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Volume XXXVIV, N um ber 38
Week in
The Review
NCAA Games to Return
The first and second round
games in the m en’s NCAA
basketball tournament will be
held at the Rose Garden in
2012, the league announced
Monday. The games had been
absent from Oregon for more
than a quarter-century until
Portland hosted the sold-out
games last year.
Jobless Numbers Rise
The Portland metropolitan
area’s latest unemployment
rate has gone up to 11.6 per­
cent, up from 11.1 percent in
July, which confirmed predic­
tions that Oregon is in for a
slow economic recovery.
House Considers Extended
Unemployment Benefits
The House is taking up emer­
gency legislation to help the
millions of Americans who are
about to run out of unem­
ployment benefits. A bill of­
fered by Rep. Jim McDermott,
D-Wash., and expected to
pass easily, would provide 13
weeks of extended benefits in
states where unemployment
is above 8.5 percent.
Massive Floods Hit Georgia
Torrents of rain have soaked
parts of Georgia, causing mas­
sive flooding and claiming six
lives. The governor has ad­
vised people to stay inside.
», j u
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • September 23, 2009
Are You Breastfeeding?
Maximize your
child’s health
by A manda G rear
T he P ortland O bserver
S ix-m onth-old H ayven
O llison playfully squeals
while sitting on her mother’s
lap in her southeast Portland
living room. She’s draped in
a purple Onesies and white
lounge pants. She has thick
black, tightly curled hair and
smooth chocolate skin.
Hayven is a healthy baby
girl in part because her
mother, LaRom a Ollison,
made a decision many of her
A frican A m erican p eers
chose not to.
H er m other chose to
breastfeed her daughter.
With Septem ber d esig­
nated as N ational Infant
Mortality Awareness Month,
health officials are encour­
aging m others to take up
breastfeeding to help main­
tain the health of their young.
The U.S. already has one
of the highest infant mortal­
ity rates in the industrialized
world, with African Ameri­
cans experiencing a dispro­
portionate gap in the out­
come of successful births.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Pre­
vention, blacks experience
13.6 deaths per 1,000 live
A mother adoringly breastfeeds her infant.
births, which is more than health, helps to prevent dis­
twice the rate for their white ease and reduces health care
counterparts.
and feeding costs. Yet only
B reastfeeding prom otes 59 percent of black mothers
The decision by mothers
not to breastfeed could have
serious consequences.
Experts agree that human
breast milk is the healthiest
form of milk for human ba­
bies. There are a few excep­
tio n s, such as w hen the
m other is taking certain
drugs or is infected with tu­
berculosis or HIV.
C h ild re n who are not
breastfed are at higher risk
of suffering from diarrhea,
respiratory illnesses, devel­
oping ear infections, child­
hood obesity, and diabetes.
Breast milk is critical for
infants to survive, according
to Kristin Sasseen, Nutrition
Consultant with the Oregon
Food Program.
“ P aren ts
do
know
breastfeeding is best. The
message is out there,” she
said.
Breastfeeding also reduces
the mother’s chances of get­
ting breast and ovarian can­
cer, and aids in post-preg­
nancy weight loss.
So why aren’t more Afri­
can Americans nursing their
babies?
“A lot of it seems to be re­
lated to econom ics,” e x ­
plained Sasseen. “Any popu­
lation that has higher per­
cen ta g e s o f low -incom e
families has a lower percent­
breastfeed their babies com­ age of breastfeeding.”
“Many parents believe it is
pared to over 75 percent of
white mothers, according to
continued
on page A16
the CDC.
High School Coaches Guilty
The head football coach at
Lincoln High School and an
assistant pleaded guilty to
charges of interfering with the
police and were sentenced to
community service last week.
The charges stem from an in­
cident on the Rose Quarter
In te rsta te Max P latform
shortly after an Ultim ate
Fighting event. The coaches
are on paid leave while the
school district investigates.
Vancouver Teacher Killed
Gordon Patterson, a career
and tech n ical teach er at
Hudson Bay High School in
Vancouver, died last week
after being hit by a car while
riding his bicycle. The sus­
pect fled, but was later caught.
Healthcare Mandate proposed
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.,
the chairof pivotal committee
in efforts to overhaul the
nation’s healthcare system,
has unveiled a draft bill that
would require all Americans
to purchase health insurance
or pay a steep fine, in addi­
tion to o th er sw eeping
changes.
Fall Officially Here
Tuesday, Sept. 22 marked the
first day of fall. The season
was brought in with 90 de­
gree heat.
ACORN Investigation
P resident Barack Obama
called for an investigation of
the community organization,
ACORN, after a video shot
with a hidden camera revealed
ACORN staff giving advice
to a couple posing as a pimp
and a prostitute on how to
launder money. Congress has
already stripped ACORN of
its funding.
Microscope
Portland Development
Commission charts a new course
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
by
A new effort by the Port­
land D evelopm ent C om ­
mission to boost economic
activity in north and north­
east Portland has triggered
guarded optimism and out­
right pessimism from com ­
munity leaders looking to
breathe new life into m i­
nority-ow ned businesses
and bring jobs to the local
population.
The PDC is also hoping
that the N orth /N ortheast
Economic Development Ini­
tia tiv e will im prove the
agency’s image with resi­
dents of the area, which have
long viewed the development
agency with suspicion.
The initiative will give a
hard look at how the PDC
sp e n d s u rb an re n e w a l
funds and will examine ex­
panding the borders of two
urban renewal areas to in­
clude portions of M artin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard
and Lombard Street, in ad­
dition to other residential
and commercial areas.
James Posey, a local ac­
tivist and African American
resident who owns several
small businesses, wants the
photo by J ake T homas ZT he
P ortland O rsery er
John Jackley promotes the creation of minority-owned businesses along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Jackley is director of communications and business equity for the Portland Development Commission.
PD C to h elp A fric a n
A m erican businesses ex ­
pand their horizons.
Instead of barbeque joints
and hair salons he wants to
see the black community of
north and northeast Portland
own industrial businesses
that pay family-wage jobs.
He also wants the PDC to
take steps to insulate small
cafes from national chains,
like Starbucks.
“People with these jobs
are in a better position to feed
their families,” said Posey.
“We need to have a broader
range of businesses and ser-
continued
on page A J
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