The Oregon Liquor Control Commission abruptly fired the state’s “Pot Czar” yesterday, and won’t say why. Tom Burns, who helped set up and oversee Oregon’s medical marijuana system, had been tasked with doing the same for recreational pot, and was looked to as a rare authority in such a new frontier. The O says personality conflicts between Burns and OLCC Chairman Rob Patridge (who’s also the Klamath County District Attorney) caused the firing. Neither Burns nor Patridge will say, and many of the people who are hip-deep in trying to put together a viable pot market by the end of the year are wondering what’s next.
I missed this earlier this week, but it’s crazy. Remember the two TriMet bus drivers who were allegedly and alarmingly stabbed by homeless men? Or maybe the same homeless man, in attacks that took place in similar locations and for similar reasons (a guy asked to use the bathroom, was told he couldn’t, and pulled out a knife). The investigator who looked into the crimes for TriMet thinks they stabbed themselves. For worker’s comp claims. It’s especially disturbing, if true, since advocates say the stabbings led to fierce crackdowns on homeless people in East Portland, near where the alleged attacks occurred.
The University of Oregon says an employee who called out administrators in a letter this year has quit. Too bad the employee claims she’s been fired. And what a disturbingly retributive firing it would be. Karen Stokes took the university to task when she learned officials had accessed private medical records of a girl who claims to have been raped by three basketball players—so they could protect themsevles in court.
So the columns on our shiny, overbudget Sellwood Bridge look terrible, and the county’s got shifting explanations for why. First it said the large missing chunks in the concrete columns were regular deficiencies that would be repaired. Now they say the enormous pocks are sort of by design—that county workers chipped out bad concrete patches that, again, are a normal part of business when creating the columns tasked with keeping people alive. It’s the same essential argument made by the people who supplied the failed deck on the Morrison Bridge.
The Army Corps of Engineers is tired of engineering. They want in on the cormorant-slaughtering game. The Audubon Society of Portland will sue to keep them out.
Gov. Kate Brown says someone hacked into state computers. It was too easy, and fixes are in the works.
The German co-pilot who murdered a plane full of people was reportedly struggling with depression, and perhaps relationship troubles, when he calmly locked the pilot out of the cockpit and flew into a mountain. He even had a medical note saying he shouldn’t work on the day of the crash. This keeps getting worse.
INDIANA HAS TAKEN A STAND FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, EVERYBODY! Meaning business owners can likely now refuse service to LGBT people. I truly dislike Indiana.
Harry Reid’s led Senate Democrats for a decade, helped passed Obamacare, and has been known to fall into useless hyperpartisan bickering as much as the next guy. He’ll not seek re-election.
It’s Friday! The Michigan State University men’s basketball team takes on venal Oklahoma tonight! It’s almost my birthday! Have a great weekend, y’all.
Pot Czar? I think the proper term is “WEED_LORD_420”