Best Ticket
in Town
Debutante Ball
brings elegance,
entertainment
‘City o /
Roses’
Grant Senior
Reigns
Victoria Dinu is
crowned Rose
Festival Queen
See A & E, page 12
gjJJorilanò
Volume XXXX, Number 24
See page 5
bserirer
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
w w w .p o rtla n d o b s e rv e r.c o m
Wednesday • lune 16. 2010
Editorial: Saving Jefferson High
Our community
deserves nothing
less than success
Jefferson High School as a compre­
hensive high school,
News that a majority on the Port­
land School Board is moving to­
ward closing Jefferson as a neigh­
borhood school is a completely
The follow ing is a Portland Ob­ unacceptable outcome from a high
server editorial:
school redesign process that was
The Portland Observer supports supposed to bring equity to the
nothing less than success for education o f our children.
The timeline for making this deci­
sion is also very troubling. The pro­
posal came just last Thursday when
board members signaled their inten­
tions, going against Superintendent
C aro le S m ith ’s plan to build
Jefferson into a com prehensive
neighborhood school. Now the
board is scheduled to form a resolu­
tion on a high school redesign pro­
posal on Wednesday with a pos­
sible vote to close Jefferson coming
as quick as Monday. It’s unfair to
have only 10 days to consider this
plan and less than a week to com­
ment on the formal details.
The north and northeast Port­
land community served by Jefferson
is scrambl ing to make its opposition
known. The Portland Observerjoins
the Urban League o f Portland and
many other community leaders ask­
ing the public to inform the superin­
tendent and school board that the
closure o f Jefferson is unaccept­
able.
How can the Portland School
District, let alone the city o f Port-
e on tin ued
on page 18
Homeowners at Risk
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Local homeowners may still be at risk o f
losing their homes because of a weak economy
that’s been a follow-up to the worst recession
in decades. But there are resources out there,
and efforts to reach at-risk homeowners are
being stepped up.
According to RealtyTrac, a company that
tracks foreclosures nationwide, there were
over 19,000 foreclosures in the Portland metro
area since May 2009. 211 info, a referral ser­
vice for local residents, has seen a huge
increase o f homeowners facing foreclosure
and looking for help. In 2007-2008, the agency
got only 15 calls. For its 2009-2010 year it got
469.
If you're having trouble with your mort­
gage, there are some steps you can take to
avoid losing your home. .
One o f the first things to do is contact your
lender, and also get in touch with a housing
councilor, who has been certified by the U.S.
Department o f Housing and Urban Develop­
ment, who can walk you through your op­
tions.
Carol Berger, a counselor with the HUD-
certified African American Alliance for
Homeownership, said that before the hous­
ing crisis there were several loan-modifica­
tion programs in existence, but now with more
homeowners struggling there is now another
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
option, the Home Affordable Modification
mam
Muhammad
(from
left),
Carol
Battle
and
Paula
Byrd
embark
on
a
door-to-door
campaign to promote services that can
Program, or H AMP.
“It’s the main one, it’s what everyone’s help homeowners facing financial difficulties get the vital information they need to stay in their homes.
after,” said Berger.
to modify loans to homeowners, brining down
Berger said that it can result in signifi-
The program, started last year by Con­ the interest rate and the monthly payment to cantly lower payments for homeowners.
gress to help 7 to 9 million struggling 31 percent o f their income. It also extends the
People applying for the program need to
continued
on page 17
homeowners. It provides incentives for banks life o f the loan.
provide extensive income documentation to