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N OVEMBER 14, 2012
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 6
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Summer
Gang
Program
VETERANS DAY
Some youth and
parents are unhappy
with police presence
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
See GANGS on page 3
INDEX
News ..............2,3,9,10
Opinion ..................4,5
A & E ......................6,7
Food.....................8,10
Bids/Classifieds ........11
Books.......................12
PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS
P
ortland Police Bureau held a press
conference Friday Nov. 9, to show-
case the results of Operation Safe
Summer, intended to reduce youth gang vio-
lence.
Earlier this year gang-related
shootings were far higher than in 2011, with
a total of 59 shootings recorded by June 8,
compared to 40 the previous year. In years
past, violence has tended to spike during the
summer months.
“Going into the summer with that spike, I
was really worried,” said Mayor Sam
Adams. “Folks really stepped up, and I want
you to know I really appreciate that.”
Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese re-
deployed 17 officers, including two
detectives and two supervisors, to violence
prevention efforts over the summer. The city
also added Park rangers, and after a shoot-
ing at Peninsula Park, decided to install
security cameras in Portland’s community
centers. Now, those officers have returned
to their regular duties with domestic vio-
lence, drugs and vice teams, but the park
rangers will continue working through the
winter and into the spring.
The efforts worked to reduce the spike,
said Clay Neal, the mayor’s public safety
liaison. “Over the course of the summer it
pretty much flatlined.”
This year between June 21 and Oct. 10,
the gang enforcement team reported 37
shootings, up from 35 in 2011. The gang
enforcement team recorded 128 arrests, and
a total of 29 guns seized. Police made 6,100
contacts with gang-affected youth with only
two complaints from the public.
‘That’s an amazing amount of positive
interactions,” Neal said.
The gang enforcement team and gang out-
reach workers, have been a constant
presence at high school football games,
especially Jefferson and Roosevelt games.
The police officers, one of them also a foot-
Portland Mayor-Elect Charlie Hales took the stage during the Veterans’ Day celebration Monday in the Hollywood
neighborhood in Northeast Portland. Hales quoted from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Hundreds attended the
annual parade despite the rainy weather, honoring Oregon war casualty Marine Corporal Keaton Coffey, of
Boring, Ore., who died May 24, 2012, in Afghanistan.
Last Black-Owned Bar Closes
The closing of LV’s Twelve-22 rekindles tensions over gentrification
By Bruce Poinsette
Of The Skanner News
Farewell Party
“P
apa Was a Rolling
Stone” plays in the
background as the
crowd at LV’s Twelve-22 con-
tinues to fill in. Before breaking
into the song, Norman Sylvester
gives the crowd a quick history
lesson.
“How many people remember
Jones Tasty Donuts?” he asks.
“Mr. Jones would have big old
vat of grease. He’d drop them
donuts in while we’d watch.
Glazed donuts. We’d buy about
a dozen. Before we’d walked
the block, half a dozen was
gone. All of us had to walk back
and get more.”
Sylvester goes on to ask the
crowd about The Cotton Club,
Wonder Bread Bakery and Scot-
ty’s Barbecue, eliciting more
cheers. Not long before this per-
formance, it was still uncertain
whether LV’s, the last Black-
owned bar in the Boise
neighborhood, would become
part of this lore.
When Sylvester signed on to
do the show, it was supposed to
be a community unity event to
promote the Black history of the
Boise-Eliot neighborhood and
bring the various demographics
of the community together.
However, Sylvester found out it
would be a farewell party only a
couple of days before talking to
this reporter.
The bar was facing the
prospect of the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission (OLCC)
not renewing its liquor license
in response to a series of com-
plaints. After deciding he no
longer had the money to fight
the OLCC, LV’s owner La Von
Van chose to close the bar.
The closing of LV’s has rekin-
dled
tensions
over
gentri fication. Despite efforts to
clean up its image after drug and
gang issues, some believe the
bar was never given a fair
chance to run as a successful
business. Others say it’s a mat-
ter of Van not being a
responsible business person and
being proactive.
See LICENSE on page 3
Dental Clinic Opens in Old Town
‘Safety net’ facility offers low-cost services for downtown residents
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
M
ultnomah County opened its sixth
dental health safety net clinic
today, at Central City Concern on
Northwest Broadway. The clinic will serve
homeless and very low-income people at
Central City Concern’s new building. The
state-of-the art clinic has the latest dental
imaging, electronic dental records all in a
beautiful third-floor office space with views
of downtown Portland.
“I’m so excited,” said dental assistant Liz
Hughes. “I just can’t wait to see the look on
patients’ faces when I bring them back
here.”
The clinic will serve people in need who
live in the downtown area. Central City
Concern has won numerous awards for its
work since 1992.
The Billi Odegaard Clinic is named after
the former director of Multnomah County
Health Department, who retired in 1999
after almost 30 years.
“She improved virtually everything about
health in this county,” said Jeff Cogen,
Multnomah county chair.
See DENTAL on page 12