MARCH 23, 2016
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXVIII No. 25
25
CENTS
News ..........................3,9,10-12 A & E .................................... 6-8
Opinion ...................................2 Autonomous Cars ............9
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
PHOTO BY STEVE MORGAN (CC BY-SA 3.0)
CLINTON V. SANDERS
Transit activists have asked TriMet to implement
a low-income fare similar to its reduced honored
citizens fare for seniors and people with disabilities.
BRU Asks
For Low-
Income Fare
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
L
ast week organizers with Bus Rid-
ers Unite — an advocacy group for
transit-dependent people affiliated
with OPAL Environmental Justice
Oregon — rallied in Southeast Portland
to ask TriMet for a low-income fare.
Earlier this month TriMet released
its proposed budget for fiscal year 2017,
which includes plans to expand service,
improve system reliability and add 50
new buses to its fleet. The agency also
plans to complete infrastructure con-
struction and begin testing the Hop
FastPass electronic fare program using
See TRIMET on page 3
PHOTOS BY SUSAN FRIED
Organization says TriMet
needs to reduce the
burden on riders
Both major candidates for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Presidential race visited the Northwest this week for speaking engagements around
the region, including stops in Vancouver and Spokane, in advance of Washington’s Democratic caucus Saturday. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is
shown here addressing an enthusiastic crowd of supporters March 22 at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at Key Arena
March 20. Sanders will return to the area Friday, speaking at Portland’s Moda Center at 10 a.m. and at SAFECO Field in Seattle at 4 p.m. the same day.
BICEP Aims to Reclaim Northeast Portland
‘SOUL District’ would connect and showcase minority-owned businesses
By Arashi Young
Of The Skanner News
A
Movies
Opening this
Weekend
Batman v Superman and
Another Greek Wedding
page 6
Syrian Refugees Train for
the Olympics
page 10
new vision is emerging for
the development of North and
Northeast Portland — that in-
cludes a bustling commercial
corridor hosting African American
businesses. The streets would be
home to soul food restaurants, hip-
hop and jazz nightclubs and emerg-
ing Black-owned technology compa-
nies.
And what is the foundation of this
vision? Commercial property owner-
ship.
BICEP, the Black Investment Con-
sortium for Economic Progress, has
developed a plan to reclaim the area
as an economic hub for Black-owned
businesses (see excerpt at right).
The plan, dubbed the SOUL District,
would be a targeted set of property
developments connecting and show-
casing minority businesses.
Carl Talton, president of BICEP for-
mation board, said it is very import-
ant to control the economics of the
community through the acquisition
of property.
“Commercial property, in many
ways dictates the lifeblood of the
community,” Talton said.
Talton is a long-time resident of
“We propose developing a geographically
concentrated collection of commercial
economic, social, and cultural assets located
near the N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard,
which will not only provide an economic
base for the African American community
but will also, provide greater diversity
and vitality to the economic revitalization
occurring in Northeast Portland.
“We envision Portland having the best MLK
Jr. Blvd. in the country. All over America,
MLK Jr Boulevards serve as a true monument
to the struggle and triumph of the African
American community.”
—from SOUL District report
See SOUL on page 3
Affordable Housing Emergency Comes to Gresham
Officials say they’re trying to catch up with help from Multnomah County
By Lisa Loving
Special To The Skanner
News
H
ousing activists shut
down the Gresham
City Council last
week, protesting the
closure of a major illicit
outdoor camping area in
a city that has very few
homeless shelters.
Seven people were ar-
rested last Tuesday and
charged with disorderly
conduct after testifying
before the Gresham City
Council on the housing Is-
sue.
“I can tell you this,” one
man told city leaders,
“when you make things
hard on the homeless you
make them desperate —
and then you do have com-
munity problems when
people are desperate. Des-
perate times call for des-
perate measures, you can’t
just shift it off on Portland
or ship them off to Utah or
someplace else.”
Another man told the
Gresham City Council
about his personal con-
cern regarding homeless
veterans.
He described his proj-
ect of renovating two East
County buildings into a
single-room
occupancy
hotel that could house 178
people — technical all the
homeless people in Gresh-
am, according to the bi-an-
nual count which many
people consider to be far
too low.
“They’ve put out that all
the veterans have found
housing — they haven’t,” he
told the Gresham commis-
sioners.
“I hear a lot of people
See GRESHAM on page 3