North Portland
Celebrates
‘City o/
Roses'
Event honors
community leaders
See page 13
Civil Rights
Primer
The Ghost of
Emmett Till
K usvd o n R e a l l» lv ( v e n ts .
A ( m l R ig h ts P r i m e r
AV. ¿James
Emmett Till’s
death explored
See page 16
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Read back issues o f the Portland Observer at WWW.portlandobscrver.com
Volume XXXXI. Number II
Wednesday • March 16. 2011
Chaos
E stablished in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
1
years-
' community service
Japan
Nuclear threat
follows mega
quake, tsunami
(AP) - A nuclear power plant damaged by
fire and explosions emitted a burst of radia­
tion Tuesday, panicking an already edgy
Japan and leaving the government strug­
gling to contain a spiraling crisis caused by
last week's earthquake and tsunami.
Radiation levels in areas around the
nuclear plant, which rose early in the after­
noon, appeared to subside by evening, offi­
cials said. But the unease remained in a
country trying to recover from the massive
disasters that are believed to have killed
more than 10,000 people and battered the
world's third-largest economy.
The leak caused the government to order
140,000 people living within 20 miles of the
plant to seal themselves indoors to avoid
exposure and declared a ban on commercial
air traffic through the area. Worries about
radiation rippled through Tokyo and other
areas far beyond that cordon. The stock
market plunged for a second day, dropping
10 percent.
continued
on page 5
Upon hearing another tsunami warning, a father tries to flee for safety with his ju st reunited four-month-old baby girl The
baby was spotted by military rescuers in the rubble of tsunami-torn Ishinomaki Monday, three days after a 9 0 earthouake-
triggered tsunami hit northeast Japan. (AP photo)
Low Risk of Radiation Fallout in Oregon
Experts say long distance
would dilute harmful exposure
C liff P fenning
T he P ortland O bserver
by
In the wake of the devastating 9.0 earth­
quake and resulting tsunami that struck Ja­
pan Friday, world, national and state health
officials have said the threat of significant
levels of nuclear radiation from a stricken
nuclear power complex reaching the U.S. is
extremely low.
An explosion Monday night caused health
officials in Japan to order more than 150,000
residents to remain indoors due to concerns
about radiation poisoning, but Japan’s Chief
Cabinet Secretary said Tuesday that radia­
tion readings outside the power plant were
close to not being considered harmful.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said
this weekend the threat of radiation exposure
to the West Coast of the United States re­
mained extremely low, as did Dr. Mel Kohn,
the director of the Public Health Division for
Oregon.
Changing wind patterns as well as the
upper atmospheric jet stream are significant
factors in radiation reaching or not reaching
the U.S.
The wind direction over the past few days
caused at least some radiation to reach the
USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered air­
craft carrier, which was 100 miles of the Japan
coast. Sensors detected airborne radioac­
tive particles that were estimated at 30 times
continued
on page 5