Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2009)
Coliseum Concepts Measured for Equity 50¿ Local officials evaluate what works and doesn't with social services See story, page A3 The Blazers promote 'Jump Town ’ as the city looks fo r ideas on renovating Memorial Coliseum See story, page A2 0: R oStS P e ta is i ich«>rl in 10 www.portlandobserver.com Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXVIV, Num ber 43 Wednesday • November 4, 2009 TLWeek in The Review Helping Neighbors Gay Marriage Issue Back Grow Roots G ay rights backers plan to ask Oregon voters to reverse their ban on gay marriage. Basic Rights Oregon said M onday it hopes to put the issue back before O regon voters as soon as 2012. ‘This Is It’ a Hit "M ichael Jackson's T his Is It" pulled in $101 m illion w orld w ide in its first five days, and d istributor Sony announced M onday that it’s extending the farewell perform ance film be yond its planned tw o-week run. T he film captures Jackson in b e h in d -th e - s c e n e s p e r f o r m ances in the weeks before his death last June. Phils Keep Series Alive P hiladelphia staved o ff the Yankees and elim ination with an 8-6 w in in G am e 5 on M on day night. Game 6 will be played W ednesday night, with New Y ork's Andy Pettitte going on s h o rt r e s t . a g a i n s t P e d ro Martinez, not exactly a beloved figure in the Bronx. Ducks Jump to No. 7 A 47-20 college football victory S aturday ov er Southern C ali fornia in Eugene has propelled the Oregon Ducks to No. 7 in the A P T o p 2 5 .T h e T rojans tum bled to No. 12. Driver Pulled from River A Clackam as County marine rescue team used a boat to reach a truck driver who veered o ff the highw ay and slam m ed 150 feet into the Clackam as River near Carver T uesday. The driver called 9-1-1 forhelpwhile perched on top o f his partially subm erged truck. Bay Bridge Reopens T he San F rancisco-O akland Bay Bridge reopened to traffic M onday, ending days o f frus tration for N orthern California co m m u te rs. T h e b rid g e w as c lo se d for six days w hile e n g i neers worked furiously to com plete repairs to a section o f the bridge where tw o rods and a crossbar fell into rush-hour traffic lanes. Contaminated Beef Federal health official says two deaths and 26 other illnesses may be linked to possibly con tam inated ground beef recalled by a New York com pany. All but three o f the suspected E. coli infections are in the north eastern U.S. and 18 are in New England. Buffett Buys Railroad W arren B uffett's B erkshire H athaw ay, Inc. on T uesday a g re e d to bu y B u rlin g to n N orthern Santa Fe Corp., m ak ing a $34 billion bet on the fu ture o f the U.S. econom y. A na lysts say Buffett is planting both feet in a railroad industry that is poised to grow as the econom y gets back on solid ground. Non-profit greens up Portland by J ake T homas T he P ori land O bserver hen A ndrew Land m oved to the Boise ? T N eighborhood five years ago, one o f the first things he noticed w as the lack o f trees. There w as a large plant in the backyard o f his sparsely-veg etated house, w hich was actu ally a w eed that poisoned the soil around it and prevented anything else from growing. B ut ov er the years, he has w itnessed a dram atic transfor m ation in his part o f town from the efforts o f his neighbors and a non-profit that has big plans for P ortland’s urban landscape. F rien d s o f T rees has been w orking for the last 20 years to create healthier, more attractive, and generally more neighborly n e ig h b o rh o o d s by b rin g in g r e s id e n ts to g e th e r to p la n t trees. T he group , w hich has planted 375,(XX) trees in the Port land m etro area, is part o f a n a tional trend to add more veg etatio n to urban la n d scap es, and has even bigger plans to bring the benefits o f trees to Stumptown. Brighton West, program di- rector for the non-profit, said th at the m issio n o f the n o n profit is to help neighborhoods w ith th e lo g istic s o f ad d in g m ore trees to its streetscape. U sually an individual or group o f people will approach Friends o f Trees with the desire to green up th e ir n e ig h b o rh o o d , he added. “W e’re alw ays trying to get the com m unity involved in im proving their own space," said W est. Friends o f Trees helps facili tate all-day planting sessions, w hich usually o ccur betw een * We're always trying to get the community involved in improving their own space. N ovem ber and M arch- the tim e W est say s “tree s w ant to be p lanted.” A fter people gather early in the m orning to slurp coffee and m unch on breakfast d o n ated by a local b u sin ess, they divide into crew s to plant P e rsia n Iro n w o o d s, m a p les, d o g w o o d s , a n d o th e r tre e s along the sidew alk while being supervised by a crew leader. continued V ° n PaKe A6 . photo BY M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Brighton West is program director for Friends of Trees, the non-profit group dedicated to making Portland green. First Cannabis Café Planned Site would serve medical marijuana patients ortheast Portland could soon be the location o f the sta te ’s first c a n n a b is c a fé w h ere s ta te -a p proved medical m arijuana p a tients could medicate with m ari juana or sam ple varieties o f the drug. The group Oregon N O RM L (National O rganization for the Reform o f M arijuana Laws) an nounced M onday that it plans to open the café Nov. 13 on the ground floor o f retail space at 7(X)N.E. DekumSt. The café w ould be open only to state-approved medical m ari juana patients and operate com pletely w ithin the guidelines o f the O regon M edical M arijuana continued on page A6 photo by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver Oregon NORML is opening a cannabis café for medical marijuana patients in the former site o f Rumpspankers Restau rant at 700 N.E. Dekum St. Film Looks at Roots of Good Hair’ With critical eye on what constitutes beauty A manda G rear T he P ortland O bserver M hen A fricans were \ A enslaved by Europe by years* •Tcommunity service Chris Rock (right) stars in Good Hair,’ a documentary that provides a critical look at what constitutes beauty. ans over five centu ries ago, they were stripped of their language, thcirculture. their religion- even their conception I o f beauty. T he im age o f fair,skin and long -flowing blond hair, accom panied by a svelte size-2 frame is th e one so c ie ty g iv e s its stam p o f approval to. w hich is continued "y f on page 4 11