October 21, 2015
Page 3
INSIDE
The
Week in Review
This page
Sponsored by:
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L OCAL N EWS
pages 6-7
O PINION
M ETRO
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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
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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.