December 30, 2015 The Skanner Page 3
A Look Back at 2015
NEW YORK (AP) —
Mass shootings and at-
tacks weighed heavily on
the minds of Americans
in 2015, according to a
new poll that found most
believe this year was
worse for the world than
last year.
A look at the key find-
ings of The Associated
Press-Times Square Alli-
ance poll:
PREOCCUPIED BY
MASS SHOOTINGS
Americans say the most
important events of 2015
were a string of mass
shootings, including the
attacks in San Bernardi-
no, California, and Paris,
plus Islamic State group
atrocities.
Fifty-seven percent of
those polled say this year
was worse than the last
year for the world as a
whole, up from the 38
percent asked that ques-
tion a year ago. Only 10
percent believe 2015 was
a better year than 2014,
THREE EVENTS SHARE
THE TOP SPOT
Of those polled, 68 per-
cent listed mass shoot-
ings in the U.S. as very
or extremely important
news events this year,
including the one in San
Bernardino that height-
ened fears of domestic
terrorism, plus shoot-
ings in Charleston, South
Carolina; Roseburg, Or-
egon; and Chattanooga,
Tennessee.
Close behind, at 64
percent, were the Paris
attacks that ushered in
2015, targeting Charlie
Hebdo and the Jewish
market, then the Bata-
clan concert hall and oth-
er city sites in November.
Every week there’s a new
shooting somewhere in
America, and there’s a new
terrorist attack somewhere
around the world
rate the deal reached to
curtail Iran’s nuclear
program as important,
and nearly as many (42
percent) Europe’s mi-
grant crisis.
Only 40 percent said
the presidential race was
important to them, with
the Paris climate change
conference right behind
(at 38 percent), followed
by the Supreme Court’s
legalization of gay mar-
riage (36 percent) and
the Cuban-U.S. thaw (30
percent).
Portland History
The Oregon Historical Society opened ‘A Community on the Move,’ the third exhibition in a series
produced by the Oregon Black Pioneers. This groundbreaking exhibition explains how the WWII
shipyards, migration from the South, the Vanport flood and urban renewal projects impacted
Portland’s Black families and businesses. Organizer Gwen Carr, above, shows a special book created
just for the exhibit. Public talks took place through March.
Kate Brown Sworn In
Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown was sworn in as Oregon Governor by Oregon Chief Justice Thomas A. Balmer in Salem, Ore., Feb.
18. John Kitzhaber, elected to an unprecedented fourth term in 2014, announced the previous week that he would step down amid
allegations his fiancee used her relationship with him to enrich herself.
—J.P. Fury, Time Square food
truck worker
while 32 percent think
there wasn’t much differ-
ence.
Americans also are
much less likely than
they were a year ago to
believe that the current
year was better for the
United States — only
17 percent compared
with 30 percent a year
ago. Thirty-seven per-
cent think this year was
worse for the country
than last year, while 44
percent don’t think there
was much difference.
On a personal level,
fewer than a third (29
percent) believe 2015
was better for them than
2014, while 21 percent
feel it was worse, com-
pared with 15 percent in
2014.
Interviewed separate-
ly from the poll, Jason
Pruitt, a 43-year-old cor-
porate pilot from the De-
troit area, said security
concerns were a factor in
And third, at 63 per-
cent, came the Islamic
State group’s various far-
flung atrocities.
Commenting on the
completed
poll
was
32-year-old J.P. Fury,
working in a food truck
in Times Square.
“At this point, I’m numb
to all of it,” he said. “This
is nothing new. Every
week there’s a new shoot-
ing somewhere in Amer-
ica, and there’s a new ter-
rorist attack somewhere
around the world.”
OTHER ISSUES
Domestically, 44 per-
cent of those polled rate
as extremely or very
important the deaths
of blacks in encounters
with police that sparked
“Black Lives Matter” pro-
tests in Baltimore and
Chicago.
Another 44 percent
See POLL on page 6
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
“
deciding whether to take
his wife and daughter
along on a Christmas trip
to New York.
“We were thinking
about not coming this
year, because of every-
thing that’s going on,”
Pruitt said. But they went
ahead “because when
you change your life, the
terrorists win.”
AP PHOTO/DON RYAN
By Verena Dobnik
Associated Press
PHOTO BY LISA LOVING
AP-Times Square Poll:
Shootings Weighed on
Americans in 2015
New Police Chief
Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea, at left, helped rebuild the dining room table for a family at Villa de Mariposas, at a special party
thrown by the community for police officers December 2014. O’Dea also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. O’Dea was sworn in as
the Portland Police Bureau’s new chief Jan. 2.