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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2016)
DECEMBER 7, 2016 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 10 25 CENTS News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 Dr. Jasmine ......................9 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW MULTNOMAH COUNTY WHEN THE MUSIC PLAYS Kory Murphy of the Department of County Assets talks with Laura Cohen, project manager of LEAD at a program outreach dinner. LEAD Offers Help, Not Jail Time By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News T o lower the number of people en- tering the criminal justice system, a program called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, puts treatment ahead of arrests. In the coming months Portland will be introducing the still largely experi- mental program that offers social ser- vices to individuals possessing small amounts of cocaine, meth or heroin. Originally launched in Seattle in 2011, the LEAD model is a suitable fit for Port- land, says Rod Underhill, Multnomah County District Attorney. “We think our downtown core area is See LEAD on page 3 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Program gives drug offenders the chance to seek treatment Trumpet player Owuor Arunga accompanied Kibibi Monie during her performance at “When the Music Plays,” a day of healing, inspiration and safe place discussions Dec. 4 at the Royal Esquire Club. The event which was sponsored by Lady A Productions, was designed to inspire people to come together and continue to fight for change and against injustice. It featured inspirational speeches by Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell and Imam Shabbaz, from the Council on American-Islamic Relations; spoken word by Miz Floes and Kyana Wheeler and music by an incredible line up that included Lady “A”, Josephine Howell, Bernadette Bascom, Polly O’Keary and Rhythm Method, the Stacy Jones Band, Stanetta Koeber and many more. Should Delta Park be Renamed Vanport? Community members speak in favor of reverting to the name of lost city By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News SONJA THOMPKINS/SINCERELYSONJA.COM T Sonja Thompkins, a brick and mortar business strategist and founder of SincerelySonja.com, said #BuyBlack is a trend for consumers of color to spend their money within their own communities. #BuyBlack Movement is Real page 10 hrough the work of survivors, historians and advocates, more people have become aware of Vanport, the one- time second largest city in Oregon that was destroyed by a flood in 1948. Community members are now calling for a per- manent way to remember the lost city — by renaming Delta Park Vanport. Lee Moore, who was a child living in Vanport at page 7 40,000 people at its peak and had schools, a post of- fice, a movie theater, a li- brary and a hospital. Joe Kregal remembered seeing the houses of Van- port after the flood, but said he didn’t understand the significance of the city until he was older. His father worked in the shipyards, and Kregal worked on some of the Kai- ser Liberty ships when he was a longshoreman. Kregal spoke to The Skan- ner News, advocating for the name to be returned to the area. He said the name was erased due to the po- litical correctness of the time, but it should be rein- stated to honor the heroes of the era. “It’s an insult, it’s an in- sult to the people that were involved, it’s an insult to Kaiser, it’s an insult to ev- eryone that they named it Delta Park,” Kregal said. Both Moore and Kregal point to Vanport as a pivot- al point in history, both na- tionally and locally. Kregal See DELTA PARK on page 3 Ghant Heads Up Work-Study Program Program helps place De La Salle North students in corporate jobs where they earn and learn By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News W Local Holiday Performances the time of the flood, said the significance of the for- mer city is too great to go unnoticed and unnamed. “There should be some- thing more meaningful to commemorate what went on there through the 40s and the impact that Van- port had on the city of Port- land,” Moore said. Vanport was a quickly constructed workforce housing town built for the workers at Kaiser Ship- yards during World War II. The town housed over alter Ghant grew up in north Portland, near the in- tersection of Williams and Killingsworth. After graduating from Madison High School, Ghant attended War- ner Pacific College, and took what he describes as “a 20-year hiatus” away from Portland to pursue graduate school and a career in education. Ghant holds master’s degrees from James Madison University (history) and George Mason University (pub- lic administration) and a doctorate in divinity from Howard University, all located in Washington D. C. Ghant worked in a variety of ad- ministrative positions in higher edu- cation in the Washington, D. C. area, but told The Skanner he and his wife See GHANT on page 3 Walter Ghant
