Portland City Council on Wednesday, February 2, is expected to ratify a new three-year contract with the Portland Police Association—a deal that trades pay raises and other perks for the union's acquiescence on major policy issues like random drug testing and the city's recently expanded regimen of civilian police oversight. How much will a two percent pay raise (plus other adjustments) cost? More than $5 million over the life of the contract, according to a city summary of the deal. That's a big chunk, but city sources hope some of that increase will be a wash. They note that the deal also reins in how and when cops can take time off, a concession they expect will reduce police overtime costs. DENIS C. THERIAULT
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Exactly one year after Aaron Campbell—an unarmed, suicidal man—was shot and killed by a police officer outside his apartment, Campbell's family and friends gathered Saturday, January 29, for a memorial in NE Portland. In November, Police Chief Mike Reese fired the officer who shot Campbell, Ron Frashour, suspended three others, and released hundreds of pages of police documents that show how a series of missteps in the confrontation resulted in Campbell's death. Campbell's family has filed a federal lawsuit, seeking damages. In response, the Portland Police Association has asked an arbitrator to consider reinstating Frashour. Meanwhile, Portland police officers have killed five other men since Campbell's shooting, one of the city's largest spikes in years. DCT
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Portland's premier collective-vegan-anti-cop coffee shop has raised $50,000 to buy its building and turn the upstairs into affordable housing. The Red and Black Café will use the donations and small loans toward buying out the landlord of their colorful building on SE 12th and Oak. If all goes according to plan, former offices upstairs will be turned into a five-bedroom co-op house with rent fixed at $365 a month. Owning the building would give the café peace of mind that it would not be booted in lieu of bistros (as happened in their former space in 2007) or for controversial business practices (like asking a coffee-buying cop to leave the café last summer). SARAH MIRK
