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
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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