Workplace Shooting
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A woman is killed and two
others are injured at a
drug-testing lab in Tualatin
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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