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August 4, 2021 Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S Tubman School Could Move for I-5 The Week in Review page 2 P hoto by M ark W ashington /P ortland o bserver Publisher Portland Public Schools is getting support from Gov. Kate Brown to move Harriet Tubman Middle school to another location because of air pollution impacts. School district and governor eye solution M ETRO page 6 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT page 7 page 9 O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS including the 6 to 9 acres of land needed for the new site which the district would want to remain in the Albina community, Brim Ed- wards said. The school district resolution also gives support to the Albi- na Vision Trust and the Black community to reclaim the Albi- na community as a center of Af- rican American life in Portland in a push similar to the district’s desire for equitable access to pub- lic education, a key component of the civil rights movement and the fight for racial justice. Brim-Edwards said she is en- couraged that the I-5 project could be a “win, win, win” for the dis- trict and the African American community because ODOT has recently concluded it might be able to add caps to the freeway at the Rose Quarter to support Albi- na Visions plans for new housing and commercial activity for the area, and the project could also move forward with the jobs prom- ised to minority contractors and workers from its construction, a major desire for the community, Brim-Edwards said. Unpaid Renters Brace for Evictions 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 personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, 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 Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association b y M iChael l eighton t he P ortland o bserver Moving Harriet Tubman Mid- dle School to another location be- cause of air pollution impacts has gained traction with new demands from the Portland School Board and an endorsement of the idea from Gov. Kate Brown. The school which has histor- ically served Portland’s African American community from its perch above I-5 had $10 million in heating and cooling equipment upgrades to mitigate toxins from air pollution a few years earlier as it established the only middle school serving the Black commu- nity in Albina, but now faces add- ed environmental risks with plans to expand the highway at the Rose Quarter. Former School Board Chair Julia Brim-Edwards updated the panel last week on history of the site and presented a district reso- lution demanding that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) compensate the district for past negative impacts for building a freeway alongside the school initially and to pay for the relocation of Harriet Tubman if it moves forward with plans for wid- ening the freeway. The current board then passed the resolution unanimously, led by current Chair Michelle DePass, a lifelong member of Portland’s Af- rican American community, and two new members of the Black community elected last May. Brim-Edwards told the Portland Observer that she has spoken with Gov. Brown about the district’s concerns and the governor indicat- ed she supports moving the school. A spokesman for the governor recently told the Willamette Week that Brown finds the air quality and health impacts to students at Harriet Tubman to be very con- cerning and she supports the state paying for moving the school re- gardless of what form the Rose Quarter project takes. The cost to move the school is estimated at $84 million, not PO QR code Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin Admin.Coord.: Quayuana Washington C reative d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt G raPhiC d esiGn : Emma Szeimies o ffiCe a sst /s ales : Shawntell Washington P ublisher : e ditor : 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 Oregon had a housing crisis before the coronavirus pandemic, and since then it has only been ex- acerbated. It’s hard to say exactly how much homelessness will in- crease in Oregon with evictions pending on both the federal and local levels. However, one indication of the scope of the problem is census data in July showing 38% of Oregon tenants who responded to a sur- vey — or more than 35,000 renters — said that it was “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that they would be evicted from their home. A federal freeze on most evic- tions was scheduled to expire Sat- urday, but the Biden administration extended the date Tuesday by two months. The original moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion in September, was successful- ly challenged in court by landlords arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access nearly $47 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses. Advocates for tenants said the distribution of the money had been slow and that more time was needed to distribute it and repay landlords. Oregon is one of several states that enacted a moratorium last year halting eviction proceedings for residents who have experi- enced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. How- ever, the measure expired in June. As a result, Oergon lawmakers passed a “Safe Harbor” amend- ment to pause eviction for tenants who are unable to pay July or Au- gust rent if they provide proof to their landlord that they have ap- plied for rental assistance. In addition, commissioners in Multnomah County voted earlier this month to extend the “Safe Har- bor” amendment through the end of September. Officials say an addi- tional month will give service pro- viders more time to process and dis- tribute funds to struggling tenants. Also, earlier this year Oregon lawmakers voted to extend the grace period for past-due rent during the moratorium, allow- ing tenants to have until Feb. 28, 2022, to pay back rent.