Tavern shooting
Police rushed out to the Glass House Tavern at 97th and Sandy Boulevard around 1:30 this morning after reports of gunfire. When they got there, they found a man on the sidewalk with at least one gunshot wound, who they pronounced dead at the scene.
While they were investigating, a local hospital reported that a man came in with a gunshot wound, who investigators believe was also involved in the tavern shooting.
Sandy was closed from 95th up to 102nd for several hours before opening back up.
As of this time police have not made any arrests. They are asking anyone with any information to call 503- 823 0479.
Wheeler believed people would die June 4
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler believed people would be killed during political demonstrations last June after the MAX stabbings, according to the Oregonian.
Fights and the prospect of more fights between protesters and riot police caused lots of concern for wheeler, the mayor said.
The American civil liberties union filed a class action lawsuit after the protest, saying the police were overly aggressive and violated protesters’ civil rights. Wheeler attended the deposition that lasted two and a half hours at city hall in July as part of the federal suit.
The Patriot Prayer rally and counterprotest, during which police corralled protestors, took place only nine days after a man stabbed to death two men and maimed another on a MAX train. The victims were slashed after they stood up to an islamophobic rant the man directed at two teenagers, one of whom was wearing a head scarf.
Wheeler told the ACLU lawyers he was on a plane to London when he learned of the attack, and he quickly flew back.
ACLU lawyers questioned him in detail about police policy and whether he personally dictates police tactics. They asked wheeler where he was during the June 4th protest.
In his testimony Wheeler said he “provides broad overall direction and strategy” to the police but delegates all “command and control authority” to the police chief.
“I don’t call tactics” he said.
Officers at the riot used pepper balls on protestors and corralled and photographed hundreds of protestors in a tactic known as “kettling."
Given the heightened emotions following the stabbings, Wheeler said “I thought it was an extremely volatile situation.”
Wheeler said he had no formal role connected to the June 4th protest and was present at the police command center that day only to “observe, to listen, to watch," and was “generally staying out of the way.”
He said he could not recall taking action in response to a city report that found police unjustified in corralling protestors.
His conversations about crowd control with police leaders were very general.
In his deposition, Wheeler said he believed that in connection to Gibson’s rally, “the potential for widespread civic unrest was very, very real.”
Clean and Safe report
A report released by the Downtown Portland Clean and Safe District paints a rosy picture of its efforts to quote- “clean up” the downtown business area.
Clean and Safe provides a number of services in a district that covers most of Old Town - Chinatown, and downtown Portland as far west as Southwest Eleventh avenue.
Among those services are contracting out security services, often to former and current police officers.
2018 has seen a number of efforts, including the city strengthening and recommitting to its no-sit policy, to clear so-called “transients” and “panhandlers” from the downtown business district. That’s the language used in the report, the district’s annual “Business Census and Survey.”
The report found that businesses listed “transients” and “panhandlers” as the number one and two factors that need improvement in the district in 2017. Those two undefined groups of people have occupied the tops two spots in that category every year since 2010, ahead of both the cost and availability of parking.
The report also found that a record number of people—just over a hundred thousand—are employed in the district, with the top three sectors being tech and professional services, financial services, and food and accomodation.
Mt. Hood Faults
Researchers have announced recently discovered faults on the north and south flanks of Mount Hood could cause a catastrophic earthquake.
The discovery was made by Ian Madin of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and Ashley Streig, assistant professor of geology at Portland State University. They say the faults pose another risk to the region along with the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast.
The researchers say the Mount Hood faults could produce an earthquake with a magnitude up to 7.2, which is stronger than a quake in 1989 that struck San Francisco, devastating the city.
Portland would also be closer to the epicenter of a potential Mount Hood earthquake than San Francisco was to the epicenter of the ’89 quake, so the damage would be much greater.
It is also worth noting that the mountain faults differ from those off the coast. The mountain would cause a crustal earthquake as opposed to a subduction quake caused by the faults off the coast. Subduction quaked are deep below the surface and last longer, sometimes as long as seven minutes, but are lower in amplitude. Mount Hood would cause a much shorter quake, somewhere between 20 seconds to a minute, but would be much stronger.
Were an earthquake to occur from the mountain faults the communities of Hood River, White Salmon, Cascade Locks, and Government Camp would all see major damage.
In Portland there would be strong ground motion and areas near water could see ground soil liquidation.
Return from Florida
Members of Oregon’s Fire Marshal Green Incident Management Team are returning home from Florida tomorrow, after a 14-day assignment to help with hurricane relief. They should arrive in Oregon by noon. In Gulf County, Florida they helped to restore power, water, and transportation, as well as supporting search and rescue and other emergency operations.
They also spent a day loading a truck with 1300 meals to deliver throughout the county.
The team received a surprise visit from Florida Governor Rick Scott. He thanked the state of Oregon for the response and service.
OIL DRILLING BAN
Tribal leaders and the head of the Sierra Club are among those praising Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s plan to sign an executive order permanently banning offshore drilling in Oregon.
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration announced a plan to expand drilling leases across 90 percent of the U.S. outer continental shelf, including the entire West Coast. Governor Brown says she think that’s a terrible mistake. She says quote, “This executive order will make it clear to oil and gas speculators that Oregon is not for sale.”
Brown is working with Senator Arnie Roblan of Coos Bay, and Oregon’s Coastal Caucus to pass legislation in 2019 to strengthen protections from offshore drilling.
Michael Brune, the national executive director of the Sierra Club, joined Governor Brown for the announcement. “Kate Brown is setting an example for Governors all over the country about how to protect their coasts and their communities from Trump’s dangerous plan,” Brune said.
Alysia and Elke Littleleaf, enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, also expressed their support, saying “We rely on clean water and we rely on the salmon to return every season to feed our families, inspire our communities, and help power our economy, so we can’t allow big oil companies to bring giant oil spills like Deepwater Horizon and the Exxon Valdez to Oregon’s coast.
Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden also applauds the decision, saying Oregonians and visitors should never have to quote, “Worry about Big Oil wrecking the state’s natural treasures.”
Beer History
This week marks the opening of an exhibit about the two hundred years of beer history in Oregon.
The Oregon Historical Society presents, “Barley, Barrels, bottles and Brews, 200 years of Oregon Beer,” starting this Friday. It traces back to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, though the 19th century European immigrants who started the state’s first breweries, to today’s craft brewery revolution.
The exhibit profiles the people, companies and laws that have made Oregon an innovative center of craft brewing of the hoppy beverage; now a cornerstone of the state’s agriculture and economy.
Oregon is now the second largest hop producer in the country. Visitors will be able to smell some of the hops that were developed here in Oregon. They can also use a digital interactive display to help find out what variety best suits their taste.
- KBOO