Local News
Police
Race Talks: Fluoride
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dards on misconduct, providing
they give adequate notice and the
change doesn’t conflict with the
police contract.
Attorneys Greg and Jason
propose the bill.
The firm has successfully sued
the City of Portland in more than
one police misconduct case. Greg
Kafoury represented Alex Clay,
Harold Hammick,
and
Ri’Chard
Booth, for exam-
ple, who in 2009
were
awarded
$175,000 in a case
where they told
jurors they were
falsely arrested and
Hammick
was
physically abused by a Portland
officer.
Kafoury of the law firm Kafoury
and McDougal asked Shields to
School
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and health research. Rebecca Skloot docu-
mented the history of Lacks’ family and the
HeLa cell in articles in the early 2000s and
her 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henri-
etta Lacks.
The new school in her namesake will fea-
ture focus areas in pharmacology, health
informatics, bioengineering, biosciences
and nursing. Students can choose which
track they would like to take. Their first two
years will center on basic medical founda-
tions and standard courses like English,
math and science. Junior and senior year
will see the students take on four to six
intensive courses in their area of study,
which will include high level math and sci-
ence.
They will also participate in a related
internship, mentorship or medical research
program. Deeder says this worksite experi-
ence will be integral to their education.
“We think the future of education is
around kids having that,” he says. “We’re
really looking for ways to have all kids
experience something in a worksite before
they graduate from a high school so they
can develop some of those work habits.
Develop some of those attitudes on how you
work with other people, how you collabo-
PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS
The firm has successfully
sued the City of Portland
in more than one police
misconduct case
April’s “Race Talks” discussion looked at the divisive issue of fluoridation. The event, held at
the Kennedy School in Northeast Portland, drew a crowd of around 100 people. Pictured
here are Meies Matz an NAACP member who spoke against fluoridation and Damien Fair,
an OHSU neuroscientist, who spoke in favor (seated) talking to an audience member. Phil
Wu MD, in the background also spoke in support. The other speakers were: Kellie Barnes, a
licensed physical therapist, and Jo Ann Hardesty of Hardesty consulting, who both oppose
fluoridation. Most people at the event were already decided: asked if they had changed
their minds on the issue, just four people raised their hands.
rate and how you com-
municate. We want them
to know the importance
of getting to work on
time, the importance of
being there period and how important you
are as an individual to the success of a firm
or organization, as well as how important it
is that you understand that you are a part of
the bigger picture and what part you play in
the success of the firm.”
The largest source of funding for the
building came from the federal stimulus
program, through Qualified School Con-
struction Bonds. According to Deeder, this
program allows school districts to borrow
up to $17.5 million for capital improve-
‘We’re really looking for ways to have all kids
experience something in a worksite before they
graduate from a high school’
According to Deeder, the school will
eventually serve 500-600 students. It will
begin with freshman and sophomore class-
es.
If students are interested in playing sports
or participating in other extracurricular
activities, they will be allowed to do so
through their neighborhood schools.
ments. It’s a zero interest loan so the district
has to pay back the money within 17 years.
Evergreen has 14 more years to pay it back
because the district took out the loan three
years ago. Deeder says the district is taking
out $1 million a year from its general fund
and putting it into a sinking fund. Due to
their medical notes online, make appoint-
ments and go in and get help.”
The Center for Investigative Reporting
found that veterans filing for disability wait
longer in Los Angeles, than they do in Lin-
coln, Nebraska. And they published an
interactive map that shows the data from 58
Those filing for the first time in America’s
major population centers wait up to twice as
long – 642 days in New York, 619 days in
Los Angeles and 542 days in Chicago.”
So how about Portland and Seattle? Both
cities are processing new claims faster than
the Los Angeles VA, but more slowly than
interest rates, the district will end up paying
only $13 million of the $17 million loan.
The rest of the funding came through state
money. Deeder says the district qualified for
$11 million of State Matching funds, which
can pay for buildings that serve “un-housed
students” when there are enrollment over-
flows at other schools in the district.
All told, the district will be paying less
than half of the cost of the actual building.
Ultimately, Deeder sees the new school as
a way to keep students interested in learn-
ing.
“We think that this kind of school will
keep some kids that may not have fit in a
comprehensive high school engaged in
school because they’ll be doing something
they really like,” he says. “Their whole pro-
gram will be based around it and they’ll be
immersed in it so they can develop some
real skills.”
For more information on Hela High, go to
the Evergreen Public Schools page.
Veterans
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schedule six patients a day in each of those
nine rooms. They could easily do 50 hear-
ings a day. But they’re doing four or five.
That’s a waste of resources. They’re operat-
ing at 10 percent of capacity.
“That’s one thing I think they really need
to fix. They could work a lot harder there.”
Bash says he’s written to Veteran Admin-
istration Sec. Eric Shinseki to expose the
problem with the Appeals Center. But he
says he has sympathy for the VA’s argument
that the backlog has grown because of the
expanded number of claims.
“There are a lot more diagnoses involved
than in the past,” Bash says.” Now veterans
are applying for 10-15 claims at a time and
each claim is more complicated.”
Building the knowledge and skill needed
to process claims quickly takes years, he
says. But he’s hopeful that staff members
hired in recent years are now reaching that
level of expertise.
“I’ve noticed recently that the cases are
being processed a lot faster,” he says. And,
he says the move to an online system is
making a difference.
“Vets love using the online E-Benefits and
MyHealth portals,” he says. “They can read
Many Veterans are returning with severe, more
complex injuries, as well as increased demand
by our aging veteran population
sites around the country.
“The agency tracks and widely reports the
average wait time: 273 days. But the inter-
nal data indicates that veterans filing their
first claim, including those who served in
Iraq and Afghanistan, wait nearly two
months longer, between 316 and 327 days.
in many other parts of the country. Accord-
ing to the map, updated on April 1, the aver-
age wait in Portland is 317 days but 450
days for first time claimants. In Seattle the
average wait is 333 days, but 124 days for
first-time claimants.
Portland VA spokesman, Scott Bond says
the agency counts claims that have been
filed for more than 125 days as part of the
backlog. In Portland currently 8,621 claims
are backlogged.
Often those claims are complex and may
involve missing records or other problems,
Bond says. And about 60 percent of them
are from veterans who already are receiving
some benefits from earlier claims.
“The numbers change daily,” Bond says.
“They try to complete the new claims that
are easy and get them out of the door. But
they also want to complete the older claims
where people have been waiting a long
time.”
The VA maintains it still is on track to end
the backlog in 2015. “Many Veterans are
returning with severe, more complex
injuries, as well as increased demand by our
aging veteran population,” the agency says
in a report. “In addition, we have also right-
ed some old wrongs: Secretary Shinseki
made the long overdue decisions to recog-
nize for the first time medical conditions
related to Agent Orange, Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, Gulf War illness – which
has led to a nearly a million new claims.”
April 10, 2013
The Portland Skanner Page 3