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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2015)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ANUARY 7, 2015 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 14 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 2014 Year in Review 25 PLUNGE! Rights, courts, politics: The Skanner News’ most-read stories By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News T JANUARY Victim’s Family Seeks Information on Assault Krystal Guinn, 25, was punched in the face early in the morning of Jan. 5 at the Black Book after turning down the advances of a young man who was sexually harassing her, her family says, and could lose the range of vision in her right eye. Right-Wing Bloggers Ridicule Port- land Students, Teachers, Administrators A massive demonstration drew national attention and name-calling from a promi- nent conservative blogger, as well as a political “citizen journalist” who videotaped the students’ activities and posted them online as a form of ridicule. FEBRUARY PAALF Responds to Trader Joe’s Pullout The Portland African American Leader- ship Forum held a press conference where they explained why they opposed the origi- nal development plan, rolled out a set of four demands, and announced a series of visualization meetings to gather community input, from existing neighbors, but also specifically from people who were forced to move because of gentrification. Mic Crenshaw, Monica Beemer See 2014 on page 3 INDEX News ......1,3,6-7,11-13 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ....................9,10 Bids/Classifieds ........15 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED he Skanner News has had a whirl- wind 2014; from the showdown between the Portland Police and the hip-hop community at the Blue Monk show to the protest outside of the IRCO office. Whether it was covering neighborhood reactions to gentrification to policy on pub- lic health, the street fee or police accountability, we were there. Here is a look at our most read stories from each month of 2014: Friends Dennice Jordan, Ellen Diaz and Mary Kopcho emerge from Lake Washington after participating in the annual Polar Bear Plunge at Mathews Beach on Jan. 1. The three women walked into the cold waters of Lake Washington to start the New Year for the 7th consecutive time. Hundreds of people braved the frigid water. More Changes for Street Fee Novick revises plan with ‘gas usage’ amendment, protests pending Donovan M. Smith Special to The Skanner News T he proposal to fix up Portland streets has received yet another tweak. Commissioner Steve Novick, overseer of The Port- land Bureau of Transportation, recently announced an amend- ment that would tax people, not based off the amount of money they make, but the amount of gas they use. Calculated to generate $43.8 million for safety and mainte- nance projects across the city, this controversial plan has seen a number of stops and starts as City Council has attempted to balance the proposal in a way that appeases business and home owners, and the tax brack- ets of families and individuals alike. With a two-fold system to generate money: residential and non-residential, Novick says “gasoline use is one proxy for ‘road use,” and that gas usage by low income people is typical- ly lower than more wealthy counterparts with many poorer people not owning a car or rely- ing on public transportation. “I’ve always said that I prefer progressive income tax. I also want to get something in place quickly so we can start getting work done because every month that we wait the streets deterio- rate further,” Novick told The Skanner News in a sit down interview. Dana Haynes, spokesperson for the mayor, says Charlie Hales is happy with this propos- al because it gives a break to low income people while addressing consumption. “Of all the options that’ve come up in the last year, the Mayor thinks this one is work- able,” says Haynes. In the first year, the city explicitly promises the street fee would pay for projects in North, Northeast, Southwest, and outer East Portland. Naming 122nd Avenue specif- ically, Novick tells The Skanner See FEE on page 3 Inmate Advocates on Prison-Rape Law Washington State facilities set for upcoming compliance audit Rebecca Boone Associated Press When Jan Lastocy was repeatedly raped by a Michigan state prison guard, she felt she’d become invisible. There was no rape crisis center hotline. She’d been warned that inmates were never believed over guards. She was among roughly 216,000 prison rape victims not included in America’s national rape statistics. Many states have trained staffers and edu- cated inmates about how to spot and report sexual assault. Addressing sexual assault and caring for victims “decreases the likelihood of an offender becoming a victim again and com- mitting a violent act once he or she returns to the community,” said Norah West, Wash- ington state’s corrections spokeswoman. Eight state correctional facilities comply with the federal law, West said. Nine more are set to be audited in 2015. When Congress passed a law in 2003 aimed at ending sexual assault in U.S. pris- ons, jails and juvenile detention centers, survivors like Lastocy, who was repeatedly raped by a guard while serving time for See LAW on page 3
