Medical Marijuana Reversal
Morning Star Revival
Feds won’t go after patients
who comply with state law
Burned out church
begins to rebuild
See story, page A3
See story, page A2
©'’33ortlan&<©b0Eruër
l'I ROSt’S
,^4
L r(n U h rk „ J
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVIV. N um ber 41
.Week in
lhe Review
Walton Apologizes
A tearful Bill
W a lto n
a p o lo g iz e d
to P o rtlan d
Trail Blazers
fans Friday
30 years af­
te r le a v in g
the team he led to its only NBA
championship. The 56-year-old
said he regretted the circum ­
stances in w hich he left the
Blazers fam ily and hoped to
m ake things better in the fu­
ture.
Jobs May Not Return
Even with an econom ic revival,
many U.S. jo b s lost during the
recession may be gone forever
and a weak em ploym ent market
could linger fo r years. See
sto ry , page A2.
Portland Jobless Jumps
The unem ploym ent rate in Port­
land rose to 11.7 percent in
Septem ber, up from 11.4 per­
cent in A ugust. O fficials said
an estim ated 127,(XX) area resi­
dents were looking for work,
com pared to 60,6(X) more than
one year ago.
Michelle to go on Leno
y»
F irs t L ad y
J 3*
M ic h e lle
Obama will be
«■T
a g u e s t on
“T h e
Ja y
L eno Show
w
on
F rid a y
night. O bam a
will check in via satellite forthe
“Ten @ Ten" segm ent, where
she’ll answ er a series o f 10
questions from Leno.
Beyonce Delays Show
R&B star Beyonce K now les
has postponed a planned con
cert in M alay­
sia, the event
o rg a n iz e r
said M onday,
follow ing ac­
cusations by
Islam ic con­
s e rv a tiv e s
that the show
w ould be imm oral. Fem ale art­
ists at M alaysian concerts are
required by governm ent rules
to cover up from the shoulders
to knees.
Flu Vaccine Runs Short
The C enters for D isease C on­
trol and Prevention said Friday
that it anticipates a sm aller allo­
cation than expected o f the
H 1N 1 vaccine during O ctober
due to a slow er m anufacturing
process. See story, page A3
Hospitals Restrict Visitors
H o sp itals around the c o u n ­
try are tu rn in g aw ay visitin g
ch ild ren and tig h ten in g re ­
strictio n s on ad u lts in hopes
o f lim itin g the spread o f the
H 1N 1 flu. O th ers are posting
signs th at urge people o f any
age to postp o n e that visit if
they have a sn iffle or cough.
College Tuition Climbs
A v erag e tu itio n at fo u r-y ear
p ublic co lleg es in the U .S.
clim bed 6.5 percent to $7,020
this fall as scho o ls passed on
m uch o f th eir ow n financial
p ro b lem s, a c c o rd in g to an
annual report from the C o l­
lege Board.
years*
community service
! r. I ( 1 7 f l
............,1 I „ J „ U
Established in 1970
www.portlandobscrver.com
Wednesday • October 21, 2009
Police, Fire or Ambulance...
A im to
diversify
has m ixed
results
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
fthe over 100 academic
program s at Portland
C om m unity C ollege,
m aybe none have m ore direct
bearing on p eop les’ lives than
its em ergency services cu rricu ­
lum, w hich train the next gen ­
erations o f fire fighters, 91 1 dis­
patchers, m edical technicians,
and others.
A nd th a t’s w h y P C C has
p ilo r o by J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
been w orking to increase diver­ Kai Robertson is the director o f emergency services programs for the Portland Community College Cascade Campus.
sity in these program s, so that
The Fire Protection Program, dents accustom ed to w orking Hispanics, and African A m eri­
m inority com m unities can be how to com m unicate and get in
touch
with
their
com
m
unities
in
which
trains firefighters, used with minorities. The dum m ies cans that moan, groan, and cry.
best served in tim es o f distress.
an
em
ergency
situation.
to
be
housed
out in Gresham , used to train em ergency m edi­
“O u r stu d en ts, in O regon,
However, the college still has
but
was
moved
in
2003
to
PCC’s
cal
technicians
are
designed
to
might
no, com e in contact with
“It
ju
st
helps
to
m
ake
the
re­
w ork to do to m ake sure these
Cascade
Cam
pus,
which
is
lo­
resem
ble
both
black
and
white
a
dark
skin person until they are
lationship
a
lot
stronger
and
a
p ro g ra m s re fle c t th e p eo p le
cated
in
one
the
m
ost
diverse
people.
in
the
field,"
said Robertson.
lot
better,”
she
said.
they serve.
parts
o
f
Portland.
PCC
has
taken
steps
to
d
i­
R
o
b
e
rtso
n
said
th
a
t
o
n
ce
Results
from
their efforts, so
Kai R obertson, the director
versify
the
ranks
o
f
students
“It’s
not
by
accident
at
all,"
P
C
C
e
x
p
a
n
d
s
its
f
a
c
ilitie
s
,
far,
have
been
a
mixed bag.
o f the em ergency services pro­
A ccording to data provided
gram s fo r the PC C C ascad e studying in em ergency service said Ed Lindsay, who chairs the thanks to a $374 m illion bond
Cam pus in north Portland, ex ­ fields by doing outreach with program, o f the program ’s loca­ passed by voters las, N ovem ­ by PCC, the num ber o f m inori­
ber, it will build a realistic sim u­ ties in the college's Emergency
plained that it’s im portant to high schools with high concen­ tion.
T he college has also taken lation lab featuring life-like dum ­
have m inorities in these posi­ trations o f minorities, non-prof
continued
on page AN
tions because they know best its, and m inority com m unities. sm all steps to get w hite stu ­ mies in the likeness o f Asians,
Food Stamp Demand Unprecedented
Each day sees
540 new
recipients
e w figures released from
the Oregon Department
o f H u m an S e rv ic e s
show that assistance to Oregon
fam ilies through food stam ps is
unprecedented and officials ex ­
pect to see continued grow th in
the need for assistance to indi­
viduals and families.
S in ce O re g o n 's e c o n o m ic
dow nturn began m ore than a
y ear ago, the nu m b er o f food
s ta m p r e c i p i e n t s h a s i n ­
creased by nearly 34 percent.
T h ere w ere 4 8 2 ,4 0 7 in d i­
viduals on food stam p s, fo r­
m ally ca lled the S u p p lem en ­
tal N utritio n A ssistan ce P ro ­
gram in Ju ly 2008, and that
n u m b er in creased to a total o f
6 4 5 ,2 3 4 in d iv i d u a ls la s t
m onth.
F ood stam ps are funded by
fed e ra l d o lla rs, an d O re g o ­
nians are receiv in g an ad d i­
tional $247 million through the
A m erican R eco v ery and R e­
in v estm en t A ct.
S tate o ffic ia ls said the in ­
crease help ed in tw o w ays -
by p ro v id in g m ore reso u rces
to help peo p le w ho are fe e l­
in g th e im p a c t o f th e e c o ­
nom ic d o w n tu rn and by p u t­
tin g a d d itio n a l m oney back
into the local econom y.
"W ithout th ese federal d o l­
lars w e w ould not be able to
help all the people w ho need
us and co m m u n ities w ould be
sta m p b e n e fits. In o rd e r to
k eep up w ith th e in c re ase d
pace, the C hildren, A dults and
F am ilies D ivision a, DHS has
transform ed its intake process
| to reduce w ait tim es and elim i­
Dr. Bruce Goldberg
s tr u g g lin g m o r e ,” sa id Dr.
B ruce G o ld b erg , d ire c to r o f
th e O re g o n D e p a rtm e n t o f
H um an Services.
O ver the pas, 15 m onths, an
average o f 540 new recipients
per day received S N A P /food
partn er organizations, such as
fo o d b an k s an d fa ith -b a se d
organizations, for their help in
a d d r e s s in g h u n g e r in th e
state.
"It takes all of us in our com ­
m unities to ensure that O rego­
nate backlogs.
"T he se rv ic es we p ro v id e n ian s m eet th e ir m ost basic
touch the lives o f m any O r­ need - food for their families,"
eg o n ian s every day, and that she said.
Like food stamp benefits, de­
is w hy it is so im portant that
w e co n tin u e to do o u r jo b s m a n d fo r c a sh a s s is ta n c e
w ell. B ecause o f o u r strea m ­ through the Temporary A ssis­
lining efforts, O reg o n ian s re ­ tance for Needy Families pro­
ceive th eir b en efits an a v e r­ gram has also increased since
age o f nine days so o n er than las, year.
In September, a total of 24,632
th e y d id b e f o r e . In m o st
p la c e s a c ro ss th e sta te , it's families with children received
sam e-day service," said Erinn tem p o rary assistan ce in O r­
K e lle y -S ie l, d ire c to r o f the egon, an increase o f 22 percent
D H S C h ijd re n , A d u lts an d o ver last year. The program ,
Fam ilies D ivision.
continued
on page AN
K e lle y - S ie l a ls o p ra is e d
Local Students
Give Back
At Self Enhancement,
kids learn values
bv J ake T homas
T he P orti ani ) O bserver
W ho says teenagers are apathetic?
A, Self Enhancem ent Inc., a non-profit acad­
em y in north Portland, five 8th graders have
s p e a r h e a d e d an e f f o rt to g a th e r fo o d fo r
P o rtlan d 's neediest residents, and learned to
appreciate w hat they have in their own lives.
T h e in itia tiv e d u b b e d “ G o t F o o d ? L e t's
Share!” grew out o f a class discussion on ways
to give back to the community.
LaVeme G reen, the students’ teacher, asked
w hat students w ould do for others once they
were ou, o f school. The students decided now
was the tim e to give back, and began organizing
a food drive.
Five students formed a com m ittee to com plete
the effort, and divided up the work am ong them ­
selves.
The school had made a sim ilar effort las, year
that d id n 't go well, bu, this year was different.
continued
on page A3
photo be J ake T iiomas /T iie P oru and O b siraer
Students Tressina Eddinger (from left), Marlando Sparks, Daytreiona Jackson. Delmody Tillman and
Naiqwan Penn are leading an effort at Self Enhancement Inc. to get food for the needy.
«