Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2011)
September 14, 2011 (Flje IN S ID E ^ortlanh (Obstruer This page Sponsored by: Page 3 Fred Meyer What's on your list today?» S t . J ohns NEIGHBORHOOD page 6 H ealth Hunger Rate Remains High 1 Increased poverty also adds to state’s woes O re g o n ’s h u n g er rate rem ains ain s ahnnt about A 6 percent o f »u the population, - ran out o f unem ploym ent benefits." high w hile p overty is getting w orse suffered very low food security - P ro fesso r M ark E dw ards at O r in the state, according to new data also know n as h u n g er - in 2008- egon State U niversity also credited from the C ensus B ureau. 2010. T hey ate less, skipped m eals efforts at signing up people for food Poverty in O regon rose from 11.7 o r som etim es w ent w ithout food for stam ps to keep O re g o n ’s hunger percent in 2007-08 to 13.8 percent in entire days. T hat rem ains statisti- rate lo w er than predicted. 2009-10. N ationally, p overty in- cally equivalent to the 6.6 percent “W hile O regon's hunger rate is creased 1.9 percentage points to 14.7 rate for 2007-09. disturbingly high, we know it could percent over the sam e tim e periods. R achel B ristol, c h ie f executive have been much w orse,” Edw ards Rising poverty hurts the o fficer o f the O r said. state’s econom y, prevent egon Food B ank, He said O regon's h u n g er rate ing m illions o f adults and said O reg o n w as increased from 4 percent to 6.6 p er children from reaching their able to hold the line cent betw een 2003 and 2007 but has p o te n tia l a n d c r e a tin g on food insecurity rem ained steady - in the low 6s - greater social costs dow n rates because o f a w hile the U.S. rate has slow ly and the road, according to the co lla b o rate e ffo rt steadily increased o v er that tim e. O regon C enter for Public o f state agencies, T he conditions in the rest o f the Policy, a non-partisan re n o n - p r o f its a n d country in the past few years d e te search institute on budget, com m unity v o lu n riorated to an even g reater degree tax and econom ic issues. teers to enroll e li than in O regon, bringing the n a Rachel Bristol T h e C e n s u s B u re a u g ib le fa m ilie s in tional num bers clo ser to O regon's m easures food insecurity through a critical federal food and nutrition high num bers," he said. series o f survey questions that ask program s, In the upcom ing m onths, C o n about the ability o f households to "For exam ple, 1 in 5 O regon gress w ill m ake decisions during obtain enough food for an active, hou seh o ld s p articip ate in S N A P debt discussion about federal n utri healthy life for all m em bers. (food stam ps) (com pared to 1 in 7 tion program s that affect O regon. A bout 13.7 percent o f O regon nationally), and 65 p ercent o f o ur "W e continue to see evidence o f households - m ore than 5 0 0,000 kids w ho are eligible are now receiv- the struggles facing m any people in people - suffered food insecurity in ing free o r reduced price lunches,” o u r state," said Patti W hitney-W ise, the m ost recent figures, m eaning Bristol said. “Federal stim ulus fund- ex ecu tiv e director, Partners for a they lacked co n sisten t access to ing provided record levels o f nutri- H unger-F ree O regon. a d e q u a te a m o u n ts o f n u tritio u s tious foods fo r em erg en cy food "Congress m ust support jo b cre food. T hat co m p ares to 13.9 percent boxes distributed by the O regon ation w hile p rotecting o u r nation's during the 2007-09 period. Food B ank N etw ork as m ore fam i- safety net against d eficit cutting M ore than 223,000 individuals, lies lost hom es to foreclosure and m easu res,” she said. Hip-Hop Charter Not Fit to Open Just three days before it was set to still lacked basic needs for students— Hie Portland School board approved open, district officials shut down the desks, a curriculum, recording equip a charter for REA L Prep in December REAL PrcpCharter School, a new public m en t and a solid administrative team. 2009 based on its innovative approach, high school designed with a hip-hop With only 48 students enrolled and promisingcurriculumplans.solidcom- themedcurriculum. not enough to show that its leaders munity support and mission to serve The school hoped to open Monday were financially andlogistically capable underserved students in Portland. in the Peal District serving 160 students o f opening, Sue Ann Higgens, Portland PPS staff members are now contact in grades 9 through 12, but after school Public Schools executive director for ing the students and families who have leaders spent $500,000in federal grants education options, said the school, was enrolled tohelpthemfindanotherschool to get the program up and running, they not equipped to serve students. to attend. NMHMMHMB1 HMMNHH mhnmnmmimhmnhmmmnmhmi Police Sergeant Fired for Road Rage ; . V F ood page 20 HU. Sgt. Scott W esterm an, a Portland tiv e s an d th a t te rm in a tio n o f his Police officer, was fired for violating e m p lo y m e n t is th e a p p ro p ria te Police B ureau policies on tw o road lev el o f d is c ip lin e . rage incidents, involving the sam e W esterm an w as off-duty and in victim s in January 2010. his personal car w hen he pulled in In a sta te m e n t F rid a y , P o rtla n d front o f a local m otorist, the sam e P o lic e C h ie f M ich a e l R ee se said w om an from both incidents in north he had d e term in e d that W esterm an east and southw est Portland, got h ad v io la te d tw o s p e c ific d ire c - out o f his car and began scream ing at the victim . T he w om an called 911 both tim es before filing an official report. T he head o f the Portland ’ s police union for 17 m onths and w ith the P o lic e B u re a u fo r 19 y e a r s , W esterm an apologized and claim ed he w as dealing w ith “ personal is su es” at the tim e.
