CAMPAIGNERS HOPING to create a new board to oversee Portland's water, sewer, and stormwater utilities have submitted more than 50,000 signatures that they're confident are enough to land the measure on the May ballot. The Portland Public Water District group has been working since last summer to snatch the Portland Water Bureau and Bureau of Environmental Services away from city council—suggesting Portlanders' utility rates would be in better hands with a seven-member elected board. But questions about the effort's verbiage remain. A Multnomah County judge and the Portland City Attorney's Office have both said the measure could leave out swaths of East Portland. The campaign has said that's not the case. City elections officials need to certify 29,786 signatures in order for the measure to make the ballot. DIRK VANDERHART
AS PORTLAND works feverishly to get a bike-share program running this year, there are new questions about the company slated to supply hardware for the system. Montreal-based Bixi, a longtime business partner of Portland's Alta Bicycle Share, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, January 20. The company makes the sturdy, tank-like steeds for bike-share systems throughout the country. Alta started actively working to secure funds for a 750-bike system in Portland last year. That's still a go, officials say, despite the worrisome news from up north. "Ultimately, we are confident that this will be a positive result for Portland," Alta Vice President Mia Birk tells the Mercury. "Our 2014 system will launch as planned." DVH
THE CHRISTENING of Portland's newest bridge certainly isn't a popularity contest. TriMet on Wednesday, January 15, released its top four potential names for the new transit bridge emerging south of downtown. Those names: Abigail Scott Duniway Transit Bridge, Cascadia Crossing Transit Bridge, Tillicum Crossing Transit Bridge, and Wy'east Transit Bridge. Left out of the running? The names that got the most votes. Many people wanted a bridge named after Kirk Reeves, the beloved Portland street musician who died in 2012. Second place? "Bïfrost," the name of a rainbow bridge in Norse mythology. DVH
PORTLAND COMMISSIONER Dan Saltzman called on the fire bureau to use SUVs for routine non-emergency medical calls well before the practice began part-time in 2012. The "rapid response vehicles" (RRVs) would improve service and free up the bureau's big machines for more-dire emergencies, he argued. Turns out Saltzman had a point. According to a report slated to go before Portland City Council on Wednesday, January 22, stations housing the RRVs have seen measurable improvement in their ability to reliably respond to calls—particularly since the RRVs moved to 24/7 service in July. The vehicles are also cheaper to fuel and maintain than the red behemoths that had been doing the job previously. DVH
