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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2009)
Workplace Shooting 50tf A woman is killed and two others are injured at a drug-testing lab in Tualatin I r * ¡2 See story, page A2 (it ROSCS r r i n k i ic h i*rl in IQ7D Established in 1970 Volume XXXVIV. Num ber 44 .W eek in The Review Obama Salutes Victims S o m b e rly reciting 13 nam es and 13 sto rie s. P re s id e n t Barack O bam aTuesday saluted the A m ericans killed in last w eek’s m assacre at the Fort Hood, Texas Arm y post as he roes who died for their country — and prom ised a nation de manding answers that "the killer will be met w ith justice." Blazers on All Star Ballot FourT rail Blazers were nam ed to this year’s N BA All-Star ballot T uesday, including two- tim e A ll-Star Brandon Roy, L aM arcus A ld rid g e, A ndre M i 1 ler and G reg O den. No Clemency for Sniper Virginia’s gover- nor refused to spare the life of Jo h n A llen Muhammad and I cleared the way for his execution Tuesday night for the sniper attacks in 2002 that left 10 dead and spread such fear people were afraid to go shop ping, cut grass or pump gas. Iran Charges Americans Iran accused three Am ericans, including one from Oregon, o f sp y in g M o n d a y , sig n a lin g Tehran intends to put them on trial. It drew a sharp U.S. re sponse that the charges are baseless because the hikers strayed across the border from Iraq. Abdul-Jabbar has Leukemia NBA g re a t K areem Abdul- Jabbar is being treated for a rare formofleukemia. The 62-year-old A bdul-Jabbar said his doctor didn't give any guarantees, but informed him: "Y ouhaveavery good chance to live your life out and not have to m ake any d r a s tic c h a n g e s to y o u r lifestyle.” Duck Player Reinstated JSL j O regon running hack LeG arrette Blount, who was the L Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • November II, 2009 Fire Destroys School Marysville students safely evacuate by J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver Students and staff were able to safely ev acuate a burning s o u th e a s t P o rtla n d s c h o o l T u esd a y as fire q u ick ly e n gulfed the building. O fficials said it took ju st two m inutes to em pty M arysville Elem entary School o f its 460 stu d e n ts and staff. T h e fire broke out about 11:40 a.m. A few m inutes later, flam es were seen ripping through the 87-year-old landmark at 7733 S.E. Raymond St. in the M t. S c o tt-A rle ta N eighborhood. Kenton Rush, a sixth grader at the K-8 school, recalls sitting in class when a large cloud of smoke rushed past his classroom. He quickly fled along with his peers through the front door, a n d w a s th e n ta k e n by h is teachers to a library on Holgate Boulevard w here he texted his mother. “Schools d on’t catch on fire photo by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserv er Emergency personnel go to work after a major fire erupts during the school day Tuesday at Marysville Elementary at 7733 S.E. Raymond St. Students and sta ff safely evacuated the building with no Injuries reported. very m uch,” said Rush, w ho was frightened by the fire. T h e r o o f on th e e a s t sid e o f th e sc h o o l c o lla p s e d in fla m e s an d w as re d u c e d to a b la c k e n e d h o le. M o re th a n 100 P o rtla n d firefighters battled the inferno. By about 12:30 p.m. the fire ap peared to be under control, but flam es could still be seen danc ing along the edge o f the roof as lire fighters clim bed a ladder to spray it with a hose. O nlook ers lingered outside the yellow tape as w ater streamed out of the front doors o f the school Nearly two hours after the fire continued Hang Up and Drive Driving with a hand-held cell phone will become illegal Jan. 1 bringing a $90 fine for violations. State gears up for cell phone ban (A P) - As o f Jan. 1, you can get slapped with a $90 fine if you use a hand-held cell phone w hile driving in Oregon. Will that be enough to en courage m otorists to keep their full at tention on the road? And how well can the law be enforced? O regon will becom e one o f seven states that have banned d riv in g w h ile , ta lk in g on a handheld cell phone, according to the Insurance Institute for H ighw ay Safety. T h e ban, ap p ro v e d by the 2009 O regon Legislature, does not apply to drivers using a cell p h o n e e q u ip p e d w ith a handsfree device. It also has exceptions for certain drivers, in c lu d in g th o se w o rk in g in public safety, and for others on page A2 w ho are "operating a m otor ve h ic le in th e sc o p e o f th e person's em ploym ent." H ighway safety officials and law enforcem ent agencies are gearing up to publicize and en force the law, w hich they say will make roads safer. Salem resident Jim Allhiser, w ho ow ns a hom e inspection business, isn't waiting for Jan. 1. He's already making arrange m ents to get rid o f his hand- continued on page A2 punching a Boise S tate p la y e r in the season opener, has been allow ed to rejoin the D ucks. The univer sity requested Blount's rein statement, w hich was approved by Pacific-10 Conference com missioner. OxyContin Holdup A W a lg ree n s p h arm acy in T routdale w as robbed for the painki I ler OxyContin Sunday by a w hite man in a ski hat. sun glasses, and a scarf wrapped over his face. He got aw ay with nearly $4,(XX) worth o f the drug. AIDS Top Killer of Women In its first study o f w om en's health around the globe, the W orld Health Organization said M onday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause o f death and disease am ong women between the ages o f 15 and 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for these w omen of childbearing age. years •Scommunity service In Focus: Blacks and the Film Industry the fo u n d er and president o f Micheaux Film Corp. He was the first black man to produce a full len g th , eig h t-re el, all N egro movie. Micheaux completed 44 of the 82 so-called “race movies" that were produced during the time. His first, H om esteader (1919) was a silent motion picture, and The Exile was his first feature film with sound. The Betrayal (1948) was his last film before his death. Two local men. 2(X)8 Oregon M ed ia A rts A w ard recip ien t D avid Walker, and Ron Craig, by A manda G rear T he P ortland O bserver African American films have been aro u n d since the early 1900s - not that I have been around that long. A ccording to the E n cy clo pedia o f the H arlem R en ais sance, William D. Foster o f C hi cago, formed the first black film co m p an y , F o ster P h o to p lay . From 1909 to 1913 he produced the first black cast film shorts, such as T he P ullm an P o rter (1910) and The Railroad Porter (19l2)-w hich was his l()-minute debut film. F o ste r o rg a n iz e d his c o m pan y to sp e c ia liz e in “ n o n d e g ra d in g B lack c a st c o m e d i e s , ” c h a l l e n g i n g th e b la c k f a c e - b la c k s p o r tra y e d by w h ite a c to rs - d e p ic tio n s o f A fric a n A m e ri c a n s , a n d o ffe rin g h is c h a r a c t e r s c o m p le x is s u e s to face. F o ster P h o to p lay C o m p an y fo ld e d in 1918 du e to f in a n c ia l a n d d is t r ib u t io n p ro b le m s. A legend writer, director, and producer O scar M ichcaux was 2(X)9 Emmy nomination recipi ent, have joined the black film m aker ranks with films such as U ncle T o m ’s A partm ent and Searching for York. Walker has a unique take on black films in particular, views that some people may take is sue with. He says the average person tends to only think of two black priRlucers, Spike Lee and Tyler Perry. “They are neither the begin ning or the end," Walker said. “|I 'v e | never seen a Tyler Perry continued on page AS F ilm F estiv a l O p en s F rid a y Portland filmmaker Ron Craig will participate in an inaugu ral African American Film Festival this weekend at McMenamins pubs and theaters. Portland kicks off an inau gural African A merican Film Festival, with screenings all w eekend lo n g at M cM enam ins pubs and the aters, starting Friday, Nov. 13. The festival will showcase films from the 20’s through the 8 0 's. F ilm s such as G uess W ho's Com ing to Dinner, Do the Right Thing, Super Fly, and Imitation of Life. Forum s w ill speak to the history o f African A m ericans’ involvem ent in film and what it tak es to be in th is b u s i n ess. Participating M cM enam ins Pubs and T h e a te rs are the Bagdad T h eater & Pub. St. Johns Theater & Pub. Mission Theater, and Kennedy School. 1