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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J UNE 5, 2013 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 35 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 Learning About Lupus EVICTED Meies Matz says the deadly disease can take years to pinpoint Bruce Poinsette Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS I t’s far from a sunny Sunday afternoon but Meies Matz is wearing sunglasses. Hours-old rain still covers most of the chairs and tables outside and the clouds sug- gest more is on the way. Still, Matz can’t take her shades off. She suffers from lupus, and any kind of UV light can trigger a flare, which can cause sores, migraines, fatigue, joint pain or worse. On Jun. 2, she participated in the “Walk to End Lupus Now” to raise money for the Lupus Foundation of America, or LFA. The Northwest chapter of the group put on the walk to support research and outreach. Matz says this is particularly important because lupus disproportionately affects women of color and is often misdiagnosed in Black women in particular, due in part to uncon- scious biases, but also because its symptoms vary and mimic other illnesses. “There needs to be awareness in the African American community that 75 per- cent of women who get lupus are women of color,” she says. “We need to know what this looks like and how we can turn the tide and use our voices to have an impact on health inequities.” Lupus is a chronic, inflammatory autoim- mune disorder affecting the connective tis- sue, where the body’s own immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues, causing inflammation and malfunction of various organ systems. In lupus, the organ systems most often involved include the skin, kid- neys, blood and joints. In some cases, lupus may be a mild disorder affecting only a few organ systems. In other cases, it may result in serious complications and death. According to the U.S. Department of Health, Black women are three times more likely to get lupus than White women. Black and Latino women are also more likely to get lupus at a younger age and suffer from more severe symptoms like kidney prob- Community activist Skip Osborne confronts Portland Saturday Market Executive Director Paul Verhoeven in front of Ken Grove’s ‘King of the Cajuns’ booth last weekend. Groves is officially out of his spot at the market after 14 years there. Market Kicks Out King of Spices Saturday Market’s board says Ken Groves failed to follow rules F or 14 years Ken Groves has been selling his spices and barbecue sauces at Portland’s Saturday Market. But a dispute with the market’s board is threatening to close down his “King of the Cajuns Spices,” market stall. Groves says new rules, passed by the market’s board on March 28, are a thinly veiled effort to force his fami- ly business out of the market. “This is my only job,” Groves says. “I left my job when I got in here and I have built my business here. And people love my spices and sauces. I’ve brought a lot of business into this market.” The new rules say vendors of packaged food must sched- ule a workshop visit, to allow the market’s product commit- tee to ensure all products are prepared by hand in a licensed commercial kitchen. Under the new rules packaged food ven- dors must also show the com- mittee a year’s worth of receipts for product ingredi- ents. “They want me to expose my trade secret. I’ve been here 14 years and they’ve never asked me to do this before,” Groves says. “They want me to show receipts for all my ingredients and where I get my products from. That’s all pri- vate business. “Now, after all these years they want to see my trade secrets.” Groves protested the requirement. He points to the Department of Agriculture license for his kitchen, saying he has complied with every- thing the law demands. And he asks, what expertise do market See LUPUS on page 3 INDEX News ...................2,3,6 Opinion .....................4 A & E .........................5 Financial ...................6 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 Business .....................8 board members have in kitchen inspection? With help from Skipper Osborne, who runs a civil rights advocacy group called Truth and Justice for All, Groves sent a letter to the board asking them to reconsid- er. But the board responded by setting a time limit, May 31. And last Saturday, Paul Verho- even, the market’s executive director, handed Groves a let- ter banning him from selling at the market. Verhoeven says the rules are See SPICES on page 3 PDC’s North/Northeast Development Event included breakout sessions, an in-person resource center and Bruce Poinsette Of The Skanner News T he Portland Development Commis- sion held its North/Northeast Port- land Neighborhood Economic Development Summit on May 30. “The purpose of the summit is to bring together small businesses and the organiza- tions and people that support them and talk about what we can do collectively to improve the prospects of business growth and success in North and Northeast Port- land, but more broadly, throughout all Port- land neighborhoods,” says PDC executive director Patrick Quinton. “We really believe that the path to raising incomes and wealth within our neighborhoods is by creating more successful businesses in our neighbor- hoods.” The summit included breakout sessions and an in-person resource center for small businesses and community organizations, as well as keynotes from Mayor Charlie Hales and headliner Michael Bush, president and founder of The 8 Factors. Breakout sessions were broken into two subjects, growing business and connecting See NED on page 8
