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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM F EBRUARY 6. 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 18 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 ‘Rhythms of the Sole’ Paige Hall, a member of Northwest Tap Connection’s Totally Tap Kids and Color Lines Dance Ensemble, performed Feb. 1 at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center in “Rhythms of the Sole.” It’s the annual fundraiser for the dance school which serves 200 youth in the community. The funds generated by the event, which featured dance performances by the students and instructors, singing and spoken word, goes to scholarships, master classes and helps defray the cost of travel to national dance festivals. SEATTLE (AP) — Thirty cameras are watching Seattle’s shoreline for security reasons, but some local residents and the American Civil Liberties Union say they are a threat to citizen rights. ``This is another step toward a surveil- lance society where the government is increasingly using technology to monitor people’s actions and movements without Seattle Police say there will be strict controls on who has access to the cameras and the information they contain PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Effort Builds to Change Pot Laws By Gene Johnson The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a federal pot tax. While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press. Polis’ measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In Shoreline Cameras Upset Locals states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administra- tion and given to the newly state where it’s legal to one where it isn’t. The bill is based on a legaliza- tion measure previously pushed by former Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Ron Paul ‘We’re still arresting two-thirds of a million people for use of a substance that a majority feel should be legal’ Rep. Earl Blumenauer renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a INDEX News ........................2,3 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................4 A&E ....................2,5,6,8 Bids/Classifieds............7 of Texas. Blumenauer’s bill would cre- ate a federal marijuana excise tax. Last fall’s votes in Colorado and Washington state to legalize recreational marijuana should push Congress to end the 75- year federal pot prohibition, Blumenauer said. ``You folks in Washington and my friends in Colorado really upset the apple cart,’’ Blume- nauer said. ``We’re still arrest- ing two-thirds of a million people for use of a substance that a majority feel should be legal. ... It’s past time for us to step in and try to sort this stuff out.’’ Advocates who are working with the lawmakers acknowl- edge it could take years for any See POT LAWS on page 3 having a warrant or a specific reason to do so,’’ said Doug Honig, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wash- ington. The cameras that were paid for by a $5 million federal grant are supposed to help the Port of Seattle and the city respond to hazards and emergencies, The Seattle Times reported in Saturday’s newspaper. The cameras will give police a sweeping view of the port facilities, Elliott Bay and the shoreline, according to Seattle Police Department Capt. Chris Fowler. They hope to have the cameras opera- tional by the end of March, said Detective Monty Moss, who is in charge of surveil- lance platforms. Fowler said there will be strict controls on who has access to the cameras and the infor- mation they contain. He said the department is creating policies that will govern how the cameras are used, how the information will be stored and for how long. See CAMERAS on page 3 No Female Mayor in Seattle Since 1926 SEATTLE (AP) — Despite Seattle’s pro- gressive self-image and its role in sending women to the U.S. Senate and governor’s office, the city has not elected a woman as mayor in 85 years. A woman has not even appeared on the general-election ballot since 1926, when municipal reformer Bertha Landes became the first female mayor of a major American city, The Seattle Times reported. The trend appears to be continuing. So far, seven candidates have announced they’ll challenge Mayor Mike McGinn in the 2013 mayor contest, but only one is a woman: Seattle activist Kate Martin who has raised $133 from herself. ``I do think the time is right. I think the advantage would be real,’’ Lisa MacLean, a local political consultant who worked on former Mayor Greg Nickels’ three mayoral campaigns, told the Times. Women have made major gains in politi- cal representation in recent decades, but the top U.S. political offices remain male dom- inated, especially big-city mayor’s offices, the newspaper reported. Some major cities including New York and Los Angeles have never elected a woman as mayor. Only 12 of the 100 largest U.S. cities had female mayors as of last year, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Women fare somewhat better in smaller cities, leading more than 17 percent of those See MAYOR on page 3
