DAY LABOR DEBATE HEATS UP
Mayor Tom Potter's plan to build an access center for day laborers may be little more than a concept, but it's already drawing heat from all sides.
On Wednesday, August 1, during a meeting of Potter's Day Labor Site Committee, anti-racist protesters waited outside city hall for representatives of Oregonians for Immigration Reform (OFIR) and their allies—who attended the meeting to voice their opposition to the center—to emerge.
At 6 pm, a group of about six protesters, dressed in black and armed with a megaphone, followed one alleged OFIR member, dressed in pink pants, to her car on SW 4th, shouting, "This lady is with Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a racist group that spreads lies on its website. A racist group with good public relations, maybe, but a racist group just the same." Around 15 other protestors followed other alleged OFIR members.
"Such behavior may be very unpleasant but it is not illegal," says Jeremy Van Keuren at the mayor's office, although he says allegations have been made that other protestors also spat. A police officer will be at the next committee meeting to keep the peace. MATT DAVIS
NIGHTCLUB closed
The Paragon Club, a popular North Portland watering hole and karaoke spot, quietly closed for good on July 27.
The property has been sold to Portland Community College (PCC), who will use the location for extra parking. The college hasn't yet determined whether it will use the building, or just the lot, according to PCC spokesperson Dana Haynes. The decision to sell was made by Ginger Nims, who received the property after her father, Arthur Nims, the club's previous owner, died in February. Nims said Paragon was sold because neither she nor her sister had time to run the club.
"There are definitely mixed feelings that we closed the business, but we can't handle the responsibility of running it," Nims says. THOMAS LUNDBY