Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2016)
July 27, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 “ problems,” he said. “And that hasn’t happened. But it doesn’t keep me from wanting to keep on trying.” Ater his wife, Michelle Obama, brought dele- gates to their feet with a stirring speech Monday evening, Obama stayed up late into the night ine-tuning his words, When I spoke in 2004, when I ran in 2008, my hope, my expectation was that we could lit up all that common ground and create a new way of doing business in Washington learning more about it. Democrats should be “running scared’ about the real political chal- lenge Trump poses, he said in an interview aired Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show. Obama’s speech will also be a moment to re- visit his political story and words that captivat- ed Democrats in Boston and beyond. His scolding of pundits who carve up America into red and blue states, and his dec- laration that there is no black or white America but “we are one people” looks largely aspira- tional ater a decade of increased political po- larization and months of heighten racial tensions. “I’m the irst to admit that when I spoke in 2004, when I ran in 2008, my hope, my expectation was that we could lit up all that common ground and create a new way of doing business in Wash- ington and a new politi- cal tenor, a new political tone that was more re- spectful and more prac- tical in trying to solve the White House said. His speech will combine an airmation of Clin- ton’s judgment and forti- tude with a rebuke of the scare tactics he accuses Trump of deploying. “The president will talk about who we are as a country and that we are better united than divid- ed, and that we’re better together than apart,” said White House spokesman Eric Schultz. That Democrats are so eager for Obama to grace the convention stage is a relection of how dra- matically things have changed from just two years ago, when Demo- crats practically begged an unpopular Obama to keep his distance from the campaign trail. His approval ratings have since recovered, though a solid majority of Americans still feel the country is moving in the wrong direction. His vice president, Joe Biden, also addresses the convention on Wednes- day, in a reminder to some Democrats that the candidate they wanted Foundation Portland Parks & Recreation’s Grant Pool will reopened Monday following a temporary closure for major renovations. This Parks Replacement Bond construction project began in March 2016, and involved replacing the ancient mechanical systems (which had dated to the 1920s and 1940s) and improving accessibility at the popular northeast Portland pool. Harbor cont’d from pg 3 stances accumulated over a cen- tury of industrial use. The EPA has listed 64 contami- nants of concern at the Portland Harbor that pose a risk for hu- man health. These contaminants include cancer-causing polychlo- rinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic chemical byproducts dioxins and furans, the banned pesticide DDT, arsenic and mercury. Justin Buri, an organizer with the Portland Harbor Community Coalition, said most Portlanders do not realize just how toxic the superfund site is. “It is one of the most complicat- ed, polluted superfund sites in the country,” Buri said. “In fact, they could even divide up 13 dif- ferent parts of this project and each part would be its own super- fund site, that’s how polluted and complicated this project is.” All of the EPA plans make use of four techniques to clean up the Portland Harbor: removing the hazardous material by dredging, capping over the contaminated sediment and monitored and en- hanced natural recovery where new sediment covers the contam- inated areas. EPA’s proposed plan, called “ responsible parties; local organi- zations like NW Natural Gas, the City of Portland and the Port of Portland and multinational com- panies Exxon-Mobile and Shell Oil. A full list of can be found It is one of the most complicated, pollut- ed superfund sites in the country Alternative I, relies mostly on monitored natural recovery for 1,876 of the nearly 2,200 acres of the site. The plans calls for 167 acres to be dredged, 17 acres to be dredged then capped and 64 acres to be capped with a conining lay- er of plastic or other material. The plan would take seven years of in-river construction work and the monitored natural recovery, would occur over the next 23 years. The cost for clean- ing up the mega superfund site would be $746 million. The cleanup costs would be split between over 150 potentially here: https://semspub.epa.gov/ work/10/100020143.pdf EPA Superfund Program Man- ager Cami Grandinetti said Al- ternative I is the preferred plan ater considering short and long term goals, eicacy, regulation requirements and cost. “We think it strikes the right balance of all the diferent factors to consider, it’s a remedy that is we believe protective of human health and the environment,” Grandinetti said. Read the full story at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 the foundation and how the foundation saw itself,” Ranghelli said. “We found in urban parts of the state, a sense of neglect, not just African Americans but other communities of color in urban in parts of the state,” Ranghelli told The Skanner, including “ Grant Pool Reopens ed incidents like being asked by former OCF staf how long they’d been in the country (this question was posed to a Latino leader who was born in the U.S.). In addition, the report said leaders in organizations serving communities of color said the organizations them- We found in urban parts of the state, a sense of neglect, not just African Americans but other communities of color a timidity about providing funding for programs that actually promote struc- tural change. The report singled out a lack of data tracking on funding for organizations that serve communities of color, though the organization has started to track populations served with 2015 grants, as well as a historical pattern of cultural insensitivity by former OCF staf. Lead- ers of color in grantee organizations, who were quoted anonymously, report- selves were oten blamed for lack of funding. The report quotes an OCF grantee as saying, “OCF staf would blame us for their not investing in our groups, telling us ‘You don’t have capacity’ or ‘You don’t have vision’ or ‘You’re not competitive.’ The common denomi- nator was always race.” Grantees for communities of color and LGBTQ orga- nizations also told researchers they felt the foundation took a transactional ap- proach to the relationship, rather than looking for long-term partnerships. But Ranghelli was also encouraged by OCF’s willingness to participate in the report, and the relectiveness of OCF leadership. “I think I was encouraged by the very thoughtfulness and intentionality and enthusiasm with the OCF,” Ranghelli said, including the willingness of OCF leadership to relect on their own priv- ilege. “We did do a lot of research with them to make sure that we could be as trans- parent as possible,” said OCF spokes- person Joan Vallejo. “I think the report shows that a lot of the work they had already started on.” Vallejo and Joan Murty, OCF’s vice president of opera- tions, emphasized that the foundation has created a road map to improve its practices around diversity, including creating more authentic partnerships with diverse communities. “I would say that this is a journey. AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, FILE thing Obama has done, from climate change and immigration to trade and foreign relations. Obama has cast Trump as dangerous and unpre- pared. In an interview aired hours before his remarks, he said Trump lacks “basic knowledge about the world” and has shown no interest in PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION Obama According to Lisa Ranghelli of the National Center for Responsive Philanthropy, the Oregon Community Foundation has made strides in serving diverse communities -- but has a way to go. There’s no arrival point. We are inten- tional we are focused we are taking this really seriously,” Murty said.