NOVEMBER 29, 2017
Portland and Seattle Volume XL No. 9
25
CENTS
News ................................... 3,9 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Prince Harry ....................7
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
COURTESY OF PAALF
PEOPLE’S QUILTMAKING
AND STORYTELLING
The
‘People’s Plan’
Offers a Vision
for Black
Portland
O
n Nov. 30, the Portland African
American Leadership Forum will
unveil its highly anticipated Peo-
ple’s Plan.
Compiled through interviews with
some 400 Black Portlanders between
May and August 2015, the 130-page doc-
ument serves as a powerful tool to help
shape the city to the needs of its African
American population.
On Thursday, community mem-
bers are invited to attend the official
launch of the People’s Plan at Marana-
tha Church in Northeast Portland. The
ALY GRICE/TROY MESSENGER VIA AP, FILE
See PAALF on page 3
Harriet Walden and a small group of other women admire the quilt being made as part of Voices Rising presents People’s Quilt making/Storytelling with
artist Storme Webber at the last guilting class on Nov. 26 at Washington Hall. The quilt is being made to commemorate Washington Hall the site of
performances by many great local and national Jazz musicians. Many people worked on the project, which will be presented to Washington Hall when
it is finished.
Reo’s Ribs Rebounding After Fire
Owners have announced the shuttered restaurant will reopen soon
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
T
Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones
speaks during a campaign stop in Troy, Ala.
he owners of Reo’s
Ribs announced this
month that they plan
to reopen the restau-
rant soon, although they
don’t yet have a set date.
The announcement came
in the form of a brand-new
banner reading at the bar-
becue restaurant’s loca-
tion at Northeast 42nd and
Sandy, reading “We Will Be
Back!” Varnado also posted
a photo of himself in front
of the banner with the mes-
sage, “Thank you Heavenly
Father for your blessings,
it been a long time coming
to everyone, “Reo’s Ribs”
will be opening real soon,
the best soul food from
Heaven!”
Varnado and his partner,
co-owner Myra Girod, told
The Skanner they’re eager
to re-open the facility after
a May 8 fire forced the fa-
cility to close.
The owners told The
Skanner they had a meet-
ing with city officials this
week to discuss next steps
and don’t have many de-
FACT CHECK:
Man Dissed
Coming
Home
Again
By Trump Has Two first-time homebuyers
find their place in Portland
Put Felons in
page 9
Prison
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
Prince Harry to Marry
American Actress
page 7
W
hen Giovanni Battles first
heard about the North/
Northeast Preference poli-
cy, he was skeptical.
His mother heard about the poli-
cy, which gives longtime residents
of Northeast Portland preference in
housing, on the radio. She urged Bat-
tles and his fiancée, Ashley Rollins, to
tails yet, but Girod estimat-
ed reopening was at least a
couple months away.
At about 3:30 a.m. May
8, Portland Fire & Rescue
crews responded to heavy
fire coming out of every
window at the restaurant,
and some initial news re-
ports said the fire depart-
ment had interviewed wit-
nesses who said they saw
people running away from
the scene.
Shortly after the event,
Varnado posted a Face-
book Live video suggest-
ing the fire was a racially
look into it.
The preference policy, which was
part of the North/Northeast Hous-
ing Strategy adopted by the Portland
Housing Bureau in 2014, assigns
points to applicants for homeown-
ership assistance and income-re-
stricted rental housing based on
their relationship with the Albina
neighborhood of Northeast Portland.
Those who grew up in the Albina
See HOME on page 3
motivated arson. Varnado
was in Los Angeles at the
time of the fire, shooting
an episode of “Martha
and Snoop’s Potluck Din-
ner,” a cable cooking show
co-hosted by Varnado’s
nephew, Snoop Dogg.
Later in May PF & R
spokespeople said they saw
no evidence of arson at the
scene of the fire. The full
fire investigation report,
requested by The Skanner
in June and obtained in
September, includes an on-
See REO’S on page 3
PHOTO COURTESY OF GIOVANNI BATTLES
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
The PAALF launches
its plan Thursday on
promoting and fostering
a resilient community
Giovanni Battles (left), his fiancée, Ashley
Rollins and their child stand in front of their
new home.