MAY 31, 2017
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 35
25
CENTS
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Cosby Seeks Solidarity ...7
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY
FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL
Almost immediately after the stabbing death of
two men in Portland Friday afternoon, who along
with a surviving stabbing victim intervened on
behalf of two Black girls who were being harassed
on a MAX train, residents began placing flowers and
messages at the Hollywood Transit Center.
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
P
ortland made national and inter-
national headlines Friday after-
noon after two men were killed
and a third injured trying to pro-
tect two Black teenage girls — one wear-
ing a hijab — on a MAX train as it pulled
in to Hollywood Transit Center.
According to witness accounts and
court records, Ricky John Best, 53,
Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche,
23,  and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21,
intervened after seeing a fellow pas-
senger — 35-year-old Jeremiah Joseph
Christian — target two teenage girls on
the train, shouting Islamophobic and xe-
nophobic remarks and violent threats.
All three men were stabbed; Best died
at the scene, and Namkai-Meche passed
See ATTACK on page 3
Update on
Flint Water
Crisis page 10
IVF Treatment Becoming
Popular In India
page 9
Remix performed May 29 as part of the 206 Zulu Prince Versus Prince Kid’s Breakin Competition and Showcase at the Mural Amphitheater on the final
day of the 46th Annual Northwest Folklife Festival which ran May 26 through May 29 at the Seattle Center. Four days of beautiful weather brought out
thousands of people for this popular festival that features hundreds of musical acts, dancers, spoken word, workshops and a huge variety of food. The
festival, one of the few that survives on donations is in danger of not returning next year because of lack of funds.Those wishing to donate can do so
at http://nwfolklife.kindbase.com/.
Oregon Senate Votes to Commemorate Vanport
May 30 becomes the official anniversary of the Vanport flood
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
A
fter 69 years, the lost
city of  Vanport  re-
ceived the recogni-
tion that survivors
of its calamitous flood have
long been waiting for.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the
Oregon State Senate unan-
imously voted on  Senate
Concurrent
Resolution
21  to officially commemo-
rate the anniversary of the
Vanport flood. 
In 1948, the disaster
washed away Oregon’s sec-
ond largest city — and most
racially diverse — and
displaced close to 20,000
residents, about 6,500 of
them African Americans.
At least 15 people perished
that day, among them a
two-year-old boy and his
11-month-old sister. 
Following the floor ses-
sion, Vanport survivor
Sen. Jackie Winters (R –
Salem) and House Speak-
er Tina Kotek (D – North
Portland), whose district
includes the area where
Vanport once stood, host-
ed a reception outside the
Senate chamber to pay
tribute to those who sur-
vived and those who tragi-
cally lost their lives.
Last week, Kotek congrat-
ulated the various groups
and advocates which “have
been doing great work to
increase awareness and
honor the legacy of the
Vanport community. This
commemoration is an ef-
fort to build upon their
work and honor the for-
mer residents and survi-
vors of the flood, including
Sen. Winters,” she told The
Skanner.
Winters said she “re-
members that Sunday af-
ternoon very clearly as if it
were yesterday,” narrowly
escaping with the clothes
on her back and her dog
Kippy. In particular, the
senator recalls the many
times she and her family
moved around Portland af-
ter being displaced – sleep-
ing on cots in Jefferson
High School and in church-
es — until they eventually
secured permanent hous-
ing.
“African American sur-
See VANPORT on page 3
Death Toll at 90 in Huge Suicide Bombing in Kabul
So far, no entity has claimed responsibility for
the attack
By Rahim Faiez and Kathy Gannon
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide
attacker struck the fortified heart
of the Afghan capital with a massive
truck bomb Wednesday, killing 90
people, wounding 400 and raising
new fears about the government’s
ability to protect its citizens nearly
16 years into a war with insurgents.
The bomber drove into Kabul’s
heavily guarded diplomatic quar-
ter during the morning rush hour,
leaving behind a bloody scene of
chaos and destruction in one of the
worst attacks since the drawdown of
foreign forces from Afghanistan in
2014.
Most of the casualties were civil-
ians, including women and children,
said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of
the public health ministry. But the
dead also included Afghan security
guards at the facilities, including the
U.S. Embassy, while 11 American con-
See BOMBING on page 3
AP PHOTO/RAHMAT GUL
MAX slayings come amid
a seeming upswing in
hate-motivated incidents
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Portland
Reels After
Attack
Security forces stand next to a crater created
by massive explosion in front of the German
Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan May 31.
The suicide truck bomb hit a highly secure
diplomatic area of Kabul killing scores of people
and wounding hundreds more.