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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2015)
Page 2 December 23, 2015 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be re- turned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PER- MISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association Mark Washington, Sr. e ditor : Michael Leighton Hunger Carries into New Year Impact worsened by low wages, high costs C hris t homas One in five Oregonians faces a New Year in which he or she will rely on food from a food pantry or soup kitchen, accord- ing to a new survey of people who receive food assistance. The Oregon Food Bank survey shows that 36 percent of food recipients said they visit their local food pantry regularly - at least 12 times a year, up 5 percentage points from just a few years ago. While the survey did find that more peo- ple are working than in the previous years, they’re just not making enough money to support their families, according to Su- sannah Morgan, Oregon Food Bank chief executive. by P ublisher : e xecutive d irector : Rakeem Washington A dvertising M AnAger : Leonard Latin Office Manager/Classifieds: Lucinda Baldwin c reAtive d irector : Paul Neufeldt r ePorter /P hotogrAPher : Olivia Olivia CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer , PO Box 3137 , Portland, OR 97208 Miss Universe Gaffe The 2015 Miss Universe contest suffered a very public error Sunday night when the wrong contestant was momentarily crowned during a live broadcast. Colombia con- testant Ariadna Gutierrez Areva- lo was declared the winner and accepting congratulations when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize for not cor- rectly reading the winning card, which said that contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was this year’s winner and Miss Colombia was actually the first runner-up. The folks who are accessing food assis- tance who are also actively seeking work as unemployed workers has fallen from 23 per- cent in 2012 to 16 percent today, she said. Another trend this year compared to pre- vious years is that more people age 65 and older are food-bank clients. One-third of those surveyed said food bank assistance has made the difference in being able to pay a utility bill. Almost as many (29 per- cent) cited high housing costs as a factor in their inability to make ends meet. Morgan attended the recent Oregon Leadership Summit and cited one speak- er’s comment that Oregon is a “job-cre- ation machine.” “This gives me real hope for the future, The Week in Review Motorcycle Club Shootout One man was killed and two people were injured after a shootout at a north Portland motorcycle clubhouse early Saturday, ac- cording to authorities. Witnesses reported more than two dozen shots were heard during the gathering at the Dahuru Mo- torcycle Club on Kerby Avenue and Co- lumbia Boulevard. No arrested have been made and no suspects have been identified. High Winds Cut Power Notorious Bike Thief Busted Over 14,000 residents suffered power out- ages at some point on Monday when win- ter gusts cut through the city. The Portland International Airport clocked winds over 55 mph around 2 p.m., and PGE crews and local police spent most of the day responding to numerous reports of fallen trees cutting pow- er lines. The MAX blue line stopped running while respondents worked to remove a down tree from the line’s overhead wires. Leroy Parsons Jr., a man convicted of more than 25 felonies and misdemeanors, rang- ing from identity theft, meth possession, attempted robbery and theft, was sentenced to 30 months in jail Monday after he was caught in a bike theft sting set up the inves- tigative news show Inside Edition. Parsons has long been a suspect in dozens of bike thefts in Portland. in thinking that we have the possibility of creating those jobs, those family-wage jobs,” she said. “But he also said there has not been much movement on poverty.” Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they worry “often” or “always” about where their next meal is coming from. Morgan said a combination of low earn- ings and high debt lands people who never thought they’d be in this situation at their local food pantry. The source of the debt, for 39 percent of those surveyed, was med- ical bills. The survey is online at oregonfoodbank. org. Chris Thomas is a reporter with Oregon News Service. No Indictment in Sandra Bland Case A Texas grand jury failed to find anyone cul- pable for the death of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was reportedly found hanged by a garbage bag in a jail cell last July. The story made headlines when footage of Bland’s arrest for failing to signal a lane change showed the police officer screaming “I will light you up!” as he threatened the woman with a taser. Her last words heard from the dash cam video were “You just slammed my head into the ground.” Oregon Zoo Elephant Dies One of the America’s oldest and largest bull elephants, a 45-year- old Asian elephant named Tusko, was euthanized Tuesday after veterinarians concluded he was in too much pain from a decades-old leg in- jury. Tusko had developed severe swelling that had severely impaired his movement. Tusko came to the Oregon Zoo in 2005 and had spent time working in a circus, having been born in Thailand in 1971.
