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April 21, 2021
Back to Hands On Learning
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terms online, and I tried to adapt
to online school, but I preferred
in-person classes.”
When spring term began this
past March 29, students were fi-
nally able to return to the class-
room for resumption of in-person
classes and training. This puts
them on course to complete their
state-mandated 540 hours of clini-
cal practice and graduate this fall.
Beach and her team even raised
$7,775 to help pay for a two-credit
“Skills Review” class for students
to take before going back into the
dental clinic to work on patients.
“We weren’t just going to
throw them into treating patients
without making sure that they
had reviewed and we’re ready,”
Beach explained. “The fact that
the community donated money so
that they would not have to pay
for those extra credits to get that
review class was a big boost to
our students.”
Meanwhile, a brand new group
of 18 part-time students that be-
gan their certificates taking on-
line classes during fall and winter
are now experiencing their first
in-person learning. The college
also offers its traditional full-
time Dental Assisting Program,
and currently has 41 students en-
rolled.
The dental assisting and hy-
giene students, as well as the col-
lege’s new dental clinic, operate
in a brand new space in down-
town Portland called the Vanport
Building, which also provides
healthcare services and commu-
nity resources in conjunction with
Portland State University, the city
of Portland and Oregon Health &
Science University.
The clinic is the cornerstone
to training for the dental students
and for those in the community
who want great dental care for a
low price. It offers care to com-
munity members who, by book-
ing appointments with the pro-
gram, help train dental hygiene
and assisting students.
Students provide free dental
exams, dental X-rays, cleanings,
small fillings and sealants, under
the supervision of licensed pro-
fessionals. The cost is no more
than $25 for a visit, and often less.
Appointments are three to four
hours long and work may require
multiple visits.
To make an appointment, call
971-722-4909 or email dental-
clinic@pcc.edu.
Direct Action March Breaks Windows
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Bank building at MLK and Kill-
ingsworth, the Popeye’s restaurant
at MLK and Ainsworth, the Nat-
ural Grocers store on MLK and
Alberta, the O’Reilly Auto Parts
store across the street, and at the
Blazers Boys and Girls Club, next
door to the North Police Precinct.
The so-called “direct-action”
protest followed the police kill-
ing Friday of Robert Douglas
Delgado, 46, a white man who
had reportedly been acting like a
cowboy and doing “quick-draws”
with what appeared to be a hand-
gun in Lents Park. The details of
the shooting were released by po-
lice for the first time on Monday.
Delgado’s gun turned out to be
a replica with an orange tip, which
is typically intended to distinguish
toy guns or BB guns from func-
tioning firearms.
The police said their investi-
gation into the park shooting was
hampered by a crowd of “fairly ag-
gressive people” who showed up at
the southeast Portland park. Then
that night, demonstrators broke
windows, burglarized businesses
and set fires downtown, including
the Oregon Historical Society and
a church, and police made four ar-
rests after declaring a riot.
Portland has been the scene of
regular protests, many involving
violent clashes between officers
and demonstrators, since the po-
lice killing of George Floyd in
Minneapolis in May. There were
demonstrations for more than 100
straight days last summer, and ear-
lier last week, a crowd set a fire
outside the city’s police union
headquarters on North Lombard
Street following recent fatal po-
lice shootings in Chicago and
Minneapolis.
Portland police on Monday is-
sued a timeline of events as well
as dispatch audio around the time
of Delgado’s shooting. The first
officer arrived at 9:36 a.m. with
others arriving shortly after, and
within about four minutes officers
reported Delgado had been shot
and was down.
Police haven’t said what hap-
pened before he was shot. Del-
gado was shot by officer Zachary
DeLong from about 90 feet away,
police said, while two officers
fired a 40mm device that shoots
non-lethal projectiles.
It wasn’t clear why DeLong
fired his rifle as others were using
less-lethal options. According to
dispatch radio traffic, DeLong had
reported that Delgado was “very
noncompliant” and had been mak-
ing obscene gestures toward offi-
cers.
“I think the gun’s in his back
pocket,” DeLong radioed to dis-
patch at one point.
An ambulance was called and
by 9:48 a.m., officers were per-
forming CPR on Delgado, who
died of a single gunshot wound,
police said.
DeLong is on paid administra-
tive leave, authorities said.
--Associated Press contributed
to this story.