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
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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.