June 12, 2019
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
page 2
pages 5-7
Madison High School graduate Taj Ali (left) is congratulated for becoming the Valedictorian of his
Class of 2019, the highest-scoring senior academically, from long time educator and mentor Michael
“Chappie” Grice.
Highest Academic Honor
Senior makes
history as
Valedictorian
M ETRO
C ALENDAR
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
Madison High School Senior
Taj Ali is an incredible human.
The graduate has been named
Valedictorian of his class of 2019
becoming one of the few male
African-Americans to achieve the
highest academic honor in this
history of Portland Public Schools
and in the annals of Oregon high
schools.
Ali’s hard work and consecu-
tive years of dedication also has
earned him several scholarships
and other academic honors, in-
cluding an award for exemplifying
the value of equity at the northeast
Portland school. Valedictorian is a
recognition accorded to the high-
est performing senior in each high
school class.
He is known for his quiet and
affable personality, a humble de-
meanor and fierce pursuit of ex-
cellence, all of which have earned
him the admiration of his broth-
ers, his peers and the entire staff
at school.
The eldest of three brothers, Ali
has interests in engineering, pho-
tography, law, social justice and
environmental studies.
When asked his secret, he
calmly says it was the support of
his family, who never pressured
him, and the “joy of the results of
consistent effort to be the best.”
His mother Amina Ali, a re-
tired and decorated teacher from
the David Douglas School Dis-
trict, says, “Whether Taj becomes
a great civil engineer, photogra-
pher, pilot or attorney he will be
great, no doubt about it.”
Ali received offers to enroll
at colleges as far away as Clem-
son, Penn State, the University
of Massachusetts and others, but
settled on the Clark Honors Col-
lege at the University of Oregon
in Eugene, where he plans to at-
tend next fall.
page 6
Police Reform Panel Falls Short
page 7
pages 9-10
pages 10
Feedback comes
from judge and
community
A federal judge has held off on
giving his approval of a new com-
munity group charged with over-
seeing police reforms.
U.S. District Judge Michael H.
Simon said of Portland’s Commit-
tee on Community-Engaged Polic-
ing that he thinks it’s going in the
right direction, but that “I’m not
ready to conclude it’s adequate…
until I see a record of positive per-
formance.
Though he said the group has
shown “tremendous promise”
since it began monthly meetings in
November, more assurance that the
committee is effective is needed,
Rev. T. Allen Bethel
especially since its predecessor fell
apart during inner tumult and lack
of city support and then the gap
went unfilled for more than a year.
The judge’s comments came last
week after hearing almost six hours
of testimony about the 2014 settle-
ment between the city and the U.S.
Justice Department over police
mistreatment of people with men-
tal illness, including from commu-
nity activists who urged the judge
to withhold making any judgments
yet about the new committee.
Rev. T. Allen Bethel from the
Albina Ministerial Alliance’s Coa-
lition for Justice and Police Reform
said the 13-member committee
hasn’t been the new, improved, and
better model that it was supposed
to be and lacks the essential charge
of community engagement.
Bethel added that its predeces-
sor—the Community Oversight
Advisory Board—often held con-
tentious meetings, but they were
publicly attended.
“We’re lacking that here,” he
said.