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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2017)
Page 10 The Skanner December 27, 2017 PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER A Look Back at 2017 The Lessons of Vanport PHOTO COURTESY OF GIOVANNI BATTLES On Sept. 29, Laura Ann Howard and Muyoka Mwarabu received $1,000 each and $25 gift certificates to Portland Sweet Jam restaurant at a screening of “The Wake of Vanport,” The Skanner Foundation’s series of short films interviewing survivors of 1948’s Vanport flood. The event and the contest were both sponsored by the Oregon Lottery. The collection of short films screened is the second collection created since “The Wake of Vanport” began. Bernie Foster, publisher of The Skanner News, told the crowd he expects to add more films to the series next year. Howard and Mwarabu were the winners of an essay contest on the lessons of Vanport, and their essays were published in The Skanner. Reversing Gentrification Giovanni Battles spoke to The Skanner about his experience buying a house through the North/ Northeast Preference policy — a house The preference policy, which was part of the North/Northeast Neighborhood Housing Strategy adopted by the Portland Housing Bureau in 2014, assigns points to applicants for homeownership assistance and income-restricted rental housing based on their relationship with the Albina neighborhood of Northeast Portland. Those who grew up in the Albina neighborhood could receive up to three points; people with parents or grandparents who had lived in the neighborhood could receive additional points, for a total of six possible points. Vera Katz, former mayor of Porland, passed away Dec. 11 at 84. The German-born Katz moved from New York City to Portland in 1962 and became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1985. Later, she campaigned for mayor of Portland on a platform that included reducing crime rates and promoting public transportation. AP PHOTO/FILE She was elected the 49th Mayor of Portland in 1993 and served three terms until 2005. Weinstein Effect In October the New York Times and The New Yorker published stories alleging shocking misconduct by Harvey Weinstein. The powerful producer’s misbehavior had long been the subject of whispers; by December, some 80 women had come forward. (Weinstein denies all nonconsensual sex.) In the months since, an going domino effect tumbled through not just Hollywood but at least a dozen other industries, resulting in powerful men being fired from their jobs, removed from their companies or resigning political posts. What began with just a handful of women standing up against one of Hollywood’s most pugnacious power players has turned into a movement of its own. Now that some of the silences and stigmas around sexual harassment have been shattered, the flood gates are open. Pictured here are a few of the growing number of powerful men who faced allegations of sexual harassment or assault. From left: Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Louis C.K., Distin Hoffman, and bottom row from left, former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., former “Today” morning co-host Matt Lauer and former “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose, all of whom have been accused of sexual misconduct. The housing preference policy is intended to reverse gentrification in the Northeast Portland area, but that’s a slow process. According to the Portland Housing Bureau, there were 1,100 total applicants for the homeownership programs under the preference policy. As of October, she said, of the 43 applicants in the pipeline, 7 percent are mortage ready; 28 percent are expected to be in six months and 51 percent will be in 12 to 18 months. In October there were 43 applicants that were in that pipeline. PHOTO BY BERNIE FOSTER Vera Katz Dies Battles, a SummerWorks coordinator for Multnomah County, received all six points, placing him high on the priority list for the homeownership assistance through the program. This summer he bought his first house at North Chataqua and Willis, three blocks from where is mother grew up and across the street from Rollins’ grandfather’s former house. Oregon History Makers Awarded The Oregon Historical Society hosted its annual dinner at the historic Montgomery Park building in Portland Oct. 8, during which recipients were presented with the 2017 Oregon History Makers Medal. First awarded in 2009, the History Makers Medal is presented annually by OHS to individuals and organizations that are positively shaping the history, culture, and landscape of Oregon. Proceeds from the History Makers Dinner support every aspect of the Oregon Historical Society’s important work to collect, preserve, and interpret Oregon’s past. Pictured here are OHS board president Carl Christoferson (left); recipients Mark and Pat Reser (owners, Reser’s Fine Foods, family-run manufacturer and distributor of fresh and frozen prepared foods); recipient Bill Schonley (sports broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers for almost three decades), recipient Nathalie Johnson (practicing surgical oncologist and medical director of the Legacy Cancer Institute and the Legacy Breast Health centers), recipient Nicholas Kristof (columnist for The New York Times since 2001, a two-time Pultizer Prize-winner who writes op-ed columns that appear twice a week), and OHS executive director Kerry Tymchuck.