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November 4, 2015
The
Week in Review
Street, but left soon afterwards empty-handed and
apparently unarmed.
Jury Discrimination Case Considered
On Monday the Supreme Court took up a case on
racial discrimination in jury selection. The incident
regards a black defendant’s murder conviction and
death sentence at the hands of an all-white Georgia
jury, with evidence that the justices heard evidence
and struck out all prospective black jurors in the
1987 trial.
Max Floods in High Water
On Saturday a downpour flooded several MAX
and Portland Streetcar tracks and one MAX train
was flooded as it tried to cross under the Morrison
Bridge during extreme high water. Footage of a
flooding train was shared on social media sites, but
no injuries were reported. Other trains were being
inspected for water damage Monday, causing some
trains to run as a single car, rather than the typical
two-car set.
Perkins Student Loan Cuts Coming
Occupation-Free Portland Draws Support
Higher Minimum Wage Draws Support
Portland’s Human Rights Commission has endorsed
Occupation-Free Portland’s proposal to end city in-
vestments with companies profiting from the con-
flict between Israel and Palestine. The companies
named include Caterpillar, G4S, Hewlett-Packard,
and Motorola Solutions.
Halloween Bank Holdup
Authorities are looking
for a man who used a long
black costume wig with
white streaks and a pair of
sunglasses to holdup a Port-
land bank on Halloween.
The man demanded cash
from a teller at a Wells Far-
go on Southeast Division
More than 500,000 college students across the
country have been stripped of over a billion dol-
lars in financial aid following the Senate’s refusal
to renew the nation’s oldest loan program for col-
lege students. The 57-year-old federal Perkins loan
program expired at the end of September after the
Republican-controlled Senate blocked legislation
to extend it.
A City Club of Portland panel has determined
there’s merit in creating a higher minimum wage
in the city. A 10-member volunteer committee con-
cluded last week that individual cities should be
able to raise the minimum wage above the state rate
to address the needs of residents liv-
ing at the lower end of the economic
spectrum.
Fire in Vacant Home
Squatters smoking inside a south-
east Portland home are the suspect-
ed cause of a fire Sunday night at an
otherwise empty house at 3542 S.E.
Taylor St., fire officials say. No one
injured and damage estimates were
not immediately available.
Startup Business Finalists Named
PDC narrows field from
minority applicants
Nineteen finalists from minority, women or other
disadvantaged groups are in contention for getting
financial and other entrepreneurial help to start a
business in Portland that is geared to a national or
international market.
The Portland Development Commission named
the finalists Monday for its Startup PDX Challenge
from a field of 96 applicants. Up to six startup busi-
nesses will receive a package valued at more than
$50,000 per company with up to $25,000 in a con-
vertible note or low-interest loan, a full year of rent-
free office space in Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown
neighborhood, and free professional advice, mem-
berships and services.
A Challenge selection committee will consider
each semi-finalist’s application and personal inter-
view in determining the winners.
The general public is invited to visit the pdc.us
website to learn more about each semi-finalist and
vote for their favorites. Public voting runs through
midnight Monday, Nov. 9; the winner of the public
vote will receive a package of education, co-work-
ing, and membership services.
“The Startup PDX Challenge has really opened
our eyes to the number of investment-ready start-
ups we have in our community led by diverse
founders. Being intentional about our goals for
diversity is already making a difference in our en-
trepreneurial community, and we look forward to
working with the next class of exciting, innovative
startups,” said Patrick Quinton, PDC executive di-
rector.
The group includes 13 startups with women
founders; seven with African American founders;
seven with Hispanic founders; six with Asian/Pa-
cific Islander founders; one with a Native American
founder; and one with a disabled founder.
Challenge winners will be announced in mid-De-
cember. The move into the Old Town/Chinatown
space is slated for early January.
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