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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2011)
local news asthma continued from page 1 “Challenging People to Shape a better Future Now” the Northwest last weekend for Seattle’s Green Festival. “It doesn’t matter what color you are, Black or white, or brown or yellow — and mainly those in urban communities, people don’t have the information or aren’t quite connecting the dots.” A 2009 report in USA Today the newspaper drafted researchers and scientists at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and the University of Maryland in College Park to dig into how deeply children across the country have been exposed to industrial pollution at their schools. The report also named the nearby corpora- tions specifically responsible for the air pollu- tion emissions – as a separate factor from the car exhaust generated from the nearby high- ways, such as the Interstate 5 corridor. The point of the effort, USA Today says, is b eRNie F OSteR Founder/Publisher b Obbie d ORe F OSteR executive editor t ed b aNKS advertising Manager J eRRY F OSteR account executive L iSa L OviNg news editor b RiaN S timSON reporter d avid K idd graphic Designer m ONiCa J. F OSteR Seattle office Coordinator It doesn’t matter what color you are, Black or white, or brown or yellow — people don’t have the info or aren’t quite connecting the dots J uLie K eeFe S uSaN F Ried Photographers that children are more sensitive to environ- mental toxins – especially those that are linked to asthma, cancer and other deadly diseases. The study showed Pacific Northwest schools – particularly in Pendleton, North Portland and The Skanner Newspaper, estab shed n October 975, s a week y pub ca- t on, pub shed each Wednesday by IMM Pub cat ons Inc , 4 5 N K ngswo th St , P O Box 5455, Po t and, OR 97228 Te ephone (503) 285-5555 E-ma : info@theskanner.com Wor d W de Web s te: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 the Skanner s a member of the Nat ona Newspaper Pub shers Assoc at on and West Coast B ack Pub - shers Assoc at on A photos subm tted become the property of the Skanner We are not re - spon s b e for ost or damaged photos e ther so c ted or unso c ted Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Riders continued from page 1 locales of the civil rights move- ment, including Jackson’s Trailways Bus Station, where many Freedom Riders were arrested, and at Parchman peniten- tiary, where many were incarcer- ated. Seminars during the week will cover the Freedom Riders and their impact on the civil rights movement, with participants talk- ing about their experiences. © 2010 the Skanner A R GH S R S RV D R PRODUC ON N WHO OR N PAR W HOU P RM SS ON PROH B D c Northwest Portland in Oregon and in Monroe and Tacoma, Washington – have air pollution rates ranking in the worst one percent in the nation. Most remarkably for Portland residents, the USA Today report showed most schools in high-poverty North Portland – as well as most schools in affluent Northwest Portland — are in the worst percentiles for industrial air pol- lution rates. The report shocked area parents including Mary Peveto, whose daughters go to Harriet Tubman Girls Leadership Academy. “It created this alarming picture about how we had – because there are no regulations around school sitings on contaminated land or really anything that has to do with environ- mental health – that we had a picture of schools being sited in pretty toxic areas,” she said. In response to the USA Today report on pol- luting industries near public schools, in which some of the numbers were crunched by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Political Economy Research Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to monitor the problem by choosing 63 schools nationwide and reporting back to their com- munities. In Oregon those bellwether schools are Harriet Tubman Middle School (ranked in the 9th worst percentile in the USA Today study) and Toledo Elementary on the central Oregon coast (not included in the USA Today analysis but the Toledo Middle School ranked in the worst 9th percentile); in Washington the two schools are St. Helens Elementary in Longview (worst 5th percentile) and Concord Elementary in Seattle (worst 31st percentile). In a Portland-area report back in late April, EPA officials said air quality at the Oregon schools was not bad enough to cause long-term health problems, but “slightly elevated” cad- mium levels detected by the EPA at Tubman will be monitored. (The Washington state reports are not com- pletely finished, according to the EPA’s web- site.) Peveto doesn’t buy it. “So they have a huge air pollution problem, they’ve modeled an amazing amount of data about our air pollution problems,” she says. “I get the proportionality of industry versus the bigger transportation issues that we have with this huge corridor of freeways and the back of Harriet Tubman is directly above I-5, right where it flows into the Rose Quarter, 131,000 vehicles a day pass that. “And the EPA is saying, basically, there’s no long term problem?” o m m u n Wright said everyone associated with the event is pleased with the reception the Freedom Riders are receiving. “We knew from the reception of people it was going to be big,’’ she said. ``But I don’t think we real- ized the magnitude.’’ Wright said it was the Freedom Riders who spurred the civil rights movement and the ensuring I t y c changes that allowed her become the first black female elected offi- cial in the state. She won the office of Madison County election commissioner in 1968 and had the privilege of reg- istering her father, a successful plumber-electrician, to vote. “The Freedom Riders got the attention of President Kennedy,’’ she said. a l e n d At that point the federal govern- ment became involved in bringing change to the South. In the 1960s, the Freedom Riders were greeted in Jackson with abuse and incarceration. Now, 50 years later, many of them are back in town. And, says Flonzie Brown- Wright, she’s glad to be with them this time. a r S eattle M ay 2011 B ulletIn B oard If you have an event you want to share with the community, email it two weeks in advance to The Skanner at info@theskanner.com Saturday may 28 memoRial Day weekeND eVeNt at FloRal hills CemeteRy: at 10 a.m. Floral hills Cemetery will host a memorial Day Flag ceremony featuring guest speakers and the Vietnam Veterans of america, sno-king Chapter 423 Color guard. Page 2 The Seattle Skanner may 25, 2011 409 Filbert Rd in lynnwood. Sunday – tuesday may 29 -31 kitsaP haRBoR FestiVal! more than 300 visiting boaters from the seattle area will take part in this festival. tall ship tours, family oriented activities and more. this event is free and open to all. Port of Bremerton marina, 245 Fourth st. Bremerton. this is an all day event sunday thru tuesday. monday may 30 84th aNNual memoRial Day seRViCe! Please join us as we honor america’s fallen and salute the flags on our “avenue of Colors” 1:30 – 3 p.m. Veterans memorial; Cemetery at evergreen- washelli memorial Park, 111 aurora ave. N. tuesday may 31 aFRiCaN PeRsPeCtiVe oN the eNViRoNmeNt thRough musiC: Pappy’s Fella seck, master african Drummer and story teller, will speak with us about various african perspectives as they relate to our human relationship to the earth. 4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Camp long elC, 5200 35th ave. sw Friday June 3 the seattle PuBliC liBRaRy PReseNts a FRee sCReeNiNg oF seNteNCeD home. teens are invited to a free screening of the documentary film sentenced home from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Rainer Vista Neighborhood house, 4410 29th ave. s. Sunday June 5 komeN Puget souND health eXPo: the komen Puget sound health expo sets the stage for an exciting Race for the Cure weekend. Free samples, showcase of new running and sports apparel. Free and open to the public. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. seattle Center, 305 harrison st.
