December 14, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
“
The sheriff ’s office is
working in conjunction
with the Portland Police
Bureau’s North Precinct
to distribute informa-
tion about Morrison and
her boyfriend through-
out the North Portland
area. Investigators think
the couple lived near the
Swan Island area due to
her partner’s job.
‘In terms of a vague back-
ground picture, this is as
vague as we’ve ever seen’
“It’s been nagging us
for 40-some years,” Clark
County special deputy
Dennis Hunter told The
Skanner.
Morrison’s sister told
investigators that in 1973
Morrison participated in
a job training program in
Phoenix, Ariz. There she
met her boyfriend and
the two of them moved to
Portland, where her boy-
friend is believed to have
worked in the ship yards.
“In terms of a vague
background picture, this
is as vague as we’ve ever
seen,” Hunter said.
According to informa-
tion released by the sher-
iff ’s office, after her dis-
appearance Morrison’s
boyfriend contacted her
mother and father to ask
if anyone had seen her.
Family members said he
told them that they had
had an argument, and
that a neighbor had told
him he saw her leave
with her belongings after
they left for work. Her
boyfriend then went to
the Eugene/Springfield
area to check places they
had seen together during
her visit.
A flyer distributed by
the Clark County Sher-
iff ’s Office and written
from Morrison’s per-
spective says her boy-
friend was “the only per-
son who looked for me
after I disappeared.”
Hunter told The Skan-
ner investigators are
looking at other cases
similar to Morrison’s to
see if there may be con-
nections between the
crimes.
“In the period of 1971
to 1974, we have eight or
nine cases of young girls
either being homicide
victims or disappearing
and never being seen
again, so we’re looking
at all of those in conjunc-
tion with Martha’s case,”
Hunter said. But without
more information about
Morrison’s case in par-
ticular, it’s hard to say
whether there is any link
between the cases.
Hunter said investiga-
tors are hoping a land-
lord, neighbor, coworker
or someone else who may
remember Morrison or
her boyfriend will be
able to come forward
with a little more infor-
mation about the case.
Those with informa-
tion about Morrison’s
case are encouraged to
call the Clark County
Sheriff ’s Office Cold Case
tip line at (360) 397-2036
or Crime Stoppers of Or-
egon at (503)283-HELP
(4357).
The Clark County Sher-
iff ’s Office is offering a
reward of up to $2,500
cash for information
leading to an arrest in
the murder.
Vacant Lot
cont’d from pg 1
cent of the lot’s commercial space as
affordable for up to six or seven local
minority businesses.
The city-subsidized project holds
through a 10-year master lease agree-
ment with the PDC and rounds out the
third phase of the commission’s Van-
port Redevelopment. Phase I and II re-
sulted in Vanport Square, a cluster of
retail shops and small businesses, and
a string of single family homes.
“All the minority and small business
owners located at Vanport Square are
excited to see this site finally getting
developed, after years of controversy
and delays,” said Jeana Woolley, secre-
tary of Black Investment Corporation
for Economic Progress Inc., a group
that engages in socially responsible
commercial development in Portland’s
North and Northeast neighborhoods.
For some Black community members
and business professionals, Alberta
Commons will be the culmination of
what they’ve long wanted in the area,
Storm Cleanup
Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R)’s Urban
Forestry division (UF), coordinating closely with
the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is
working to address areas where has ice and snow
have resulted in downed trees impacting roads,
rights-of-way and/or private and park property.
The focus for work crews is on safety and access,
rather than immediate clean-up. If you come across
a downed tree or limb, look up as well as down at
the ground. Proceed carefully, knowing that the
tree branches came from somewhere nearby and
potential other hazards may remain. If anyone
sees a new issue of hazardous tree in a City right-
of-way, please email trees@portlandoregon.gov, or
call (503) 823-TREE. You will need the site address,
a good description of the issue, and to provide your
name and contact info in case of any questions.
Housing
cont’d from pg 1
creases and no-cause termination
of tenancies, the 144-page report
undoubtedly confirms that Port-
land’s affordability continues to
worsen.
With little surprise, the persist-
ing housing crisis has dispropor-
tionately impacted the city’s most
vulnerable residents, including
communities of color, low-income
people, seniors, and individuals
with disabilities.
Wrote Saltzman in the report’s
forward, “Rents and home pric-
es continue to rise, and housing
instability and involuntary dis-
placement are a constant pres-
ence for far too many Portland-
ers.”
Between 2000 and 2014, Port-
land’s population increased by
more than 83,000 individuals,
currently estimated at over
612,000.
Yet five-year projections from
2014 suggest a decline in the city’s
African American population,
particularly pronounced in the
North and Northeast neighbor-
regardless of past disputes over a via-
ble grocer.
“To continue the economic develop-
ment opportunities in the district, it
“
hoods of MLK-Alberta and Inter-
state Corridor.
“The nerve of some people to
say, we’re going to celebrate the
African American community
in these areas where we’re not
even prevalent. That, to me, is a
“
creases in the proportion of the
population that is from commu-
nities of color.
“Unaffordability just pushes
people out to the less desirable,
less supportive areas, that’s the
way gentrification works,” said
Unaffordability just pushes people out
to the less desirable, less supportive ar-
eas, that’s the way gentrification works
slap in the face,” said Cheryl Rob-
erts, executive director of the
African American Alliance for
Homeownership, a nonprofit that
provides access to homebuyer re-
sources for underserved individ-
uals.
With displacement due to soar-
ing rents that outpace incomes,
Portland’s racial makeup is shift-
ing outward. The highest concen-
tration of people of color tends to
be located in Southeast Portland
and Outer East. In fact, almost ev-
ery East Portland neighborhood
has experienced double-digit in-
Roberts.
She cites other factors that also
lead to the displacement of com-
munities of color — including a
lack of investment in certain ar-
eas and gang violence — which
could further perpetuate a seg-
regation of neighborhoods by in-
come.
Roberts is calling on the city
to be more inclusive in deci-
sion-making processes that affect
affordability, such as how urban
renewal funds are spent.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
commercial space at their disposable,
the team behind the project — a mix
of businesses owners, PDC personnel,
community organizers, architects and
All the minority and small business owners lo-
cated at Vanport Square are excited to see this
site finally getting developed
didn’t matter what the anchor was, as
long as there was some retail space that
we could depend upon for minority
businesses,” said John Washington of
the North NorthEast Business Associa-
tion, and chair of public art for Alberta
Commons.
While the planning process has been
arduous, Washington said it’s also been
an exercise in community engagement.
Forgoing city steering that offers little
transparency, Alberta Commons has
relied on neighborhood input to drive
the project.
With just over 5,000 square feet of
artists – is seeking “businesses that not
only culturally engage the community,
but provide a service that’s cost effi-
cient, cutting edge, and lends credibil-
ity,” said Washington.
While the tenants are yet to be decid-
ed, among the types of retail business-
es the Commons is vying for are restau-
rants and clothing shops.
“Obviously the emphasis is going
to be on entrepreneurs of color,” said
PDC’s Tory Campbell, who co-chairs
the project’s retail committee.
Read the full story at TheSkanner.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF PDC
disappearance.
Infor-
mation released by the
Clark County Sheriff ’s
Department’s cold case
unit says her boyfriend
— who is described as a
light-skinned
African
American man who was
between five-feet-seven
and five-feet-ten inches
tall -- is not a suspect in
the case.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION
Morrison
Alberta Commons is the new development at the
long-vacant lot at NE Alberta Street and NE MLK Jr.
Blvd. The anchor-tenant is Natural Grocers, with 50
percent of the lot’s commercial space dedicated as
affordable for local minority-owned businesses.
