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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2014)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM A UGUST 27, 2014 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 47 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 Annual Job Gap Study 25 RALLY FOR HOPE Report finds $15 per hour is not enough to stay out of poverty Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED W hile the campaign for a $15 mini- mum wage takes root across the country, a new report underscores just how meager that wage really is for fam- ilies. The 2014 Annual Job Gap Report from the economic research group, the Alliance for a Just Society, found that in Washington State the living wage for a single individual is now $15.99 an hour, while in Oregon it takes $15.96 per hour. A single adult with two children in Ore- gon needs $30.75 per hour; in Washington, $30.01. “I think for Washington State the most important thing is what a realistic living wage is for families,” says Kathy Mulady with the Alliance for a Just Society in Seat- tle. “This means a wage not where a family can barely survive, but a wage where a fam- ily has a chance to actually thrive.” “One of the things that struck me the most is that we’re seeing that even though there’s a $15 minimum wage campaign being waged across the country, this report — for the first time that I’ve seen it — implies that even $15 is not enough,” said Darlene Huntress, executive director of Oregon Action. The annual report, which covers 10 states plus New York City, has been issued since 1999 by the national office of the Alliance for a Just Society in cooperation with local community justice groups. “For workers saddled with debt, the wage to pay off that debt would be even greater than the calculated living wage,” the report says. “Students in Washington graduate with $23,293 in student loans, and the aver- age credit card holder in the state has an outstanding debt of $5,269. Additionally, nearly 20 percent of mortgages in the state are underwater.” People prayed for the City of Seattle and celebrated God at the 10th Annual Rally for Hope, Saturday, Aug. 23 at Westlake Park, in Seattle. The event was dedicated to inspiring young people and included appearances by Dr. Dorinda Clark-Cole, Michelle Lang, the Mt. Zion Wind Ensemble and many more. Ready for the LOVE Challenge? Portland man inspired by ice bucket videos uses media for peace By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News J ames Crittenden Sr. issued a challenge to Portland last week. He calls it the LOVE Challenge: Let Our Vengeance End. “It takes a real man or a real woman if you can approach someone and let them know, ‘I’m sorry about what I did.’ Or if they did something, to say: ‘I want to let go of what you did. Let’s not let this happen again. Let’s just live life and be happy.’” Crittenden says he’s challeng- ing people to let go of old grudges, reach out to former enemies and move forward in peace. And he’s leading by example. Last week he posted a video of himself reconciling with a former love rival, Cory. The two men fell out after they both fell for the same woman. “We haven’t seen each other for a while, and it is good,” he says in the video as the two men hug. “This is my brother, and to all you haters out there, this is what we did. And this is what we might be doing again. So to all you gang members out there, I challenge you. I challenge you females. I challenge everybody to get with the ones you don’t get along with and do just this.” The video must have hit a nerve because it was shared on Facebook more than 3,400 times. Crittenden says he was inspired by how the ice water challenge started to draw atten- tion, and funding, to the muscle wasting illness ALS. Thousands of people have joined in the challenge, dowsing themselves with buckets of ice-cold water and circulating challenge videos on social media. “When I saw that I thought if people will pour ice on them- selves, why wouldn’t they go to somebody and say, ‘I apolo- gize’. Why hold on to a grudge when nine times out of 10 it’s over nothing, something really small. Maybe you have a family member you have an issue with. See LOVE on page 3 See WAGE on page 3 Community Cycling Center Boosts Outreach INDEX News ...........1,3,6,9-10 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ......................7,8 Bids/Classifieds ........11 Group makes history with new efforts at bridging racial divides Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News T he Community Cycling Center is on a roll. After hiring Mychal Tetteh as chief exec- utive officer last summer, the organization boosted its community organizing staff in a bid for growth. Then this summer the Cen- ter hired North Carolina native Ernest Stephens as its Chief Operating Officer. This month the organization – which for more than 20 years has operated a bike repair shop on Northeast Alberta Street – held its first-ever Bikes for Kids event in East County. Then when Jason Washington of Brothers Gaining Equality through Excellence and community organizer DeMarcus Preston decided to start a “Take Back the Streets” movement against violence, the Center stepped up to sponsor their work with a big kickoff event last weekend. After years of working to build grassroots support for bicycling in Northeast Portland, the Community Cycling Center has suc- ceeded in transforming bikes from a symbol of gentrification to a tool for community empowerment for families that have been pushed out of the city center. When The Skanner News met with Tetteh, See CYCLING on page 3
