January 24, 2018
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
This page
Sponsored by:
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Recruiting Candidates
Color PAC executive hits the ground running
M ETRO
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
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by D ana l ynn b arbar
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Color PAC, a local organi-
zation dedicated to improving
equity in public policy by re-
cruiting, training, and support-
ing candidates of color for state
and local office, has expanded
its mission with the hire of
their first-ever state director.
Ana del Rocio, endorsed by
Color PAC during her success-
ful campaign last spring for
a seat on the David Douglas
School Board, started her duties
with the New Year and is tasked
with creating and cultivating a
plan to engage the broader com-
munity with the political orga-
nization’s mission.
She plans to visit different
parts of Oregon over the next
few weeks to meet with leaders
from diverse communities and
explore the possibilities and
opportunities for growth.
“I’m committed to Oregon,
and want to make sure it’s a
place where my family, and
families that look like mine,
can thrive,” she said. Del Ro-
cio is of Peruvian descent.
One of del Rocio’s main
goals is to reach more peo-
ple of color who are leaders
in their communities and arm
them with the information and
tools they need to offset any
notions of whether they have
“what it takes” to be an elected
official.
She hopes that her own story
as an elected official will in-
spire “regular” people like her
Ana del Rocio is the first state director for Color PAC, a local
organization recruiting candidates of color for public office to
improve equity in public policy.
to move past doubts and play a
role in shared governance.
Del Rocio finds that many
people in racial and ethnic mi-
norities feel that they cannot
hold public office for a variety
of reasons, a large one being
the historical lack of represen-
tation of people similar to them
holding these roles.
C ontinueD on p age 5
Sentenced for Strip Club Murder
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
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(AP) -- A woman who fatally
stabbed another woman at a Port-
land strip club was sentenced to
15 years in prison Monday.
Rinita Lowe, 25, pleaded
guilty to first-degree manslaugh-
ter and unlawful use of a weapon
in the 2016 murder of Shantina
Turner at the Club Skinn night-
club near Northeast 60th Avenue
and Prescott Street.
Authorities said Lowe had
been arguing with Turner at the
establishment when she pulled
the knife from her purse and Rinita Lowe
stabbed Turner three times in
neck.
Lowe’s defense attorney, Ja-
son Steen, said surveillance vid-
eo from the June 2016 incident
showed Turner choking Lowe
just before Lowe stabbed her.
Deputy District Attorney
Kevin Demer said the wom-
en had known each other since
childhood and had a history of
tension.
Lowe apologized to Turner’s
family at Monday’s court hear-
ing.