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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM M AY 29, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 34 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 Biden Prepares for 2016 SOCCER RIVALS The vice president is fiercely loyal to President Obama By Josh Lederman Associated Press Orishas, or deities in the Yoruba religious system. This is the first studio recording of the songs in their completion. Omo Alagba features three drummers, a singer and a cho- rus. The drummers play the bata drums, which are considered “talking drums.” The drums have different tones and the drummers talk to each other through them. Riedlinger says this tradition survived amongst the slaves and WASHINGTON (AP) – With his politi- cal future tied irrevocably to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden is still working to preserve his own distinct identity as he contemplates a third presiden- tial run in 2016. With nearly four years left in Obama’s second term, it would be untoward for Biden to be openly self-promotional, and his advisers say he’s focused on his current job. Still, with the jockeying for 2016 nom- inations already well under way, there’s an advantage to staying part of the conversa- tion. So the freewheeling man from Scran- ton, Pa., is polishing a reputation carefully nurtured over four decades in Washington, playing up his own strengths even as he stays fiercely loyal to his current boss. “The good news is my dad understands that he works for the president, first and foremost,’’ said Beau Biden, the vice presi- dent’s son and Delaware’s state attorney general. “I hope he takes a real, hard look at running, but now’s not the time.’’ That time will come soon enough. In the meantime, the vice presidency has afforded Biden ample opportunities to keep his name in the spotlight without seeming overtly political. He’s hit the pavement, keeping a strenuous schedule that would wear out many 70-year-old men. On a Monday earlier this month, Biden hosted religious leaders for hours at a White House meeting on gun control, even though efforts to revive a failed bill had stalled. On Tuesday, he spoke about voting rights at an African-American think tank. He talked immigration with Asian-Americans at an awards dinner Wednesday, and the Boston bombings in a keynote address to firefight- ers on Thursday. By Friday, he was prepar- ing to return home to Delaware, where he spends many weekends. “Part of the challenge of being president is you have to be president. It doesn’t give you See BATA on page 3 See BIDEN on page 3 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED The Seattle Reign played their rival the Portland Thorns Saturday May 25th at Tukwila’s Starfire Stadium. The Thorns beat the Reign 1-0 with a controversial penalty kick goal in the 84th minute of the game. Film Explores Origin of Afro-Cuban Music Seattle-based bata drummers prepare for performance in Nigeria Bruce Poinsette Of The Skanner News T wo local documentarians are bringing the Afro- Cuban bata drumming tradition to the screen. Alex Riedlinger and Sidony O’Neal will be traveling with the Seattle-based Omo Alagba, or “Children of the Sacred Eld- ers” project for their perform- ance at the historic 10th International Congress of Orisa Tradition and Culture in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. They will be capturing the experience to both expose viewers to the music and further the dialogue of the African dias- pora. “I feel like the process of making this film will be just as powerful as the drumming that we capture,” says O’Neal. She and Riedlinger are work- ing in conjunction with produc- er Chaz Mortimer of Ibori Records to put out this film. Riedlinger will be doing all the filming while O’Neal will write and translate. Both are doing extensive research. Mortimer, in INDEX News ..................2,3,6,7 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................4 Bids/Classifieds............7 addition to producing, will be doing sound for the film. Their collaboration will be the first project for O’Neal and Riedlinger’s vehicle, Ibeji Pic- tures. Recently, the group raised $6,840 through an Indiegogo campaign. The Omo Alagba are a Luku- mi Orisha band, which means they perform Afro-Cuban praise music that has roots in Nigeria. Mortimer received grants to produce a full album of all the praise songs performed by prac- titioners to pay home to the Budget Talks Stalled in Olympia for Now About $1 Billion divides Democratic and Republican politicians OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)— Staffers in Washington state’s financial management agency have been conducting legal and his- torical research to determine what would happen if lawmakers fail to pass a new budget before the start of the fiscal year. David Schumacher, the budget director under Gov. Jay Inslee, said the work is being done in order to keep officials pre- pared and insisted that it’s not a sign that budget negotiations are at an impasse. Still, Senate Minority Leader Ed Murray called the pace of negotiations “glacial.’’ “I think the worst case scenario is we find ourselves on June 30 without a budget and we go into territory we’ve never been into before,’’ he said. Schumacher said he’s still hopeful that negotiators will begin coming closer togeth- er soon as they start swapping revised budg- et plans. The House and Senate budgets have a $1 billion chasm between them, with House Democrats seeking new revenue by extending taxes and eliminating tax breaks. Schumacher said typical negotiations in Olympia would find a solution somewhere in the middle of that gap. “You kind of split the difference,’’ Schu- See BUDGET on page 6
