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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
NOVEMBER 30, 2016 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 9 25 CENTS News ...............................3,9,10 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 Voting Rights Activists .10 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO COURTESY OF METRO BLACK FRIDAY A mural decorates the side of a building on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland. Alberta Project Seeks Storytellers T he Alberta Main Street organi- zation has launched a new proj- ect to honor African American residents in Northeast Portland. The initiative aims to collect commu- nity memories and honor these stories through historical markers. Sara Wittenberg, executive director of Alberta Main Street said the project is in response to feedback from dis- placed residents. “Too often I hear accounts from long- time African American residents that Alberta Street doesn’t feel like home OSMO VIA AP See ALBERTA on page 3 This photo shows an Osmo Creative Set. Toys that teach aren’t a new thing, but a growing number are calling for kids to build with blocks, circuits or everyday items before reaching for a tablet screen. Hands-on Toys Teach Toys teach kids through touch instead of screens page 9 Kam Reviews a Heartwarming Holiday Movie page 7 For the third year in a row thousands of people showed up for the “Black Lives Matter, Not Black Friday” protest in Downtown Seattle Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving. The protestors marched through downtown and mingled with Christmas shoppers and Seattle’s renowned Dickens Carolers. ACLU, OJRC Fight for Unanimous Convictions Court case challenges 1934 state law that requires 10-2 vote to convict By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News A ttorneys challeng- ing — on behalf of Olan Jermaine Wil- liams — an Oregon law that allows non-unan- imous convictions on fel- ony charges expect a re- sponse by mid-December. The ACLU of Oregon and the Oregon Justice Re- source Center, along with Williams’ attorney Ryan Scott, argue Oregon’s law — one of just two like it in the country — violates the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution. Attorneys submitted am- icus briefings last week to contest the law on Wil- liams’ behalf, and Scott said Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court Judge Bronson James has told attorneys he will have a decision by mid-December on the case. Williams holds a mas- ter’s degree from Howard University and is a 2001 graduate of Jefferson High School. He was tried this summer on three sodomy charges and acquitted on two, but convicted of the third. Williams’ attorney Ryan Scott told The Skanner that one of the jurors — the only African American juror to serve on Williams’ jury — attended Williams’ sen- tencing and testified that she fully supported the de- fendant and was very up- set about the verdict. The one Black juror’s ex- perience is summarized in more detail in an academic paper to be published in Oregon Law Review early next year, which coauthor Aliza Kaplan — who di- rects the criminal justice reform clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School — shared with The Skanner. The juror testified that the majority-White jury (two jurors were Asian, nine were women and three were men) very quickly decided to acquit Williams of two charges for which he was tried. The jury was split on another count, however, and the Black juror testified that the other jurors spent four hours of deliberation time trying to get her, and two other holdouts, to change their minds. Finally, one juror — saying she didn’t want to come back the fol- lowing day and couldn’t stay late that night due to a lack of child care — flipped her vote. The 10-2 vote was enough See CONVICTIONS on page 3 Jill Stein Demands Recount in Three Key States Former Green Party candidate leads recount effort in Pensylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor G reen Party presidential candi- date Jill Stein now has raised enough money to formally re- quest a recount in three key swing states. Stein’s camp — and, quietly, Hillary Clinton’s too — are hoping that ir- regularities and alleged hacking of voting machines in some counties in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michi- gan will reverse Trump’s victory. As of Wednesday afternoon, Stein had filed recount petitions in all three states. If Stein is correct and the votes in those swing states prove Clinton to be the actual winner, then the for- mer Secretary of State could claim an Electoral College victory and the presidency. See RECOUNT on page 3 GAGE SKIDMORE/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Alberta Main Street works to honor African American history in Northeast Portland Jill Stein speaking at a Green Party Presidential town hall in Mesa, Ariz., in March 2016.
