1. Don’t hit people with your U-Lock! Portlander Glen Glans was sentenced to attend anger management classes and pay $20 in restitution (enough for… half a pizza!) to a man he struck with his bike lock after an altercation on NE 20th Ave and Irving. The man was a passenger in a van that nearly right-hooked Glans, causing him to jump off his bike, nearly crash, and then try to spit on the driver. So, just a reminder: Hitting people is never the right idea, whether it’s with your car or your U-Lock. (sidenote: The O reports that Glans had prior run-ins with the law while skateboarding 1995 and rollerblading downtown in 1997, earning him the superlative: Most Likely to Be Arrested While Engaging in Trendy Transportation).
2. The Hawthorne Offramp to MLK is Closed. Blame streetcar construction! The Hawthorne offramp will be closed for all of February to cars, though the bike lane and sliver of pseudo-sidewalk are still open.
3. Bike Route Coming to the NE/SE 50s! There’s a big open house tonight about the planned 50s Bikeway Project which will plot a bike route for 4.5 miles from NE Thompson to SE Woodstock around 50th Avenue. The project involves mostly signage (that means painting big bikes on the road and sticking up wayfinding signs), improving intersections (which means putting in bike boxes and signals that can sense bikes, not just cars), and putting in features that slow down cars (like speed bumps and curb extensions). I’ll post about it more tomorrow, but the open house is tonight from 5 to 8 pm at 5329 SE Woodstock Blvd.
4. North Williams Makeover is Imminent. The “North Williams Traffic Operations Safety Project” (not “bikeway” project) kicks off its public stakeholder meetings next week, with bigger public workshops slated for March. I posted a rundown of what’s likely for the future of North Williams here—since it’s such a busy street, whatever happens on the project will have a big impact on thousands of daily bus and bike commuters.
5. TriMet Union May End Standoff. TriMet’s operators’ union says it will drop its labor complaints against TriMet if the agency restores their full health benefits. The public transit agency and the union have been at a negotiation impasse for months… and, as Portland Afoot reports, the salary for the union’s president has been rising fast, even as the union members are facing a wage freeze.
Bicycle transportation isn’t trendy–it’s been in use for the better part of two centuries, overall with no relatively huge surges in popularity.
There are some people in this town I would love to beat down with a bike lock for $20 where can I sign up !
Glans? Heh heh
He DID NOT strike anyone w/his bike lock and, isn’t it obvious, if the man he supposedly injured was really injured the restitution would be more than the cost of “half a pizza?”
Enough already w/the stupid comments about his last name. Are you guys still in 6th grade? Get over it. He’s paying for his mistake and the other men are not although they, because they were the first to talk to the police and had the opportunity to do so, lied through there teeth! The only thing the writer of this article is right about is the statement that “hitting someone is not the right idea!” Unless, of course, you ARE, in fact, defending yourself! The media blew this whole thing out of proportion, starting w/the “Santa Hat” comment, and people bought into it! Wow! Skateboarding citations! Big offense-horrible criminal activity! And I can attest to the fact that he would never but a pair of roller blades on his feet (I’m sure someone will run with that statement) so that had to be an error in a police report! Regardless, none of these “prior run ins with the law” make him a hardened criminal” nor do they earn him the “superlative” you decided should be associated w/his name. What do any of us know about the two men in the vehicle that decided to get out and go after him? I’d love to know more about them; there character and “prior run ins with the law.” I’d be willing to bet that men who behave in that manner have priors! They ran directly to the hospital! That in and of itself says something about them since they were not injured and that is proven by the $20.00 restitution ordered by the Judge. Furthermore, I saw several comments from other people who had “run ins’ with a “white mini van” in Portland as well. Could it be the same white mini van? Hmmmm. Has anyone taken that into consideration? The fact is, there was not enough information given, at any time, in any report, for so many people to make such ignorant; rude; threatening and immature judgement calls about Glen. If you’re naive enough to take what is written as the absolute truth then you have much to learn! I guess no one else out there has ever made a mistake, huh? In my experience, the ones who are so quick to jump on the ban wagon of judging other’s for their mistakes are the ones who aren’t willing to admit and/or be accountable for their own!
Note: In my references comments made, I am referring to comments posted on the original OregonLive article!