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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2014)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM A UGUST 20, 2014 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 46 For The Skanner website scan this QR code CENTS Pacific NW The Skanner News presents our new regional edition, featuring more news and local information. C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Young Mom Killed 25 FERGUSON ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign attacks ‘no-snitching’ culture By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News See ENOUGH on page 3 INDEX News ..............1,3,7-10 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ....................6,12 Bids/Classifieds ........11 PHOTO BY THE SKANNER STAFF D ozens of p e o p l e crammed into the community room at the North- east precinct Monday evening to join the Enough is Enough campaign against violence in Ervaeua Herring Portland communi- ties. The latest victim, young mother Ervaeua Herring, 21, was shot around 5 a.m. Sunday Aug. 17 at her apartment in Southeast Port- land. Herring had a one-year-old son. “I care about the issues in our nation. I’m watching Ferguson,” said Antoinette Edwards, director of the Office of Youth Violence Prevention. “Where is our out- rage? That somebody knocked on the door, knocked on doors until they found someone —a young woman —and gunned her down. Where is our outrage there? “Do we value our lives? That’s what this is about tonight.” Edwards asked family members who had lost loved ones to violence to kick off the meeting. Perlia Bell spoke about the loss of her daughter, Asia Bell, in 2002 in a shoot- ing that left Bell’s husband blinded and four children without their mother. “It’s time to stop labeling (this as about) gangs and African Americans,” Bell said. “Let’s just say crime; let’s just say vic- tims; let’s just say pain. Let’s call it what it is...I’m glad to be at this meeting. I believe it will move forward and there will be changes.” Bell was followed by other family mem- bers of victims. Brenda Davis, who lost her son in 2009 to violence said she believed the community could make change. Protesters gathered in North Portland Aug. 14 to protest the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man in Ferguson, Mo. Using the slogan “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” the protesters briefly stopped traffic at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Alberta Street. Some drivers honked in frustration while others got out of their cars and put their hands up in a show of support. Critical Need for Organ Donors One woman tells her story of survival through another’s sacrifice By Robin Prentice Special To The Skanner News I was born and raised in the Seattle area and graduated from the University of Washington (UW). While attending college, I never knew that the UW Med- ical Center would be responsible for saving my life. In December 2005 I became ill with what I thought was the flu, but when it lasted longer than expected I went to the doc- tor. They discovered that I had a serious case of pneumonia in both lungs and immediately admitted me to the hospital. After a short stay I was released with a multitude of medications and an oxygen tank. Soon after that hospital visit, I was found it difficult to breathe at all without assistance of the oxygen. Two months later, a biopsy of my left lung revealed severe lung dis- ease. Shock set over me. I was never a smoker, had no family history of lung disease and was not around toxic waste to my knowledge. I later learned that I had Pulmonary Fibrosis, “the scarring disease”. It can be caused by a multitude of factors, but in most cases doctors can’t pinpoint the cause of the prob- lem. There was no cure. My only hope was a lung transplant. On July 18, 2007 I was placed on the national transplant wait- ing list. A few months later, in October I received my life-sav- ing call. They found a match; I was going to receive a new set of lungs. The timing was fortu- nate. The disease progressed rapidly in both lungs; any longer and I would have been too ill for surgery. The most challenging part about being ill was being dependent on others. I had always been a hardworking, independent person who was there for other people. My main caregiver was my mother, Dee. She was amazing. She took me to all my medical and physical See TRANSPLANT on page 3 King County Metro Transit Reduced Fare Officials roll out program to help low-income commuters after hikes Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News K ing County Metro Transit com- muters who earn up to 200 percent of the poverty level qualify for reduced fares starting next spring. The $1.50 fare takes effect on March 1, 2015, the same day that all regular Metro fares are set to increase by 25 - 50 cents. Officials say the goal is to offset the fare hike’s impact on the most vulnerable riders not already covered by programs for youth, seniors and the disabled – and Seattle will be just the second municipality in the coun- try to create such a fare; San Francisco was first. After the ground work is laid by an array of task forces, nonprofits and government agencies, Public Health – Seattle & King County is in charge of actually administer- ing the new fare. Constantine said this week that Metro tapped Public Health to carry the difficult burden of verifying commuters’ incomes before issuing reduced fare ORCA cards because they did such a great job of “engag- ing lower-income residents and partnering with local community groups when it helped enroll more than 165,000 King See TRANSIT on page 3
