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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM A PRIL 4, 2012 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 13 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Trayvon Killing Aftermath FIRE FRASHOUR Parents attend public forum on racist attacks against youth By Bruce Poinsette Special To The Skanner News PHOTO BY LISA LOVING I n response to the Trayvon Martin shoot- ing, around 80 men and 20 women gathered at Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI) this past Tuesday to discuss police brutality and strategic action in the Black communi- ty. “We wanted to meet and figure out what people can do individually to change their communities,” says Blake Dye, organizer of the event. “I don’t think the Black commu- nity in Oregon communicates well. There are a lot of people of common interest but we just don’t know it.” The event, billed as “The Conversation,” was put on by the Phi Beta Sigma, a frater- nity that runs on a social justice platform. Males of different ages, backgrounds, occupations and faiths attended the event. Dye dismissed members of the major news media so participants would feel more com- fortable expressing their views and emotions. The meeting began with an outpouring of anger at not just the Trayvon Martin shoot- ing, but the killings of Black men, specifically in Portland. “There was a lot of pain in the room,” says Dye. “People needed to be heard. They needed other Black men to hear who they were.” Some men shared experiences of having family members killed while others expressed thoughts on the age gap. One man even proposed entering the bicycle industry to spur economic empowerment, after telling his story of working for years at Freightliner. While Dye acknowledges that the sharing of emotions was important, he says he did- n’t want it to be two hours of emotional rehashing. The men broke into three groups to dis- cuss specific ideas and strategies. These smaller groups were facilitated by the three Pastor LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition addressed a Monday rally on the steps of City Hall calling on Mayor Sam Adams to make sure former Portland Police Officer Ronald Frashour -- who fatally shot Aaron Campbell in the back in 2010 -- doesn’t get his badge and gun back. A state arbitrator ruled Friday that Frashour was wrongly terminated. Rogue Cop Gets Badge Back Crowd calls for throwing out arbitration system for police firings Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News A s predicted by many, including the Skanner News, former Portland Police Officer Ron Frashour – who fatally shot in the back an unarmed man having a mental health crisis in 2010 — has been reinstated to his job by a state arbitrator. A small but lively crowd of under 200 people marched and rallied outside City Hall today, as Mayor Sam Adams told See FORUM on page 3 INDEX News ......................2,3 Opinion .....................4 A & E .........................5 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 reporters inside that he and his staff are looking at ways they can appeal the state labor rela- tions officials’ decision. Adams, who took over the job of police commissioner and fired former Chief Rosie Sizer months after Campbell’s killing in 2010, made no question about his commitment to trying to overturn the arbitrator’s ruling – however it remains clear that may not be possible. “Frashour remains on ‘termi- nated status’ with the Portland Police Bureau and he will remain that way until we figure out a means of asking for a sec- ond opinion from the State Employment Relations Board, which has jurisdiction over this matter,” Adams said Monday afternoon. Asked if he was surprised by the ruling, Adams did not answer directly. “You know as an actual deci- sion maker in this process I believe that our investigation was very thorough and the disci- pline that we pursued and enacted was the fair discipline based on the merits of the case,” he said. “Again, we didn’t find evi- dence of malice in Mr. Frashour’s actions and judg- ments but we did find that he acted outside of police protocols — and part of the protocols include making good deci- sions.” Adams strongly stated that he is committed to making positive changes within the department – and that Chief Mike Reese is too. See COP on page 3 The Skanner News Converts to Solar The newspaper office is now operating largely off the grid G reen is the new Black – at least at The Skanner Since Killingsworth Street is now designated News. Our building is a historic preservation area, it took a getting a new, energy efficient makeover that planning hearing and a special permit has reduced our energy use, and sends power building, at 415 N. Killingsworth Street, has back into the electricity grid. I’ll be honest with you. Our 1970s-era always been a great environment –for plants. Check out our stairwell, drenched in light from the overhead skylight, and feel the fear: those killer tomatoes are baaaack. As for human beings? That’s another story. We have sweltered through summers and we’ve shivered through winters. Don’t tell anyone, but our brainy news editor keeps furry slippers under her desk! And yes, they See SOLAR on page 3
