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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
MARCH 20, 2019 Portland and Seattle Volume XLI No. 25 25 CENTS News ................................... 3,6 A & E .................................... 5-6 Opinion ...................................2 Author James Baldwin....6 Calendar .................................4 Bids/Classifieds .....................7 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW CLIMATE STRIKE PBOT Unveils Northeast Greenway Plan Northeast 9th will become a greenway — and 7th will receive safety enhancements The Portland Bureau of Transpor- tation has released its plan for a new bike way in Northeast Portland — a project that generated controversy last summer and fall about the agency’s outreach efforts, as well the possibili- ty of altering Northeast 7th Avenue to create a neighborhood greenway. The resulting plan is what PBOT spokesperson Hannah Schafer de- scribes as a “twofer” — a hybrid route using both Northeast 7th Avenue and Northeast 9th Avenue to connect the Woodlawn Neighborhood to the Lloyd District. PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News Students in 100 countries throughout the world, including hundreds in Portland and Seattle, participated in a global climate strike March 15 to draw attention to inaction on climate change and guarantee a healthy future for their generation. Pictured here are students at Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park Courtier Convicted in Bruce Killing Jury finds Russell Courtier guilty of murder, hit-and-run driving and intimidation in 2016 death of 19-year-old Larnell Bruce The Skanner R ussell Courtier was convicted Tuesday in the killing of 19-year- old Larnell Bruce, Jr., using a Jeep in the parking lot of a Gresham 7-Eleven in 2016. A jury found Courtier, who has extensive and well-documented ties to the White supremacist gang European Kindred, guilty of murder, hit-and- run driving and second-de- gree intimidation, Ore- gon’s hate crime charge. Last week, Colleen Hunt, who was in the Jeep with Courtier when Bruce was hit and killed, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Measure 11 offense with See PBOT on page 3 Kam Reviews page 5 ‘Yardi’ a minimum 10-year sen- tence. Hunt will not be charged with a hate crime. Courtier and Hunt were charged with murder us- ing Hunt’s Jeep Aug. 10, 2016 after Courtier and Bruce got in an altercation in the parking lot of the store and — by Courtier’s admission to police at the time — he pursued and hit Bruce intentionally. Bruce was taken to a hospital and died three days later. The event was captured on video, and neither the state nor the defendant disputed who was behind the wheel of the car, which Hunt owned. Instead, closing argu- ments focused on intent, with Courtier’s attorney claiming Bruce threatened Courtier with a machete in- side the store. Video shows the parties going separate ways, and Hunt’s Jeep pursuing and hitting Bruce. Shortly after Bruce’s death, Courtier told a de- tective he pursued and hit Bruce intentionally. Bruce was Black and Lati- no and part of a mixed-race Portland-area family. Courtier’s ties to Europe- an Kindred surfaced in the immediate aftermath of the crime. He has a tattoo with the initials “EK” on his leg, and police found a hat with the same initials in Hunt’s car. According to prison re- cords published by The Larnell Bruce, Jr. Portland Mercury in Octo- ber 2016, his involvement with European Kindred dates back to at least 2003. Don’t Shoot Portland held a rally in downtown Portland Tuesday after the verdict was announced. Nataki Garrett Appointed Artistic Director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival Garrett will take over from Bill Rauch in August The Skanner News T he Oregon Shakespeare Festi- val announced Tuesday that Nataki Garrett will become its sixth artistic director in August 2019, succeeding Bill Rauch, who has helmed the festival for 12 years. “We are excited to welcome Ms. Garrett to the Rogue Valley, and be- lieve she will provide exquisite ar- tistic taste, dynamism, innovation, and a deep commitment to the four pillars of our mission — excellence, stewardship, company, and inclu- sion,” said search committee mem- ber and recently elected co-chair of the Board of Directors Diane Yu in a See GARRETT on page 3