August 24, 2016
INSIDE
The
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EDUCATIONCAREERS Special Edition
Week in Review
O PINION
This page
Sponsored by:
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pages 6-7
L OCAL N EWS
page 9
M ETRO
Police investigate a triple shooting in the parking lot at Exotica International Club for Men in April of
last year. (KATU photo)
Club Owner Sues City
Claims exotica
venue was shut
down unfairly
C ervante p ope
t he p ortland o bserver
Donna Thames, a former owner
of a strip club catering to the black
community, seeks to prove the
closing of her business was less
due to criminal activity and more
due to the color of her clientele.
A near 50-page lawsuit filed by
Thames in the U.S. District Court
on Aug. 12 details what she feels
by
pages
8-13
Arts &
has been a longstanding, systemic
attack against black-owned busi-
nesses by the city of Portland and
the Oregon Liquor Control Com-
mission, with her Exotica Interna-
tional Club being the most recent
victim.
Exotica closed in July 2015
pending regulatory pressure from
both city and state officials, who
felt a shooting in Exotica’s park-
ing lot that left three men wounded
made the location unsafe. Thames
feels differently, to the tune of the
$22 million she’s asking for in her
suit.
“The city of Portland, working
in partnership with state liquor au-
thorities, has a long and shameful
history of knowingly and inten-
tionally targeting black clubs with
all of their regulatory power in a
concerted effort to drive the clubs
out of business,” the complaint
reads.
The lawsuit also cites the Fon-
taine Bleau and Seeznin’s Bar as
previous victims of the “insur-
mountable obstacles to success
of black club owners catering to
black people and clubs offering
entertainment and playing music
C ontinued on p age 4
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
Noble Peace winner to share life experiences
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page 14
O BITUARY
C ALENDAR
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Malala Yousafzai, the Paki-
stani girl who won the 2014 No-
bel Peace Prize after speaking out
in support of education and sur-
viving being shot by the Taliban
while traveling home from school,
will make a rare appearance at
Theater of the Clouds at the Moda
Center on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
She will be addressing the au-
dience about her life experiences
and will take part in a question and
answer session.
In October 2012, the then
15-year-old Malala was shot while
travelling on a school bus with her
friends in her hometown of the
Swat Valley in northern Pakistan.
Queen Elizabeth hospital, and by
March 2013 she had made a re-
markable recovery and was well
enough to return to school.
Malala’s bravery and unwav-
ering dedication to her cause has
seen her honored throughout the
world. She was named one of ‘The
100 Most Influential People in the
World’ in 2013 by Time magazine.
She is also the author of the inter-
national bestseller “I am Malala,”
which has been published in over
27 countries.
Evening with Malala Yousafzai
Tickets can be purchased at
the
Rose Quarter Box Office, by
Following the attack, she was
calling
800-745-3000 or online at
flown to Birmingham, England to
www.rosequarter.com.
receive treatment at the specialist