A Column That's Always "Captain Awesome."

By WW Editorial Staff
  1. Supporters of Antjuanece Brown and Jolene Jenkins, the subjects of last week’s “Sext Crimes” cover story, have established a trust account to help Brown repay the $3,000 in court fees she owes as a result of her guilty plea in Washington County Circuit Court. That plea to a felony charge of luring a minor stems from a sexting case that supporters of Brown and Jenkins say never should have been prosecuted. Anyone interested in donating to the Jenkins-Brown defense account can contact lawyer Susan Reese at 1 SW Columbia St., Suite 1800, Portland, OR, 97258, or via email at aquit@aol.com.
  2. Two bands will play a benefit Dec. 18 to raise money for a man who Portland police believe was attacked, likely for being gay. Ian Mandis is hosting the 9 pm event at the Tonic Lounge (3100 NE Sandy Blvd.). “It just felt like the right thing to do,” Mandis says. The entry cost to hear the People’s Meat and Subversive play is $6. And attendees are encouraged to donate an additional $5 to $10, all of which will go to help the victim cover medical costs for serious head and abdominal injuries from the Nov. 1 attack in Southeast Portland.
  3. Portland Public Schools last week took two bold steps toward reinventing its long-troubled department for teaching English as a second language. First, on Nov. 30, School Board members unanimously approved a resolution urging Superintendent Carole Smith to reform the department. Then, as first reported Dec. 3 on wweek.com, the department’s director, Diana Fernandez, learned she would be on paid administrative leave from her $110,000-a-year job.
  1. The $548 million construction bond for Portland Public Schools may not be the only tax measure on the May ballot to support the state’s largest school district. Portland School Board members also are weighing whether to put an operating levy before voters at the same time as the half-billion-dollar-plus construction bond in 2011. PPS currently has an annual operating levy of about $40 million, which voters approved in 2006. And although that levy doesn’t expire until 2012, momentum is growing to campaign for both tax measures at the same time, says longtime school board member Bobbie Regan.
  2. Facts so far about WW’s 2010 Give!Guide: 1) It’s approaching $300,000 in donations; 2) That’s about 40 percent ahead of this time last year. 3) Our readers are awesome. 4) The first round of incentives to donors will be going out in the week ahead—redeemable coupons for contributors of $50-$499.99 and home-delivered packages of Oregon wine, coffee, tea, beer and chocolate for those giving $500 or more. Please go to wweek.com/giveguide to donate—and don’t miss the typing kitty video.

WWeek 2015

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