DECEMBER 5, 2018
Portland and Seattle Volume XLI No. 10
25
CENTS
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Gerrymandering .............8
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
VIDEO STILL, COURTESY OF CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND
ALL THAT JAZZ
Joyce Harris, moderator of City Club of Portland’s
Friday Forum, “How Oregon Is Failing Black
Students.”
Educators rallied during
a City Club of Portland
Forum to discuss
barriers and solutions
to Black Student
Achievement
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
How Oregon
is Failing
Black
Students
Northwest Tap Connection Instructor Rachel McKinney performs with her students during “All That’s Jazz,” the 2018 fall recital and fundraiser for
Northwest Tap, a race- and social justice-oriented dance studio, Dec.1 at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center at Rainier Beach High School.
A
ccording to state testing stan-
dards, two-thirds of Portland’s
Black students are failing their
classes.
Furthermore,
that
daunting statistic has been persisting
over the last decade, says the EcoNor-
thwest report Black Student in Ore-
gon, which was commissioned by local
MICHAEL GIBSON/NETFLIX VIA AP
See STUDENTS on page 3
This image released by Netflix shows Kurt Russell
in a scene from “The Christmas Chronicles,”
currently streaming on Netflix.
TV Provides
Holiday Joy
page 7
Doctor
Recommended Toys
Include Empty Boxes
page 10
Portland Woman to Appear on ‘Great American Baking Show’
Cheryl Norris spent three weeks in England filming the intense-but-
friendly competitive baking show
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
C
heryl Norris began
learning to bake when
she was six or seven
years old, helping her
mother make chocolate
chip cookies in the kitch-
en. She moved on to cakes,
pies and breads — and this
winter she’ll be featured as
one of the contestants on
the fourth season of “The
Great American Baking
Show,” which premieres
this week on ABC.
Norris, a Portland native,
had previously applied
to be part of the show, an
American counterpart to
the hugely popular “The
Great British Bake Off.”
She didn’t make the cut,
but learned from the expe-
rience and applied again,
this time being inter-
viewed via Skype and then
flying to an audition with a
cake, a Danish pastry and a
loaf of bread on the plan.
“I had this beautiful cake,
walking through the air-
port. I was telling security,
‘Don’t tilt it!’” Norris said.
At the audition, she and
other hopefuls did more
baking — this time in a
commercial kitchen — and
two weeks later, Norris
learned she had the job.
Norris was on the road
when she got the call: “I
screamed so loud, they
said, ‘We’re pretty sure
you broke one of our ear
drums.’ I had to pull over
because I was so excited,”
Norris said.
Norris, who works as a
reliability engineer for
See BAKING on page 3
Wisconsin GOP Votes to Weaken Democrat Who Defeated Walker
Legislation will shift power to the GOP-controlled
legislature and away from governor’s office
By Scott Bauer and Todd Richmond
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Re-
publicans pushed through protests,
internal disagreement and Demo-
cratic opposition Wednesday to pass
far-reaching legislation that would
shift power to the GOP-controlled
Legislature and weaken the Demo-
crat who defeated Republican Gov.
Scott Walker last month.
The vote, coming after an all-night
debate, was the height of a lame-
duck legislative session aimed at
reducing the authority of the office
Republicans will lose in January.
Governor-elect Tony Evers and Dem-
ocratic Attorney General-elect Josh
Kaul warned that resulting lawsuits
would bring more gridlock when the
new administration takes over.
Walker has signaled his support
for the bill. He has 10 days to sign the
package from the time it’s delivered
to his office.
Republicans were battered in the
midterm election, losing all state-
wide races amid strong Democratic
turnout. But they retained legislative
majorities thanks to what Democrats
say are gerrymandered districts that
tilt the map.
“Wisconsin has never seen any-
MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL/AP
By Melanie Sevcenko
For The Skanner News
People protest the legislature’s extraordinary
session during the official Christmas tree
lighting ceremony at the Capitol in Madison,
Wis., Dec. 4. Demonstrators booed outgoing
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, at times drowning
out a high school choir.
See WISCONSIN on page 3