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Big pickins YOUR ONLINE LOCAL Toxic catch Annual music leads Superfund site is not crowds into the woods DAILY NEWS Opie’s shing hole — See LIFE, B1 www.portlandtribune.com — See SUSTAINABLE LIFE PortlandTHURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPERTribune • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHEDn THURSDAYe Adams: Big plans still ahead ■ Mayor’s By JIM REDDEN cussed publicly. survive natural and man- The Tribune One is developing a regis- made disasters, including lo- fi nal months try of properties in the city cations for clean water and include With only around fi ve going through foreclosure emergency services. months to go before he and creating a task force to “There are a lot of chal- Mayor completing leaves offi ce, Mayor Sam deal with them by the end of lenges and opportunities, and Sam projects, Adams is continuing to the year. I’ve still got more than 160 Adams pursue an ambitious effort. Another is creating new days,” Adams said last week. fi nding job Asked by the Portland Tri- standards for more affordable Most of the items on Ad- bune to identify the top pri- improvements to dirt and ams’ to-do list have been orities for the rest of his term, poorly maintained roadways around for some time. They TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT Adams ran through more in town by the end of the year. include upgrading the Woodlawn Park Bloods represent their colors and than 20 initiatives, plans and The third is a mailing to all Veterans Memorial pay their respects to Dion Anthony Matthews projects — including three Portland households with de- that have not yet been dis- tailed information on how to See ADAMS / Page 5 outside Highland Christian Center in Northeast Portland Friday. Peace prevails under new HUNGRY gang funeral guidelines FOR Portland ministers see progress in stand against violence at services By PETER KORN JUSTICE The Tribune A single red baseball cap stood out above ■ Hunger striker a sea of more than 200 heads Friday morn- ing at the fi nal services for Dion Anthony Matthews, whose street name was Gadget. Cameron Whitten A funeral may seem an inap- propriate occasion for talking declares victory in 55-day “For of victory, or even progress, and there were fl ashes of red City Hall protest funerals, on more than a handful of everybody belts and handkerchiefs, and comes out. one woman’s hair had been ameron Whitten was willing to die. dyed bright red. But on Friday, But after 55 days of not eating solid food They go to black was the dominant color. as a protest to call attention to the plight of a funeral No Kansas City Royals or Se- C Portland’s homeless, the 21-year-old said he attle Mariners caps were in plans to end his fast Thursday morning. to pay their evidence, or blue or red ban- On Tuesday, Whitten tweeted that he was “negoti- respects, dannas. ating” his demands with city offi cials. He had decided Friday’s service at Highland to expand his diet to fruit juice and vegetable broth but it’s Christian Center in Northeast to avoid starvation. really easy Portland was not just any fu- By Wednesday morning, Whitten to set them neral. It was the fi rst gang-at- STORY BY said the city had informally agreed to tended funeral in Portland a compromise that would allow him to off.” since the city’s black ministers ALEX “declare victory” and end the hunger — Sgt. Scott signed a covenant a month ago BLUM strike. Montgomery, setting rules to govern such fu- “Day 55. Feeling like a million Bavar- Gang Enforcement ture events. ian creme donuts,” Whitten tweeted Team The ministers and reverends Wednesday morning. said they would no longer tol- According to Whitten, Mayor Sam Adams will an- erate the provocative behaviors nounce creation of an annual regional housing forum that had become commonplace at gang-attend- that will include representatives from four Portland- ed funerals. Rival Crips and Bloods had been area counties. using the funerals as settings to display their Whitten says that homeless advocates will “most colors and throw gang signs. TRIBUNE PHOTO: ADAM WICKHAM likely” be included in the forum, though “it has not all Family slide shows displayed during funeral Cameron Whitten, 21, lost nearly 35 pounds in a hunger strike for homeless issues. As he removed his shirt for a photo, he said, “This is what Ghandhi did. He showed off the skin.” See GANG / Page 4 See WHITTEN / Page 2 ThisWeekOnline Local stories that you read about first at www.portlandtribune.com Blazers peek at high-octane future are key pieces for what can be a ■ NEWS — Protesters battle traf c to Vegas pays off big for championship run. shout at president’s fundraiser — The same was said, of course, fi ve Tuesday demonstrations against Obama team as new young years ago after Greg Oden was draft- subdued compared to previous protests. ed No. 1 a year after the Blazers se- (Posted Tuesday, July 24) Search: Obama. players show stuff lected Aldridge and Brandon Roy. By KERRY EGGERS Now the Blazers, who were 28-38 ■ Morgan will lead Native American The Tribune and failed to make the playoffs last youth organization — Portland School season for the fi rst time since 2008, Board member Matt Morgan promoted to LAS VEGAS — With the bright are rebuilding again, from the bot- head of Native American Youth & Family neon lights of the Strip as a back- tom up. Center. (Posted Monday, July 23) Search: drop, the Trail Blazers took an “Who could foresee that Roy and Morgan. important step toward what they Oden would go out?” says Rick Adel- hope is a Renaissance last week man, the former Blazer player and ■ FEATURES — 2012 Hyundai Azera in Sin City. coach now head coach of the Minne- review — Redesigned midsize is another Rookies Damian Lillard, Meyers sota Timberwolves. “I went through winner from the fast-growing car company. Leonard and Will Barton represent a it in Houston when we lost Tracy (Posted Thursday, July 19) Search: Azera. big chunk of the future for the Blaz- McGrady and Yao Ming. They were ers, and their talents were on display All-Stars. ■ SPORTS — NW Star Academy to host at the Las Vegas Summer League. “It’s hard to retool when you lose American Legion baseball tournament in New general manager Neil Olshey that kind of talent. That’s what Port- Portland — Tourney makes rare city believes that All-Star forward La- land is faced with.” TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT appearance. (Posted Wednesday, July 25) Marcus Aldridge, newly re-signed Olshey, hired on June 5 to fi ll a Nucleus for the future? Recent draft picks (from left) Damian Lillard, Meyers Search: NW Star. forward Nicolas Batum, guard Wes- Leonard and Will Barton fi gure to have various roles with the Trail Blazers as they ley Matthews, Lillard and Leonard See BLAZERS / Page 8 look to rebuild after a disappointing season and under a new coach to be named. 277305.072512 A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, July 26, 2012 Whitten: Occupy protests spurred strike ■ From page 1 in his childhood he saw “what the world is.” been worked out yet.” From that point, Whitten’s “The hunger strike was suc- thoughts move quickly to a dis- cessful,” Whitten says. cussion of economic injustice. From economic injustice, he Stick to his guns rattles off a sprawling list of is- Camping in front of City Hall sues that he wants to tackle, in- since June 2, the activist who cluding drug reform, foreign made waves last spring with an policy, genetically modified or- unsuccessful run for mayor in ganisms and immigration. the May primary election, de- “I want to be involved in all of manded the absolution of fines it,” he says. “I feel like there’s a on Right 2 Dream Too, an Old darkness in the heart of our so- Town camp for homeless people; ciety that I don’t want to see a housing levy measure for No- consume us.” vember’s ballot; and a moratori- Whitten calls himself a realist um on home foreclosures. rather than an optimist, because After 30 days, Whitten re- “optimists think that the world duced his demands, asking that is good and things are going to the city drop fines for the Right 2 get better.” Dream Too camp and to set up a However, Whitten says he citizen’s panel to address the stays happy by focusing on his creation of more such camp- own actions rather than on the grounds for homeless people. world’s darkness. Each day he sat near the For Whitten, tireless protest Southwest Fourth Avenue court- is a way of living with this dark- yard in front of City Hall, a small, ness — it fulfills a need in his cluttered camp set up near a row soul to believe in the world’s of newspaper boxes. goodness. He gets the most sat- Whitten sleeps in a sleeping isfaction from a protest when bag and spends his days sitting many people come together to in a chair. When it rains, he hud- put energy toward a common dles under a tarp. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT ideal. His hunger strike has drawn a Whitten was homeless for two months after arriving in Portland and he gave up his house in 2011 to join the Occupy Portland protests. Now, he “I feel like at least in that mo- lot of media attention in the past has stable housing, but he was sleeping outside City Hall.