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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2013)
News Shooting Search for Meaning Book Fest Antoinette Cisneros said she wants people to hold their judgment until an investigation is done. At the time of his death Cisneros worked as a legal intern in Seattle firm specializing in immigration law. The Portland Mercury last week reported Cisneros had spoken in a television news interview about attempting suicide in the past. The Portland Police bureau identified the officers involved in the fatal shooting as Officer Brad Kula, and Officer Michele Boer. The bureau, in a statement, said Kula and Boer drove in separate cars to the top level of the parking garage where they were “immediately confronted by Cisneros, who was armed with a shotgun. Within seconds, shots were fired. “Cisneros fired multiple shots from his shotgun. Both officers returned fire, striking him and knocking him to the ground.” A bureau spokesman said officers approached Cisneros on the ground with a shield because her was still moving and lying next to his shotgun. The officers arrested Cisneros and trans- ported him to a hospital where he died of his injuries. Kula and Boer were placed on administra- tive leave and were interviewed Thursday, March 7, about the incident, according to the bureau’s statement. McGiver continued from page 1 McIver’s name for people outside Seattle. During the 1999 public protests against the World Trade Organization, McIver was pulled from his car, spread-eagled and frisked by Seattle police — and almost arrested — before officers recognized him and let him attend the WTO-related event he had tried to enter. Current City Commissioner Jean Godden, who describes McIver as her mentor, spoke to the Seattle Times about the incident this week. “He said he was a city councilman, and the policeman didn’t believe him and made him spread-eagle against the car. He never forgot that, not so much because of the indignity to him, but that others did not believe an African American might be a city councilmember,” Godden told the Times. McIver was appointed to the Council in 1997 after the previous commissioner quit; McIver won election to the post later that year, was elected again and ultimately served until retiring in 2009. At the time of his appointment to the Council, McIver had served as executive director of the Washington Association of Community Economic Development; he had also worked as development director for the Tacoma Housing Authority. Proudly a fifth-generation Seattleite and known for his “laid-back” style, McIver was also known for speaking his mind and breaking with political traditions – even to the point of becoming friends with his elec- tions rival in 2001,Grant Cogswell, driving PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED continued from page 1 Award winning writer Rebecca Walker, daughter of the author Alice Walker, joined 40 other authors at the Fifth Annual Search for Meaning Book Festival, March 9 at Seattle University. The event, hosted by Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry, features local national and internationally renowned authors on spirituality, faith and social justice. Rebecca Walker read from her book “Baby Love” and talked about how she found meaning by choosing motherhood. the Seattle Film Festival – and featured Cedric the Entertainer as McIver. A major force in creation of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund – In fact a film of Cogswell’s election campaign, “Grassroots,” premiered last year at the Seattle Film Festival – and featured Cedric the Entertainer as McIver him to the polls, then partying with him on Election Night. In fact a film of Cogswell’s election cam- paign, “Grassroots,” premiered last year at established in 2002 to help small businesses in the path of light-rail construction and mandated as a part of the federal govern- ment’s funding for the transportation proj- diagnoses at Madigan; rather, the changes amounted to difference of opinion, she said. The task force interviewed 750 people stationed around the globe, conducted lis- tening sessions with 6,400 others and reviewed more than 140,000 records. The Medical Command reviewed diagnoses for all soldiers evaluated for behavioral health problems from October 2001 until last April. Since September 2001, the report found, diagnosis changes than the Army-wide average _ Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Irwin in California, Horoho said. Cases from those locations are being reviewed to ensure no soldiers were improperly affect- ed, but part of the reason for the higher rates may be because those bases rely heavily on civilian health workers, she said. Last year the Army—and the military as a whole—suffered the highest number of sui- cides ever recorded, prompting then- ect – McIver served as the organization’s interim executive director in 2010 after a scandal forced out the previous director. Richard J. McIver was first appointed to fill a vacancy on the Seattle City Council in early 1997 and was subsequently reelected to three full four-year terms in 1997, 2001, and 2005. While on the council, McIver: chaired the Council’s Housing & Economic Develop- ment Committee; served on the board of the Washington State Housing Finance Com- mission; served on the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Economic Development and Operations Committee; and more. He is survived by his wife, Marlaina Kiner-McIver; a daughter and a son. PTSD continued from page 1 about whether the changes were made to save money. About 150 of those soldiers eventually had their diagnoses restored. “I am pleased that the Army completed this review and has vowed to make fixes over the next year, though I am disappoint- ed it has taken more than a decade of war to get to this point,’’ Murray said in a state- ment. “Many of the 24 findings and 47 rec- ommendations in this report are not new. Creating a universal electronic health record, providing better rural health access, and standardizing the way diagnoses are made, for instance, have been lingering problems for far too long. Our service mem- bers and their families deserve better.’’ The report noted that the Army had made strides in some areas, including cutting how long it takes soldiers to obtain a disability evaluation and publishing a guide to the process. On a conference call with reporters, Army brass emphasized that many of the report’s recommendations are already being put into effect. For example, over the past year the Army has been assigning behavioral health workers to brigade combat teams so soldiers will feel more familiar with them and more comfortable about getting help, said Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, who heads the Army’s Medical Command. Horoho also stressed that there was no evidence that malice motivated the altered Of the soldiers surveyed, 37 percent had never received any information about the Army’s disability evaluation system or had to seek the information out on their own 4.1 percent of all soldiers deployed wound up in the disability system with a behavioral health diagnosis such as PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Nationwide, the report said, 6,400 sol- diers had behavioral health diagnoses “adjusted’’ by medical evaluation boards, with approximately equal numbers having PTSD added as a diagnosis and removed as a diagnosis. Two locations where medical evaluation boards are held had slightly higher rates of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to declare it an epidemic. The Army had 183 suicides among active-duty soldiers, up from 167 in 2011, and the military as a whole had 350 suicides, up from 301 the year before. Among the problems the report docu- mented was that Army bases don’t have a person on site dedicated to overseeing behavioral health issues, despite the many problems they can cause: suicide, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and child and spouse abuse. Each installation needs someone with a view of all those programs to make recommendations to the commander, the report said. Army Secretary John M. McHugh said in a statement that the Army will work to place behavioral health experts “at the command and installation levels to provide better con- sultation, guidance, coordination and rec- ommendations to improve behavioral health care for our soldiers.’’ The task force found that of the soldiers surveyed, 37 percent had never received any information about the Army’s disability evaluation system or had to seek the infor- mation out on their own. It also said it was confusing and inefficient for troops to navi- gate the vastly different disability systems maintained by the Army and the Veterans Administration. The Army and VA plan to have a joint dis- ability system, by which health care providers in either organization will have access to records, by 2017. “Some changes can be made immediate- ly,’’ McHugh said. “Others will require more time and coordination. Importantly, this report reviewed our systems holistical- ly, recommending not only short-term solu- tions, but longer term, systemic changes that will make care and treatment of our sol- diers and family members more effective.’’ Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek in Washington contributed to this report. March 13, 2013 The Seattle Skanner Page 3
