WWW . THESKANNER . COM
M AY 13, 2015
P ORTLAND
AND
S EATTLE
V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 32
For The Skanner
website scan this
QR code
By Donovan M. Smith
Of The Skanner News
A
sk Nicky today, and she will say the
gang wars she once front-lined for
are “pointless.”
Stopping today’s youth from following
her path by joining the ranks of this same
“pointless” war she and so many other thou-
sands have fought since the late 1980’s is
the reason she has launched the new initia-
tive Neighbors Against Violence.
The alliance comprised entirely of female
ex-gang members—some once rivals—
aims to steer young people into job
opportunities, camps, and provide scholar-
ships with the hopes that paths like these
will fulfill their bottom line, “trying to save
some lives.”
Most organizations combating the ills of
gang-life tend to be male-led and male-cen-
tric as the overwhelming majority of those
in gangs are young boys—but the ladies of
Neighbors Against Violence are taking a
different approach.
“The girls are the ones having the babies
and having to raise them when these men
die,” Lunita Renfrow, one of the group’s
members says.
“The girls are the ones that are stuck after-
wards and end up having to be single
mothers and not being able to take care of
the kids, or the kids keep going back to the
street and raising little gang members
again.”
Renfrow adds that though they will keep
their focus on women, certain resources like
scholarships will be available to boys as
well.
But they also hope to other services such
as daycare so mothers can go to school.
Neighbors Against Violence acts only as
an initiative at the moment, but Taylor, the
group’s creator, says she is working on get-
ting it to 501c3 status.
After 24-year-old Andre Lee Coggins was
killed in one of the city’s three gang-related
See NAV on page 3
INDEX
News .........1,3,8-10,12
Opinion .....................2
Calendars ..............4,5
A & E ......................6,7
Bids/Classifieds ........11
Pacific NW
2000TH
STRIKEOUT
Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix
Hernandez threw his 2000th
strikeout in a sold-out game
against the Oakland Athletics
on Mothers Day. The Mariners
beat the A’s 4-3.
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Former members
start up anti-violence
program for youth
CENTS
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
Life
Without
Gangs
25
Construction on Your Block?
Good luck figuring out who to call when dangerous problems arise
By Arashi Young
Of The Skanner News
A
demolition crew moved
to tear down one of the
last remaining walls of a
111-year-old church last month
in the King neighborhood of
Northeast Portland. The front
boom of the excavator knocked
the wall outside the protective
fencing.
Onlookers gasped as the side
of the building fell and bounced
against the power lines. A
YouTube video of the blunder
circulated on social media,
becoming a flash point for dis-
content
about
hazardous
demolitions.
A poster mocking construc-
tion regulation agencies seen
around town and in the Face-
book group “Stop Demolishing
Portland,” accuses the Bureau
of Development Services, the
Department of Environmental
Quality and the Oregon Health
Authority of being negligent
overseers of development haz-
ards.
Neighbors are increasingly
concerned about the safety of
demolitions in their communi-
ties and have been asking for
more accountability from regu-
lators.
The trouble is – finding the
right person to talk to can
require multiple calls to multi-
ple government offices.
In the process of writing this
story, The Skanner News spoke
with six government agencies:
the Bureau of Development
Services, the Oregon Health
Authority, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality,
the Oregon Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, the
Portland Police Bureau and the
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
Dealing with construction
hazards is further complicated
by regulatory loopholes. One
example is lead paint, which is
not regulated in full demolitions
of
residences.
Similarly,
asbestos has strict disposal stan-
dards, but enforcement of those
rules depend on voluntary
See DEMOLITIONS
on page 3
‘State of Black Oregon’ Report Issued
An urgent call and path forward for a Black Oregon policy agenda
By Donovan M. Smith
Of The Skanner News
T
he release of the Urban League’s sec-
ond State of Black Oregon report this
week shows that problems in the
Black community have persisted or gotten
worse.
Generational problems like unemploy-
ment, health, education achievement,
housing instability, disproportionate incar-
ceration rates, and business retention
continue in Oregon’s Black community,
mirroring national statistics.
Urban League of Portland president and
CEO, Michael Alexander, says that despite
some progresses, systematic inequities con-
tinue to be perpetuated through racism and
lack of economic opportunity.
“As Oregon works to build a healthy and
prosperous state, we risk failing to fulfill
our potential and our promise if we do not
dismantle the legacy of inequity and institu-
tional neglect of communities of color,”
says Alexander. Civil Rights attorney
Nkenge Harmon Johnson will replace
Alexander, who retires this month.
The report uses intensive research, statis-
See REPORT on page 3