Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, December 05, 2012, Page 3, Image 3

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December5, 2012
IN S ID E
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This page
Sponsored by:
Page 3
Fred Meyer
What's on your list today?,
P olice
B eat
page 4
i-
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areer
\ E ducation pages 6-7
O pinion s
The Oregon Zoo’s Rose-Tu gave birth to a healthy 300 pound baby on Friday. The Asian elephant
calf was very active physically and vocally at birth drawing a description as a ‘spitfire” by zoo animal
care staff.
pages 8-9
‘Calf is here to Stay’
Zoo says breeding loan won’t impact new arrival
C alendar
page 10
METRO
page 11
The Oregon Zoo faced questions over the owner­
ship of its newest baby elephant Tuesday after the
Seattle Times reported that the calf was owned by a
California company called Have Trunk Will Travel
under a breeding contract that sent the father, Tusko
to the zoo in 2005.
Kim Smith, executive director o f the Oregon Zoo,
said the breeding loan was a standard practice in zoos
meant to bring genetic diversity to elephant herds, and
that it was never meant to determine where the off-
spring would reside.
“The calf is here to stay,” Smith said.
She said the company “supports our vision” of
breading elephant herds and keeping the newborn
with its mother at the zoo.
Oregon Zoo keepers are asking the community to
help them choose a name for the young female calf.
Keepers are considering the following five names with
roots to southeast Asia: Jaidee, Sirikit, Rakhi, Lily and
Siddhi.
Workforce Program Draws Support
Thanks to a $5,000donation from
Intel, the Urban League of Portland
will purchase new desktop comput­
ers and other materials for the non-
profit’s Workforce Program, which
aims to help local jobs seekers find
work.
According to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the 2011 annual
average unemployment rate for Af­
tMIEIUSHENI
pages 13-16
rican Americans in Oregon was 21.3
percent, over double the state’s
overall rate o f 9.4 percent.
The Urban League of Portland
Workforce Program provides career
training and employment opportu­
nities for people in the Portland
metropolitan area, with an emphasis
on serving the North/Northeast and
African American communities.
In addition, the non-profit is com­
mitted to helping people overcome
barriers to employment like those
w ith crim inal backgrounds or
chronic unemployment as well as
the homeless.
The enhanced facilities are at the
Urban League’s corporate head­
quarters at 10N . Russell Street in
Portland.
PCC Construction Means Free Plants
S ports
C lassifieds
pages 16-19
page 18
To kick off construction of an underground parking
garage, a new academic building and the new student
center at Portland Community College Cascade Cam­
pus, the college will be giving away all the plants in the
parking lot between North Albina Avenue and Missis­
sippi, south of Jessup Street.
To support this community event, Hoffman Con­
struction, the construction manager and general con­
tractor for the campus project, will host a free Bratwurst
barbeque featuring local sausages with all the fixings
to people taking plants home.
First-com e-first-serve plants will be available by
self-serve excavation, so don’t forget your shov­
els. A dditionally, the college will be digging up
trees that can be salvaged with an excavator. All
plants and trees in the parking lot are available,
however proper transportation m ust be provided
by the person taking the plants.