Pase2__________
*ri,e JJort lanb (Dbsemer
Fred Meyer Tests Bag Ban
celebrities included Michael J. Fox,
Ten Portland Fred Meyer stores, Muhammad Ali, Charles Barkley,
including the Interstate Avenue Clyde Drexler, Bill Walton, Alonzo
store in north Portland, officially Mourning and Pat Riley. Grant was
went plastic-bag free at check-outs diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2008.
on Sunday. The move comes as city
and state lawmakers consider pass­ Jarreau Leaves Hospital
ing a law to ban plastic bags at Ja zz sta r A1
grocery stores and charge for pa­ Jarreau was dis­
per. During this trial phase, Fred charged from
Meyer says it will not charge for the h o sp ita l
paper, but it does encourage cus­ S unday a fte r
treatm ent for
tomers to bring in re-usable bags.
heart problems
Grant Brings
after collapsing
the Stars
on July 22, mo­
Former Portland
ments before he was due to perform
Trail Blazer Brian
at a music festival in Barcelonnette,
Grant brought an
in the southern French Alps. At one
A list o f Holly­
point, his condition was deemed
wood stars and
critical but the 70-year-old star has
NBA players to Portland for Sun­ since fought his way back to full
day and Monday fundraisers for health.
Parkinson’s disease research. The
Week in
The Review
Republicans Oppose
Birthright Citizenship
Leading Republicans are joining a
push to reconsider the constitu­
tional amendment that grants auto­
matic citizenship to people bom in
the United States. Top leaders o f
the party in recent days have ques­
tioned or challenged birthright citi­
zenship, embracing a cause that until
recently was confined to the far
right.
Oil Well Plug Begins
Engineers began pumping heavy
drilling mud into the blown-out Gulf
o f Mexico oil well Tuesday in what
they think is their best chance yet to
achieve the ultimate goal in a deli­
August 4, 2010
cate process — snuffing one o f the
world's largest spills for good.
No Charges for Al Gore
sands o f tons o f garbage to the
Columbia Gorge area for at least 30
days. The order was in response to
a lawsuit seeking to halt the ship­
ments until the environmental im­
pacts o f transporting garbage laden
with invasive species are thoroughly
analyzed.
The Multnomah
County District
A tto rn e y has
decided not to
charge form er
Vice President
Feds Rate Portland Schools
Al Gore after re­
Nearly 80 percent o f Portland Pub­
viewing a police
lic Schools in 2009-10 met aca­
investigation o f
dem ic perform ance ratings re­
a 2006 sexual assault complaint by a quired by the federal Elem entary
Portland massage therapist. The DA and Secondary Education Act,
said the accuser’s statement was according to data released M on­
insufficient to support a criminal day. H ighlights include a turn­
charge given other contradictory around for Sitton Elem entary in
evidence.
n o rth P o rtla n d an d all th ree
schools on the M arshall High
Hawaiian Garbage Halted
School Cam pus. Jefferson and
A federal judge issued a temporary
Roosevelt high schools continue
restraining order Thursday barring
to fall short o f the standards.
the shipment o f hundreds o f thou­
M
A priest kneels in
prayer with three
women as­
sembled at a
gathering point
for the families,
co-workers and
friends of victims
in a workplace
shooting Tuesday
in Manchester,
Conn.
diversity "Print
in 1970
Villinne XXXX. Number 15
Wednesday • Maith 31, 2010
iww4»rl!dnitob>cn,'cr,coni
isrvuer
Special Edition
Sec invidi*. pages 4-5
'Ci?. e! Rih«’
years*
inumimi tv service
Committed to Cultural Dhrrsih
Warehouse driver
kills 8 co-workers
Black
Gifted
(AP) — A warehouse driver who a union
official said was caught on video stealing
beer from the Manchester, Conn, dis­
tributorship where he worked went on a
shooting rampage there Tuesday, killing
eight people and wounding two before
committing suicide, authorities said.
Om ar Thornton, 34, pulled a hand­
gun after a m eeting in which he had
been offered the chance to quit or be
fired, M anchester Police C h ief Marc
Recognizing kids
on right track
»1 J «hl I HOM«
i l l » P o H II V#|l(> »M M V tM
Portland'# A frie an -A m cru sn youth are often caught up
n u net o f la-gativc public p iK c ,'lio n s h iou ^h l by new# o f
pan;' v in lfiu 'e , the sobering a c h irte n irn t cap and school
drop out rate*.
Hut th e ir'«p le nty o f young black k ut«in lb nt land who me
on the right path, making jiond grade#. headed to college
and arc making positive contributions to the cits. A new
pl.oiogiapine tribute recognizes the hard u o ik of w ittc o f
these student# and «how« that there is « till reason io be
optim istic.
•'Voiing, Black At (J ilte d ” a photo essay putting the
spotlight on the accomplishment*, o f high-achieving A fn
can-Aniciican undents. opens to the public on Monday.
A p ril S ai Portland School f)i-.lrici headquarteiv at 501 \
D isott St and w ill later he moved to the llo v d Center
Mali
ih e project »« the brain ch ild o f Reiko W illia m -. the
d io r ic f •. fam ily and community engagement manager, who
s;iid »he got rite idea .«lici having a ctrnvcrsaium with
som eone w ho seemed shocked when -he mentioned an
A frican American student that w a« excelling A Her the to n
sersation she worried that all the .ttienuon on the problem#
o f voting blac k student# w as drow mng out the hard work o f
others.
You hear m > much .shout delicti» and aetnrs ament gap#,
r nntinued
on /tngr t<r
M ontm iny said.
The gunman, who was black, had com­
plained o f racial harassment and said he
found a picture o f a noose and a racial
epithet written on a bathroom wall, the
mother o f his girlfriend said. Her daughter
told her that Thornton’s supervisors told
him they would talk to his co-workers.
James Battaglio, a spokesman for the
families who own the distributorship, said
he had no immediate information about
the allegations o f racial harassment. And
a union official said Thornton had not
filed a complaint o f racism with the union
or any government agency.
Blighted Properties
City can’t keep up
with complaints
she said
W illtam# «aid the exhibit came together w ith a call for
nomination» o f black students doing w e ll d is t il« wide, and
the recruitment o f a photographer and web dev eloper
Skylar Holt, a freshman at Jcffer«on High School is one o f
the 13 student» icutuivd h i Ihe exhibit
I lo lls get# A 'san d B 's in school She does especially well
in l.ngitsh dasse«. taught by Anne Novinger, one o f her
(m o n te teachers and chemistry is getting steadily caster
I lo ll plan# to go to college and is thinkin g about law school
down the road
'I 'm enjoying it a lo t.” she sauf o f her high school “ I like
Workplace Shooting
by J ake
m urosi J c m rnouAVlu» Ponit
Sfryf.ar H oit excels a s fm shm nn .ft lottersoo High S chool in north Porttona H nr contribution a s one o f the
c ity ’s * P outk , b ine * & G ifte d ' students is port o f unten extubit cvrmng tv school district haudifuisriers nod
I toyii Center M oll
............ --....................................... .........
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T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
If think you’ve seen more overgrown
grass in your neighborhood, piles o f gar­
bage left on the sidewalk, and properties
that are generally deteriorating, it’s prob­
ably because you have.
Thanks to the budget cuts brought on
by the Great Recession and the loss o f tax
revenue, there is less money for property
inspectors in the Bureau o f Development
Services, the city agency responsible for
inspecting nuisance properties and en­
forcing code violations.
According to bureau spokesperson
Ross Caron, the agency has reduced its
staff that deals with residential inspec­
tions from 34 to 16, which has severely
hampered how well the agency can deal
with complaints.
He said that most complaints involve
trash left out, overgrown grass and weeds,
and disabled cars.
Since late June, the bureau has received
563 complaints o f which 149 were in north­
east; 104 in north; 4 in northwest; 225 in
southeast; and 63 in southwest Portland.
Others were in the public right o f way.
Caron said the bureau will still respond
fairly quickly to issues that pose clear
health hazards, like rotting garbage left
out. In high priority complaints, BDS staff
will do an investigation within about two
weeks. The resident o f the property has
continued
on page 13