October 24, 2018
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INSIDE
The
Week in Review
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photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Cameron Keaton, now a junior at Westview High School, recalls the silence and shock he and other
players had when his former freshman football coach at Sunset High School used the n-word in a
children’s counting game to make a point. According to Principal John Huelskamp, the coach now
understands that using the word was not appropriate even if under the context that he was trying to
convey a story about progress against racism.
pages 8-11
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Lessons Learned
Words matter for player, parent and coach
M iChael l eighton
t he p ortlanD o bserver
When a racist word was insert-
ed into a children’s counting game
by the adult coach mentoring his
son, the Sunset High School par-
ent wanted the school principal
to do something about it. Now al-
most a year and a half after bring-
ing the incident to the attention of
school staff, the parent is getting
an apology and a commitment that
it won’t happen again.
by
M ETRO
page 9
Glenn Keaton said his son,
Cameron Keaton, was in the 9th
grade at Sunset High School when
volunteer coach Terry Newsom,
during study hall and before a
room full of Freshman football
players, gave an example of a
rhyme used to select a person in
games such as tag, “Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe...”
But instead of using some com-
mon and non-offensive variations
of the game, Newsom used a racist
version, believed to date back to
the Civil War and post Civil War
period where the second line of
the rhyme was turned to the offen-
sive “Catch a n------ by the toe.”
From the accounts by his son
and other players, the coach told
his students that using the n-word
in the rhyme was something that
he and his family did while grow-
ing up, apparently to make a point
C ontinueD on p age 5
6,000 Sign Up for Low Income Fares
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
page 16
F OOD
pages 12-13
pages 14
For those experiencing poverty
in Portland, a simple expense like
transportation can mean having to
make the choice between getting
a bus pass and buying groceries.
Now with successful enrollment
in TriMet’s new reduced fares for
low income riders, savings of more
than $860 per year can be made on
day and monthly passes, an amount
that can be life-changing for some.
People earning up to double the
federal poverty level became eli-
gible for enrollment in TriMet’s
Honored Citizen fare program in
July, which discounts 50 percent
off the cost of an adult fare for a
single ride or day pass and 72 per-
cent off the cost of a month pass.
The $860 of savings per year
is equivalent to about two week’s
pay of a full-time minimum wage
worker.
For one college a student, a
reduced fair could mean freeing
up resources for things like food,
clothing or paying bills. But she
didn’t know such a program exist-
ed until recently.
“I think it’s a wonderful op-
portunity, especially due to the
amount of low income people that
use public transportation and can’t
afford it. It’s a nice savings,” Jale-
na, a Portland Community College
student who qualified through the
Oregon Health Plan, said.
So far, more than 6,000 Orego-
nians aged 18-64 who live on a low
income have signed up, according
to TriMet which can be done by
presenting proof of low income
through pay stubs or enrollment in
programs such as Oregon Health
Plan, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) and
several others.
The income documents, along
with valid ID, can be brought to
TriMet’s partnering organizations
in person, such as Centro Cultur-
al, IRCO, and WorkSource Ore-
gon to be screened for eligibility.
Approved riders can bring their
application receipt to the Trimet
Ticket Office at Pioneer Court-
house Square downtown to obtain
a personalized Hop FastPass Hon-
ored Citizen ID card.
Funding for the program was
made possible through a $12 mil-
lion investment by the Oregon
Legislature.
For more information about
how to apply for reduced fare, vis-
it trimet.org/lowincome.