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Page 2 The Skanner May 3, 2017 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Melanie Sevcenko Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer Opinion FROM THE PUBLISHER: Who’s Responsible for County Commissioners? I n light of Multnomah Coun- ty’s investigation into Lo- retta Smith, I’d like to point to the county’s charter (BE- LOW) which states that the Chair (Kafoury) of the Board: “Shall have sole authority to appoint, order, direct and discharge administrative of- ficers and employees of the county, except for the person- al staff, employees or agents of elective county offices.” Ms. Smith is an elected county official that represents District 2. She cannot be dis- Bernie Foster Publisher charged by the Chair, only by recall petition. So we’d like to hear what our readers think. Comment on the story at www.theskanner.com/news/ northwest/25330-commis- sioner-smith-files-claim- against-multnomah-county. Comment on Facebook or Twitter @theskanner.com. Page 13 of the Multnomah County Home Rule Charter 2016 Famine in Africa: Will Trump Act? MERIT AWARD WINNER A The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2017 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION #SkNews s you read this, our world stands at a cross- roads. As you read this, 20 million people stand at risk of starvation at the hands of what has the poten- tial to become the worst hu- manitarian crisis since World War II; famine in South Su- dan and impending famine in Northeast Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen. Our country has a moral responsibility to ad- dress this issue head on. For famine to be declared, two children younger than five years old in every 10,000 people have to die due to mal- nutrition and one in five fam- ilies have to have insufficient food to sustain themselves. Waiting for famine to be de- clared to act means you’re al- ready too late. Famine has already been de- clared in South Sudan, where hunger is expected to spread to 40 percent of the country’s population in the absence of humanitarian aid. The coun- try’s man-made famine is a re- sult of violent conflict in vast swaths of the country. De- spite promises of access for relief efforts to these areas by Karen Bass State Rep. D-Calif the South Sudanese govern- ment, humanitarian organi- zations remain unable to gain access to provide urgent vital assistance in the form of food, water and shelter in many lo- cations. Somalia, Nigeria, and Ye- men are all on the brink of “ country’s 6.2 million people experiencing acute food in- security with the aid that they desperately need. In Northeast Nigeria, ter- rorism by Boko Haram has resulted in widespread dis- placement and a growing humanitarian crisis. Over 50,000 people in the region are at risk of famine. In addi- tion, counter-insurgency op- erations against Boko Haram by the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states have led to population displacement, limited access In Northeast Nigeria, terrorism by Boko Haram has resulted in wide- spread displacement and a grow- ing humanitarian crisis having famine declared. More than half of Somalia’s total population of 12.3 million are experiencing acute food inse- curity and are on the brink of death from starvation as a re- sult of drought. Due to conflict with Al-Shabaab terrorists, humanitarian access remains an obstacle in providing the for relief efforts and have prevented farmers from ac- cessing their fields, leading to significantly below-average harvests. In Yemen, agriculture pro- duction has drastically de- clined due to conflict, insecu- rity, high costs, and sporadic availability of agricultural in- puts. Two years of escalating conflict have left 18.8 million Yemenis in need of some kind of humanitarian or protec- tion support. Seven million women, children, and men could risk famine in 2017. In each country, whether it’s existing famine in South Su- dan or the brink of famine in Somalia, Nigeria, or Yemen, the particularly disastrous characteristic is that these situations are either caused or exacerbated by man-made crisis. You wouldn’t know that this was occurring though – oth- er than a largely lackluster statement about South Sudan on “Face the Nation” in early April by Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the Administration has been quiet about the impending disaster in Africa and Ye- men. When asked about the implications of the Admin- istration’s budget proposal, Ambassador Haley called for “smarter spending” when it comes to foreign and human- itarian aid. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com Flat Funding for HBCUs Is a Win M y job is to promote the interests of Ameri- ca’s Historically Black Colleges and Univer- sities. So naturally I was con- cerned when I heard earlier this year that the new Trump administration was planning to propose increasing defense spending by $54 billion and slashing nonmilitary spend- ing by an equal amount. That’s when the HBCU pres- idents, chancellors, and I de- cided to roll up our sleeves and get to work engaging the Trump Administration and the Republican-controlled 115th Congress to fight and protect our interests. It paid off: In late February, after weeks of meetings and phone calls with administration of- ficials, more than 70 HBCU leaders and I attended a lis- tening session with top Ad- Johnny C. Taylor NNPA Guest Columnist ministration officials, and a dozen returned the next day for a signing ceremony event at the White House, where President Trump signed an executive order recognizing “ levels. Let me be clear: flat spending for HBCUs in a pres- ident’s budget that calls for a 13 percent funding decrease to the Department of Educa- tion is a win! It’s clear that this Adminis- tration understands the val- ue of HBCUs, which educate nearly 300,000 students a year, award three-quarters of all doctorates earned by Afri- can Americans and provided the undergraduate degrees of 80 percent of black federal budget for HBCUs. Such no- tions are naïve in the cur- rent political environment in Washington, now run by Re- publicans who’ve vowed to re- duce the size of government. There are some other im- portant things to remember: First, the President makes a “budget request” while the Congress has to ultimately au- thorize and appropriate the funding for the actual bud- get. The HBCU community is working to ensure the Pres- We must seek an open dialogue that transcends parti- san lines to ensure access to quality higher education the importance of our insti- tutions. A few weeks later, the administration released its budget blueprint, which called for maintaining feder- al HBCU spending at current judges. Not everyone is happy though—some are critical of President Trump because they believe he should have significantly increased the ident’s final budget request scheduled to be released in May protects HBCU funding. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com
