Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2018)
JULY 11, 2018 Portland and Seattle Volume XL No. 41 25 CENTS News ................................ 3,6,8 A & E ........................................5 Opinion ...................................2 Bids/Classifieds .....................7 Calendars ...............................4 Dr. Jasmine ......................8 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO BY DONOVAN M. SMITH NATURALIZATION CEREMONY Oregon DOJ Still Fumbling Use-of-Force Reporting By Lisa Loving Special To The Skanner News n Oregon Department of Justice webpage meant to document law enforcement use-of-force incidents around the state con- tains significant factual errors — and a spokesperson for the department told The Skanner that the department has no responsibility to keep accurate infor- mation on its database. According to the page, titled simply “Published Reports,” Aaoron Campbell pulled a gun on Portland Police officers before being shot by Officer Ronald Fra- shour in 2010. In fact Campbell was unarmed when he was killed, after police were called for a welfare check on his apartment. The case resulted in a $1.2 million set- tlement against the City of Portland. The database also says that Keaton Otis “reached into the car for a gun” when in fact he was shot by multiple of- A AP PHOTO/MARKUS SCHREIBER See DOJ on page 3 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED A police accountability protest organized by Don’t Shoot Portland in 2015. More than a dozen service men and women joined almost 500 people at the Annual Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony July 4 at Seattle Center. The ceremony included a Native American performance by storyteller Gene Tagaban. The service men and women participated in a program that allows immigrants serving in the US military a path to citizenship under special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Emergency Medical Workers Strike Out in Pushback on New Multnomah County AMR Contract Multnomah County Board also votes to shut down and ‘reset’ its Citizens Involvement Committee By Lisa Loving Special to The Skanner ultnomah County commissioners at their last regular meeting June 28, took two controversial votes, approving an exclu- sive emergency ambulance services contract over the objections of workers bound by it, and also vot- ing to shut down the Mult- nomah County Citizens In- M volvement Committee. On both items, only Commissioner Loretta Smith voted against the proposals after offering comments critical of the board’s decision-making processes; her support of ambulance and emergency services workers drew big applause despite warnings from county chair Debo- rah Kafoury that clapping is not allowed. Discussion of the no-bid Multnomah County Health Department contract for ambulance services with American Medical Re- sponse centered on new language eliminating what is called unit hour utiliza- tion — UHU. The term refers to the flex time system used to allow ambulance drivers and Emergency Medical Technicians to decompress after difficult calls. County health official Paul Lewis testified that the contract represented possible improvements in the former system that in- volves UHU, which he de- scribed as a “crude” mea- sure of working conditions for emergency workers. Lewis confirmed that county emergency ser- vices have excellent re- sponse times and survival rates especially for cardiac arrest cases, but he said See AMR on page 3 New Avenues for Youth Offers Wraparound Services for Homeless German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and U.S. President Trump pose for a photograph prior to a bilateral meeting on the sideline of a summit of heads of state and government at NATO headquarters in Brussels July 11. NATO leaders gather in Brussels for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. The organization has helped more than 20,000 youth in Portland and recently extended its services to East Multnomah County World News Briefs page 6 hile the city of Portland grapples with breakneck growth, a lack of affordable housing and a homeless crisis that shows no signs of slow- ing, one organization has managed to ride the curve for the last 20 years by adapting to the needs of marginal- The Skanner News W ized youth. It started back in 1997 with a group of volunteers from the Salvation Ar- my’s Greenhouse program, which at the time provided services for homeless youth. Their idea was to close the gaps in those services by creating a new, integrated system of care – from basic needs like meals and counseling to providing oppor- At New Avenues for Youth, homeless kids can access basic needs like meals and counseling as well as opportunities is education, employment and housing. tunities in education, employment and housing. The result was New Av- enues for Youth. See YOUTH on page 3
