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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2015)
October 21, 2015 Page 3 INSIDE The Week in Review This page Sponsored by: page 2 L OCAL N EWS pages 6-7 O PINION M ETRO page 9 photo provided by the p ortland p oliCe b ureau Essie Jackson, Angela Anderson, Tonja Harris and Latanga Watts are all believed to be killed in the 1980s by Homer Lee Jackson, who was arraigned on 12 counts of aggravated murder in Portland on Monday. Arrested for 1980s Murders Serial killer suspect was living in northeast Portland o livia o livia t he p ortland o bserver For decades, the families of four young women killed in a string of unsolved Portland mur- ders have waited for answers. The victims were all Afri- can-American victims of sex trafficking, and ranged in age from 14 to 29, according to Port- land Police. Their accused kill- er, Homer Lee Jackson, 55, was finally brought to justice last week. Arrested at his northeast Port- land home by the Police Bu- reau’s Cold Case Unit, he was arraigned Monday on charges of by Arts & pages 8-13 ENTERTAINMENT C LASSIFIEDS R ELIGION C ALENDAR F OOD Watts. The killing began in 1983 and ended in 1987. The first victim, Essie Jack- son, 23, was discovered on March 23, 1983, by a person walking along the edge of north Portland’s Overlook Park. A mother of a young child, she was last seen more than a month ear- lier on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a street then known as Union Avenue. A few months later, on July 9, 1983, two community members Homer Lee Jackson spotted a body in water near the aggravated murder in the deaths Columbia Slough in West Delta of Essie Jackson, Tonja Harry, C ontinued on p age 4 Angela Anderson, and Latanga Small Victory for Tenants page 14 page 14 City Council responds to rental crisis o livia o livia t he p ortland o bserver Portland renters facing a grow- ing number of no-cause evictions and rent hikes may get some re- lief as part of new regulations passed the Portland City Council in response to a declared housing emergency. Housing Bureau Commission- er Dan Saltzman was able to win approval last week of ordinances by page 15 page 16 to extend a waiting period for no- cause evictions, and rent hikes of over five percent, from 30-days to 90-days. The rules go into effect on Nov. 14. “Oregon law prevents us from going further than these regula- tions,” Saltzman said, “but I be- lieve these new rules are a good first step to helping tenants now.” Low vacancy rates coupled with some of the highest rent in- creases in the nation are creating true housing insecurity for many Portland renters, Saltzman said. “Many people we hear from are getting a 30-day notice to absorb rent increases upward of 50 percent,” he said. “That’s es- sentially an eviction notice for anyone, let alone those on a fixed income and working families who need enough time to find a new place to live, keep their kids in the same school, or budget for all the associated costs of such displace- ment.” Multifamily Northwest, a group representing residential property managers, vendors and rental home owners, opposed the new protections, calling them a form of “rent control,” which it doesn’t support, and believes is not allowed at the local level un- der state law.