MARCH 21, 2018
25
CENTS
Seattle, Washington Volume XL No. 25
News ................................ 3,6,8 A & E ........................................5
Opinion ...................................2 Putin ................................6
Calendars ...............................4 Bids/Classifieds .....................7
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
MEYER’S NEW HOME
‘Art Saved My Life’ will
select three local artists
to create works around
community healing
By Melanie Sevcenko
For The Skanner News
I
n a new twist on the ‘artist residen-
cy,’ a group of Portland creatives are
launching ‘Art Saved My Life’ — a
local program that supports Artists
of Color who have been impacted by
the city’s decades-long struggle with
gentrification, forced relocation and
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE
See ART on page 3
Haitians,
Salvadorans
Lost in DACA
Debate page 8
August Wilson’s ‘Two
Training Running’ Comes
to Portland
page 5
This lot at 2045 N. Vancouver will be the new headquarters of Meyer Memorial Trust, one of Oregon’s largest philanthropic organizations. The foundation
intends to relocate in March 2020.
Meyer Memorial Trust to Relocate in 2020
Foundation announces purchase of property on North Vancouver
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
M
eyer
Memorial
Trust is moving
to close-in North
Portland.
The state’s second larg-
est foundation, which
manages an $800 million
endowment created by
grocery-chain
found-
er Fred Meyer, has an-
nounced its purchase of a
25,000-square-foot lot at
the intersection of North
Tillamook and Vancou-
ver. Foundation CEO Doug
Stamm, who retires at the
end of April, said the orga-
nization will move into the
new spot in March 2020.
Public records say the
lot sold for $4.9 million in
January. Foundation CEO
Doug Stamm said Meyer’s
lease at its long-term office
is coming to an end, and
higher-ups started look-
ing for a new location to
house its increased staff.
When Stamm started 16
years ago, the foundation
employed 11 people; it now
employs 43.
The 25,000-square-foot
site currently hosts Ser-
geant’s Towing, which had
owned the property since
2000.
“We think it’ll be an im-
provement over a tow
yard,” Stamm said. “Not too
many people show up at
the tow yard very happy, I
can tell you that.”
Meyer has engaged the
development firm Project^
and is in discussions with
an architect. The founda-
tion is also talking with
community partners about
what the end result should
look like.
Anyeley Hallová, a part-
ner at Project^, said the
site was chosen partly for
its proximity to transit and
the availability of park-
ing for partners driving
in from elsewhere in the
state. She also said Stamm
and others stressed the im-
portance of developing a
site that wouldn’t displace
anyone from their homes.
“The conversation we’ve
had has been less about
what is on site but with
Meyer being there, how
that can be a positive con-
See MEYER on page 3
Boko Haram Returns Nigeria Girls,
Warns Not to Put in School
Most of the 110 girls kidnapped from a boarding
school last month have been returned
By Haruna Umar and Krista Larson
Associated Press
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Boko Ha-
ram Islamic extremists brought back
nearly all of the 110 girls they had
kidnapped from a boarding school
last month, dropping them off in
the middle of the night Wednesday
with a warning: “Don’t ever put your
daughters in school again.”
Several of the girls interviewed
by The Associated Press said they
had been traveling for days before
the convoy of vehicles arrived in the
center of the town of Dapchi around
2 a.m. Residents who had fled upon
hearing that Boko Haram was head-
ed their way watched from hiding as
dozens of girls descended from the
vehicles apparently unharmed.
“We were freed because we are
Muslim girls and they didn’t want us
to suffer. That is why they released
us,” said Khadija Grema, one of the
freed girls who said a Christian class-
AP PHOTO/JOSSY OLA
Residency
Supports
Artists of
Color
PHOTO COURTESY OF MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST
‘Art Saved My Life’ is an artist residency program
that supports Portland-based Artists of Color to
create works around healing from gentrification.
Aishat Alhaji, second, right, one of the
kidnapped girls from the Government Girls
Science and Technical College Dapchi who was
freed, is photographed after her release, in
Dapchi, Nigeria March 21.
mate remained captive.
The extraordinary development
brought elation to most of the fami-
lies, but more heartache for the rela-
tives of the nine girls still unaccount-
See BOKO HARAM on page 3