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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM A PRIL 25, 2012 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 17 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 Tubman School Closed INGRAM LEGACY Families struggle in vain against fast- tracked process By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News PHOT BY HELEN SIVIS T he Portland Public Schools Board voted Monday night to close one of the district’s only schools focusing on science, math and engineering – and the only all-girls public school in the state. http://www.theskanner.com/article/Tub- man-Humboldt-Families-Fighting-for-Their -Schools-2012-04-13 The panel also voted to close Humboldt Elementary – after years of proposing to shutter it — and send its students to Boise- Eliot. Facing $27.5 million in state cuts, com- bined with federal budget cuts and a tax base crippled by the economic downturn, district officials said the Harriet Tubman Young Women’s Leadership Academy did- n’t have enough students to warrant keeping the doors open. Parents countered that the five-year-old school never had a chance to grow beyond its 224 students because the district had threatened to close it so many times. Board members Matt Morton and Martin Gonzales voted against the Tubman closure. “It was really sad and it confirmed the concerns that the whole thing was a done deal,” said prospective Tubman parent Sonya Gregg. “When you only have 20 days to make it happen there’s only so much you can do.” Gregg confirmed that her daughter will now attend George Middle School, their neighborhood school in St. Johns. “We have our local middle school and we’ll make the best of it,” she said. “This sounded too good to be true.” District officials fast-tracked the Tubman closure vote, pulling it out of the general budget package, which will be voted on May 14. The district said it sped up the closure to help girls’ families find new schools more quickly, but Tubman families say it was to About 200 teens attended the Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence Saturday April 21. Ingram’s mother, Milele Hobbs, welcomed youth to the summit, which was organized by Multnomah Youth Commission. The young people developed a range of policy recommendations and presented them to city and county politicians, school leaders and decision makers. Grassroots Foreclosure Forum Church groups, Occupy spinoff collaborate with Rep. Lew Frederick By Bruce Poinsette Special To The Skanner News I nstead of enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon, members of Occupy North East (ONE) - “The Black Working Group,” We Are Oregon and Ainsworth United Church of Christ (UCC) came together to discuss foreclosure and how churches can get involved. “Our position is that the strug- gle has to emanate from the ground up,” says Ahjamu Umi, See TUBMAN on page 3 INDEX News ...........2,3,6,7,16 Opinion ..................4,5 A & E .................8,9,13 Housing ...................11 Heath .................12,14 Bids/Classifieds ...14,15 of ONE. “It can’t happen any other way and everyone needs to be involved.” Umi’s words were reflected by the racially diverse group gathered in Ainsworth UCC’s Cambric Parlor. Ainsworth con- siders itself a “multi-cultural, multi-racial, open & affirming, Just Peace and accessible church”. Following introductions, par- ticipants shared their personal foreclosure stories. One woman told the group her foreclosure was more painful than a divorce she was going through around the same time. Another couldn’t help but curse when she relived her experi- ence. While big banks were the main target of the testimonies, ONE’s Alicia Jackson expressed a broader sense of distrust. She says her home was marked for foreclosure in 2008 and she self evicted out of fear. When she went to a nonprofit organization for counseling, she says she was charged $25 for a credit check. Jackson later found out she could get the service for free. In addition, she said she was receiving letters from various groups, but didn’t know who to trust. Ultimately, Jackson says she found reliable help in ONE and We Are Oregon. Jackson refuses to be embarrassed by the experi- ence. “Why should we be ashamed,” she says. “The banks should be ashamed. They are committing the crimes.” Umi stressed the need to re- See FORUM on page 3 Signature Event for Small Businesses 54 Hours + Your New Business Plan = Portland Startup Weekend By Bruce Poinsette Special To The Skanner News W hen Jeff Martens came to Portland Startup Weekend (PDXSW) two years ago, he had left his last employer and was looking for a fresh start. “I was going to look for a job but then I thought it would be great if I could start my own business instead of getting a job with someone else,” he says. “Fast forward a year and a half later and we’ve raised ven- ture capital.” PDXSW is a competition where aspiring entrepreneurs try to bring their business ideas to life over the course of 54 hours. Martens is the co-founder and CEO of CPUsage, a PDXSW success story. He says when he came to the event that he didn’t know anyone. However, when he pitched his idea for a business on Friday night, it became popular. By Sunday, he had the foundation and confidence to go forward with his business. CPUsage has since raised venture capital from Silicon Valley investors and now Martens helps run PDXSW, along with lead organizer Shashi Jain, to show his apprecia- See BUSINESS on page 3
