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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2023)
March 8, 2023 Page 3 INSIDE L ocaL N ews The Signage Unveiling s ports page 5 Arts & page 7-8 ENTERTAINMENT c Lassified /B ids pages 9 - 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 PO QR code Publisher: Mark Washington, Sr. Editor: Shawntell Washington Office Mngr/Clasfds : Lucinda Baldwin Admin Coord : Quayuana Washington Creative Director: Kenya Anderson Advertising Mngr: Tony 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 Subscribe ! 503-288-0033 Fill Out & Send To: Attn: Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208 $45.00 for 3 months • $80.00 for 6 mo. • $125.00 for 1 year (please include check with this subscription form) Name: Telephone: Address: or email subscriptions@portlandobserver.com In April 2021, the Retiree Committee of the Oregon Alli- ance of Black School Educators (ORABSE) made the request for the PPS Board of Educa- tion to change the name of the Blanchard Education Service Center (BESC) to Dr. Matthew Prophet Jr. Service Center in commemoration of the lega- cy of service to Oregon by Dr. Matthew Prophet Jr. He was first Black, and longest serving, Su- perintendent of Portland Public Schools, the largest school dis- trict in Oregon. The Retiree group, led by Dr. Velma Johnson, reached out to numerous individuals who worked with Dr. Prophet to help tell the story of his contribu- tions. A clear theme was evident throughout: Dr. Prophet believed that “All children can learn.” Bet- ter yet, he placed the right people, capital, and financial resources in the right places to ensure that everything needed was available. No excuses. Just success! Edu- cator morale improved. Families had greater trust in their schools, and children learned! Director Michelle Depass put ORABSE on the agenda to pres- Dr. Matthew Prophet Jr., first Black Superintendent of PPS from 1982 to 1992. ent September 20, 2022. Kevin of the presentation. The presen- Bacon, the ORABSE President, tation, a “village vision” led the Lurlene Shamsud-Din, Program PPS Board of Education to an un- Manager, and others includ- expected move. Without reserva- ing former Board of Education tion, the Board voted immediate- members, gave testimony as to ly and unanimously to change the why BESC should be renamed in name to the Dr. Matthew Prophet honor of Dr. Prophet. Dr. Harriet Jr. Service Center. Adair presented the formal re- The new signs of the ser- quest. Ken Berry, of World Arts vice center will be unvieled Foundation Inc, produced a short Saturday, March 11, 2023 at video of community leaders de- noon, located at 501 N Dixon tailing Dr. Prophet's impact on St, Portland, OR 97227, USA. their personal and professional ORABSE invites all to join in to lives which was shown at the end celebrate the unvieling. Walmart Will Close Portland Stores Nearly 600 workers to be laid off Walmart is closing ten of its stores across the country this month. It is official the last two stores operating within the Port- land city limits will be includ- ed. The locations, at 1123 North Hayden Meadows Drive and at 4200 Southeast 82nd Avenue at the Eastport Plaza, will both close on March 24. Walmart did announce they will help the af- fected employees transfer to oth- er locations in the area. Walmart said they are closing the stores because they were not meeting financial expectations. They also acknowledged that a "consider many factors, includ- ing current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when mak- ing these difficult decisions." From January 2022- January 2023 Portland Police showed over 27,100 reports of theft in the city. That averages over 2,000 incidences a month. "Theft is The Walmart logo is displayed on a store in Springfield, Ill., May 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File) an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in December on CNBC. He added that "prices will be higher and/ or stores will close" if authorities don’t crack down on prosecuting shoplifting crimes. Portland police have been cracking down on retail shoplifters in recent months, with one sting in December seeing 64 arrests, an- other in February leading to 40 ar- rests. “For a long time we kind of let everybody get away with it, we just didn’t have the resources to actually touch on it,” Jordan Zaitz, a member of Portland Police’s Neighborhood Response Team, told KPTV. “Now it’s good to ac- tually be able to arrest people and hold them accountable and hope- fully get them the help they need.” In one of Walmart's recent earn- ings call, Walmart CFO, John Da- vid Rainey, said the company low- ered its outlook for the year ahead due to consumers having fewer funds on hand and interest rate raises from the Federal Reserve. Walmart still operates several stores outside the city itself, in what is considered the metro area that includes the suburbs.
