WWW . THESKANNER . COM
M ARCH 13, 2013
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 23
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
SEATTLE (AP) — The mother of a man
fatally wounded by police in Portland, Ore.,
said she was on the phone with her son
when it happened.
Antoinette Cisneros told KING-TV in
Seattle that her son spoke his final words to
her and then she heard gunfire.
``I heard everything until the time he was
killed,’’ said Antoinette Cisneros told the
television station.
Police said Santiago A. Cisneros III, 32,
had a shotgun and fired at them when they
encountered him on a parking lot roof in
northeast Portland on the night of March 4.
Officers said they returned fire.
Cisneros died at a Portland hospital. No
officers were injured.
He was an Iraq war veteran who had
talked about the challenges of post-traumat-
ic stress disorder. Cisneros lived in Seattle
but was visiting family in Portland last
week.
His mother said she called him late Mon-
day night but didn’t know where he was at
the time. She later learned he was driving up
a Portland parking garage.
Moments later, he told her on the phone
that he loved her and stepped out of the car,
she said.
``He said, `Forgive me, mom. Mom, I love
you. I love you, mom.’ And I said, `Mijo,
don’t leave, don’t go away. I hear you going
away from the car,’’’ Antoinette Cisneros
told KING-TV.
Soon she heard gunfire, followed by
another man’s voice.
``He said `stop,’’’ she recalled. ``And then
I heard him again say `stop.’’’
Portland police said the shooting unfolded
quickly after Santiago Cisneros approached
the two officers.
``Within seconds, they’re confronted by
this guy with a shotgun and shots were
fired,’’ police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson
said last week. ``The officers returned fire
and knocked him to the ground.’’
Antoinette Cisneros said she wants people
to hold their judgment until an investigation
is done.
INDEX
News ................2,3,5,6
Opinion .....................4
A & E ......................5,8
Food..........................6
Bids/Classifieds ..........7
PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Seattle mom on
phone with son as
Portland police shoot
COAL TRAIN
FOES
RALLY
Health
officials
are
concerned that emissions
from coal trains’ extra diesel,
as well as from coal dust,
could
have
negative
impacts on the health of
82,000 people who live near
the tracks. They’re also
concerned
about
the
harmful impact of noise and
potential
delays
to
emergency responders.
PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS
Did PTSD
Lead to
Death?
Protests Over Pollution, Kids
Nine schools are close to tracks highlighting risk to children
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
O
pponents of plans to
export coal to Asia
through Portland and
the Northwest are holding a
rally on the steps of the Ore-
gon Legislature in Salem, at
11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March
13.
“It’s very important to go,”
says Bonnie Meltzer, who
lives in North Portland and
opposes the plans. “It’s easier
to stop the coal trains before
they are here than after. Just
showing up tells our officials
that we care about this. It’s
hard to do. Salem’s an hour
away. But if we don’t show
up the politicians will just
shrug and do whatever they
want to do.”
Plans were announced last
summer to export coal
through Oregon from the 400-
mile wide Powder Mountain
basin in Montana and
Wyoming. Between 16-19
trains a day would travel
along the south side of the
Columbia River, carrying
125,000 tons of coal.
Health officials are con-
cerned that emissions from
the extra diesel as well as
from coal dust, could have
negative impacts on the
health of 82,000 people who
live near the tracks. They’re
also concerned about the
harmful impact of noise and
potential delays to emergency
responders.
From Troutdale to St. Johns
the trains would run by at
least a dozen parks, a golf
course, and an assisted living
facility, as well as hundreds of
homes and dozens of apart-
ment complexes.
At least nine schools in
Multnomah County are on the
railroad route: Roosevelt
High, Rosa Parks Elementary,
George Middle, Woodlawn
Elementary,
Faubion,
Helensview High, Parkrose
High, Shaver Elementary and
Troutdale Elementary.
Meltzer says three schools
in Scapoose, close to a pro-
See COAL on page 3
Washington Debates Police in Schools
Appeals lawyer says law would be challenged as unconstitutional
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
W
ashington State Senate has passed
a bill that will allow police to
search students without their par-
ents consent, if they are suspected of break-
ing a school rule. But Greg Link, a defense
attorney with the Washington Appellate
project, says that if the bill passes into law it
likely will be struck down.
Senate Bill 5618 adds police to the list of
school personnel allowed to search students
without parental permission. Previously
school principals, vice-principals and
school staff designated by the principal
were allowed to conduct the searches. The
bill was sponsored by Sen. Mike Carrell, R-
Lakewood.
“These are not necessarily criminal mat-
ters,” says Aldo Melchiori, a staffer on the
Washington State Senate Committee on
Law and Justice. “It could be a pack of cig-
arettes that is against school rules and it
could be taken away.”
The bill has not yet become state law. The
next step is a House Judiciary Committee
hearing scheduled for March 14 at 1:30 p.m.
See SEARCH on page 3