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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
August 16, 2017 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 involved in gangs. Three years ago, she and two friends, both of whom came of age in Portland gangs as well, formed Neighbors Against Violence, an initiative to steer young people toward college opportunities, scholar- ships and jobs to keep them on a positive path. “ destroy it, so I’m going to give back,” Taylor said. Taylor formed NAV and started to re-engage with her mentoring and education work after be- coming concerned about an apparent uptick in gang violence in Port- land, particularly in east Portland. “My message to the kids Music Millennium Music Milliennium celebrated it 25th Annual Customer Appreciation Day Aug. 12 with a barbecue and live entertainment. Terry Currier (center) shares a cake with his likeness with Thure Gray (left) and Jenseen Brons, both of Bremerton, Wa. Music Millennium was founded in 1969 and its East Burnside location is believed to be the oldest continually operating record store in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, it was given the number- nine spot in Spin magazine’s list of the 15 best independent record stores in the U.S. This year, Mayor Ted Wheeler proclaimed Aug. 12 Terry Currier Appreciation Day. Currier helped start Record Store Day and is credited with adopting and spreading the slogan “Keep Portland Weird.” He’s also one of the co-founders of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. I’ve got to give back to my community. I helped destroy it, so I’m going to give back Two years ago she made “The Nicole Taylor Story,” which describes her life as well as Port- land’s gang milieu from the 1980s and 1990s. She’s also made a 60-minute documentary, which in- cludes footage from the first and incorporates stories from others’ lives and has submitted both to Netflix. Taylor is also planning a tour this fall to show the films to Boys and Girls Clubs and youth deten- tion facilities all over the west coast. The tour will be funded by book sales, she said, but she is also seeking sponsorships. Her long-term dream is to open a community center that would act as a drop-in site for kids, as well as serving as a homeless shelter. “I’ve got to give back to my community. I helped Pregnancies cont’d from pg 3 PHOTO BY TONY WEBSTER 48-Hour if just because you’re able to pull that trigger, that doesn’t mean you’re going to hit that person,” Taylor said. Misfires and accidental shootings are common, Taylor said, and the oth- er major lesson of her youth is that long-term friends aren’t always who young people think they will be. Many of Tay- lor’s childhood friends became Crips while she was a teenager, and she’s rekindled her friend- ships with them since leaving gang life behind. “God revealed a lot of people to me,” Taylor said. To contribute to the GoFundMe for the tour, visit www.gofundme. com /i5-taylormade- freeze-awarenesstour. To see the trailer for the film, view this story on TheSkanner.com. Police officer with baton, Portland, Oregon. fatal. Last month the Port- land Police Bureau had proposed a policy change that would have delayed police inter- views in such cases, pos- sibly by weeks. Now, with the 48-hour directive no longer in ef- fect, officers can be asked to promptly provide their account of what happened in less than two days. “And, unlike the cur- rent version, we will im- plement the policy NOW, rather than waiting for a court to give us the ok,” tweeted Mayor Wheeler the day before the coun- cil convened. The city council voted to amend the 48-hour rule, but so far has only closed the loophole which let the rule ride. The precise language of the clause will be re- worked and is expected to be reviewed by council by the end of the month. The city had been forced to re-evaluate and reform its police practic- es when it was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice after a 2012 inves- tigation found the Port- land Police Bureau had a pattern of using exces- sive force against people with mental illness. PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER Taylor cont’d from pg 1 The lack of dollars, say Big Cit- ies Health Coalition (BCHC) — a forum for the leaders of Ameri- ca’s largest metropolitan health departments — will severely im- pact evidence-based programs, services, and research for reduc- ing teen pregnancies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four teens will become pregnant by age 20. In protest to the funding cut, 37 Democratic senators sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, questioning why crucial funding is being yanked out of public health departments across the U.S — two years too soon. Days later, the BCHC sent its own letter to Price, signed by 20 health commissioners and echo- ing the sentiment of the senators. The health advocates argue that the TPPP has made unprece- dented progress in reducing teen pregnancies. Since 2015, the TPPP has served nearly 1.2 million youth in 40 states and territories in avoiding unintended pregnancies. In addition, they say, cutting off the funding negatively impacts the teenage girls who are partic- ipating in current programs and services. It will also spell “fewer project jobs, fewer trained pro- fessionals, and reduced commu- nity partnerships,” states BCHC’s letter. ‘A huge hole’ in services While the TPPP falls under the category of reproductive health education, the program funds platforms that go beyond sex ed- ucation, including teacher train- ing, trauma counseling, and pro- gram evaluation. Since its inception, the TPPP has awarded 81 grants, distribut- ed to public health departments across the nation. If funding is cut short, it would “create a huge hole in being able to provide services to vulnerable teens,” said Dr. Leana Wen, Com- missioner of Health for the City of Baltimore, during a BCHC confer- ence call last week. In Baltimore, the TPPP helped reduce teen pregnancies by 44 percent between 2009 and 2015. “The grant developed a compre- “ These same youth also expe- rience dispar- ities for many co-occurring risk factors hensive approach city-wide. This is the only program we have,” said Wen, who noted that 20,000 students will not have access to pregnancy-preventing services if funds discontinue. Multnomah County also bene- fited greatly from the TPPP, when it won a competitive $6.25 mil- lion grant in 2015. The money has helped middle and high school students – along with their par- ents and teachers – in five school districts to prevent unintended pregnancies and teach healthy re- lationship skills. The county is calling the ter- mination of the grant agreement “improper.” Its funding helped establish the ‘Adolescents and Communities Together’ project, a partnership between Planned Parenthood of Columbia Willa- mette, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland Metro, Latino Network, Native American Youth and Family Center, and Self-Enhance- ment, Inc. The project was designed to ad- dress health disparities and high teen birth rates among American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Afri- can Americans and Latinas. “These same youth also ex- perience disparities for many co-occurring risk factors such as sexually transmitted diseases, socioeconomic disadvantage, ed- ucational attainment, and lack of positive youth development op- portunities and supports,” wrote the Multnomah County Health Department in an official state- ment appealing the TPPP’s early cancellation. To date, Adolescents and Com- munities Together has served more than 8,000 young people in Portland Public, David Douglas, Parkrose, Reynolds and Centen- nial school districts. “David Douglas is among the most diverse school districts in Oregon, with some of the highest urban poverty rates and students who are at high risk for both un- wanted pregnancies and STDs,’’ said Dan McCue, spokesman for the David Douglas School Dis- trict, in the county’s statement. “This grant has provided a valuable tool for us to deliver culturally specific, accurate, and state-standard compliant sex ed- ucation to these high risk popula- tions,” he continued. In Washington State, the TPPP grant funds 30 percent of FLASH, a sexual health education curric- ulum developed by Public Health Seattle & King County to prevent teen pregnancy, STDs, and sexual violence. FLASH is used by every school district in King County – whose teen birth rate has fallen by 55 percent since 2008 – and in schools across all regions of the U.S. Without funding for FLASH, 41 health teachers at 20 schools in the rural south and urban Mid- west will not receive the curric- ulum and teacher training they were promised. Funding needed to measure outcomes Ending the program would also leave thousands of school profes- sionals without data, said Patty Hayes, director of Public Health Seattle & King County. “We’ve never before had the opportunity to evaluate the long- term outcomes of FLASH,” said Hayes during the BCHC call.