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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ANUARY 30, 2013 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXV, 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 Mayor eliminates Youth Connect, angers many By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News T he City of Portland has axed $379,000 in funding for a program targeted at preventing school dropout, closing the achievement gap and keeping some of the city’s poorest students in school and out of trouble. The Summer Youth Connect program identified students most at risk of dropping out as early as 8th grade, and offered them academic support, paid internships, and exposure to college and career planning resources. In 2012, 1,650 students received academic and career support through Sum- mer Youth Connect. Around 96 percent of them were from low-income families, and more than 70 percent were youth of color. Intended to prevent crime, reduce genera- tional poverty and build the future work- force, the programs have shown some success in keeping students on track for graduation, college and career. Heather Ficht, who manages the Summer Works youth employment program at WorkSystems, says the costs of not employ- ing youth will be higher, since young people with no money and nothing to do all sum- mer are more likely to get involved in minor crimes, for example, riding the max without a ticket. Hales told The Skanner News that the cuts were necessary to cover a projected $25 million shortfall. “I love this program and this is a very hard cut to make,” Hales said. “But we have a very large hole in our budget that we have to fill. So as soon as we got here we started looking at everything. We looked at our own staff and we reduced it from 25 people to 14, to save around $600,000 a year. We’re going to be pretty relentless in looking everywhere in terms of short-term cuts that we have to make, in order to balance the budget. “The best way for the City of Portland to GUNS, CHEAP A man holds an inactive missile launcher he purchased near the Seattle Police Gun Buy Back on Saturday, Jan. 26. The missile launcher was later confiscated by the police. The event, which was held in a parking lot underneath the freeway between James and Cherry Streets, was forced to close up 3 hours early because so many people showed up to trade in their guns that they ran out of gift certificates. There were numerous people carrying signs offering to pay more for the guns on some of the streets near the buy back location. Youth Summit Welcomes Parents Organizers focus event on physical, mental health -- and music Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News The 7th Annual Portland Youth Summit, coming up Sat- urday, Feb. 9, at Portland State University Smith Memorial Union, brings a focus on physi- cal and mental wellness with the theme, “Be Healthy or Die Try- ing.” The not-to-be-missed youth talent show Saturday at 6:30 p.m. is hosted by Vursatyl, an MC from the Portland hip hop group Lifesavas. See CUTS on page 3 INDEX News ...................2,3,5 Opinion .....................4 A & E ......................6,8 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Dropout Program Axed Last year the event tackled schools and personal knowledge with the theme, “The Mis-Edu- cation of Our Youth;” hundreds of young people attended. This year, the free-of-charge event is continuing to grow its outreach to parents as well as teenagers and young adults. “For me, when I read the sta- tistics on obesity and mental health – there are so many areas to go into there,” said youth summit founder Imani Mohammed. “These shootings that have taken place like in Newtown – mental health is a big contributor. “Also because of the econom- ics people are losing their minds – not just the adults, it impacts the parents’ behavior with their kids,” she said. Mohammed’s group, Youth Organized and United to Help, stresses that racial disparities can lead to obesity, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and communitywide problems in education and health. “It just seems like physical health, mental health, spiritual needs – the more we give people the tools to cope with what’s around them as an individual, the better off they are,” Mohammed says. “At the core of all of this, whether you have a job or not, is how do you remain healthy as an individual?” One eagerly-anticipated workshop, Soulfly Groovment, features a workout CD pro- duced by rapper and activist stic.man from the political hip- hop duo Dead Prez. Lead by See SUMMIT on page 3 Peninsula Park Rose Garden Celebrates Volunteers mark 100th anniversary by replanting 3,000 flower shrubs Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News R ight now the air is frosty and every one of the Peninsula Park Rose Gar- den’s 3,000 blooming shrubs has been pulled up. Come June 27 – when the park’s 100th anniversary is celebrated – the replanted garden will be in full bloom with thousands of new roses gifted from local growers. But there’s one hitch: the garden needs mulch -- a lot of mulch -- which is critical in protecting the flowers from midges. Portland Parks & Recreation and the newly formed Friends of Peninsula Park Rose Gar- den say they need about $15,000 to put in the protective layer. Many local businesses have contributed to the park renovation, from rose growers Weeks Roses, Star Roses and Bailey’s Nurs- ery to coffee shops, hardware stores and more. The value of the rose bushes alone is esti- mated at $80,000-$100,000. Last week dozens of volunteers spent hours in the freezing mud, platting out the rows with blue and white flags and fertiliz- See GARDEN on page 3
