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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2012)
$înrtlanô ©bseruer Page 4 TheWeek Review Pitcher Not Guilty In a late night decision M onday, the V ancouver C ity C ouncil abandoned plans to keep residents from setting o ff aerial firew orks. By a 6-1 vote, council m em bers cam e out against the ban, w hich w ould have aligned w ith law s in O regon. M ore than 30 people lined up to give testim ony M onday night. A ju ry acquitted M ajor L eague B aseb all p itc h in g g reat R o g er C lem en s on M onday o f all six crim in al counts against him in a trial on ch arg es that he lied to C o n g ress w hen he denied using p e rfo rm a n c e -e n h a n c in g d ru g s. C lem ens' law yer said "justice w on out" in the clo sely w atched trial. ‘It Gets Better' New U0 President Fireworks Ban Rejected T he Portland Police Bureau on Friday debuted their new film ‘It G ets B etter’ at the Q C en ter located on M ississippi A venue, w hen officers led by exam ple in the 10 m inute video to show support and inspire L B G T Q youth w ith their ow n experiences. Michael Gottfredson, the executive vice-chancellor and provost at the University of California, Irvine, was named the new president of the University of Oregon on Friday. The state Board of Higher Education lune 20. 2012 unanimously voted to give him the job. Gottfredson suc ceeds interim President Robert Berdahl, who was appointed after the termination of Richard Lariviere. Teen Flash Rob « A m ob o f about 30 to 4 0 teens targeted a T routdale A lb e rtso n ’s S aturday night, w hen they stole go o d s and trashed the g ro cery store, located at25691 S.E. Stark St. Inv estig ato rs said the teens w ere about 13 to 16- y ears-old. Black Commissioners Fired G ov. Jo h n K itzh ab er d ism issed tw o long-tim e m em bers o f the O reg o n C o m m issio n on B lack A ffairs late T h u rsd ay . In a tw o -sen ten ce letter, K itzh ab er told C liffo rd W alk er and W illie W o o lfo lk they w ere term i nated effectiv e im m ediately. T he tw o v o lu n teer c o m m issio n s said th ey w ere g iv en no reaso n for the dism issals. Embracing Community Edwin a Wasson (from left), Isaac Wasson, Barbara O ’Hare and Francesca Blom-Cooper present a handmade quilt honoring the Jefferson High School Class o f 2012 on the last day o f the north Portland school’s 11th annual community-wide Multicultural Film Festival. photo bv M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver Safety Issues on Williams c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 The left hand travel lane will be shared by both bikers and cars alike from Fargo to Skidmore. “So this includes a left side buffered bike lane and changes in the number of automobile lanes,” said Anderson. “Some times it is two lanes, and sometimes it is one lane.” Many residents remained concerned over the safety of the current design. According to resident Tam Alem, co-owner of Williams Street Market, which rests on the comer of Fremont, the new design is okay, as long as the bikers will be safe, although he thinks the street is fine the way it is. Alem said, however, he believes the city should wait until all development in the area is completely occupied. “The street is changing really quickly,” he said. New Seasons Market announced plans in January to open a new location in the Eliot Neighborhood on a vacant lot located at North Cook and Fremont. The locally-owned grocer said the store will have 30,000 square feet of space and sit adjacent to North Williams by 2013. Resident and bicyclist Anne Lauerman who lives nearby E v e ry Tuesday 5 :3 0 - 7:15 p m futfc w a ll* In W Northeast Health Center 5329 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. 2nd Floor Iring or mention this ad to get a FREE A ANONYMOUS or CONFIDENTIAL test for HIV! said she is concerned about the way the city plans to switch around the lanes. “I know there are a lot of residents who use this street, but my thought is more bikes lanes, or a widened bike lane taking away from a lane of traffic, is going to create more car traffic issues,” she said. Lauerman, who was riding her bike during a recent evening o f rush hour traffic, said she is worried about the bikers getting hurt because the plan pushes bikers to turn into traffic. She also was concerned about future developments adding to the street’s congestion. Others, however, said the design change to the neighbor hood is positive. Elliot Neighborhood resident Shepard Griffin dropped his bike off at the Abraham Fixes, a local bike maintenance shop located around the comer on Fremont. “It is important there are enough lanes,” he said. “There are a lot of bicycles in the city, so it makes sense for this to happen.” Long time resident Lee Bradley agreed. “I think it is a beautiful thing they are going to reconstruct this neighbor hood,” he said. “I believe it is going to make the neighbor hood better.” M ichael Brendle, who lives a block west of W illiams, said as a neighbor, even with the new design he rem ains concerned about safety. “They are trying to bring a freeway and off ramp, four lanes o f traffic going two ways, hundreds o f bicyclists and five to ten businesses in the same block,” he said. “I am not saying I d o n ’t want it, but I would hate to be the person trying to figure out how to do it.” Still, Anderson said, the current bike lanes are stressful and feel unsafe for both bus drivers and cyclists. Although no final decisions have yet to be made, Ander son said they hope to get some work done before the end of the year. The committee recommendations are expected to be fine- tuned come the summer months.
