Murmurs: The Skanner Closes Shop

THE SKANNER CLOSES SHOP: The Skanner, a pioneering Black-owned newspaper in Portland, has ceased operation. Co-founder and executive editor Bobbie Dore Foster confirmed the outlet formally closed Jan. 30, 50 years after she and her husband, Bernie, began publishing in a small space off North Williams Avenue. In addition to the octogenarian owners, the closure affects three employees: a sales manager, an accountant and a graphics designer. “We closed the business due to changing technology,” Bobbie Dore Foster wrote to WW. “We faced the same issues that have plagued newspapers for the last decade—advertisers have migrated to social media platforms.” In 2023, The Skanner ceased print publication and moved to online only, and the Fosters sold the paper’s distinctive midcentury modern concrete building on North Killingsworth Street in the Humboldt neighborhood. A final digital edition was published Jan. 7. Over the decades, The Skanner held police accountable, provided a platform for Black writers, and tracked gentrification via dozens of church sales to white developers. Bernie Foster was instrumental in an effort in the late 1980s to rename Union Avenue in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., which succeeded by a vote of the City Council and later withstood a boisterous public campaign to change the name back. “The paper speaks for itself,” Bernie Foster tells WW. “I always said that each generation should leave the world a little bit better than it was when they found it. And we know that Portland is better than it was 50 years ago. And we hope that the next generation will make it better than it is now.”

ALL HAIL THE ROBOTAXI: The robotaxi company Waymo is eyeing Portland. That’s according to Portland Bureau of Transportation director Millicent Williams, who briefed city officials in a Jan. 20 email to Mayor Keith Wilson, City Administrator Raymond Lee, and the Portland City Council. “As you may have heard, there is interest from Waymo in bringing autonomous vehicles to the city of Portland,” Millicent wrote. “While AVs may bring safety benefits, they may also have significant impacts on our local transportation system. They may add additional miles driven on our streets, cause curb zone conflicts during pickups and drop-offs, present challenges for first responders, and more.” Williams made no mention of Waymo’s timeline, nor does it appear that Waymo has made any public statement that it’s exploring expansion into Portland. But if Waymo does seek to enter the Portland market, it’s sure to stir both policy and philosophical debate at the local level about autonomous vehicles.

LEGISLATURE PONDERS REDUCING THE RESIDENTS: Lawmakers have convened in Salem, contemplating ways to trim spending. One idea among many? Reduce pay to teaching hospitals for medical residencies and fellowships. The education programs give medical school graduates hands-on experience before they get their license, and the idea to dial back state support is not widely beloved. In early November—when the projected state budget shortfall looked bleaker than it did at press time—the Oregon Health Authority listed the possible $29 million graduate medical education cut among many others in a report to help the Legislature understand the impacts of budget reductions. But in a statement to WW, the agency said it did not actually welcome the idea, saying it would disincentivize hospitals from training new doctors. Meanwhile, Oregon Health & Science University, which trains the overwhelming majority of the state’s 1,000-plus residents and fellows, used its monthly press event in January to argue the cuts were a bad idea. OHSU leaders say the lost revenue could compel them to eliminate 27 graduate medical education slots in the coming fiscal year—about 10% of an incoming class. Their argument is basically this: A doctor shortage undermines health care nationwide, and medical residency programs are the bottleneck. Plus, says Dr. Joyce Hollander-Rodriguez, OHSU’s associate dean of graduate education, physicians who study in Oregon tend to stay in Oregon.

JUDGE LIMITS FEDS DEPLOYING TEAR GAS: Three days after federal agents sparked outrage by deploying tear gas at a protest that featured numerous children, a federal judge severely restricted federal agents from using chemical or projectile munitions around the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement facility on Portland’s South Waterfront. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon’s order bans the use of the “less lethal” weapons except in situations of imminent danger. The Feb. 3 order marks a new phase in a case that has been months in the making. In the ACLU of Oregon-led class action lawsuit, journalists and protesters—including Jack Dickinson, the Portland Chicken—allege federal agents at the ICE facility have repeatedly assaulted them and violated their First Amendment rights. The plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order in recent days, and the judge’s order grants their request. “In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated,” Simon wrote. “In an authoritarian regime, that is not the case. Our nation is now at a crossroads.” In a statement to WW, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the First Amendment protects only speech and peaceful assembly—not rioting—and that federal agents in South Portland have faced grave threats.

CIDER RIOTERS CONVICTED: Cider Riot, the union-friendly cidery and tasting room in the Kerns neighborhood, went out of business in November 2019, six months after right-wing Patriot Prayer members and affiliates attacked patrons at a May Day celebration there. Owner Abram Goldman-Armstrong says hard seltzer did more to drive him out of business than the hard right, but this week he got some delayed justice on the latter, when a Multnomah County jury determined that four men who pepper-sprayed and clubbed anti-fascist patrons at Cider Riot must pay him $760,007 in damages for trespass, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with economic relations. Goldman-Armstrong sued Ian Kramer, Mackenzie Lewis, Christopher Ponte, and David Willis for their deeds during the attack. Kramer, Lewis and Ponte were convicted of rioting and served jail time, court records show. None of them could be reached for comment. “It’s the best possible outcome we could get in a trial in the city of Portland,” Willis, 48, who was not criminally charged, said in an interview. Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson was originally included as a defendant but was dismissed after resolving matters out of court. “It’s a victory not just for me but for Portland, basically showing these goons that they can’t come into our community, do violence, and get away with it,” Goldman-Armstrong said in an interview. “A jury can say no and stand up against them.”