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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2017)
JUNE 21, 2017 25 CENTS Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 38 News ...............................3,8-11 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 London Attacks ...............8 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW STOCK IMAGE JUSTICE FOR CHARLEENA LYLES Clark County Sheriff’s Department patrol car Former Commander Receives $1.2 M Settlement E ight years after former Clark Coun- ty sheriff ’s department command- er Clifford B. Evelyn filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the County in 2009, a settlement has finally been reached. On June 2, Evelyn received $1.2 mil- lion from Clark County, over a case he had been trying to bring to trial for al- most a decade. “Even though they settled, I’m still not happy because my name never got cleared,” Evelyn told The Skanner. The award-winning 20-year veteran See SETTLEMENT on page 3 Hundreds of people gathered in support of the family on the evening of June 18 at the apartment complex where Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of four, was shot and killed by Seattle police earlier that morning. Lyles had called the police to report a theft and within minutes of their arrival was shot at least five times by both officers. The police say she confronted them with a knife but the community questions whether a less lethal means could have been used to subdue the women who family and neighbors describe as being tiny and weighing about 90 pounds. Lolenzo Poe Retires From Portland Schools Former Chief Equity & Diversity Officer reflects on his career By Melanie Sevcenko For The Skanner News AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE W In this June 9, 2017 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speakson Capitol Hill in Washington. Democratic Party divisions are on stark display after a disappointing special election loss in a hard- fought Georgia congressional race. World News Briefs page 10 Uncertainty as Nevada Recreational Marijuana Become Legal page 9 hen Lolenzo Poe was growing up in North Port- land, he came to understand the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Brought up primar- ily by his grandmother, Poe told The Skanner that there were several adults in his life who had a hand in rais- ing him. “If it weren’t for people putting their hands on me and spending time with me, I don’t know where I’d be,” said Poe. His mission to better pub- lic education for under- served communities has sent him on a decades-long crusade. Since 2009, Poe has managed programs that are critical to Portland Public Schools’ efforts to raise the bar for minority student performance. This month, Poe is saying goodbye to PPS and retir- ing from his post as Chief Equity and Diversity Offi- cer and Director of Part- nership Development. “Everything I’ve done in my life has been centered on the notion of education and how in fact we help children — particularly low-income children and African Americans — achieve educationally.” As a graduate of Jeffer- son High School, Poe ex- perienced first-hand the perils of public education for Black kids in North Portland. “I came though this sys- tem, and I understand what it feels like when you tell kids they can’t achieve,” said Poe. “But fortunately for me, there were those few in the school system who told me – you can be what you want to be.” After earning an un- dergraduate degree from Oregon State University and a Master of Public Ad- ministration, Poe spent 32 years employed through Multnomah County — first as the director of the De- partment of Community & Family Services, and later as director of the Depart- ment of School & Commu- See POE on page 3 Portland Musician, Educator Thara Memory Dies Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter, composter, music teacher died Saturday at the age of 68 The Skanner News Staff P ortland jazz musician and ed- ucator Thara Memory passed away Saturday night at the age of 68. Memory was well-known in the Portland jazz scene. He taught at Wilson High School and created the American Music Program at King Elementary School, a magnet school program drawing students from all over the Portland metropolitan area to learn to play jazz. An Oregon Music Hall of Fame in- ductee and protégé of Miles Davis, Memory also won a Grammy in 2013 for his arrangement, “City of Roses,” which was performed by his most fa- mous protege, Esperanza Spalding. “Thank you for believing in me; for pushing me; for giving me opportu- nity again and again to stand in your See MEMORY on page 3 PHOTO COURTESY OF KENNETH W. BERRY By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Clifford B. Evelyn sued sheriff’s department for discrimination in 2009 Jazz trumpeter and music educator Thara Memory died Saturday at the age of 68.