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.