www . thESkANNER . COm
F EBRUARy 23, 2011
P ORtlANd
V OlUmE XXXIII, N O . 18
25
CENtS
Inside:
Black
History
Edition
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Surprising
Prison
Report
Wired SucceSS
AP finds Washington
prison population is
Whiter, more violent
By nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
SPoKAne, wash. (AP) — Washington
state’s prison population has become Whiter
and older in the past decade, and more of
them are violent offenders, an Associated
Press review of Department of Corrections
records has found.
And while running the prison system eats
up 5 percent of the state budget, there
appear to be few places that funding can be
cut without resorting to releasing inmates
early, as some states have done.
“The main way to save money is to close
a facility and lay off staff,” said Tom
McBride, a spokesman for the Association
of Prosecuting Attorneys, whose members
are concerned the state is running out of
prison beds. “When you look at our prison
population, it’s hard to find anybody who
doesn’t deserve to be there.”
Indeed, reforms started in the 1980s have
dramatically changed the prison system’s
population. While Washington has a rela-
tively small prison population — about
17,000 for a state of 6.6 million people —
the percentage of inmates serving time for
violent crimes is greater than the national
average.
The idea of releasing some inmates early
to help reduce the projected $4.6 billion
deficit in the next two year state budget is
being discussed in Olympia, officials say,
although no bill has been introduced.
“We have taken no position on that,” said
John Lane, of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s policy
office.
At a legislative hearing on Wednesday,
Steve Aos of the Washington State Institute
for Public Policy estimated that cutting 60
days off the sentence of low and moderate
risk offenders could save the state $4.6 mil-
lion a year, with just a 15 percent probabili-
ty that crime would rise as a result.
The Corrections Department cannot
release inmates early without authorization
President Obama visited Portland’s Intel plant earlier this week to emphasize the importance of education and high
technology innovation in the United States.
Broadband’s Future as a Public Service
By Helen Silvis
of The Skanner News
Part two of a two-part
series.
lectricity,
gas,
water…and high-speed
Internet in your home:
each of these services meets a
basic need. And if you feel that
going online is not as impor-
tant as the other three, you
might want to reconsider.
“Frankly access to the
Internet is not a luxury any
more,” says state Rep. Lew
Frederick. “It’s a necessity –
maybe not quite as much as
water or power, but it’s a utili-
ty.”
E
Frederick once decided to
count the number of advertised
jobs that ask for resumes to be
sent by email. “Between 80
and 90 percent required an
emailed resume – and that was
six or seven years ago,” he
says. “In today’s world, if you
want to apply for a job you
will have to go online. It’s not
about heading out and knock-
ing on doors – that’s not the
way it works any more. And
this isn’t just about getting
jobs – you have to go online
for just about everything now.”
Anyone who has high speed
Internet access at home will
recognize this truth. Yes, we
go online for entertainment.
But we also use it to pay bills,
make appointments, take
classes, reserve library books,
find information and talk to
people near and far. More
importantly, because we use it
to buy, sell, market and recruit
all kinds of goods and servic-
es, the Internet drives our
economy –locally and nation-
ally.
Compare Internet, Cell
phone and Cable Prices in
your area.
Since 1999, city officials and
advocates, such as the
founders of the Portland Telco
project, have been looking for
a way to provide fast, reliable,
affordable Internet service to
everyone
in
the
city.
Significant progress was
made, only to be derailed by
funding problems and dis-
agreement over government’s
role.
In the meantime, decisions
made in Washington DC by
the Federal Communication
Commission – have changed
the playing field.
Mary Beth Henry, deputy
director of Portland’s office of
Cable Communications and
Franchise Management, said
the latest Broadband planning
effort will bring industry, gov-
ernment and citizens together
See Internet on page 3
See PrISon on page 3
InDeX
News ...........2,3,6,7,13
Opinion ..................4,5
Church ......................6
Books....................8,16
A & E ....................9-11
Food........................12
Bids/Classifieds ...14,15
Evelyn Crews, Community Activist, 63
PSU grad helped Black marching band crash Rose Festival Parade
E
velyn Marie Crews, born in
Multnomah County on June 14, 1947,
died of cancer of unknown origin on
Jan. 27, 2011.
Evelyn was the youngest child of the late
Sadie Belle and Hosea Crews who came to
Oregon from Alabama. Her older sister
Ursula and brother Charles preceded her in
death.
Evelyn graduated from Jefferson High
School and earned a B.S. Degree from
Portland State University. Over four
decades, Evelyn was an active participant in
various volunteer community organizations
including the Black United Front. She was a
member of the Shining Star of Unity #1379
and the Mahogany Red Hatters.
Evelyn could be found at marches, rallies
and other cultural events that focused on
Black people and what was right, just, and
fair. She was a long-time community
activist.
Evelyn worked a variety of jobs. Notably,
she directed two YMCA afterschool pro-
grams; counseled victims of domestic vio-
lence and youth; originated the Rider
Advocate Program coordinating a team that
delivered customer services on Tri-Met
See CrewS on page 3