The
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The
Portland Observer Black
in
Week Review
Panel Approves New Taxicabs
A regulatory panel approved 242 new taxi permits last week
in response to widespread public interest in having more taxi
service in the Portland area. The city’s Private for Hire
Transportation Board also recommended a new taxicab pro-
vider called Ecocab, which plans to offer service with a fleet
of all-electric vehicles.
Guilty of Terrorism Charge
A Portland resident and former city
wastewater treatment employee, Reaz
Qadir Khan, plead guilty on Friday to
the crime of accessory after the fact for
assistance he provided to individuals
connected to a 2009 suicide bomb at-
tack at the headquarters of Pakistan’s
intelligence service in Lahore, Paki-
stan, that killed about 30 people and injured 300 more.
New Yellow Traffic Signals
The city of Vancouver announced Friday that they started
upgrading traffic lights at 16 separate intersections through-
out town. The installations will add flashing yellow left-turn-
arrow signals to indicate that left-turning traffic may proceed
after first yielding to oncoming traffic.
ACLU Sues Gresham Police
The ACLU of Oregon filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court last week arguing that a Portland woman’s consti-
tutional rights were violated when a Gresham police
officer snatched her phone away while she was live-
streaming police activity.
Oil Train Explodes in Fire
Fires were still burning Tuesday more than a day after an oil
train carrying more than 3 million gallons of crude derailed
in a snowstorm, shooting fireballs into the sky and leaking
oil into a West Virginia waterway. Hundreds of families were
evacuated; two water treatment plants were temporarily
shut down and a nearby house down to its foundation.
Accident Now Called Murder
Nearly six years after a 23-year-old Portland woman fell to
her death from the Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River
Gorge, a friend hiking with her that day has been charged
in her murder. Stephen Wagner Nichols, 40, of Bend was
arrested on the charge Thursday in San Francisco.
Deadly Storm in East
Winter Storm Octavia that has ravaged the east coast has
left 8 dead, hundreds of thousands of people without
power, and deeply disrupted and even halted travel through-
out the northeast. More than 1,500 flights were cancelled
Tuesday in connection with the snowstorm.
Established 1970
P UBLISHER :
E DITOR :
Mark Washington, Sr.
Michael Leighton
E XECUTIVE D IRECTOR :
Rakeem Washington
O FFICE M ANAGER /C LASSIFIEDS : Lucinda Baldwin
C REATIVE D IRECTOR : P a u l
History Month
USPS 959-680
R EPORTER /P HOTOGRAPHER Olivia Olivia
Honoring Our Past
Alberta group looks
back and plans ahead
Alberta Main Street, a group representing businesses,
organizations and residents, is reaching out to the commu-
nity to gain historical perspectives and help identify priority
projects, programs and events going forward.
The mission is to advance efforts to develop Northeast
Alberta Street as a vibrant, creative, equitable, sustainable,
and most importantly racially diverse commercial and live-
able district serving residents and visitors.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m., the group invites the
community to “Honoring Our Past, Planning Our Future”
discussion, which will include three Alberta Street pioneers:
Roslyn Hill (developer and community activist), Pastor Robin
Mayfield (commercial property owner), and Florence Fleskes
(long time resident).
The panellists will talk about their history and experience on
Alberta Street as well as their vision for the future. The session
will take place in the Oscar Romero Room at the St. Andrew
Catholic Church Community Center, 806 N.E. Alberta St.
Participants are encouraged to RSVP at
albertamainstreet.org, by emailing rsvp@albertamainst.org,
or calling 503-683-3252
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
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February 18, 2015
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