News (Noticias) for Oregon

Restaurants, nurseries and other Oregon employers are jumping into the state’s roiling immigration debate, bringing pro-business credentials to the fight against proposals seen as hostile to foreign-born workers and their families.

The Oregon Essential Worker Immigration Coalition is planning a February launch of its research, public-relations and lobbying efforts — all meant to add the voices of employers to a debate that’s largely pitted illegal-immigration opponents on one side, and Hispanic and immigrant-rights activists on the other.”*

*From: http://www.registerguard.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Azteca America has expanded to Eugene.

The Hispanic television network based in Los Angeles is on Churchill Media’s Channel 36 and soon will be available on Comcast’s Channel 617.”*

*From: http://www.bizjournals.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Hundreds of Hispanic activists from across the state descended on the capital Wednesday to learn, rally and press their causes with legislators.
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“We had really good visits,” said Pasco’s Gabriel Portugal, a board member of the Washington State Hispanic/Latino Legislative Organization.

“It’s extremely important that you’re here,” House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, told an auditorium full of participants, pointing across the street. “You’ve got to get over there where the action is, to the Legislature.”"*

*From: http://www.theolympian.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

For thousands of Latinos, high school is about more than just making the grade, it’s about learning the language. Many of them don’t know where to start when it comes to making long term plans. That’s where programs like “Opening the Doors to the Future” come in. The Kennewick School District has been working the weekends to get both students and parents up to speed.

Cecilia Guillen is a mentor to Latino students at Kennewick High School, helping them prepare for college and beyond. She has a simple message for them.

“Yes, it’s difficult, yest it’s hard, but it can be done,” she said. “*

*From: http://www.kimatv.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Intense emotion erupted at the state Capitol on Friday as interest groups sought to persuade lawmakers to adopt — or reject — tougher identification requirements to get an Oregon driver’s license.

Ted Campbell, director of the Oregon chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was there in support of stiffer rules.

“Drug dealers get protection in Oregon,” Campbell told lawmakers.”*

*From: http://www.statesmanjournal.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

As Oregon prepares to join most other states by stiffening requirements for immigrants’ driver’s licenses, Hispanic groups in the state are asking for a delay.

On Monday they turned in over 5,000 petition signatures to Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division in Salem, asking for a one-year delay in implementation of the new rules.”*

*From: http://www.oregonlive.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Maritza Mendez, a multi-cultural recruiter for Western Oregon University, nods her head in agreement. Spouting off a request in Spanish, Mendez asks a group of Tualatin High Latino students for more reasons and in quick succession answers in Spanish are fired back.

Barriers for Latinos wanting to attend college aren’t all that different from the traditional worries: financial aid, debt, unfamiliar environments, being away from family and serving as the first-generation in a family to attend college.”*

W hen Olga Acuna moved to Oregon, the 15-year-old could speak no English.

Her father was a single parent, trying to raise seven children on what they could make picking berries and working in the fields.

They made ends meet by living with members of their extended family, by scrimping and saving and doing without what many others considered necessities.”*

A young Mexican couple driving down an icy road during a snowstorm slams into a vehicle. The man whose car was hit begins a tirade of insults and shouts.

What follows is a bilingual mess of emotions and human plight that is meant to portray a modern-day nativity story.

Daniel Hobbs’ “In from the Cold” is a multi-cultural story of forgiveness. But set during the Christmas holiday, the play is more a recognition of the human aspects of the nativity story.”*

Fourth Avenue ambles for 30 blocks past high-rise office towers, regional banks, upscale retailers and such urban landmarks as the county courthouse and City Hall.

Fourth also rolls through one of Portland’s most prominent symbols of diversity: Chinatown. An ornamental red and gold gateway inscribed with dragons and Chinese characters greets visitors and evokes ties to the Pacific Rim. Red and gold street lamps, a gift from Taiwan, line the street near restaurants that specialize in dim sum.

This is not the street that Latino activist Marta Guembes wanted to rename in honor of Cesar E. Chavez, the labor organizer and champion of migrant farm workers.
“*

At 7 a.m. on the first day of school in September, Nadia Tobon climbed on top of a table. “Attention, everyone!” she shouted.

The Centennial High School cafeteria rumbled with the chaos of students looking for their schedules. Tobon’s voice, calling students to line up by last name at various tables, barely carried over the chatter. In English, Tobon, 17, is almost timid, certainly quieter than when she speaks Spanish, her first language.

Manning the “G” and “H” table, she flipped through sheet after sheet of Garcias and Hernandezes, recognizing each student with a Spanglish welcome.”*

Local police have no business enforcing federal immigration laws, Eugene police Chief Robert Lehner told a crowd of more than 200 people Sunday as part of the department’s new outreach efforts directed at the Latino community.

Over coffee and doughnuts following a Spanish language service at St. Mary Catholic Church, Lehner, with the aid of interpreters, told the group that most people, American and immigrant alike, don’t understand the difference between the roles played by local and federal law enforcement.”*

At the sound of music, Griselda Aguilera takes the stage and transforms herself. She turns into a defiant communist, a passionate protester, a friend of Frida Kahlo, the 20th-century Mexican painter.

In this high school theater production, the 16-year-old pushes jitters aside and makes her debut as an actress, a venture so few Latino students explore that they are absent from most drama programs at Oregon schools.

A lack of culturally relevant plays, limited transportation and the need to take after-school jobs may be factors. The reasons aren’t clear, but even as Latinos fuel population growth most never take center stage, educators say.”*

A 20-year-old college student, Alejandra Trujillo, is probably going to be deported after being arrested on misdemeanor fraud charges on Nov. 16.

Her academic advisor, Brenda Maldonado, said it’s also true that Trujillo is a student leader at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus, giving back to her community by mentoring Latino youth to set high goals and achieve success through higher education.

Unfortunately, she produced incorrect identification when she went to have her driver’s license renewed at the Hillsboro Department of Motor Vehicles’ office.”*

The controversial plan to rename a Portland street after Mexican-American labor leader César E. Chávez has been pulled from consideration, at least for now, officials said Wednesday.”*

Gus and Sandra Jaramillo have their day jobs at Tigard High School — and then some.

The husband and wife are known for extending themselves far beyond the school bell and their job duties. They are advocates for students, particularly those who are Latino or speak Spanish as their first language.

He’s a building specialist or head custodian, and she an instructional assistant in the English Language Learner program. Born in Mexico and speaking no English when they came to the United States, they grew up in Southern California and served in the U.S. Army.”*

It now looks as if the Portland City Council won’t rename North Interstate Avenue for Cesar Chavez on Thursday after all.

Instead, there appears to be four votes to rename Southwest Fourth Avenue — where City Hall sits — for the farm worker labor leader, tossing new fuel into a debate that has enflamed community passions in recent weeks.

City Commissioner Dan Saltzman told Mayor Tom Potter late today that he has the votes for the Fourth Avenue name change, according to John Doussard, the mayor’s spokesman.”*

During a joint news conference at the State Capitol this morning, State Representative Linda Flores (R-Clackamas) and Representatives Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer, Newberg, St. Paul) delivered a Call-To-Action on immigration reform.

“We’re asking Oregonians to pressure the Legislature and the Governor to take action on these important issues,” said Flores. Oregonians for Immigration Reform hosted the event which also included chief petitioners for a new ballot measure.”*

Given Portland’s liberal reputation, it seemed unlikely that a plan to rename a street for Cesar Chavez would generate much controversy.

But the idea has divided two groups who say they are given short shrift by the city — Latinos and the residents of North Portland.

The topic has grown so bitter that Mayor Tom Potter responded to talk of a compromise last week by walking out of a City Council meeting.”*

“Declaring that he was not a “voting member of the council anymore,” a red-faced Mayor Tom Potter walked out in the middle of a City Council discussion this afternoon about renaming North Interstate Avenue after labor leader Cesar Chavez.

“But you’re the mayor,” said a stunned Commissioner Randy Leonard.

The council, clearly taken aback by the mayoral implosion, put off a decision until Nov. 14.”*

“Autumn arrives in Oregon with a number of obvious changes. Chilly nights. Chanterelles. Speeding tickets in school zones. Rain.

If you frequent farmers markets, you might have encountered an increasingly common fall hallmark that has nothing to do with deluges or fungi foraging. It’s a tradition borrowed from the sunny Southwest, one that clocks you with an aroma as tantalizing as a slowly simmered ragu. That scent — roasting chiles — signals the bittersweet transition from summer to fall.

In New Mexico and adjoining Southwestern states, the smoky, sweet-hot perfume of charred chiles hangs thick and heavy during harvest season. “There are tumbler roasters outside of every grocery store — in front of every Safeway and Albertson’s and corner market,” says New Mexico native Michael Martinez, chef-owner of North Portland’s Encanto restaurant. “It’s a huge memory from my youth. You buy a bushel of chiles, get them roasted, and then seed, peel and freeze them to use throughout the year.”"*

“Stephanie Lopez’s whirlwind year hasn’t ended yet, but it has returned her to a place where she can catch her breath and begin to sort out the experiences of the last 12 months.

Lopez is back at her familiar spot on defense for the seventh-ranked University of Portland women’s soccer team, transforming a very good club into one with a shot at the national championship. She returns after competing on this year’s U.S. World Cup team that finished third in China in September. She was the national team’s youngest member and its first player of Hispanic origin.

Lopez hopes to add competing for the NCAA title to an already-crowded December calendar. She will graduate that month and marry fiance Brian Cox. Then it will be back into the mix for the national team and a possible spot on the 2008 Olympic team.”*

“To bring Sunnyside city officials and the Hispanic community together to tackle gang violence, members of the state Commission on Hispanic Affairs hope to spark a dialogue between the two groups this week.

The Commission on Hispanic Affairs will host a public meeting from 6-9 p.m. on Friday at the Denny Blaine Building boardroom on East Custer Avenue to discuss gang activity affecting neighborhoods in the Yakima Valley and throughout the state. Commissioners hope new solutions will evolve as residents talk with local “decision-makers,” including City Council members, school officials and police.”*

“For more than a year, a Latino boy who speaks only English sat in his classroom confused by what his Spanish-speaking classmates were saying and falling behind in his work.

His mother complained to school officials, but they insisted he belonged in the English as a Second Language program. Complicating things, the boy was considered to be developmentally delayed.

Now the family has sued the Hillsboro School District, accusing educators at Orenco Elementary School of putting Alek Villaraldo in the English as a Second Language program during kindergarten and a portion of first grade solely because he was Latino. In the family’s federal lawsuit, his parents, Indhira and Rene Villaraldo, say they were never notified or asked for consent to place their son in the program.”*

“Some Oregon high schools are adopting Mexico’s public school curriculum to help educate Spanish-speaking students with textbooks, an online Web site, DVDs and CDs provided free by Mexico to teach math, science and even U.S. history.

The Oregon Department of Education and Mexico’s Secretariat of Public Education are discussing aligning their curricula so courses will be valid in both countries.

Similar ventures are under way in Yakima, Wash., San Diego, Calif., and Austin, Texas.”