Portland observer., March 04, 2020, Image 1

De La Salle
Updates Plans
Building Skills
in Medicine
Model shows
future school at
St. Charles
Ivy League grad
enrolls in high
demand program
See story, page 2
See Metro, page 6
Established in 1970
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Volume XLVIV • Number 10
‘City
of
Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • March 4, 2020
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Coronavirus
Threat Grows
Stores see
impact as people
stock supplies
b everly C orbell
t he p ortland o bserver
As people became more aware
of the threat of coronavirus, also
called COVID-19, Portland area
grocery stores saw toilet paper and
other supplies sell out and leave
shelves virtually empty. An em-
ployee of the Stadium Fred Mey-
er store on West Burnside Street,
where only a few boxes of tissues
or stacks of toilet paper remained
on the shelves Saturday, said the
store has been out of hand sani-
tizer for weeks and didn’t know
when more would come in.
By Monday, other stores, in-
cluding Natural Grocers and Wal-
greens, both on Northeast Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard, also
saw empty spaces on toilet paper
aisles and with no hand sanitizer
for sale.
by
As she shopped for bathroom
tissue at Walgreens, Levlie Okam-
mor said she is worried about the
possibility of a pandemic sweep-
ing the country.
“This is going to be big, and I’m
worried that people are not taking
it seriously,” she said. “We’ve
just gotten to be a country that is
not informed, but I’m not listen-
ing to anything that’s coming out
of Washington. I heard the head
of the CDC (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention) say it’s
not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when.’”
Okammor said she has been
following the coronavirus epi-
demic from the beginning.
“When I heard there was a case
in Washington State, I thought,
‘This is it,’” she said. “We are not
prepared and we are not an edu-
cated country anymore.”
As of Tuesday, As of Tuesday,
nine people in Washington State
have died of the disease, eight
photo by b everly C orbell /t he p ortland o bserver
from King County and one from In light of the coronavirus epidemic, Portland resident Levlie Okammor shops for toilet paper and
other supplies at the Walgreens on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Monday, saying she
C ontinued on p age 5
is worried that some people aren’t taking the outbreak seriously enough.
Candidate Takes Aim at Incumbent Blumenauer
Says 24 years in
office is enough
ployment as head of the business
and computing division at Portland
Community College’s Sylvania
campus to have the time to mount
by b everly C orbell
t he p ortland o bserver
Albert Lee, an active member of
Portland’s African American com-
munity and a former college dean,
is running for Congress in Oregon’s
Third Congressional District by
challenging longtime incumbent
Earl Blumenauer for the Democratic
Party nomination.
Lee said he resigned his em-
b everly C orbell /
t he p ortland o bserver
Albert Lee is challenging
incumbent U.S. Rep.
Earl Blumenauer for the
Democratic nomination
in Oregon’s Third
Congressional District,
covering most of Portland
and Multnomah County.
photo by
a serious campaign for the May
Primary race. In an interview with
the Portland Observer, he called out
Blumenauer for being in the job for
too long and accused him of being
an ineffective representative for the
people of Portland and Multnomah
County which comprise the district.
Lee said climate change, was
one example, citing Blumenauer as
a hypocrite for being a supporter
of the Green New Deal promoting
green jobs for the disadvantaged and
C ontinued on p age 11