Sotomayor Support Grows
Prospects fo r the first
Hispanic named to the
Supreme Court look good
Columbia Slough Regatta
Area residents are invited to
join the largest one-day
paddle in Oregon
See Arts & Entertainment, page A6
See story, page A3
tinniti©
Ol R o s e s
In IO 7A
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV, N um ber 29
TLWeek in
The Review
Portland s
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • Iuly 22. 2009
Growjng Despair
Scholar Confronted
Prosecutors dropped a disor
derly conduct
charge T ues
d a y a g a in s t
p ro m in e n t
black scholar
H enry L ouis
G ates Jr., who
was confronted and arrested at
his hom e near H arvard U niver
sity after a report o f a break-in.
A uthorities issued a statem ent
saying the arrest "was regret
table and unfortunate." See
sto ry , page A3.
Summer Heat Warning
W ith a long stretch o f warm
w eather expected over the next
few days, the local Aging and
Disability Services D ivision is
rem inding old er adults and
people with heat sensitive dis
abilities to take precautions. See
sto ry , page A3.
Governor Signs Tax Plans
G o v. T ed K u lo n g o sk i has
signed a $733 m illion tax in
crease plan M onday he says
will protect schools and state
program s from budget cuts.
Passed by the D em ocratic-led
O regon L egislature, the tax
package sets a higher tax rate
for upper-incom e earners and
increases taxes on co rp o ra
tions.
Ex-Adams Official Sues
M ayor Sam A dam s’ form er
spokesm an, W ade N krum ah
file d
s u it
against the city
M onday, alleg
in g w ro n g fu l
discharge defa
m a tio n , in v a
sion o f privacy by false light
and unpaid w ages. The suit
was expected after Nkrum ah
filed a tort claim on M ay 14
alleging that Adams lied by m is
representing the circum stances
surrounding his resignation.
Roxy Davenport sits outside o f Powell's City o f Books, downtown, with her dog, "Baby, ” while asking passers by for spare change. Davenport
says she's been homeless for nine months and hasn 't been able to find work.
Homeless
ranks on
the rise
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland observer
N ine m onths ago R oxy D avenport
fle d fro m a r e la tio n s h ip she d e
scrib ed as “ a b u siv e .” D u rin g that
entire tim e she has been hom eless,
un ab le to find w ork
“There have been som e really nice
people who have helped me out with
change,” she said.
But other tim es she’s felt “invis
ible,” or has had some people openly
heap scorn on her, telling her she had
no right to have her dog, “Baby.”
A new report released by the fed
eral D epartm ent o f Housing and U r
ban D ev elo p m en t rev eals th at the
num ber of people in D avenport’s situ
ation is on the rise in O regon, which
has more hom eless people per capita
than any other state in the union.
The report also revealed alarm ing
trends, such as the jum p in families
experiencing homelessness.
Each year HUD presents a report
to Congress that gives the num ber of
homeless people in each state. Oregon
cam e out on top with 0.54 percent of
the state’s population lacking a place
to call home. The total number is about
17,000 people, roughly the size of
Pendleton.
Nationally, there are 664,414 shel
te re d an d u n s h e lte re d h o m e le s s
people, which is about the population
o f M em phis, Tenn.
O ver the last decade, the city of
Portland has launched several initia
tives aim ed at ending homelessness,
which haven’t staved off the grow
ing num ber o f hom eless people.
In 2004, the city launched its 10 Year
Plan to End Homelessness, which stra
tegically directed resources towards
com bating the problem.
Two years later, the City Council
passed an ordinance m andating that
30 percent of monies generated in ur
ban renewal districts go towards af
fordable housing. In 2007, the legisla
ture tacked on a $ 15 fee on every real
estate docum ent recorded with the
continued
on page A3
NFL’s Vick Released
Suspended NFL star M ichael
1 V ick ended his
federal dogfight-
in g
s e n te n c e
1 M onday, freeing
L him to lobby fora
re tu r n to th e
field. That means Vick no longer
has to wear the electronic m oni
tor he's had w hile under home
confinem ent for the last two
m onths o f his 23-m onth sen
tence.
R
Quarterback Accused
A woman has filed
a lawsuit accus
in g P itts b u r g h
Steelers quarter
back
B en
R oethlisbergerof
raping her last sum m er in his
penthouse hotel room at a ca
sino in Lake T ahoe during a
c e le b rity g o lf to u rn a m e n t.
R oethlisberger's law yer ad a
m antly denied the allegations
T uesday.
Vancouver Clinic Sued
A clinic in V ancouver is being
sued for $1.3 m illion over the
overdose death o f a Portland
teenager. The parents o f the
18-year-old accuse the Payette
Clinic o f negligence or reck
le s s n e s s in p r e s c rib in g
oxycodone.
Group tackles
police practices
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
A new front has been opened to heal
old w ounds betw een the Portland Po
lice Bureau and m inority populations.
A com m ittee on C om m unity and Po
lice Relations for the city ’s H um an Re
lations Com m ission fully assem bled for
the first tim e this month to address ra
cial profiling and other com plaints.
M embers o f the com mittee expressed
a desire to im prove relations between
the police and the com munities it serves.
However, the group is still finding its
voice as it grapples with lingering is
sues from the city's previous efforts to
address police tensions.
"This is a very unique opportunity,
and th a t’s very exciting; so it better
w o r k ,” s a id H e c to r L o p e z , th e
com m ittee's chair and retired United
Church o f C hrist minister.
The com m ittee is com posed o f four
H um an R elations Com m ission m em
bers, five police m embers, and four citi
zens. It is charged w ith develo p in g
guidelines and pathways for im proving
relations with police, m aking recom
m en d atio n s on com m u n ity policing
policies, and addressing prickly issues
like racial profiling.
The gro u p 's citizen com ponent in-
photoby J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Darryl W. Kelley Jr. volunteers to serve on a committee to heal old wounds between the Portland Police Bureau
and minority populations.
This is a very unique
opportunity, and that's very
exciting; so it better work.
— Hector Lopez, Human Relations Commission chair
elude two African Americans w ho have
been on the wrong side o f the law in
the past and now m entor youth, an im
m igration lawyer, and a H ispanic who
w orks with at-risk Latino youth.
As com m ittee m em bers introduced
th e m se lv e s to ea ch o th e r th e y ex-
pressed a deep com m itm ent to Portland
and improving police-com m unity rela
tions.
East Precinct Police Commander Mike
Crebs nearly teared up when describ
ing his fondness for the com m unity he
served and how the sound o f gun fire
community service
v
I
in residential neighborhoods distresses
him.
", want our critics to come out and
shake our hands, and say, 'you know
what? You have achieved excellence,'"
he said.
H ow ever, the com m ittee acknow l
edged that its plans to improve relations
between police and the com m unity are
still in its infancy.
"We all got to crawl before we walk,"
said D anyl Kelly Jr., a former gang m em
ber who was recently appointed to the
committee.
The formation of the committee is one
continued
on page A2