News
Abioto
Heart Health
drive containing all of the images from her
world-famous photography project crashed.
Now she’s launched a new funding effort
through Indiegogo to pay for the hard drive
repairs and build out her project over the
next year.
“I think my approach really takes into
account both the whole world, but also the
whole African Diaspora, in thinking about
The artist says she’s working to publish
her images into a book; she’s also hoping to
purchase a film-capable single lens reflex
camera to mix film with video — which she
hopes will take these new projects to a larg-
er audience.
And a larger audience is exactly what she
got when Young Thug and Bloody Jay put
out “Black Portland” – already considered
to be one of the hottest
recordings of the year.
“My feelings about it
have evolved,” Abioto says.
“I do understand to an
extent where they’re com-
ing from, because I went to
school in Atlanta, I’m from
the south, I’ve been there.
“It’s a place where Black
people are doing all kinds of things, and I
get that comparison of Portland’s culture of
makers and doers here and the culture of
makers and doers there.”
But, Abioto says, there’s already a Black
Portland.
“To me, as a result of the lack of a diverse
expression of the Portland that’s being
branded to the world, what we see past our
borders — but also within Portland — it’s a
limited story. I don’t think the world gets
any of the real history of this place.
“And so when they talk about Portland
being a white city, they don’t understand the
very unique journey that brought people of
color to the state.”
“It’s powerful what Black people have
‘It’s powerful what Black people
have done to be here, but their
story isn’t seen on the national
stage’
this one community of 36 or 37,000 peo-
ple,” she says.
Which is why comparing Black Port-
landers to the maroons is such a fascinating
point of view.
The maroons were – are—small commu-
nities of Africans and their descendants in
the Caribbean and throughout the “New
World” who escaped enslavement and
formed self-governing settlements along-
side indigenous people during the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They preserved
many aspects of African life and culture that
otherwise would have been wiped out.
Abioto hopes to branch out into a radio
show, video production, storytelling, arts
and exploration.
PPHOTO COURTESY SALEM HEART AND VASCULAR CENTER
continued from page 1
During the big ice storm, staff from Salem Health Heart & Vascular Center
in Oregon led the production of a special video--shot in one day and in
the snow--to celebrate the American Heart Association's "National Wear
Red Day" and call attention to heart health. The video features a wide
array of physicians, hospital staff and employees. February is American
Heart Month. About 600,000 people die of heart disease every year. It is
the leading cause of death for both women and men.
Check out the film at www.youtube.com/salemhealth.
done to be here, but their story isn’t seen on
the national stage, because the ongoing
trauma of the history — it doesn’t fit into
Portland’s happy-go-lucky branding of ‘the
city that works.’” she says.
See Abioto’s work at www.theblackport-
landers.com.
Read the rest of this story online at
www.theskanner.com
Disaster
continued from page 1
emergency management professionals.
Originally adopted in 2002 as the Region-
al Disaster Plan, the current agreement has
145 signatories including cities, special pur-
pose districts, private organizations, and
non-profit agencies in King County.
As with the current plan, the new frame-
work is voluntary, meaning its use during an
emergency is up to each organization.
The Regional Coordination Framework
for Disasters and Planned Events focuses on
five key areas:
• Direction and Coordination
• Information Collection, Analysis, and
‘Utilities and transportation are important areas
where emergency planning should be
prioritized’
Dissemination
• Public Information
• Communications
• Resource Management
The plan was drawn up by the King Coun-
ty Regional Disaster Planning Work Group,
made up of emergency professionals and
stakeholders drawn from throughout the
region.
“The new framework is a streamlined for-
mat that promotes cooperation and effective
response on the ground,” said Planning
Work Group chair Luke Meyers. “It’s flexi-
ble and can be used by organizations of
almost any size.”
The framework’s success relies upon
widespread endorsement of cities, organiza-
tions, and businesses throughout King
County. Interested organizations can join at
any time.
“I urge every jurisdiction and organiza-
tion with a role to play during an emergency
in King County to adopt this new frame-
work,” Constantine said.
For more information on the Regional
Coordination Framework for Disasters and
Planned Events, please visit www.king-
county.gov/prepare.
Coal
labor groups criticized the broad scope, saying “cradle to
grave” permitting isn’t justified and would have a chilling
effect on trade and economic development.
Ken Miller, president and CEO of Millennium Bulk Ter-
minals-Longview, said in a statement Wednesday that the
company had hoped to be hiring workers now, two years
It’s one of three coal-export
docks proposed in the
Northwest
after submitting permits, but was pleased the agencies are
moving forward. A spokesman for Miller said he would not
be available for an interview.
The National Association of Manufacturers, the attorney
generals of North Dakota and Montana and others had
argued for a narrower focus, saying there’s no precedent for
such a far-reaching analysis.
“This decision sets an unnecessary precedent for manu-
facturers that could make it harder to obtain approvals for
almost every product we export, from grains to airplanes,”
Ross Eisenberg with the National Association of Manufac-
turers said in a statement Wednesday.
State Department of Ecology officials challenged the
notion that this review sets a precedent for others, saying
that projects are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Ecology’s Sally Toteff also noted that the state and coun-
ty has just started the study and haven’t reached any
conclusions.
“How much of a concern are impacts from greenhouse
gas emissions or vessel or rail transport? We don’t know
yet. How might this affect permitting decisions? We don’t
know yet. That is the point of the study,” she said.
The project, planned by Ambre Energy Ltd. and Arch
Coal Inc., would handle up to 44 million metric tons of coal
from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming at
a terminal near Longview.
It’s one of three coal-export docks proposed in the North-
west. The other projects are near Bellingham, Wash., and
Boardman, Ore.
On Tuesday, Oregon regulators issued three key permits
for another Ambre Energy project in Boardman but threw
up a new hurdle. The state Department of Environmental
Quality said it would require the project to seek a water-
quality certification sought by opponents.
The proposal, known as the Morrow Pacific project,
would bring up to 8.8 million tons of coal a year by train
from Montana or Wyoming. The coal would be loaded onto
enclosed barges at the terminal and then shipped down the
Columbia River, where it would be loaded onto Asia-bound
ships in Port Westward in Clatskanie.
AP PHOTO BY CHARLES REX ARBOGAST
continued from page 1
In this Oct. 25, 2013 file photo, petroleum coke, or
petcoke, is watered down where it is stored along
the Calumet River on Chicago’s southeast side. The
Pollution Control Board is scheduled to meet
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Chicago to consider
Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed emergency regulations
for petroleum coke. Quinn says he’s responding to
complaints from Chicago residents that petroleum
coke piling up on the city’s southeast side is a
health and environmental threat.
That project still needs permits from the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and the Oregon Department of State Lands.
An Army Corps spokesman said a permitting decision is
expected this spring.
Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com
February 19, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3