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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2015)
Local News 2014 Friends Reunited continued from page 1 Hired to Run KBOO Community Radio After a year of leadership upheavals, KBOO Community Radio in Portland has hired two respected community organizers as co-station managers of the 45-year-old insti- tution. MARCH New Battle in Portland’s ‘War on Hip Hop’ PCC’s Passage to Higher Education in Limbo Some 300 students attended the first-ever Portland Com- munity College Black Student Success Summit on March 1 – a resounding victory for organizer Noni Causey, director of the Passage to Higher Education program. APRIL Groundbreaking Parks Director Charles Jordan Dies Beloved former Portland Parks & Recreation Director and City Commissioner Charles Jordan passed away in his home last week after a long illness. A Kidney for Hasan: Local Dad Needs Donor, Could It be You? Hasan Artharee is a big, strong man. In his years of work- ing in his family’s business, and now as a supervisor for Portland Parks and Recreation, Artharee has helped a lot of people,now he needs someone to step up and help him. MAY Dancer Attacked Outside Seattle Club A random beating outside a Seattle bar April 20 has left a celebrated local dancer severely injured and crowdsourcing for financial help. PHOTO BY KATE WILLSON Community outrage over what some see as a racist target- ing of hip hop events peaked over the weekend when recording artist Luck-One and Illmaculate’s Saturday night show at the Blue Monk was halted, reportedly by the Port- land Fire Marshall due to overcrowding. Hiab Ghebregherghis and Filmon Elyas attended grade school in the East African country of Eritrea; both their families escaped war there to become refugees in different parts of the world. Last year they bumped into each other again at the Multnomah County Rockwood Library Computer and Homework Helper program. Read the whole story on www.theskanner.com. Check out the Computer and Homework Helper program online at www.multcolib.org/events/computer- homework-helper. Rockwood Library is at 17917 SE Stark St., Portland. For more information call 503-988-5396. Scroggins died Tuesday in Portland. agency in charge of early childhood education programs. JUNE City of Portland Sued Over Stolen Car Mixup JULY Outside IRCO Protesters Claim Diversity Equals Anti-White Genocide Michael Fuller of OlsenDaines law firm, served a civil lawsuit claim notice against the City of Portland this week claiming the Police Bureau “failed to equally protect Ms. Battles as a crime victim, and violated her rights by failing to inform her when they located her car.” Master Musician Janice Marie Scroggins Dies at 59 Albina Head Start Appeals Funding Decision One of the most respected and admired artists in the Pacific Northwest, musician and songwriter Janice Marie The Albina Head Start community has been deeply shak- en by the partial loss of grant funding through the new state A small group of protesters displayed anti-immigrant signs outside the entrance to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization Monday morning. Portland Ban the Box Campaign Could Remove See 2014 on page 13 Fee continued from page 1 News that safety improvements in under- served areas of town could also come with increased bus service from TriMet, accord- ing to conversations he’s had with the transit company’s general manager, Neil McFarlane. In order for it to pass, three City Council members must vote in favor of the proposal. Commissioner Amanda Fritz has long been considered the swing vote on this issue though it has never undergone an official decision. City Council was last set to vote on the matter Dec. 17, but decided to defer the matter to the first public meeting of the new year on Jan. 8, 2015. Here are some key things to know about the proposal going into the possible final vote on January: Tax filers in the lowest fifth of the income distribution would pay $3 a month; filers in the second fifth would pay $5 a month; fil- ers in the middle fifth would pay $7.45 a month; filers in the second-highest fifth would pay $9 a month; and filers in the top fifth would pay $12 a month. The city reports that of Portland’s 4,827 miles of paved roadways, about 1,800 are paycheck in the Rose City. It’s unclear how much more money that would generate for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The East Portland Action Plan wrote a let- An amendment added in December proposes taxing those with an address outside the Portland-city limits, but who earn their paycheck in the Rose City. frequented most by commuters, freight and transit; nearly half of its busiest roads are in “poor or very poor condition.” Under the current plan, 56 percent of the annual revenue would be dedicated to paving streets while the remainder would go to safety projects like sidewalks, signage and crosswalk installations. An amendment added in December pro- poses taxing those with an address outside the Portland-city limits, but who earn their ter to the City Oct. 22 pointing to the fact 7-out-of-10 pedestrian deaths happened in East Portland where most low income, com- munities of color, and seniors live. A poll commissioned by Oregon Small Business Association lobbyist Kent Craford and others in November concluded 63 per- cent of “likely” voters oppose the fee and nearly 83 percent believe the issue should be sent to a ballot rather than decided by City Council. Numerous cities throughout the state have passed similar transportation usage fees over the last decade including Hillsboro, Tigard, West Linn, Oregon City and Ashland. Should the proposal fail amongst council members, Novick says he will propose yet again a progressive income tax measure for the ballot on May or November 2016. The first-term commissioner says may be passed with the resolution, should it get the necessary votes, for the revenue bureau to analyze whether taxing suburbanites who work in the city but live outside the city lim- its is legal in addition to being practical. As far as whether the proposal will go through in its current form on Jan. 17, “I don’t know,” says Novick. If you want to voice your opinion on the latest version of the proposal, a public hear- ing is scheduled at City Hall Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. For more information visit: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/trans- portation/64188 or email: ourstreetspdx@portlandoregon.gov. Law continued from page 1 embezzlement, hoped that it would help solve the long-ignored problem. Now, some advocates worry that a pro- posal to reduce the law’s financial penalties will severely damage it. The measure failed this fall, but its sponsor, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, vows to re-introduce it in the new GOP-controlled Congress. Cornyn said the funds include grants for worthy programs, such as ones that support rape and domestic violence victims. He said the law should be more narrowly tailored to affect money for prison construction, opera- tions and administration. Advocates say the measure is the latest sign that the law’s implementation is too Eight Washington State correctional facilities comply with the federal law, and nine more are set to be audited in 2015 slow. Federal statistics show about 216,000 adult and juvenile inmates are sexually assaulted each year, compared to 238,000 people living outside of correction facilities in the U.S. Allen Beck, a statistician with the U.S. Department of Justice who researches the incidence of prison rape, said the biggest indicator of prisoner sexual assault is the culture of the facility, not the number of inmates or security cameras. So far, seven states have opted out of the law, and stand to lose 5 percent in federal money that goes toward prisons. Two states — New Jersey and New Hampshire — say they are in compliance, and 41 others are working to meet the law’s requirements. The law’s backers say Cornyn’s proposal would essentially gut the penalty because little, if any, federal grant money actually goes toward prison administration, opera- tions and constructions. Those are funded by state and local governments. To take the provision out “would totally obliterate the incentive states have to com- ply with” the law, said U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, the chairman of the for- mer National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. The commission developed the law’s requirements, which range from increased training of staff about sex abuse policies to screening new inmates to determine if they’re likely to commit sexual assault or to be assaulted. January 7, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3
