FEBRUARY 20, 2019
Portland and Seattle Volume XLI No. 21
Opinion ...................................2
Calendar .................................4
A & E ........................................5
Bids/Classifieds .....................7
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
25
CENTS
INSIDE:
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Special Edition
PROTECT DEMOCRACY
Rosa Parks School
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
T
eachers at Rosa Parks Elemen-
tary School are fighting back
after learning this month that
the school will be shifting from a
year-round program to a traditional
calendar that matches the rest of the
district.
In 2014, the school shifted to a year-
round schedule as part of a three-year
pilot project. By the end of the 2015-2016
school year, the school saw a 9 percent
gain in student reading scores and 24
percent gain in math scores as report-
AP PHOTO/CODY JACKSON
See ROSA PARKS on page 3
In this Feb. 15 photo, Kevin McCreanor works on a
laptop in Atlanta. McCreanor and his wife normally
get a sizeable refund each year. Their income,
earned primarily from his wife’s job in telecom,
can vary greatly, so there was comfort in never
facing a big bill.
Several hundred people showed up at the Seattle Protect democracy rally Feb. 18 at Volunteer Park. The Seattle protest was one of dozens held across
the United States, which organizers described as “a national day of protest to preserve our constitutional democracy against an illegal power grab
by the president to advance his dangerous policies that run against true American values and the rule of law.” The local organizers included MoveOn,
Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, Indivisible WA-8, SEA NO H8 and Seattle Indivisible.
Family Seeks Answers After Woman’s Death
Jaquonna Goggans was found in the trunk of a car Feb. 7 in East Portland
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
J
aquonna Lakaya Gog-
gans, 43, went missing
in late January. On Feb.
7 the Portland Police
Bureau announced a body,
which they initially be-
lieved to be male, had been
discovered in the trunk of
a car abandoned in an East
Portland parking lot.
A week later, the Bureau
announced the person they
discovered was Goggans.
Goggans’ family is still
looking for answers and
hoping community mem-
bers will come forward
with information about
Goggans’ disappearance
and death.
Goggans’ cousin, Laurie
Palmer, told The Skanner
the family has few details
about Goggans’ death,
including the cause and
manner of death, which
have not been released by
police.
She said an employee of
Foxy’s Den Eatery, the Ha-
zelwood restaurant where
Goggans’ body was found,
told the family the car
where Goggans was found
had been sitting in its
parking lot for at least two
weeks — abandoned, with
license plates stripped.
According to Palmer, the
car technically belonged to
Goggans’ brother but the
two had recently traded
cars and Goggans had been
driving it.
Palmer described her
cousin as “a family per-
son” who liked to shop and
look nice. Goggans had
four brothers, two grown
children and three grand-
children. At the time of her
See GOGGANS on page 3
Commanding Officers’ Union Files Complaint,
Grievance After Furor Over Texts
Americans
Shocked by
New Tax Law
page 6
City has announced plans for listening session,
investigation of officers’ relationship to far-right
organizers
Book Review:
‘Deep Roots’
O
page 5
death, Palmer said, Gog-
gans was not working, but
was living with and caring
for her mother.
“She loved to look nice.
She loved to shop and she
had a beautiful bright
smile. She was quiet most
of the time, and reserved,”
Palmer said.
A spokesperson for the
police bureau said Tues-
day there were no updates
to the case since Goggans’
name was released last
week, but has urged mem-
The Skanner News Staff
and Wire Reports
n Tuesday the Portland Police
Commanding Officers Associa-
tion (PPCOA) filed a complaint
with Chief Human Resources
Officer Serilda Summers-McGee
against Mayor Ted Wheeler, Com-
missioner JoAnn Hardesty and Com-
missioner Chloe Eudaly and a griev-
ance against the City of Portland. It
charges that the commissioners’ pub-
lic statements about Portland Police
Bureau Lt. Jeff Niiya violate the city’s
human resources rules and its con-
tract with the union.
Last week Willamette Week and the
Portland Mercury reported that Nii-
ya, in charge of containing protests,
texted repeatedly with Joey Gibson,
See PPB TEXTS on page 3
AP PHOTO/MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, FILE
Teachers say PPS’ shift
to a traditional schedule
took them by surprise
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Rosa Parks
Teachers
Fight
Schedule
Change
In this April 27, 2017, file photo, Joey Gibson
speaks during a rally in support of free speech
in Berkeley, Calif. The mayor of Portland,
Oregon, has asked the police chief to investigate
“disturbing” texts between the commander
of the department’s rapid response team and
Gibson the leader of a far-right group involved
in violent protests in the city.