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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2015)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM A PRIL 8, 2015 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 27 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 Lawsuit Ends with Lasagna 25 STRATEGY But what are your rights in a restaurant? By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News See ENZO’S on page 3 INDEX News.............1,3,6,910 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ......................7,8 Bids/Classifieds ........11 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED A lawsuit alleging denial of service brought by Alberta Street resident Kathleen Hampton against Enzo’s Café Italiano has been amicably settled over a pan of the restaurant’s famous homemade lasagna. Hampton said last week that Enzo had reached out to her with a letter asking for a meeting, and that the food – and Enzo – were wonderful. Maybe even the best in town. “I feel good about it,” Hampton said Wednesday. “I think he’s a nice man and he’s been thinking about what happened.” Details of a legal agreement reached between the two remains sealed. It’s a stunning turnaround for a case that touched a raw nerve in Northeast Portland, where Alberta Street’s gentrification remains headline news. However, the number of similar com- plaints posted locally to social media beg the question: How do you prove your bad restaurant service is a civil rights violation? Nationally, high-profile cases that have raised eyebrows include the 2013 pat-down of Forest Whitaker in a New York deli and comedian Kamau Bell’s experience last February in a Berkeley cafe where a server tried to “shoo him away” because she thought he was harassing eaters. Both were addressed through mediation but in both cases the restaurants insisted the incidents were “not about race.” Other complaints around the country involve restaurant workers writing racist words and comments on cash register receipts. The issue reached headlines locally in February after complaints that one public banquet facility and two restaurants had allegedly treated Black customers different- ly than white customers. In addition to the Enzo’s incident, Port- land Black PFLAG’s case against the Ambridge Center was resolved through Before children charged the Nathan Hale football field, one dad strategized with his son about how to get the most candy during the Annual Meadowbrook Community Center spring egg hunt. Similar activities were held at community centers all over Seattle on Saturday April 4. Trayvon’s Mother in Portland Sybrina Fulton plans two appearances next week on youth rights By Donovan M. Smith Of The Skanner News S ybrina Fulton, mother of late Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, will speak to a special gathering in Portland, April 13, from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the Maranatha Church. Fulton will deliver a message of youth empowerment in an event that is free and open to the public. The following day, Fulton keynotes the 23rd Annual YWCA Inspire Luncheon and fundraising event, bringing some of the area’s most promi- nent businesses and community leaders to the downtown Hilton Portland & Executive Tower. Longtime activist Joyce Har- ris, who helped in bringing Martin’s mom to Maranatha after hearing she would be in town, says she sees the night as “bringing together the village,” and an opportunity to “reignite” the sense of unity and responsi- bility amongst the community. “We don’t have a lot of oppor- tunities in Portland for cultural events,” Harris says. “So when those opportunities come around we need to understand that it’s not just the adults that need that cultural healing and connection—it’s the young peo- ple too.” Fulton became an activist after her son Trayvon was shot by neighborhood watchman- turned-vigilante George Zimmerman, who walked free after a court trial. Harris called her message “beautiful.” “She realized that I have got to speak up. What’s so beautiful, is she clearly understands when she speaks up, it’s not just trying to address the injustice that hap- pened to her son, but for all her kids,” says Harris. “We still have people that don’t actually realize that racial profiling and racial discrimina- tion are actually happening because it’s not happening to them,” Fulton said in February during an interview with James See MARTIN on page 3 Urban League Career Fair This Month More companies are currently hiring from across a range of jobs By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News F or local job-seekers, it’s time to dust off that resume and put on your best interview clothes for the 22nd Annual Career Connections Fair. The Urban League of Portland, in partner- ship with IHeartMedia, JAM’N 107.5 and Bank of America, is hosting the event on April 22, at the Double Tree Hotel near Lloyd Center. The yearly fair brings together employers from the Portland area that are looking to recruit skilled, diverse job candidates. Employers come from many different eco- nomic sectors including; retail, health care, construction, corporate and government. Debra Lindsay, director of Workforce Development at the Urban League of Port- land said the employers who attend the fair have open job positions right now and are looking to hire. “Employers look to the Urban League to recruit qualified candidates,” Lindsay said. “This is an opportunity to match employers with community members that are looking for employment.” See CAREER on page 3
