
said.
E m o tio n s
ro s e * w h en
“T h is is a m o m e n t th a t I
Sharpton
delivered
a fiery eu
¡shed I d id n 't live to se e,”
logy
highlighting
all
the barri
tevie Wonder said before his
e
rs
J
a
c
k
s
o
n
b
ro
k
e
an d th e
;rformance. Usher broke down
troubles he faced. “Every time
he got knocked dow n, he got
back up,” Sharpton said, and
the applauding crow d jum ped
to its feet.
Sharpton rode the m om ent,
building to a crescendo. “There
w a s” t n o th in g stran g e about
your daddy,” he said later, ad
dressing Jackson's three ch il
dren in the front row. “It was
- Berry Gordy Jr., Motown music mogul
strange w hat your daddy had
to deal w ith!” After he left the
stage, chants o f “M i-chael! M i
m
aybe
som
e
questionable
d
e
in tears after singing "Gone Too
chael!” filled the arena.
cisions
on
his
part,”
the
title
Soon.”
T he cerem ony w rapped up
A lth o u g h th e e v e n t w as K in g o f P o p w a s n 't g o o d
w
ith
g ro u p p erfo rm an ce s o f
enough
for
Jackson.
“1
think
he
billed as a celebration, som e
“We
A
re the World” and “Heal
is
sim
ply
the
g
rea
test
e
n
te
r
speakers took the occasion to
con tin u ed ^ ^ J r o n i Front
com e to the defense o f Jackson,
whose life was m arked as much
by criticism and scorn as scin
tillating talent.
G ordy said that despite what
he called “some sad tim es and
[despite] some sad times and
maybe some questionable
decisions on his part...I think he is
simply the greatest entertainer
that ever lived.
W HERE RUBBER
M EETS THE RUNW AY
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson rides in the lead car as family and friends depart
the Jackson family home Tuesday in the Encino section of Los Angeles to the Forest
Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. (AP photo)
th e W o rld ” su n g by L io n e l
R ichie, H udson and Jack so n
family members — including his
children — before a backdrop
o f sym bols o f religions from
around the w orld. They were
jo in ed onstage by children in
w hite and several other people
who had participated in the cer
e m o n y . T h e n m e m b e rs o f
Jackson’s fam ily took the stage
to thank the crow d and share
their own thoughts, barely able
to hide their em otion as they
hugged in the cerem ony’s final
moments.
An estim ated 20,(XX) people
w ere in the Staples C enter as
Jackson's flow er-draped casket
w as brought to the venue in a
m otorcade under law enforce
m ent escort. T hose w ho gath
ered constituted a visual repre
s e n ta tio n o f J a c k s o n 's life :
Wack, white and everything in
N o r th R u n w a y E x te n s io n P r o je c t
Flight pattern and noise changes at PDX th is sum m er
Learn more al w w w .fly p d x x o m ^ n d click on PDX North Runway Extension
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There are certain people in our
popular culture that just capture
people's imaginations. And in
death, they become even larger,
also fe d by a 24/7 media that
- President Barack Obama
is insatiable.
w ristb a n d s an d p ic k ed up a
m etallic gold program guide on
their way in. Acting as pallbear
ers, Ja ck so n 's b ro th e rs ea ch grow ing up in M exico. Now a
w ore a gold necktie and, in a day-care teaching assistant in
to u c h b o rro w e d fro m th e ir L os A ngeles, H ernandez said
brother, a single spangly w hite she cried w atching TV cover
age o f his death.
glove and sunglasses.
“I'm trying to hold in my em o
B ro th e r Je rm a in e Ja ck so n
to o k th e stag e and san g the tions,” said H ernandez, w ear
standard “Sm ile” as he fought ing a w ristband to allow her ad
m itta n c e to th e se rv ic e and
back tears.
Ja c k so n ’s h earse had been holding a framed photograph of
p a r t o f a m o to r c a d e th a t Jackson. “ 1 know right now he's
sm oothly w hisked his body 10 teaching the angels to dance.”
M ore than 1.6 million people
m iles across clo sed freew ays
from a private service at a H ol registered for the lottery for free
lyw ood H ills cem etery to his tickets to Jackson's m em orial.
public m em orial and aw aiting A total o f 8,750 were chosen to
receive tw o tickets each.
fans.
"There are certain people in
T he traffic snarls and fogisti-
’ cal nightm ares th at had been o u r popular, cu ltu re th at ju st
feared by police and city offi- capture people's im aginations.
as B ette D av is, A ndy G ib b ,
Freddie Prinze, Liberace and re
c e n tly
d eceased
D a v id
C arradine and Ed M cM ahon.
Je rm a in e Ja ck so n h as e x
pressed a desire to have him
buried som eday at N everland,
his estate in Southern C alifor
nia.
Midway during the memorial
serv ice, p o lice O fficer A pril
H arding told the m edia gath
ered at the gates o f Forest Lawn
to disperse. A sked if Jackson’s
body was going to be returned
to the cem etery after the m em o
rial, she replied: “ His body is
not going to be returned here"
She did not say w here it would
be taken.
aMMWM)
Census: No Head Left Uncounted
sion, said Luna.
T h e b u re a u s tr e s s e s to
people
uneasy about interact
Bureau.
The reason people ignore the ing w ith the governm ent that
C ensus vary, said Luna. Some nothing they put on the C en
p e o p le m ig h t h av e o n e to o sus can be traced back to them.
m an y p eo p le liv in g in th e ir Even the president can ’t take a
house. Som e m ight be w anted peek.
L u n a e x p la in s th a t th e
for m inor offenses, or m ight be
late on taxes. O thers are d is bureau’s strategy in 2000 w asn’t
similar, but is ju st stepping it
trustful o f the governm ent.
A m ajor concern this year for up this year.
“Word of mouth is much more
the b u reau is the le g io n s o f
people displaced by the reces effectiv e than oth er kinds o f
con tin u ed ¿ ^ f r o m Front
To contact ** Portland (Pbserner
cials did not materialize. Traffic A n d in d ea th , th e y b ec o m e
w as actually considered by po- even larger," President Barack
O bam a told CBS w hile in M os
lice to be lighter than norm al.
“I think people got the m es cow. “Now, I have to adm it that
sage to stay hom e,” said C ali it's also fed by a 24/7 m edia that
fornia H ighw ay Patrol O fficer is insatiable.” .
The city o f Los A ngeles set
M iguel Luevano.
up
a Web site Tuesday to allow
D eputy Police C hief Sergio
fans
to contribute m oney to help
Diaz, operations ch ief for the
the
city
pay for his Staples C en
event, said authorities had ex
ter
m
em
orial service. M ayoral
pected a crow d o f 250,(XX). Be
sp
o
k
esm
an M att S zab o e s ti
sides reporters and those with
m
ated
the
service will cost $ 1.5
tickets to the m em orial service,
million
to
$4
million.
the crow d around the Staples
It
was
not
clear
what will hap
C e n te r p e rim e te r n u m b e re d
p
e
n
to
J
a
c
k
s
o
n
's
body. The
only about 1,000, he said.
F
o
rest
L
aw
n
M
em
o rial Park
O utside the Staples Center,
Claudia Hernandez, 29, said she Hollywood Hills cemetery is the
loved Jackson's music as a girl final resting place for such stars
advertising,” said Luna.
T h e C e n s u s B u re a u h as
partnered with about 30,(XX) or
ganizations nationw ide to as
suage fears about the Census.
The bureau also has m ore o ut
reach w orkers on the ground to
make sure people are counted.
Luna said that the bureau has
done some preliminary ground
work in the Pacific N orthw est
to see if the addresses it has on
file even exist, and has sim ilar
plans for the fall.