FEBRUARY 13, 2019
Portland and Seattle Volume XLI No. 20
25
CENTS
News ...............................3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 World News Briefs ........10
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
RECORD SNOW
HITS SEATTLE
Portland City Hall
Report: City
Must Change
Government
City Club of Portland
report comes up sharply
critical of Portland’s
form of government
See CITY CLUB on page 3
Several snow storms rolled through Seattle between Feb. 8 and Feb. 11 dumping more than eight inches of snow, forcing school closures throughout the
area. Making the most of a bad situation Seattlites took advantage of the cold white stuff to make snow people, have snowball fights and sled down the
numerous hills in Seattle. In this Feb. 9 photo, children slide down a hill next to Jane Addams Middle School.
OSU President Emphasizes Diversity in
‘State of the University’ Address
‘Excellence is achieved through diversity in all that we do,’ Ray tells
Portland audience
AP PHOTO/ELAINE THOMPSON, FILE
The Skanner News Staff
I
In this photo taken Oct. 2, 2018, a semi-automatic
rifle, with “God Bless America” imprinted on it, is
displayed for sale on the wall of a gun shop in
Lynnwood, Wash.
Washington State
Sheriffs Refuse to
Enforce New Gun
Restrictions page 8
Kam Williams Gives
New Film ‘Black’
Four Stars
page 7
n a Feb. 7 address at the
Oregon
Convention
Center, Oregon State
University President Ed
Ray emphasized the im-
portance of improving di-
versity at the school – and
called on state government
to provide more funding
for higher education.
Touting the universi-
ty’s five-year roadmap
launched in January, Ray
said the university plans
to help “transform society”
with research and inno-
vation and offer “success
for all people regardless
of their race, gender, reli-
gion, nationality, disabil-
ity, sexual orientation or
identity — or economic cir-
cumstances.”
“At Oregon State, we
believe that excellence is
achieved through diversi-
ty in all that we do and for
all that we serve. Thanks
to the leadership of our
Office of Institutional Di-
versity, we are making
great strides in becoming
a more inclusive univer-
sity, but we know that we
have more work to do. We
ralize the more diverse and
inclusive we are, the more
excellent we will be,” Ray
said.
In a conversation with
The Skanner News staff
later on Feb. 7, Ray and di-
versity chair Charlene Al-
exander talked about ways
in which the university is
working to recruit and re-
tain minority students and
other students from dis-
advantaged backgrounds.
Some highlights and key
numbers:
• Improved cultural
centers. The university’s
five cultural centers for
minority students have
been rebuilt and in one
case renamed, with input
See OSU on page 3
Parkland Anniversary Highlights Democratic Shift on Guns
After years of caution on gun rights, public
pressure – and midterm success – mean
Democrats are getting bolder on gun control
By Nicholas Riccardi
Associated Press
I
n the final weeks before the
2008 election, Barack Obama’s
campaign sent mailers to
Florida voters reassuring
them that he supported the Sec-
ond Amendment. In the open-
ing days of the 2020 Democratic
primary, it’s hard to imagine any
candidate feeling the need to
make a similar gesture.
“Guns are no longer the third
rail,” said Steve Schale, a politi-
cal operative who ran Obama’s
Florida campaign in 2008. “Ten
to 12 years ago, Democrats had
to — for political necessity — be
really careful about how they
talked about it. Now, if you don’t
See PARKLAND on page 3
PHOTO BY ANDREW HARNIK/AP
P
ortland’s current form of city
government needs to change, ar-
gues a report released Sunday by
the Portland City Club.
Portland voters have twice, in recent
years – in 2002 and 2007 – rejected a
shift to a strong-mayor form of gov-
ernment, and the report also argues
against such a move. Instead the re-
port, authored by 11 City Club volun-
teers, includes the following recom-
mendations:
• Centralize authority by strengthen-
ing the mayor’s role;
• Create a city manager role – some-
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., center, accompanied by
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., third from right, speaks at a
news conference on an proposed amendment to ban high
capacity magazines in guns Feb. 12, 2019.