October 12, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
“Hopefully it is not lost
on anyone that the right
to have a voice is why
this great country exists
in the irst place,” wrote
Walker, who set the dead-
line at 5 p.m. on Oct. 18.
Powerful
Hurricane
Matthew didn’t make
landfall in Florida but
caused at least nine
deaths there. Over a two-
‘Hopefully it is not lost on
anyone that the right to have
a voice is why this great coun-
try exists in the irst place’
day period it knocked out
power to more than 1 mil-
lion people and caused
looding and beach ero-
sion.
Democrats late last
week asked Republican
Gov. Rick Scott to extend
the deadline, but Scott
turned down the request
and said people have had
enough time to register.
Scott brushed aside ques-
tions on whether his de-
cision was related to his
staunch support of GOP
nominee Donald Trump.
In court, however, at-
torneys for both Scott
and the state’s chief top
elections oicial ofered
no defense of the exist-
ing deadline and did not
object to an extension.
Most of the hour-long
hearing before Walker
was spent discussing
how long to extend voter
registration.
Walker said he did not
believe that Scott had au-
thority to use his emer-
gency powers to waive
the deadline. But he also
pointed out that Florida
law already allows the
governor to suspend or
delay an election if there
is an emergency.
“There is a gap in Flor-
ida law that renders (the
deadline) constitution-
ally untenable,” Walker
Streat
process in the Sunshine
State,” Tant said.
Voting rights groups,
including the League of
Women Voters of Flori-
da, joined the legal battle
and pointed out that they
had cancelled voter reg-
istration drives because
of the storm. Their legal
brief cited statistics that
showed nearly 160,000
voters had registered in
the inal nine days before
the 2012 deadline.
They also noted that
the threat of Hurricane
Matthew had prompted
federal authorities to
postpone naturalization
ceremonies scheduled in
south Florida until ater
the Oct. 11 deadline. They
cited the example of one
Coral Gables resident
who would not be al-
lowed to register to vote
until this weekend.
Unlike other states,
Florida does not allow
residents to register to
vote online. They must
ill out a form on paper
and either deliver it in
person or mail to their
local elections oice.
Federal law does not
allow states to shut down
registration more than
30 days before an elec-
tion. Florida’s current
29-day deadline has been
in place for decades.
History Makers Dinner
The Oregon Historical Society hosted its annual History Makers Dinner Sunday. Pictured here are Oregon Historical Society executive
director Kerry Tymchuk; a representative from Nike, accepting an award on behalf of Phil Knight; Oregon State University environmental
scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco; photographer David Hume Kennerly; a representative from Hofman Construction; and a representative
from the Oregon Historical Society.
Police
cont’d from pg 3
misionner Steve Novick voted
against it and Commissioner Dan
Saltzman was absent, in observa-
tion of Yom Kippur.
The vote took place in a con-
ference room outside council
chambers, moving away from a
public audience and locking out
protesters, who have demon-
strated against the acceptance of
the new contract for more than a
week. Wednesday morning local
media reported activists from
Don’t Shoot Portland were block-
ing traic in front of City Hall.
Last Wednesday protesters
crowded council chambers to
testify on the new contract. On
Thursday activists reacted by
attending an unrelated hearing
scheduled that aternoon – relat-
ed to the city’s possible purchase
of a bridge crane – to testify.
Portland Copwatch leader Dan
Handelman, Don’t Shoot Port-
land organizer Teressa Raiford
and activist Malcolm Craddock
all ofered pointed testimony that
mentioned the bridge crane but
discussed public safety concerns
in great detail.
The tentative contract elimi-
nates the controversial 48-hour
rule – a clause in previous union
“
and had asked the council to post-
pone voting on the contract until
next year. Hales has said he want-
ed to expedite the vote in order to
hire more oicers. The proposed
contract also raises new oicers’
Activists say the clause gives too much
leeway to oicers involved in use of
force incidents
contracts that gave oicers 48
hours before they were required
to give statements on incidents
involving use of force. But its pol-
icy on body-worn cameras allows
oicers “a reasonable opportu-
nity” to review the body camera
audio/video before writing up
reports for use of force incidents
other than use of deadly force or
in-custody deaths.
Activists say the clause gives
too much leeway to oicers in-
volved in use of force incidents,
but they also noted the current
contract doesn’t expire until 2017,
starting pay from $49,837 to
$60,840 and delivers pay increas-
es to experienced oicers.
Following
the
Wednesday
morning vote, protesters were
pepper sprayed and forcibly re-
moved from City Hall by police.
Protests were still ongoing ear-
ly Wednesday aternoon as The
Skanner went to press.
Wednesday morning, writer
and activist Shaun King called
on Black Lives Matter activists
across the country to boycott the
city of Portland if oicials accept-
ed the police contract.
cont’d from pg 1
son said.
She received her irst national rec-
ognition at 18 for a painting called “A
Priest,” which won an honorable men-
tion at the Harmon Foundation exhibit
in New York City. Jackson said Streat’s
career really took of when she moved
to California to work in the Bay Area
and Los Angeles.
An investigation by the public broad-
casting show “History Detectives”
found that Streat created works of art
for the Federal Art Project of the Works
Progress Administration. Streat pro-
duced ive textile pieces as part of the
massive New Deal public works pro-
gram. One of these pieces, a tapestry
titled “Monstro the Whale,” went to the
Portland Art Museum.
Streat assisted the artist Diego Rivera
on his famed Pan American Unity mu-
ral, a WPA project created during the
Arts in Action exhibition at the Gold-
en Gate International Exposition from
1939-40.
Although Rivera had many assistants,
Streat was one of the few he trusted
to assist in painting the mural. Rivera
praised Streat’s work in a letter to Gal-
ka Scheyer, a German art dealer living
in Los Angeles.
“The work of Thelma Johnson Streat
is in my opinion one of the most in-
teresting manifestations in this coun-
“
as Native American culture when she
lived in Canada.
Ater the end of World War II, there
was a rise in lynchings, especially of
Black soldiers who were returning
home. Streat painted a work protest-
ing these lynchings called “Death of a
Black Sailor.” The controversial paint-
ing sparked outcry and threats from
‘The work of Thelma Johnson Streat is in my
opinion one of the most interesting manifesta-
tions in this country at the present’
try at the present,” Rivera wrote. “It is
extremely evolved and sophisticated
enough to reconquer the grace and pu-
rity of African and American art.”
Jackson said Streat’s art was very di-
verse with some works taking a politi-
cal tone and others had the raw creative
expression of an explorer of the world.
Streat would oten create works that
relected the world around her such
the Ku Klux Klan.
“She got a threatening letter from
the Ku Klux Klan that told her that she
better take that painting down or else.
She did not take it down and the gallery
didn’t make her take it down,” Jackson
said. “They stood their ground, which
was wonderful.”
Read the full story at TheSkanner.com
THELMA JOHNSON STREAT / STREAT DANCER/CC-BY-SA-3.0
“
said.
Allison Tant, chair-
woman of the Florida
Democratic Party, hailed
Walker’s decision.
“While we wish it had
not taken a lawsuit to get
the Scott administration
to do the right thing, to-
day’s ruling is a major
victory for all Floridians
and for the democratic
PHOTO BY BERNIE FOSTER
Voters
This self pportrait of American artist Thelma
Johnson Streat was taken in 1945.