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.