S Diversity
50tf
Tolls Divide Vancouver Officials
Mayoral candidates take opposite
views to charging tolls on a
proposed new 1-5 bridge
S ™ nie Workplace
See special coverage, inside
See story, page A3
tí an h © bs e n ÏÉ T
0 Í ROSeS
t r l n k l i r k o z l ¡ „
1070
.......
www.portlandobserver.com
Established In 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV. Number 32
.Week ¡n
The Review
Global Tribute Coming
A tr ib u te
-J
UP
a
September to
Michael Jack
son on the
gr° un^ s ° * a
17th century
------- p a la c e
in
Vienna will feature a three-hour,
star-studded show to be tele
vised live to a global audience
o f 1 billion people, the event
prom oter said Tuesday.
Crash Kills 4 Teenagers
Four teenagers from Ridgefield
High School were lulled and
two other people were seri
ously hurt M onday w hen their
SUV tried to pass another ve
hicle on H ighw ay 30 to the O r
egon Coast. The teen driver
lost control o f the SUV after
passing a slow m oving vehicle
and hit a van.
Kennedy Sister Dies
President John F. Kennedy's
sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver,
who carried on
th e
f a m ily 's
p ublic service
tr a d itio n
by
f o u n d in g th e
Special O lym pics and cham pi
oning the rights o f the m entally
disabled, died early Tuesday.
She was 88.
Volt Gets 230 MPG
G eneral M otors C orp, said
Tuesday its C hevrolet Volt re
chargeable
electric car
should get
23 0 m iles
per gallon
(98 kilometers per liter) o f gaso
line in city driving, more than
four tim es the current cham
pion, the T oyota Prius. The
Volt is pow ered by an electric
m otor and a battery pack.
Sharks on Oregon Coast
It was a big weekend for shark
sightings off the Oregon coast,
from the 12-foot great white
sh a rk th a t a p p a re n tly g o t
snared in a fisherm an's crab pot
at D epoe Bay to a shark w arn
ing that Seaside police issued
to beach crowds.
Wednesday • August 12. 2009
First Hispanic on Supreme Court
Another
ceiling
tumbles
down
(AP) - Sonia Sotom ayor was
sw orn in Saturday as the Su
preme Court's first Hispanic ju s
tice and only third female m em
ber in the top court's 220-year
history.
S h e is P re s id e n t B a ra c k
O bam a's first appointm ent to
the influential court, w hich has
shaped m any o f the country's
laws on polarizing issues like
abortion and the death penalty.
A s a successor to liberal Jus
tice D avid Souter, w ho retired,
she is not expected to alter the
nine-member court's ideological
Judge Sonia Sotomayor takes the Judicial Oath o f the Supreme Court with her mother, Celina,
balance.
holding the Bible and her brother, Juan Luis looking on. Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic
Sotom ayor took the second
and ju s t the third woman on the highest court in its 220-year history. (AP photo)
o f tw o oaths o f office Saturday
hold their private conferences.
from C hief Justice John Roberts H er left hand resting on a Bible the rich."
M inutes earlier, she swore a H er 60 or so guests included
in an ornate conference room , that w as held by her mother,
beneath a portrait o f the legend S o to m a y o r p le d g e d to "do first oath in a private ceremony J u s tic e A n th o n y K e n n e d y ,
ary C hief Justice John Marshall. equal right to the poor and to in the room where the justices W hite H o u se C o u n sel G reg
Craig and other m embers of the
Obama administration team that
helped prepare her for her Sen
ate confirm ation hearings, fam
ily and friends.
Roberts, w earing his black
judicial robe, said that once the
oaths w ere done, Sotom ayor
could "begin work as associate
justice w ithout delay."
O bam a scheduled a W hite
House reception for Sotomayor
on Wednesday.
The 55-year-old Sotom ayor
has been a federal ju d g e for 17
years. Obama nominated her for
the lifetime appointment in May,
and the Senate confirm ed her
on Thursday. The vote was 68-
31 with Democrats unanimously
behind her and m ost Republi
cans lining up in a show o f op
position.
She w ill jo in Ju stice Ruth
B ader G in sb u rg as the only
other w om an currently serving
on the court.
Sotom ayor is the daughter of
Puerto Rican parents who was
raised in a housing project in
New York City's gritty South
Bronx neighborhood and edu
cated at the elite universities
continued
y^
on page A2
Community Rallies Against Hate
Denouncing
case of racial,
sexual attack
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Bao Vuong, a 22-year-old Viet
nam ese-A m erican, w aited out
one o f the longest stop lights
in his life at Northeast Freemont
Street and 41st Avenue w hen
four young men began yelling
racial and sexual slurs at him.
Vuong ignored them but the
w hite males becam e even m ore
aggressive. Bagels were thrown
at his car and one o f the agita
to r s a p p ro a c h e d h im an d
punched a dent in the passen
ger side o f his car.
A
d iv e rs e
g ro u p
of
P o rtla n d e rs th a t in c lu d e d
neighborhood and other civic
leaders assem bled on F riday
across from the intersection at
B eaum ont M iddle S chool to
denounce the Aug 2 attack, and
hopefully extract a teachable
moment from it.
photo by J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserve «
Hate crime victim Bao Vuong (center) draws support from Portland City Commissioner
Nick Fish (left) and Ronault “Polo’ L.S. Catalina, a lawyer and columnist for the Asian
Reporter.
Vuong, spoke to the crowd
o f about 60 supporters. He said
was determ ined not to accept
being th reaten ed in his own
neighborhood.
"Although I come from a dif
ferent origin, this is where I was
n u rtu red , and this is w hat I
know as home," he said.
Vuong said that the emotional
harm inflicted on him during the
violent episode w as real, and
he encouraged people to better
understand each other and why
events like this occur.
City Commissioner Nick Fish
also sp o k e. H e p o in te d that
even though the nation has just
confirm ed its first Hispanic Su
preme Court Justice, there are
still pockets of bigotry, even in
a progressive place like Port
land.
"R e g a rd le ss o f w h ere we
com e from tonight, we speak
with one voice,” he said. “We
are here to say 'no. No to hate
and no to violence.'"
Fish then thanked Vuong for
continued
y^
on page A2
Governor Proves Chef’s Mantle
Expanding nutrition for women, children
photo by J ake T homas /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Gov. Ted Kulongoski swaps his sports
jacket for an apron Thursday during a
cooking competition to promote good
nutrition at the Blazers’ Boys and Girls
Club in northeast Portland.
by J akf . T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Gov. Ted K ulongoski proved
his m antle as an 'Iron C h ie f at
the Blazers' Boys and Girls Club
in northeast Portland.
In order to stir up interest for
an expansion o f a state nutri
tion supplem ent program for
w om en
an d
c h ild r e n ,
Kulongoski, state Sen. M arga
re t C a rte r, D -P o rtla n d , and
Janette Kaden o f the Tin Shed
G arden Café, joined local kids
Thursday in a cook off.
T h e y w e re c h a rg e d w ith
w h ip p in g q u e s a d illa s m ade
from healthy, fresh ingredients
that are now included under an
expansion o f the W IC nutrition
program , which provides food
supplm ents for w om en, infants
and children. Bm ce G oldberg,
continued
y^
on page A9
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
‘N everland’ at the County Fair
Mercedes and Darren Harper-Taloff take in the thrills o f the 'Lolly Swing' during the Clark
County Fair. The ride was purchased last year from Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch and
has generated a lot o f public interest since Jackson's untimely death. The fair, located in
Ridgeview along 1-5 north o f Vancouver, continues through Sunday.