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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
AUGUST 16, 2017 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 46 SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE: News .............................. 3,8-10 Opinion ...................................2 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW 25 CENTS RAINIER VALLEY PARADE Multnomah County will lose funding to help health disparities and teen pregnancies By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News J ust two years into the federal- ly-funded Teen Pregnancy Pre- vention Program (TPPP), the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has announced it plans to pull the plug on funding in June of next year. That’s two years shy of the five years of funding the program promised. Moreover, the announcement to shorten the TPPP funds, issued by the Office of Adolescent Health on July 6, came with no warning, explanation or alternative. PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY See PREGNANCIES on page 3 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Funds Aimed to Reduce Teen Births Cut The Ravens Cheerleaders and Football team were one of 62 local groups who participated in the 25th Rainier Valley Parade and Festival Aug. 12. Hundreds of people lined Rainier Avenue as drill teams, drum lines, dance teams and community organizations walked or rode by before heading off to enjoy the festival which featured games, performances, art, children’s activities, food and a beer garden and a car show. Portland Throws Out the 48-Hour Rule Officers have less than two days to provide account of deadly force cases By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News L ast week Portland City Council voted in sup- port of more police accountability when it unanimously voted to abol- ish the 48-hour rule — a topic of contention among law enforcement, the Dis- trict Attorney’s office, and community members con- cerned that police over- sight was slipping. Mayor Ted Wheeler — who presides as the city’s police commissioner – had made promises during his campaign to toss out the rule, which had allowed officers to wait two days before giving a statement after being involved in cas- es of deadly use of force. “There’s no reason po- lice should have more time than the rest of the pub- lic,” said Jo Ann Hardesty, president of the NAACP Portland branch, during her testimony before city council on Aug. 9. Police-involved shoot- ings culminate in both a criminal and internal in- vestigation, to determine if the officer committed a crime and broke police bu- reau policy. In the past sev- en years, Portland police have been involved in 32 shootings; 20 of them were See 48-HOUR on page 3 Gang Member-Turned-Filmmaker to Go on Tour Program Helps Former Foster Students Adjust to College page 7 Baltimore Statues Removed Overnight page 10 Author, documentary filmmaker to speak at Boys and Girls Clubs, youth detention facilities By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News N icky Taylor was 16 when a member of the Woodlawn Park Bloods was shot and killed at a party at her house. The following morning, her pastor died in church — due to natural caus- es, but suddenly. After her pastor died, she ran out of the church and ended up at the in- tersection of Northeast 17th and Hol- man, where hundreds and hundreds of people stood mourning her friend. This was in 1988, as gang activity and the crack epidemic started to ramp up in Portland. Prior to that day, Taylor said, she knew little about the life. But seeing two people she knew die in front of her in the space of 24 hours changed her. Because the young person shot at her party — 17-year-old David T Kalamafoni, also known as “Big Red” — was a Wood- lawn Park Blood, she became a Blood too. “That was like the beginning of my life,” she said. For the next few years, Taylor was immersed in gang life. She’s been shot three times and has spent some time in prison. One scene in her 30-minute documentary, “The Nicole Taylor Story,” portrays her surprise as she reviews her own rap sheet. But in the early 1990s, she left gangs behind and wrote a book, Ask Nicky: A Young Person’s Workbook for Build- ing Dreams, filled with advice and exercises for young people. She’s spent much of her adult life mento- ring and working with at-risk youth and discouraging them from getting See TAYLOR on page 3 PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY Robert McDonald is preparing for a career teaching math – a subject he long avoided – after years struggling to find his path as an adult. Through PCC’s Fostering Success program, also acts as a mentor and tutor to students who, like himself, experienced foster care while growing up. Nicole Taylor got involved in gangs in 1988, but has since turned her life around, writing a book and making a documentary about her life. This fall she’s going on tour to speak at Boys & Girls Clubs and youth detention centers on the West Coast.