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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2014)
September IO. 2014 ^Ìurtlanb (Obstruer IN S ID E This page Sponsored by: TheWeek Review Page 3 Fred Meyer What's on your list today?. Hands Across the Bridge brings voices o f recovery together in solidarity and celebration. The annual event returns to the 1-5 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver beginning at noon on Sunday, Sept. 14. Speak Up, Reach Out Voices for Recovery to span 1-5 Bridge September is National Recovery Month and the largest one-day re covery event west of the Missis sippi will be held Sunday, Sept. 14 when local residents launch Hands Across the Bridge, an annual event on the 1-5 Bridge between Portland and Vancouver. This y ear’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Speak Up, Reach Out,” encourages people to openly speak up about mental and substance use disorders and the reality of recovery, and promote ways individuals can use to recog nize behavioral health issues and reach out for help. The event begins at noon with opening ceremonies on each side of the river. Native Americans repre senting local tribes will drum and lead the participants as they walk towards each other until they unite on top of the bridge. Every partici pant then joins hands in solidarity and in celebration o f recovery as they recite the Serenity Prayer. The moment of unification is extremely powerful, organizers said. Last year more than 2,500people participated and this year, the num ber is expected to top 4,000. After the bridge ceremony, an other recovery event is held at Ester Short Park in downtown Vancouver. Oxfest is a free event for anyone in recovery and their families and sup porters. For information on Hands Across the Bridge and Oxfest, call Patty Katz at 360-903-4645 or visit the website handsacrossthebridge.org. Workers File Discrimination Case C alendar C lassifieds F ood page 20 page 10 pages 14 Daimler Trucks North America’s Swan Island assembly plant is fac ing racial discrimination allegations from four black employees The employees state that they were subjected to nooses, swasti kas, racial slurs, and death threats during their 10 years of employment at the north Portland plant. Daimler’s Portland branches em ploy nearly 2,000 people, and the plant on Swan Island is home to 800 of those employees. Environmental maintenance tech nician Joseph L. Hall, one of the men filing a complaint this past year, retired in July, sharing only that his past 20 years at the company had been fraught with racial incidents. Attorney Mark Morrell, who is representing three of the complain ants, shared that the case may be headed to litigation if Daim ler doesn’t come to its senses. City Council Settles with Black Executive Form er em battled city adm inis trative officer Jack D. Graham has agreed to drop his legal claim s against the city in exchange for a $40,000 settlem ent that was re cently approved by the City Coun cil. Graham, the city ’ s highest rank ing A frican-A m erican official at the time, had been accused o f fi nancial m ism anagem ent in the c ity ’s 2012-2013 fiscal year bud- get, som ething he refuted. Back in April, he had notified the city o f his intention to pursue legal claim s against the city, in cluding claim s o f denial o f due process, race discrim ination, and defamation arising from false alle gations made by city representa tives that inferred he was guilty. As part o f the settlem ent with Graham , M ayor Charlie Hales is sued a letter clearing Graham of any wrongdoing. He stated that at no time in G raham ’s em ploym ent with the city of Portland (which started in 2001) did he com m it any financial “im proprieties.” “Mr. Graham was highly re spected by his subordinate em ployees and was recognized by the Bureau Chiefs he worked for as the most vital m anager within the organization,” said Hales in the letter.
