WWW . THESKANNER . COM
J ANuARY 19, 2011
P ORTLAND & S EATTLE
V OLuME XXXIII, N O .13
25
CENTS
i nSiDe
Seattle Peace Awards
page 2
Mental Health
page 3
BOOKS: ‘12 Angry Men’
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Tacoma
MLK
Bomb
page 4
King BrEaKfast
FBI: Device could
have caused
‘multiple casualties’
by nicholas k. Geranios
of The Associated Press
See bomb on page 7
inDex
News ................2,3,6,7
Opinion .....................3
Books.........................4
A & E .........................5
Bids/Classifieds .......6,7
pHoto bY Julie keefe
T
he FBI offered a reward Tuesday for
information about a potentially lethal
bomb found in a backpack along the
downtown route of the Martin Luther King
Jr. Day paradein Tacoma.
The discovery before Monday’s parade
for the slain civil rights leader raised the
possibility of a racial motive in a region that
has been home to the white supremacist
Aryan Nations.
“The confluence of the holiday, the march
and the device is inescapable,” said Frank
Harrill, special agent in charge of the
Spokane FBI office. “But we are not at the
point where we can draw any particular
motive.”
He called the planting of the bomb an act
of domestic terrorism that was clearly
designed to advance a political or social
agenda.
The suspicious backpack was spotted by
three city employees about an hour before
the parade was to start, Harrill said. They
looked inside, saw wires and immediately
alerted law enforcement.
The parade route was changed to avoid
the device. A bomb disposal unit disabled it
without incident, he said.
Harrill declined to release details of the
device, other than to call it a functional
bomb that could have caused multiple casu-
alties.
“The potential for injury and death were
clearly present,” Harrill said.
The FBI received no warnings in advance
and did not have a suspect, Harrill said. No
one has claimed credit for planting the
bomb.
The agency decided to appeal to the pub-
lic for information and offered the $20,000
reward for information leading to an arrest
and conviction.
“Subject should be considered armed and
dangerous,” the agency said in its
The Skanner News Group 25th Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast, ,held Monday, Jan. 17, drew more than 1,000
participants, including Spanish businessmen visiting Portland to build a sustainable plant. From left, Portland Housing
Authority Board Chair Lee Moore, Jorge Tarazona and Miguel Figuero of the Tarazona Corporation, Portland City
Commissioner Nick Fish, and Tarazona Vice President for Operations Wayne Branch. Tarazona manufactures a
chemical that reduces polluting emissions in diesel fuel. A complete photo chronicle of the event will appear in next
week’s issue of The Skanner News. For photos of scholarship winners at the King event, see page 5.
Do You Qualify for a Tax Refund?
Free Advice Available on ‘Super Saturday’ Bank Event Feb. 5
F
ree tax help is available
Jan. 22 through April 16
by local group CASH
Oregon, in cooperation with the
American Association
of
Retired Persons.
The two groups are especially
focusing on helping taxpayers
benefit from the Earned Income
Tax Credit, or EITC.
On Saturday, Feb. 5, from 9
a.m. – 4 p.m., KeyBank and
CASH Oregon are offering
“Super Refund Saturday” — a
free tax preparation event inside
Lloyd Center Mall, Suite 2010.
The EITC is a federal income
tax credit that returns money to
low- to moderate-income
households. Unfortunately, tax-
payer advocates say, up to 25
percent of eligible households
miss out on EITC benefits they
are entitled to receive each year,
largely because they are
unaware of the law.
If you qualify for the EITC for
tax year 2010, you may be eligi-
ble for anywhere between $457
and $5,666. The tax credit is
calculated according to the
number of qualifying children
you have, compared to your
“earned income.”
“Specifically, that means, at
the low end, single taxpayers
making less than $13,460 with
no qualifying children could get
$457,” says Rob Justus, execu-
tive
director
of
CASH
Oregon. “Different ranges of
income and children would land
you somewhere in the middle,”
he says.
At the high end, married tax-
payers filing jointly, making
less than $48,362 with three or
more qualifying children could
receive $5,666.
Your child is a “qualifying
child” if he or she meets four
tests, which are based on: their
relationship to you; their age;
where they live; and if they are
filing a joint return or not.
Justus says a tax preparer can
help you understand the
specifics of each of these
requirements to determine if
your child is considered a “qual-
ifying child.”
“The good news is that, in
many communities, you can
See taxeS on page 7
Black Pioneers Talk About Preservation
‘Sustaining Oregon’s African American History’ Conference Feb. 14
A
frican Americans have a long and
storied history in Oregon, overcom-
ing daunting challenges as a minori-
ty population in a state that started off by
declaring itself ‘Whites-Only.’ Preserving
and communicating that history is the topic
of a conference to be held Feb. 14 at the
Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE
Grand Ave., Portland.
“Sustaining Oregon’s African American
History and Legacy” has been sponsored by
the Oregon African American Museum,
Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers, William
Hart of Carleton-Hart Architecture and the
Bosco-Milligan Foundation/Architectural
Heritage Center.
Conference participants will learn how
preserving Oregon’s African American his-
tory and legacy sustains our community,
encourages diverse perspectives and reveals
little-known African American contribu-
tions to the State of Oregon. And they’ll find
out more about the new Oregon African
American Museum.
Local and national leaders dedicated to
collecting, preserving, interpreting and
exhibiting material evidence of the African
American experience will speak at the con-
See pioneerS on page 6