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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2021)
January 27, 2021 The Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S Week in Review page 2 Wells Picked for Wilson Renaming District to name high school for civil rights icon M iChael l eighton P ortland o bserver e ditor Portland’s Wilson High School will be renamed Ida B. Wells-Bar- nett High School in honor of one of America’s most famous early civil rights leaders, a Black wom- an who fought for the right to vote, a person born into slavery in 1862 and who was freed by the Eman- cipation Proclamation during the Civil War. Superintendent of Portland Public Schools Guadalupe Guer- rero approved the proposal from the Wilson High School Renam- ing Committee, a large group composed of students, teachers, alumni and parents. The decision was shared last week in a letter to community members and was scheduled to be considered for final approval Tuesday evening Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born into slavery in 1862 and was freed during a regular school board during the Civil War. An investigative journalist, educator and leader in the civil rights movement, she was considered the most C ontinued on P age 10 famous Black woman of her time. by S PORTS page 6 Arts & page 7 ENTERTAINMENT Vaccine Timelines Change Governor opens COVID-19 shots to teachers M ETRO page 8 page 9 O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS pages 10 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or per- sonal usage without the written consent of the general man- ager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amal- gamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association PO QR code P ublisher : e ditor : Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin C reative d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt o ffiCe a sst /s ales : Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown is defending her deci- sion to reject federal guidelines and prioritize teach- ers for the COVID-19 vaccine before some elderly, stating that if all of Oregon’s seniors were vacci- nated first teachers would likely not be vaccinated before the school year and many students would not return to in-person learning. Officials from the Oregon Health Authority Fri- day presented a new vaccination timeline that delays the eligibility for seniors 65 to 69 years old to be vaccinated until March 7 and those 70 to 74 pushed back to Feb. 28. “I know there will still be some who disagree with this choice,” Brown said about prioritizing teachers. “I also know there are many Oregonians who are eager to get the vaccine. The harsh reality is we are managing a scarce resource right now. I wish we had more vaccines to give.” Following news that state’s would not receive as many vaccine doses as they had been told by the federal government, Oregon officials announced a change to the vaccine distribution — instead of vaccinating teachers and seniors at the same time, teachers started to be vaccinated on Monday. Ore- gonians 80 and older become eligible to receive the shots starting Feb. 8. The governor addressed the struggles students have faced with distance learning since the pandem- ic closed schools last March. “If schools remain remote the potential education loss could be substantial,” Brown said. “This is es- pecially true in mathematics, with students likely to lose five to nine months on learning by the end of this school year.” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown visits a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. (AP photo) “If we were to vaccinate every Oregon senior first, the unfortunate and harsh reality is that many of our educators would not get vaccinated this school year and Oregon kids would continue to suf- fer,” Brown said. “If we flip that, and prioritize the needs of Oregon kids, it puts a two week delay on beginning vaccinations for seniors who live inde- pendently.” C ontinued on P age 12
