June 8, 2016
Page 3
INSIDE
The
Week in Review
This page
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L OCAL N EWS
pages 6-7
O PINION
page 9
M ETRO
Photo by C ervante P oPe /t he P ortland o bserver
Tamara Shadrin helps Bodhi, a 5-year-old kindergartner at Beech Elementary get his inger pricked
for a blood test to evaluate if he has been exposed to lead. The free evaluation took place in conjunc-
tion with the Multnomah County Health Department at 5329 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Alarm Grows Over Toxins
by C ervante P oPe
t he P ortland o bserver
Portland parents and citizens
have found themselves on high
alert as discoveries of toxins in
the air and the water are increas-
ing.
It began earlier this year when
the public was informed of high
concentrations of cadmium,
chromium, arsenic and other
carcinogenic metals in the atmo-
sphere around glass manufactur-
ing plants in southeast and north
Portland.
Next, parents were left in a
panic at the discovery of lead in
Portland Public Schools, prompt-
ing the district to apologize
for delays in shutting off water
sources impacted by lead in fau-
cets. Over the past few days, the
school district also reported that
it had discovered Radon in some
classrooms, and Portland Parks
and Recreation found that it too
failed to shut off faucets contam-
inated by lead, possibly for years
at the Multnomah Arts Center
in southwest Portland. The arts
center serves children and is a
meal site for seniors.
Multnomah County Health
Department oficials are re-
C ontinued on P age 5
Police Panel Departure Explained
Arts &
pages
8-14
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
page 14
page 15
by C ervante P oPe
t he P ortland o bserver
Kathleen Saadat, a long time
and esteemed Portland racial jus-
tice activist serving as the chair of
the Portland Police reform moni-
toring Community Oversight Ad-
visory Board has indicated that
discord surrounding police reform
issues did not inluence her deci-
sion to retire.
Saadat recently announced that
she would be resigning from her
position after taking part in the
panel for only a year, but told the
Portland Observer that the depar-
ture was only because she’s ready
to slow down. She plans to contin-
ue her writing and painting while
Kathleen Saadat
staying connected to the commu-
nity, but won’t be obligated to a
working position.
“I’m 75 years old. I came out
of retirement to take the position,
and I committed for a year and
now I’m going back into retire-
ment,” she said. “I don’t know
why it’s hard for people to believe
that I just want to retire and relax.
It’s wearing me down, and my
health matters.”
Saadat replaced former Oregon
Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz after
he stepped down in April of last
year. She said the police oversight
board has on-going issues that do
need to be addressed, but not any-
thing bad enough to cause her to
leave.
Maintaining a good sense of
humor on the situation, she said,
“To quote Thurgood Marshall
about his retirement-‘Hell, I’m
old!’”