May 10, 2017
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
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O PINION
M ETRO
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Photo by Z aChary S enn /t he P ortland o bServer
Reo’s Ribs is boarded up Monday after an overnight fire gutted the landmark building housing the
popular restaurant at Northeast 42nd and Sandy Boulevard.
Reo’s Up in Flames
Owner thinks
fire was racially
motivated
Z aChary S enn
t he P ortland o bServer
Investigators are trying to de-
termine what caused the popular
barbecue restaurant Reo’s Ribs
to catch fire early Monday, de-
by
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
stroying a landmark building and
gutting a local African-American
business. The eatery, which is
owned and operated by restaura-
teur Reo Varnado and his business
partner Myra Girod, has been at its
present Northeast 42nd and Sandy
Boulevard location since October
2015.
Portland Fire and Rescue is
looking into reports that people
were seen fleeing the scene of
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F OOD
C ontinued on P age 13
Superintendent Pick Withdraws
pages 8-10
Sole finalist and
board part ways
Z aChary S enn
t he P ortland o bServer
Donyall Dickey, the black ed-
ucator and school administrator
from Atlanta recently named the
sole finalist to fill the position of
superintendent of Portland Public
Schools, has withdrawn his candi-
dacy for the job.
The district issued a statement
last week calling the development
a mutual decision. It came just
after the school board reviewed
a final report on Dickey’s back-
ground and application.
The responsibilities of the su-
perintendent’s selection process
will now fall on a new school
by
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
the fire after its ignition during
the predawn hours. Varnado, in
a 30-minute Facebook Live vid-
eo posted on Monday morning,
speculated that the attack on his
restaurant could have been racial-
ly motivated.
Varnado, who was in Los Ange-
les when the fire occurred, told the
Portland Observer that he is ex-
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Donyall Dickey
board that will be constituted after
a vote-by-mail May 16 election in
which three new board members
will be elected with terms starting
this summer.
Jamila Singleton Munson, a
candidate for the seat represent-
ing Zone 4 in north and northeast
Portland, and the only black can-
didate seeking a position on the
seven member board, faults the
lack of cohesion on the PPS board
and says correcting the dysfunc-
tion is more important now than
ever.
Munson points out that se-
lecting a new superintendent and
navigating budget shortfalls will
require the newly-elected board’s
full and immediate attention once
they assume office.
“It’s a challenge that the new
board is going to have to face
head-on,” Munson told the Port-
land Observer. “It speaks to how
important it’s going to be for the
school board to be really collabo-
rative.”
C ontinued on P age 14