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J ANUARY 7, 2015
P ORTLAND
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S EATTLE
V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 14
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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