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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2012)
Texas hold’em poker added to list of Unions for Kids fundraising events Unions for Kids is sponsoring its first-ever Texas Hold ’em Poker Tour- nament Saturday, April 14, at Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, 2379 NE 178th Ave., Portland. The event starts at 6 p.m. Unions for Kids is an all-volunteer organization founded to raise funds for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. It does so through a one-day motorcycle poker run and chili cookoff. Its major fundraiser is a raffle to win a Harley- Davidson motorcycle. Tickets are $10 each with only 5,000 tickets sold. Since its inception in 2003, Unions for Kids has raised $271,000. This year’s motorcycle poker run and chile cookoff is Saturday, June 9, starting and ending at IBEW Local 48, 15937 N.E. Airport Way, Portland. The drawing for the motorcycle will be held at 4 p.m. The Texas Hold’em tournament is another fun way to help raise more money for the kids at Doernbecher. All proceeds from the tournament will be added to the overall contribution. The goal is to attract 300 players. Buy-in is $50, with one re-buy per per- son. There also will be a $25 add-on option. The number of payouts and dol- lar amounts will be determined on player turnout. Blues concert to benefit Oregon Single Payer Campaign The Oregon Single Payer Campaign is throwing a party on Saturday, April 14, at the Melody Ballroom in Portland. The “Inner City Blues Festival Reunion — “Healing the Health care Blues,” will reunite Norman Sylvester and a host of Northwest blues stars. The Inner City Blues Festival was a popular, annual event sponsored by the Portland Rainbow Coalition start- ing in 1988. The last concert was held in 2003. Many of the blues stars who performed in the festival in the past are coming together for a night of music to bene- fit the work of the Oregon Single Payer Campaign for a universal, affordable health care system for all Oregoni- ans. In addition to the Norman Sylvester Band, whose members belong to Musicians Local 99, guests include tap and sax sensation Shoehorn (members of Local 99), Lloyd Jones Struggle, Chatta Addy, Lloyd Allen, Sara Billings, LaRhonda Steele, Sonny Hess, Jim Mesi, Richard Arnold, Bill Rhoade, Peter Moss, Lenanne PAGE 8 Miller-Sylvester and Janice Scroggins. Musicians Local 99 is among nearly two dozen spon- sors of the event. The concert will also feature the “Mad as Hell Doc- tors” — local doctors “singing out for single payer health care.” The Oregon Single Payer Campaign promotes reform- ing the health care system to benefit all Oregonians by re- placing an expensive and complicated system dominated by private insurance companies, with a single non-profit agency that would collect and distribute funds equitably according to the principle of universal, affordable health care for all. Tickets to the Inner City Blues Festival Reunion are $15 and can be purchased online at www.ticketsoregon. com. You must be 21 or older. Melody Ballroom is located at 615 SE Alder, Portland. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information about the Oregon Single Payer Campaign, go to www.singlepayeroregon.com. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS John Candioto, business manager of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, is coor- dinating the poker tournament. For more information or to register, call 503-254-0123. ‘H OUR OF H ELP ’ In addition to the poker tournament and poker run, Unions for Kids has in- troduced the “Hour of Help” program, whereby individuals can donate one hour of pay to the cause. All donations are tax deductible and all contributors will receive a 10th anniversary Unions for Kids patch. To donate, go online to www. unionsforkids.org. Inslee to step down from Congress to focus on campaign for governor SEATTLE — Democratic candidate for governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, announced March 10 that he will step down from his seat in Congress to fo- cus full time on his campaign. Inslee’s resignation is effective March 20. “I am excited about focusing full- time on talking about my job-creation agenda and building a new economy for Washington state,” Inslee told a group of supporters at his campaign headquarters. “It was a difficult deci- sion, but what I need to do right now is focus all my attention on talking to people about what’s really important — creating jobs and growing our econ- omy.” Inslee, who is currently leading in fundraising and running neck-in-neck with his opponent based on recent polls, said he made the decision very recently after watching the GOP pres- idential nominees visiting Washington with what he described as a “divisive social issues agenda” and then seeing state Republicans offer budget propos- als that slashed education funding. Inslee has been endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, United Food and Commer- cial Workers Local 555, an affiliate of the Change to Win coalition, and other unions. Inslee has represented residents of Washington’s 1st congressional district since 1999. He served one term (1992- 94) in the U.S. House representing Washington’s 4th congressional dis- trict in the central part of the state. March 16, 2012
