04-24-2024  9:16 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

Don’t Shoot Portland, University of Oregon Team Up for Black Narratives, Memory

The yearly Memory Work for Black Lives Plenary shows the power of preservation.

Grants Pass Anti-Camping Laws Head to Supreme Court

Grants Pass in southern Oregon has become the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis as its case over anti-camping laws goes to the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled for April 22. The case has broad implications for cities, including whether they can fine or jail people for camping in public. Since 2020, court orders have barred Grants Pass from enforcing its anti-camping laws. Now, the city is asking the justices to review lower court rulings it says has prevented it from addressing the city's homelessness crisis. Rights groups say people shouldn’t be punished for lacking housing.

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

Governor expands executive team and names new Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director ...

Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

5 Million dollars from Oregon CHIPS Act to be allocated to new Child Care Fund ...

A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states

A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it. Tennessee became the latest when the Republican...

Biden administration is announcing plans for up to 12 lease sales for offshore wind energy

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans for a new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028. The plan was to be...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

OPINION

Op-Ed: Why MAGA Policies Are Detrimental to Black Communities

NNPA NEWSWIRE – MAGA proponents peddle baseless claims of widespread voter fraud to justify voter suppression tactics that disproportionately target Black voters. From restrictive voter ID laws to purging voter rolls to limiting early voting hours, these...

Loving and Embracing the Differences in Our Youngest Learners

Yet our responsibility to all parents and society at large means we must do more to share insights, especially with underserved and under-resourced communities. ...

Gallup Finds Black Generational Divide on Affirmative Action

Each spring, many aspiring students and their families begin receiving college acceptance letters and offers of financial aid packages. This year’s college decisions will add yet another consideration: the effects of a 2023 Supreme Court, 6-3 ruling that...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Ethnic Karen guerrillas in Myanmar leave a town that army lost 2 weeks ago as rival group holds sway

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from the main ethnic Karen fighting force battling Myanmar’s military government have withdrawn from the eastern border town of Myawaddy two weeks after forcing the army to give up its defense, residents and members of the group said Wednesday. ...

Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel

Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their schools: Stop doing business with Israel — or any companies that support its ongoing war in Gaza. The demand has its roots in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions...

Ancestry website to catalogue names of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The names of thousands of people held in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II will be digitized and made available for free, genealogy company Ancestry announced Wednesday. The website, known as one of the largest global online resources of...

ENTERTAINMENT

What to stream this weekend: Conan O’Brien travels, 'Migration' soars and Taylor Swift reigns

Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver” landing on Netflix and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as...

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

The Latest | Germany will resume working with UN relief agency for Palestinians after a review

Germany said Wednesday that it plans to follow several other countries in resuming cooperation with the U.N....

Pro-Palestinian student protests target colleges' financial ties with Israel

Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their...

Rush hour chaos in London as 5 military horses run amok after getting spooked during exercise

LONDON (AP) — Five military horses spooked by noise from a nearby building site bolted during routine exercises...

Moscow court rejects Evan Gershkovich's appeal, keeping him in jail until at least June 30

MOSCOW (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain jailed on espionage charges until at...

UK puts its defense industry on 'war footing' and gives Ukraine 0 million in new military aid

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The U.K. prime minister said Tuesday the country is putting its defense industry on a...

With public universities under threat, massive protests against austerity shake Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Raising their textbooks and diplomas and singing the national anthem, hundreds of...

Amari Prewitt, right, smiles as her mom Elena Williams, left, sister Aniya Lopez, brother Julian Prewitt, and aunt Erica Williams show her the new bedroom she will be getting at their Habitat For Humanity House in Medford, Ore. (Denise Baratta /The Medford Mail Tribune via AP)
VICKIE ALDOUS, Mail Tribune

 

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Amari Prewitt-Williams was born a healthy baby, but at 3 weeks old, she developed a fever and meningitis — inflammation of her brain and spinal cord membranes.

She has coped with multiple brain surgeries, cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder. Now 3 years old, the wheelchair-bound girl has trouble getting around her small two-bedroom home that is infested with mice and spiders. The home rents for $995 per month, said her mother,

Elena Williams, a certified nursing assistant at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.

Fortunately, the family of two working adults and three children was chosen to receive a Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity home. Williams is putting in 200 hours of construction work for the house, and friends and family members are contributing 300 hours.

The monthly mortgage for the four-bedroom, wheelchair-accessible house will cost between $600 and $700, Williams said.
"We were blessed to have this opportunity," she said.

Habitat for Humanity is on the front lines of a local affordable housing crisis.

The rental vacancy rate has dipped to about 2 percent, rent costs are rising and the median existing home sale price in Jackson County has risen from $145,000 in 2011 to $221,500 this year.

The 2007 recession triggered a wave of foreclosures, and many developers, builders and subcontractors went belly up.
Although times were tough, Habitat for Humanity did what it could to make the best of the situation.

"One of the largest hurdles for us is buying land. The recession helped us because land became available and we could purchase foreclosed homes," said Denise James, executive director of the local organization.

Isabel Cortez, a divorced mother of three now living in a bedroom of her parents' house, is receiving another Habitat for Humanity house. Although construction hasn't yet started on the house she will live in with her children, Cortez already has logged half of her required construction hours by helping build homes for others.

"It was really nice building homes for other people and seeing the houses and their faces. I love working on houses," said Cortez, who works at Amy's Kitchen. "I'm so happy and so thankful for Habitat for Humanity. I'm very grateful. I was shocked when they told me I'd been chosen."

The Housing Authority of Jackson County is among the government agencies straining to meet the need for affordable housing. It has 5,416 people on a three-year waiting list for rental vouchers that can be used on the open market to supplement the amount people can pay for rent.

The Housing Authority also builds and manages its own housing. With new projects in the pipeline, the agency will manage nearly 1,500 units, said Jason Elzy, director of development.

The Concord, a $12.5 million apartment complex with 50 units being built in downtown Medford, is its largest current project in Jackson County. Rent will range from $456 to $584 for one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The Housing Authority will open a waiting list for spots in the building in the early fall, a few months before the building is finished, Elzy said.

He expects the apartments to be snapped up in a matter of hours.

"The last time we had a project, we had families sleeping in front of our building to be the first in line. By the time we opened at 8 a.m., the line was wrapped around the building," Elzy said. "We expect the same response for The Concord."

Elsy said government housing programs cannot keep up with the need for affordable housing.

"The problem is not going away anytime soon. We're barely making a dent," he said.

Easing the strain
After the 2007 recession, many homeowners who lost their jobs and houses turned to the rental market, which pushed up prices and strained the supply. Many former homeowners were hesitant to buy again in a shaky economy.

With the economy improving and rents increasing, more people appear ready to dive into home ownership, said Colin Mullane, spokesperson for the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors and a principal broker with Full Circle Real Estate in Ashland.

Homes spent an average of 73 days on the market in 2015, but are now bought in 48 days on average, according to the association.
Mullane said he helped an Ashland worker paying $1,650 in rent find a house in Medford for a $1,200 monthly mortgage payment.

"At the end of 30 years, the house is yours — and the rent doesn't go up," Mullane said.

The Rogue Valley Association of Realtors created a first-time home buyer assistance program in 2012 that allows buyers to receive grants of up to $1,000. Funded with proceeds from the Rogue Valley Food and Wine Classic, which takes place on March 31 this year, the program has $25,000 in grants to distribute in 2016, said Tina Grimes, executive officer for the association.

The program is administered by the social services group ACCESS Inc., which offers a host of programs to help home buyers. They include the "Realizing the American Dream" pre-purchase education class, the Dream$avers down payment savings program and online home buyer education classes.

For people having trouble finding a place to rent, the Ready to Rent class teaches people skills that include checking their credit report, interviewing successfully with a landlord, filling out rental applications, gathering their pay stubs and financial information and explaining rental history or credit problems, such as an unpaid medical bill.

"It can help a client address barriers before being continually told 'no' by a landlord," said ACCESS Grants Analyst Donna Lea Brooks.
With extremely low rental vacancy rates, competition is fierce and people with a negative rental history or credit problems often lose out, she noted.

"They are competing against folks without screening barriers. Who is the landlord going to pick? The one without issues," Brooks said. "This gives them the tools they need to be less of a risk to landlords and bolsters their self-esteem. Then we continue working with them so they remain successfully housed."

A statewide problem
During a short session that ended earlier in March, the Oregon Legislature passed bills in response to a statewide affordable housing problem.

One bill bans rent increases in the first year of tenancy and requires 90 days' notice for rent increases in subsequent years.
While good for renters, the bill isn't necessarily a bad thing for property owners, said Dave Wright, president and owner of CPM Real Estate Services, Inc., which manages 2,100 units for property owners.

"No rent increases for the first year are helpful for the market we're in right now," he said. "I've talked to a few of our clients and they think giving more notice about rent increases gives tenants more of a chance to relocate if they can't afford it."

Local governments will be allowed to mandate that builders set aside a portion of large developments for affordable housing in exchange for incentives such as tax waivers and the ability to construct taller buildings. They can also adopt construction taxes to fund affordable housing projects.

Wright cautioned that efforts to address affordable housing issues could create unintended consequences and higher prices.

"Ultimately, if the legislation goes too far, it gets passed on to the consumer in one way or another," he said.

The affordable housing bills that passed this year represented a compromise between the desires of builders and housing activists, said Oregon Home Builders Association Chief Executive Officer Jon Chandler.

"They were drafted to minimize unintended consequences. The housing activists don't feel they went far enough. I think they struck a balance," he said. "You can't make someone build a project that they'll lose money on."

He said the construction tax will give cities resources to fund affordable housing projects.

Chandler said 25,000 housing units need to be built each year to keep pace with Oregon's population, but only 15,000 are being built.

A lack of lending to builders and would-be home buyers, high land prices and infrastructure costs, and a shortage of skilled construction workers are all issues that need to be addressed for housing to become more available and affordable, state and local experts said.

Boosting vocational training in schools and at the community college level would not only increase the number of skilled construction workers, it would allow workers to earn living wages and pay for their own housing, Chandler said.

"Construction jobs cannot be outsourced because they are building houses in local communities," he said. "Those are family-wage jobs. They make good money. In our societal shift toward college prep, we forgot you could make $60,000 a year."

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast