Remember the snow storm of 2004, and the “snow day pay” mini-scandal involving then-Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn? A recap: Linn gave county workers a snow day, telling them to stay home if they couldn’t make it in through the ice and snow. Those who stayed home still got paid. Those who came in got […]
Amy J. Ruiz
Posted inCity Hall
Bureau Assignments!
Mayor-elect Sam Adams will announce bureau assignments tomorrow at 1 pm. What will Commissioner-elect Amanda Fritz get? What will incoming police-commissioner Dan Saltzman lose to clear his plate? Tune into Blogtown for the news as it happens.
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Did you hear about the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush? Here’s the video of the incident: The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi, is the “talk of Iraq.” He’s also my nominee for Time’s Person of the Year. Meanwhile, Detroit’s automakers are still waiting for assistance from the federal government. Maybe they should throw […]
Posted inPolitics
Suspicious Envelope at the Governor’s Office
I wish Blogtown had a “white powder” tag. Via the Governor’s office: Suspicious Envelope Received in Governor’s Office, Turned Over to the FBI (Salem) — At approximately 3:45pm today, a governor’s office employee located in Room 160 of the Capitol building received an envelope with a return address of Texas, similar to the address listed […]
Posted inTransportation
The Mercury: Getting Answers for YouTM
In an off-topic comment to a post yesterday, a reader asked this: Why does the MAX go over the bridge suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper sloooooooooooooow now between the Rose Quarter Transit Center and downtown? Didn’t used to. Is it because the bridge might collapse at any moment? Good question! I put it to TriMet’s Mary Fetsch, who put […]
Posted inCops
A Progress Report on the Citizen Review Committee
The city council spent the afternoon hearing a progress report on the Independent Police Review Citizen Review Committee, from IPR Director Mary-Beth Baptista and Joann Jackson, of the CRC IPR Structure Review Workgroup. You can check out the progress report here. This all goes back to 2007, when Mayor Tom Potter commissioned a report on […]
Posted inMedia
NPR Lays Off Reporters
Sad news via Media Bistro about NPR: “The final number of cuts will be 65.” More here: “Confronted by an uncertain economy and a sharp decline in current and projected revenues from corporate underwriting, NPR today announced that it will reduce its workforce by 7 percent and cut expenses. The difficult moves come despite NPR […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council Creates the “82nd Avenue Prostitution Advisory Committee”
We’ve been covering the prostitution-on-82nd issue for quite some time, and it hit city council today. On the agenda? The creation of the 82nd Avenue Prostitution Advisory Committee, to oversee “City anti-prostitution efforts on 82nd Ave and to advise the Police Bureau and City Council.” Commander Mike Crebs of the Portland Police East Precinct is […]
Posted inCity Hall
Thank You, Mayor Potter
Dr. Herman Frankel is at city council today, handing out homemade signs to thank Mayor Tom Potter. Why? Because Potter proclaimed today as Human Rights Day in Portland. From the back of Frankel’s signs: This formal proclamation provides us with an opportunity to honor Mayor Potter for his courage and actions during the past four […]