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