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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2014)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM F EBRUARY 19, 2014 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 20 25 CENTS Regional Edition Pacific Northwest C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Constantine shifts bureaucracy for emergency response Of The Skanner News K ing County Executive Dow Con- stantine last week boosted his effort to coordinate government agencies in disaster response with a newly-developed framework to make sure responders aren’t tied down by red tape. The move comes months after Constan- tine launched the Resilient King County Initiative, a two-year plan to improve com- munity safety that is considered to be one of the first of its kind in the nation. “We are better able to respond to disasters when we have a coordinated approach, fol- low the same protocols, and are able to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy,” he said. “This approach clears the path for emergency responders to share resources across boundaries.” Much of the effort was launched last Sep- tember, starting with a Disaster Recovery Leadership Summit held at the Microsoft campus in Redmond. That gathering identified a handful of key “themes” – including a sense of urgency in drawing up better disaster plans, a “need for synchronization,” and the ability to “come back better.” Attendees at that event dug into specific needs regarding community infrastructure, the healthcare sector, the economy and housing. A majority at the leadership meet- ing identified utilities and transportation as the most important areas where emergency planning – including built-in cooperation and interdependency – should be priori- tized. The new Regional Coordination Frame- work for Disasters and Planned Events “clears the legal pathway to allow coopera- tion among governments and tribal nations, as well as private and non-profit organiza- tions,” Constantine said in a statement. Elected leaders and city managers were on hand for the announcement in Bellevue, joined by federal, tribal, state and local 206 ZULU NATION The 206 Zulu Nation celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a weekend of activities that paid tribute to hip hop culture, including the Zulu Throw Down, and the Championship B- Boy/B-Girl Battle on Saturday, Feb. 15, at Washington Hall, Seattle. PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Cutting Red Tape IndieGoGo Campaign for Art Intisar Abioto crowdsources rebuild, growth of ‘The Black Portlanders’ By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News T Then last week, late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien ridiculed the City of Portland over the recent Portland Devel- opment Commission negotiations to build a Trader Joe’s on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard – joking that “Port- land is the Native American word for ‘too many white peo- ple.’” Portland photographer Intisar Abioto is right in the middle of it. Her photography blog, “The Black Portlanders” — celebrat- ing one year this month — is dedicated to telling the whole story of this very specific com- munity of people which she compares to the Maroon com- munities in Jamaica. From the destruction of the historic Black business district to the struggle for hip hop entre- preneurs to make a living here, Abioto has no trouble linking all these issues into one simple truth: African descendants in the Pacific Northwest comprise a unique community, one that has struggled even more than most, and is generally misunderstood or written off by the mainstream culture. “We think about it in terms of just these physical things, but what we are talking about is the growth and the blossoming of actual people — it’s not just the buildings,” she says. “What does it mean, to rebuild your community again and again, inter-generationally?” Intisar herself is rebuilding – she suffered an almost irrepara- ble loss last fall when the hard See DISASTER on page 3 hrough a series of unrelat- ed recent events, Black Portlanders have landed on the national stage. First, ascending Atlanta rap- pers Young Thug and Bloody Jay released a recording in Jan- uary called “Black Portland” to critical acclaim — except that some African-American people who live in Portland have their own take on what the term means. INDEX Washington Coal Terminal Gets Review News ..............1,3,8-10 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ......................6,7 Bids/Classifieds ........11 See ABIOTO on page 3 Business sector says environmental regulation will hurt industry Phuong Le The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — State and local regu- lators said Wednesday they’ll consider a sweeping environmental review of the effects of a proposed terminal along the Columbia River in Washington that would export millions of tons of coal to Asia. The review of the nearly $650 million Millennium Bulk Terminals project will consider impacts that extend well beyond the site, including global-warming effects from burning the exported coal in Asia and rail impacts as coal is shipped by train from the Rockies throughout the state. The announcement represents a victory for project opponents, who said the decision ensures that concerns over coal dust, green- house gas emissions and rail traffic are addressed. “It’s appropriate for such a massive proj- ect,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of the Columbia Riverkeeper. “It’s encouraging to see the agencies take to heart the deep public interest in protecting our communities.” Some national and local business and See COAL on page 3
