'We Had No Choice but to Jump'
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Lifting Up Portland Native Lives in Africa Wins Pulitizer Portland pop star Author who overcame Antonio Blue establishes hardships at top of his music school profession See Metro, page 7 See story, page 2 PO QR code ‘City of www.portlandobserver.com Volume XLVV • Number 13 Roses’ Wednesday • July 7, 2021 Committed to Cultural Diversity ‘We Had no Choice but to Jump’ Predawn fire kills 2, others injured A horrifying fire erupted at a multi-unit apartment in the Sullivan Gulch neighbor- hood of northeast Portland during the predawn hours of July 4, killing at least two people and leaving several others injured. “We had no choice but to jump,” survivors said. Other neighbors described seeing people trapped by flames. The use of fireworks was suspected as the cause of the fire, but no conclusion had been drawn after two days of investigation. Officials said some neighbors reported hearing fireworks in the vi- cinity of the building. The apartments at 2226 N.E. Weidler St., named Hei- A fire quickly sweeps through a multi-unit apartment complex at 2226 N.E. Wilder around 3:30 a.m. on July 4, killing at di Manor, were constructed least two people and leaving several others injured. (KGW-TV photo) in 1972, according to Mult- the scene at 3:30 a.m., offi- and many did not,” said Fire the flames and at the peak, a sprinkler system. She said nomah County tax records. cials said. Chief Sara Boone. there were about 120 fire it was an older complex and Its multiple structures were “The magnitude of this She said there were pow- personnel at the scene. that older complexes often fully engulfed in flames fire moved so quick that peo- er lines coming down while Boone said the apart- do not have as many exits as when firefighters arrived on ple had little time to escape crews worked to extinguish ment complex did not have newer complexes. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden visits Albina Relief for Families Head Start in north Portland to support Visits Albina Head During Wyden’s stop at the Albina the expanded child Head Start in north Portland last Tues- tax credits going Start to promote day, he met with Portland area parents out to qualifying and Head Start staff to talk about the parents on July expanded child tax first child tax credit payments going 15 under the credits out under the American Rescue Plan American Rescue and to show support for expanding the Plan and to call Expanded Child Tax Credits are go- credits to future years. on making the ing out for the first time on July 15 to Adopted by Democrats earlier this credits a long-term solution for working qualifying working families and U.S. year in response to the economic Sen. Ron Wyden, during a Portland families. Also downturn caused by the coronavirus, pictured are Carole visit, expressed his support for the re- the legislation provides the largest Carmichael and lief and proposed that it become a long CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Keri Truehler of term benefit. PHOTO BY MARK WASHINGTON/PORTLAND OBSERVER PUBLISHER Albina Head Start. Page 2 July 7, 2021 Portland Man Basks in Pulitzer Prize ism/) weaves back and forth between sig- Black author who nificant and mundane events in Arbery’s daily life and, in excruciating detail, the overcame hardships minute-by-minute events that led up to his stalking and killing in Brunswick, Ga. on now teaches Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020. Arbery, whose nickname was Maud, was creative writing a formidable high school football player BY BEVERLY CORBELL even though, at 5’10” and 165 pounds, he THE PORTLAND OBSERVER wasn’t a real big guy. But what he lacked Mitchell S. Jackson, Portland native and in bulk he made up for in heart, as Jackson Portland State University alumnus, was re- described in the article. cently awarded the Pulitzer Prize, journal- “Game time, the opposing team calls ism’s highest honor, for writing about the the play that Maud put the fierce kaput life and death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black on in practice, and beneath a metal-halide man who was shot dead after allegedly be- glare that’s also a gauntlet, Maud barrels ing racially profiled and chased by three towards the running back and—BOOM!— white men while he was out jogging. lays a hit that sounds like trucks colliding,” Jackson’s long-form feature story in Jackson wrote. Runner’s World magazine, “Twelve Min- Other excerpts show Arbery’s tender utes and a Life,” (https://www.runner- side, such as helping his sister care for Writing about the life and death of Ahmaud Arbery has given Portland native sworld.com/runners-stories/a32883923/ CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Mitchell S. Jackson the Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in the field of journalism. ahmaud-arbery-death-running-and-rac- (Photo from Mitchell S. Jackson Facebook page) audacious” tax fraud scheme that saw the Trump executive allegedly receive more The than $1.7 million in off-the-books com- pensation, including apartment rent, car Week payments and school tuition. in Nurse Sues for Unlawful Arrest An OHSU nurse who was volunteering as Review a medic during a Black Lives Matter pro- test last year filed suit against the Port- COVID Restrictions Lifted land Police Bureau last week, accusing Oregon and Washington lifted most of their an officer of chasing after him, knocking COVID-19 restrictions last week after vac- him to the ground, slamming his head to cinations against the disease neared 70 per- the pavement and then punching him re- cent of the population 16 and older. Gov. peatedly. Kate Brown called it a “truly a historic mo- ment for our state,” with more work to be Hope Fades at Collapse Site done to reach everyone with a vaccine. Search-and-rescue workers continued to look for open spaces where people might be found alive nearly two weeks after the Champlain Towers South tower collapse in Surfside, Fla. Officials sounded increas- ingly somber Tuesday about the prospects for finding anyone alive. Cosby Freed from Prison Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction last Fireworks Ban Limits Calls week finding it was unjust because of an Portland Fire & Rescue officials thanked agreement with a previous prosecutor residents Tuesday for adhering to a fire- that prevented him from being charged in works ban over the long July 4th holiday the case. Cosby was released from prison weekend. The responsiveness helped lim- shortly after the ruling. it potential fireworks related fires to nine incidents, down from 44 during the same Pedestrian Killed on 33rd period last year, officials said. A pedestrian died after being hit by a vehicle at about 1:30 a.m. Monday on Trump Company Charged Northeast 33rd Drive near Columbia Donald Trump’s company and its longtime Boulevard. Portland Police identified the finance chief were charged Thursday in victim as Michael L. Bute, the 31st traffic what a prosecutor called a “sweeping and death of the year. July 7, 2021 Page 3 INSIDE Bullets Fly; Homes Hit The in Week Review page 2 SPORTS page 6 METRO page 7 Portland Police mark where up to 80 bullets and bullet fragments landed during a Saturday night shooting on Northeast Seventh and Wygant Street, near King Elementary School. including over 80 cartridge twice the number during the Shooting casings. Four apartments had same time in 2020. scene finds 80 been hit by gunfire, includ- If anyone has information ing occupied homes, police about this latest case, they cartridge casings said. At least four vehicles are encouraged to reference Portland Police officers were also hit by bullets. case 21-181233 and e-mail ArtsENTERTAINMENT assigned to North Precinct Police did not find anyone crimetips@portlandoregon. & page 8 responded to a massive shots who had been wounded. The gov . fired call on Northeast 7th suspects fled prior to police Anonymous tips can be Avenue and Wygant Saturday arriving. sent through Crime Stoppers. night, July 3. The firepower Officials said the Portland Crime Stoppers of Oregon littered the pavement with Police Enhanced Communi- offers cash rewards of up to bullets and struck at least ty Safety Team (ECST) re- $2,500 cash for information, four homes in the vicinity of sponded to investigate. reported to Crime Stoppers, King Elementary School. To date there have been that leads to an arrest in any OPINION page 9 When officers arrived approximately 579 shoot- unsolved felony crime and they contacted witnesses and ing incidents in the City of tipsters can remain anony- found evidence of a shooting, Portland in 2021, more than mous. CLASSIFIED/BIDS pages 10 Heat Deaths Rise to 67 County to study emergency response The Multnomah County Medical Examin- er reported Monday that the number of deaths from last week’s record-breaking heat wave had risen to 64. The deaths were identified be- tween June 27 and July 3, which included three straight days of record-breaking temperatures of 108, 112 and 116 in Portland. The preliminary snapshot shows the people who died ranged in age from 44 to 97, with an average age of 68. The majority were white. Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Many were found in their homes, with no air Portland, OR 97211 conditioning or fans, official said. Statewide, a The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. total of 107 Oregonians suffered deaths related Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and PO QR code will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope.