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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
MAY 10, 2017 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 32 25 CENTS News ..........................3,9,10,12 A & E .................................... 6-8 Opinion ...................................2 Violence in School Sports .. 9 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO COURTESY OF LONDER LEARNING CENTER PRESERVE THE ACA Advocates of the Londer Learning Center attended a budget hearing on May 3 to support the program which is facing elimination due to budget cuts. Program offers free education to any adult on probation or parole in Multnomah County By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News R honda McLeod battled drug ad- diction for 30 years. In 2009, as a felon and parolee, she came to the Londer Learning Center in south- west Portland to take care of some un- finished business. McLeod had never received a high school education. Yet with the help of the LLC, she earned a General Educa- tional Development degree, or GED, over the course of three years. “I really struggled with math, and they were amazing,” McLeod said of the AP PHOTO/RODRIGO AND, FILE See LONDER on page 3 In this Jan. 30, 2010, file photo, people stand in the rubble of a collapsed building in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Port-au-Prince. PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Budget Cuts Could Kill Londer Center Several dozen people showed up at Westlake Park May 5 for a rally organized by SEIU to protest the House Republicans repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. Clean-Air Advocates Holding Their Breath SB 1008 would direct use of Oregon’s portion of Volkswagen settlement By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News T he state of Oregon has tens of millions of dol- lars to reduce diesel emissions — but the bill that would specify how that money can be spent is floundering in the Legisla- ture. Senate Bill 1008 creates a Clean Diesel Engine Fund separate from the state’s general fund, much of it for retrofitting diesel ve- hicles to ensure cleaner burning. But an amended version of the bill does away with the timeline requiring certain diesel vehicles to be retrofitted, rendering it toothless, said Mary Pe- veto, co-founder of Neigh- bors for Clean Air. “Everything was pretty much gutted from the bill except for the glide path for the VW money,” Peveto told The Skanner. Last summer the fed- eral government fined Volkswagen more than $15 billion for cheating on emissions tests, after an investigation revealed the cars it had marketed it as “clean diesel” vehicles were anything but — and a court settlement set aside $85 million for the state of Oregon, which had the highest per capita owner- ship of Volkswagen cars in the country. When the settlement was announced, Gov. Kate Brown and Attorney Gen- eral Ellen Rosenblum said the bulk of Oregon’s mon- ey — $65 million — would go toward reducing diesel emissions. Multnomah County has the highest level of diesel emissions in the state, and African Americans are three times more likely to live in census tracts with high rates of diesel emis- sions. The CDC estimates 400 people get sick every year as a direct result of exposure to diesel exhaust. Other studies have linked exposure to diesel exhaust with asthma, respiratory cancers, low birthweight and even poor school at- tendance. Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland), who intro- duced SB 1008 in March, said he’s confident the bill can be restored to its orig- inal form and can pass. Advocates were taken by surprise in late April when the senate’s envi- ronment and natural re- sources committee failed to pass the bill — after Sen. Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) unexpectedly changed his vote. Roblan could not be Immigrants From Haiti May Microloans Give Needed Boost to Small Businesses MESO receives $1 million to fund Lose Protected Micro-lender underserved entrepreneurs Status page 9 By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News Recipes for Mother’s Day Brunch page 8 T hree years into launching her liquor company, Royalty Sprits, Portland native Chaunci King received her first business loan just two months ago. With no investors or professional experience in distilling, King was in the position of so many small busi- ness hopefuls: down on her luck. “You’re a high risk as a new busi- ness. Traditional banks are just afraid if you’re a startup,” said King. “That’s been a problem for many years. If you don’t have a lot of collat- eral to put up, then it’s even harder.” According to a 2016 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up only 22.7 percent of alcohol wholesalers — and only 10.6 percent are Black. See MICROLOANS on page 3 See CLEAN AIR on page 3 Chaunci King is the owner of Royalty Spirits, which launched Miriu Vodka in 2014. King recently received a small business loan from micro-lender MESO.
