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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2017)
AUGUST 23, 2017 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 47 25 CENTS News .............................. 3,8-12 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 Jackson, Miss. Mayor ......8 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO BY MELANIE SEVCENKO TOTAL ECLIPSE Demetria Hester & Pastor E.D. Mondainé, press conference, Aug. 18, 2017. By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News O n the night of May 25, Demetria Hester, 42, was riding the TriMet MAX home after work, just past 10:30 p.m. She got on the Yellow Line at the Kenton/Denver stop and took a seat directly behind the train op- erator. Three stops later she says she was ver- bally and physically assaulted by a rag- ing man who told her he was a neo-Nazi and that she — a Black woman — had no right to be in his country. His name was Jeremy Joseph Chris- tian. Less than 24 hours later, he would See ATTACK on page 3 People gathered at Bryant Park and several other Seattle parks and community centers to watch the solar eclipse Aug. 21. Seattleites saw about 93 percent coverage during the eclipse while people in Portland saw a little over 99 percent coverage of the sun by the moon. Emergency management officials prepared for the worst, due to a large influx of people in Oregon’s remote areas during the peak of wildfire season, and were pleasantly surprised when the event passed without incident. Historic Eclipse Passes Without Mayhem Emergency responders prepared for the worst, but Oregon handled the glut of visitors with few hiccups By Andrew Selsky Associated Press ELVERT BARNES/FLICKR SALEM — No raging for- est fires trapped people. The telecommunications system didn’t crash. There were only a few traffic jams. Tourists spent mon- ey in restaurants and brewpubs, and found gas to get around. Even the weather cooperated, with Dick Gregory died Aug. 19. This photo was taken during a rally against police brutality at the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Dick Gregory Dies at 84 Icon and innovator of the Black Community honored by many page 7 Flint Water Lawsuit to Continue page 12 skies mostly clear across Oregon for the eclipse. Emergency respond- ers had prepared for the worst, using practice runs for a massive earthquake as a template. Oregon Na- tional Guard troops and their Blackhawk helicop- ters were ready to help in evacuations. But Oregonians and an uncounted number of visitors from the U.S. and abroad came together and experienced awe as the moon eclipsed the sun, putting part of the state in total eclipse, with stars coming out and tempera- tures plunging. “I’m still basking in the glow of really what was an incredible experience in terms of being able to see the eclipse and a pos- itive and safe experience throughout Oregon for ev- erybody,” Andrew Phelps, the director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Man- agement, said Tuesday. Oregon was one of 14 U.S. states in the path of the to- tal eclipse on Monday, and the first to experience it. No major problems were See ECLIPSE on page 3 Black Restaurant Event Expands to Full Week Support Black-Owned Restaurants Week, now in its third year, kicked off Monday By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News S upport Black Restaurants Week kicked off Monday with “black- out” eclipse specials and will end Saturday with a patio party at Dubs in St. Johns. The event started in 2015 as was promoted on Facebook and some lo- cal media as Black Restaurant Days, a weekend-long event to support Black restaurants in Portland. Portlander Bertha Pearl created the event after hearing about a simi- lar promotion in the Bay Area, which itself was part of Black Business Month, a nationwide event. This year it’s expanded to a full week, and organizers have created a website, http://iloveblackfood.com/, to promote the event and Black- owned restaurants in general. It includes a calendar listing of spe- cial events, as well as a list of restau- rants owned by people who identify as Black or African American. William “Dub” Travis III, the owner of Dub’s St. Johns, said the 2015 pro- See RESTAURANTS on page 3 PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY Victim tells of lack of police protection against white supremacists PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Woman Attacked on MAX Before May 26 Keacean Phillips, the owner of Jamaican Homestyle Cuisine on North Killingsworth, moved to her brick-and-mortar location in May 2016 after selling Jamaican food out of a food cart since August of the previous year. Her business is one of nearly 70 listed as part of the Support Black-Owned Restaurants promotion.