Local News
Gladstone
returned.
“Here we have the city writing out
tickets for the barbecue, citing code
that doesn’t make any sense, and we
are fully licensed,” Antoine says.
“Meanwhile we have a psycho coming
over here and calling us ‘nigger this’
and ‘nigger-lover that’ and telling us
he’s going to kill us – and the police do
nothing,” Antoine said.
“We have spent so much time deal-
ing with this; it’s like a drain on our
time and our finances.
“And we keep
coming back to
— why?”
A sprawling,
rural suburb 12
miles south of
Portland, Glad-
stone’s public
struggles along
racial lines have
been
making
headlines for years.
Two years ago a Haitian preteen’s
family filed a federal Civil Rights law-
suit alleging extreme racial harassment
at Kraxberger Middle School in Glad-
stone.
Before that, the Asbury Auto Group,
which had owned Thomason Toyota of
Gladstone, was sued by four African
American employees who alleged
rampant racial harassment on the job.
The plaintiffs – Marcus Arnold, Car-
los Barfield, Jahaeel Hardy and Kent
Paul – were awarded about $2 million
each after a jury decided they had been
subjected to a hostile work environ-
ment that included jokes about using
the back door, racial epithets and other
racist remarks by managers and fellow
salespeople, according to a Skanner
News story that appeared in late 2008.
Richardson has kept a journal of
incidents, as well as a box of docu-
ments, photos, video and printed-out
emails outlining the strange story of a
tiny deli drawing extreme scrutiny to
its
Copies of the tickets
reviewed by The Skanner
News show the code
enforcement officer has the
address wrong
meat smoker – but little help staving
off a violent stalker who ultimately
slashed their tires and inflicted more
than $1,000 worth of damage to the
barbecue.
The Richardsons have documented
the repeated visits to their business by
the Health Department, Oregon Liquor
Control Commission, the fire mar-
shall, patrol officers and more. In
some cases, Richardson says, even the
inspectors have voiced support for
their operations, which makes the
repeated citations from Gladstone offi-
cials particularly troubling.
“If it happened since we put up the
barbecue, then I would understand,”
Antoine says. “But it was just all of a
sudden, out of nowhere, we have this
nice scene with lots of customers, and
great food, and – wham, they’re trying
to shut us down.”
Frustrated, Antoine says, he hand-
drew signboards reading ‘we shall
overcome,’ and marched up and down
the street outside the deli on Martin
Luther King day.
The tort claim details how their
efforts to mediate with the city over
the first ticket were rebuffed and their
installation of hardware to limit the
smoke emitted by the barbecue, in
October, was ignored.
In fact, copies of the tickets
reviewed by The Skanner News show
the code enforcement officer has the
address wrong; the alleged violations
technically have been issued to a ciga-
rette shop next door, which is heaped
with junk both in front and in back.
The Richardsons say they have
never received any written notices
mailed by the city regarding court
dates or hearings, which they assume
have been delivered to the cigarette
shop but not passed on by the owner.
Read the rest of this story online at
www.theskanner.com
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
continued from page 1
Tim Antoine, left, and his cousin Scott Richardson,
right, at the Arlington Mart in Gladstone
News
continued from page 1
aggressive.”
Ironically, Harris was hired on Martin
Luther King Day.
In a short amount of time, he became one
of the paper’s most popular writers for his
willingness to tackle controversial topics.
By his junior year, he was promoted to
Opinion Editor.
As he has ascended to the top of the
Emerald staff, Harris says he couldn’t have
picked a better time to be edi-
tor-in-chief.
He says the Emerald’s cov-
erage of the firing of former
UO President Richard Lariv-
iere was a testament to the
change in the culture of the
paper.
“When something big like
that happened, our newsroom
was right in the middle of
everyone else, throwing in new pieces of
information, seriously contributing to the
narrative,” says Harris.
He says a man who used to work at the
Harris also makes sure to credit the Emer-
ald’s publisher Ryan Frank for making him
more professional and teaching him the sub-
tleties of the industry.
The result has been overwhelmingly pos-
itive feedback since he took over as edi-
tor. Readers tell him the paper has improved
visually. The Emerald has also expanded
into live streaming and now tweets updates
throughout the day.
“Now we have good weeks as opposed to
good days,” says Harris. “Everyone’s work-
ing towards the point where they can say,
‘the Emerald made me professional.’ “
Although there is little diver-
sity on the Emerald staff, Harris
says he’s never experienced a
hostile work environment. If
anything, he says most of the
hostility comes from the com-
ment sections on the Emerald
website.
In response to an opinion
piece Harris did on racial profil-
ing, one reader who went by the
name of “tyree=troublemaker” said, “I sug-
gest growing up, tyree and quit trying to
bring everybody down with your editorial
pieces who you don’t agree with or happens
to tell you to quit talking out of turn.”
Throughout talking with Harris, it’s hard
not to notice that he stays attached to either
his keyboard or the mixer on his computer.
When he’s not pulling strings behind the
scenes at the Emerald, he’s constantly
working on music.
His background as a musician has also
contributed to the change in culture at the
paper. The Emerald is currently working on
a documentary on hip-hop culture in
Eugene.
Harris doesn’t think the paper would pur-
sue this kind of project if he wasn’t in
charge.
He recently released a mixtape entitled
“Space Run,” but says there are no projects
currently planned because his first priority
is journalism.
“If you miss a beat everyone knows,” says
Harris. “I’m a representative of everything
that goes right and wrong in the news-
room.”
Read the Oregon Daily Emerald online at
www. http://dailyemerald.com/ .
Jessie, 21, took himself to the Emergency
Room, and was treated for a shotgun wound
to the forearm.
“I tell my folks my son died a hero,” she
says, “because he was protecting his family.
Even though I wish he hadn’t, I have to
respect what he did.”
Several people witnessed the shootings,
but nobody has summoned the courage to
step up and say so in court. Mashia calls on
the families and friends of those witnesses
to help them do the right thing.
“People in this community have the
wrong idea about snitching,” she says.
“People have it confused. Snitching is when
you get a lighter sentence for turning in
somebody else. But when you see someone
do a cold-blooded murder and tell the truth?
That is justice. That is being a citizen. That
is your responsibility.”
Recently Mashia heard that one of the two
men she believes killed her son was out
drinking and partying with two women.
That pushes her to the edge, she says.
“It’s really hard. How does he get to do
that and my son will never be able to do
that. There’s a part of me that wishes we
were in the Wild West and I could take it
into my own hands to make sure his mur-
derers pay for their crime,” she said.
Instead she holds tight to what matters
most: taking care of her grandchildren and
her family; and urging those with influence
over the witnesses to help bring the killers
to justice.
“My son was just a likeable guy,” she
says. “People talked to him because he was
nonjudgmental.”
“He spent as much time with his kids as
he could,” Mashia says.
“He had all four kids with him all the
time. That’s why he got the van.”
Now those children are hurting, she says.
One child is struggling with his anger,
another has clammed up.
Oregonian even wrote him, saying the
Emerald’s coverage was just as good or bet-
ter than Oregon’s major news organizations.
Harris is most proud of his staff.
He glows when talking about one of his
writers who recently broke a story that the
Associated Students of University of Ore-
gon (ASUO) Vice President was married to
the former chair of OSPIRG, a consumer
group that lobbies on campus.
Although there is little diversity on the
Emerald staff, Harris says he’s never
experienced a hostile work
environment
Murder
continued from page 1
friends, was shot seven months ago, in the
early hours of June 26, 2011. The father of
three had just left Seeznin’s Bar and Grill on
82nd Avenue, where he had been at a 21st
birthday party for his nephew, Lamar Hill.
Outside the bar, Hill and another man
exchanged harsh words. Irving urged calm
and walked his nephew across the street.
But before they could get into his minivan
and leave, four gunshots hit Irving in the
back. Hill was hit once in the neck.
L.J. Irving died at the scene. It was just
two weeks before his 35th birthday. His
children Zaryn, Ke’hon and Leonard Jr.,
were just 5, 7 and 8 years old.
Another 21-year-old man, Jeray Lashawn
Read the rest of this story online at
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February 1, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3