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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2012)
Local News Coal National Night Out continued from page 1 According to Sightline, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad has said that each car would leak about a pound of coal dust into the environment for every mile it travels. The Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports, an industry-sponsored group, has launched a media cam- paign to per- suade viewers that coal exports are desirable because they will bring jobs and money. Coal companies Peabody Ener- gy, Arch Coal, Cloud Peak Energy, Kinder Morgan and Ambre energy all are alliance members. Portland companies Gunderson Marine and Vigor industrial, which have signed contracts to build coal barges, also joined the alliance, along with railroad companies and several unions. They say coal exports terminals will bring 2500 jobs to the region as well as millions in taxes. Both the Port of Portland and the Port of Vancouver decided not to pursue coal con- tracts. But the Port of St. Helens has signaled interest in the plans. So has the Port of Longview and other ports in Washington and Oregon. Gov. Kitzhaber sent a letter to the Secre- tary of the Army, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, asking for a study to look at the full regional environmental impact of coal transports. Kitzhaber lists concerns that range from health effects to economic issues. METRO councilor, Rex Burkholder said the council will consider a resolution Sept. 13 that lays out con- cerns about coal transports. “It’s about environmental justice, as well as about transportation and economics, he says. “We have 50 crossings in our region,” he noted. “That could be three or four hours a day of trains crossing streets. And we move a lot of goods here. We are a major export city.” When potash trains blocked deliveries to and from the Columbia Sportswear ware- house in the Rivergate Industrial area, Burkholder said, the company considered leaving. The solution was a $16 million bridge, funded by the public. “The public pays for bridges over rail tracks,” Burkholder said. “It won’t be the railroads who are shipping the coal and making the profits, and it won’t be the peo- ple who make the railroad cars.” Burkholder says the impact on the econo- my would be complex and may not add jobs PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS “If they pollute the air then we can act, but it’s too late...” Rex Burkholder Residents of the St. Johns Woods and Pier Park apartments held a landmark celebration Aug. 9, for National Night Out. The gate between the two complexes – one private, the other run by Portland’s housing authority – was open for the first time in more than 10 years. Efforts by outreach workers, housing managers and the residents themselves, have put a halt to drug dealing and crime. Residents say they now feel safe and able to come out of their homes and socialize together, after years of being afraid to do so. The gate between the complexes will now stay open between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. See more pics on The Skanner News Facebook page. in the long term. “If they pollute the air then we can act, but it’s too late,” Burkholder says. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Lodge continued from page 1 Blazak, one of the nation’s top experts in white supremacy groups, said this week that he doubted the graffiti was sprayed on the Masonic Temple by a hate group – and that in fact, skinhead organizations have passed their peak years in the Portland metro area. A founder of the PSU Coalition Against Hate Crimes – which helps local residents report and track hate crimes — Blazak has spent decades researching skinhead and Nazi groups throughout the region. “We work on a number of different lev- els,” he said. “One is of course around the issue of when there are crimes, can we have good lines of communication to help solve the crime – so that’s getting people to report crimes and getting folks feeling comfort- able talking to the FBI and to the local police. “The other side is getting education around the issue in the community — so when a hate crime happens we want victims to know the resources available to them but also how communities themselves can best respond when something happens in their neighborhood,” Blazak said. “The good news is that the groups that had the most strength and the most appeal to young people in the Portland metro area have been on the wane for the past few years,” he said. “I really don’t think this graffiti was done by members of these groups because the swastikas were backwards – and these guys practice drawing swastikas all the time,” Blazak said. “If I’m a member of a neo Nazi group there’s no image I am more familiar with than the swastika.” Blazak said research shows that most hate crimes are not committed by hate groups — but they may be inspired by those hate groups. Casey says the date for the painting party has not been set as yet, but that plans are for the event to fall before the memorial Day holiday so that young people can get involved. Email her for more information at nola- jean1979@yahoo.com. nobody was hurt. Frison was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder and five counts of unlawful use of a weapon — one for each bullet he fired. Because none of the victims showed up at trial, the attempted murder charges were dropped. He was sentenced to serve a mandatory 60 months sentence. Offered the chance to join the CPR program, Frison seized his opportunity. He worked the program for six months before his release in 2009, and for a year afterward. For the first nine months he struggled to find employment. Frison completed a pre- apprenticeship training, gradu- ating at the top of his class. That earned him his first job at Walsh Construction. Now a father, his construction career has allowed him to make a living and support his fami- ly. In 2012 CPR hired him as a mentor. He found the move difficult. Despite having a supportive family, a girl- friend and a strong academic record – he had 27 credits as a sophomore – Augustus made a fateful decision. When some other students were bothering him he got hold of a gun and shot it over their heads. “It was a scare tactic on my behalf,” he says. “I thought that would put a stop to the With that rash decision, Augustus threw away his chance to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. Marine. Yet he says he’s not 100 percent disappointed he went to jail. “It helped me save my life because I could have been killed out here,” he says. “It gave me the opportunity to find change and to get help, so I can be successful.” The Community Partner Reinvestment program, worked with Augustus in jail and after his release, to help him rebuild his life. He graduated in July, six months early because he already had achieved his goals. Married and the father of a tod- dler, Augustus is now going to col- lege with the goal of becoming a certified personal trainer. He’s been working, but now hopes to land a graveyard job by the begin- ning of next term. “I’m open to anything and I’m a fast learner,” he says. “Show me something once, and I’ll learn it.” CPR continued from page 1 bery,” he told The Skanner News. Once released from detention, Frison was placed in foster care. But he continued to get into trouble for “smoking marijuana, drinking, hanging out with friends, and not respecting the rules my P.O. wanted me to follow.” After working with drug and alcohol counselor Rhybon Mayfield, Frison got back on track. He had a 4.0 GPA, he says, and was allowed to return home. But he soon learned, “the program credits were only worth half a regular credit,” leaving him behind. The disappointment sent the sophomore spinning back into trouble. On a warm afternoon in 2005, Frison, now 17, and his girlfriend were on 33rd Avenue near Wilshire Park when a car of rival gang members, including someone he had a conflict with, drove up. Afraid he and his girlfriend would be attacked, Frison pulled out his gun. “As they backed up, I shot at the car,” he said. “It was crazy. There was a picnic going on, two baseball games and two sep- arate parties. Sixteen people witnessed it.” Fortunately for everyone involved, “I love my job,” he says. “I can reassure them because I’ve been through the same things they’ve been through.” The Graduate DeAngelo Augustus was 16 when he moved to Northeast Portland from Atlanta. problem.” DeAngelo was charged as an adult with Aggravated Attempted Murder and Assault II. He ended up going to jail for nine years. “I don’t have any hard feelings toward anybody—not the police, not the correc- tions department,” he says. “It was not what they did that put me there. It was what I did.” Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com August 15, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3
