BLOGTOWN

Tanks holding fuel along the Willamette River could become a huge environmental disaster when the Cascadia earthquake hits, according to a new report. AARON LEE

Good morning, Portland! We're entering the last week of July (!!!) on a predictably hot and dry note: Expect highs in the high 80s to low 90s for the rest of the week, and no raindrops in sight. One way to stay cool this week: Take yourself on a date to one of Portland's indie cinemas, and check out their post-COVID updates! Now, the news:

- Portland officials celebrated the city’s “reopening” in downtown Portland this weekend with a free Pink Martini show in Pioneer Courthouse Square and the grand opening of a new food cart pod. It was even enough for some businesses to cautiously remove the boards from their windows. I can’t help but wonder… is Portland still over?

- It’s no surprise that Portland is expecting one of the worst environmental catastrophes in the world when the major Cascadia earthquake hits. But a new report has confirmed this threat, emphasizing on the damage that could be caused by the fuel-holding tanks that sit on the banks of the Willamette River.

- Wildfires continue to rage across the West, including areas of Northern California, Idaho, Washington, Montana, and—of course—Southern Oregon. While officials say that the spread of Oregon’s sprawling Bootleg Fire has slowed, the blazes remain less than half contained.

- After a public callout, Portland beer bar and bottle shop N.W.I.P.A. will be changing its name to North West IPA. For years, the white-owned bar has used a typeface clearly modeled after the all-black 90s hip-hop group N.W.A. After a Black Portlander made a viral TikTok video accusing the bar of appropriating Black culture, it’s getting a makeover.

Early this morning white nationalists defaced a Portland mural depicting the faces of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Then over a dozen people showed up today to help the artist restore it. https://t.co/zIbNYdXIAM
— pdx law grrrl (@pdxlawgrrrl) July 26, 2021

Fuel tanks along the Willamette River in Northwest Portland would be vulnerable to breaking or spilling during an earthquake. KATHLEEN MARIE / MERCURY STAFF

The report, commissioned by the City of Portland and Multnomah County, takes inventory of the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub—a group of fuel storage and transfer tanks located along the Willamette River in Northwest Portland—and predicts what would happen to the hub when the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, or “the big one,” hits.

The report found that this quake could trigger one of the largest oil spills in history that would destroy the Willamette River’s ecology and nearby residential areas.

“We've known for a long time that the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub and all the tank farms there pose a really grave threat to the city, the county, the region, the whole state, and environment in an earthquake,” said Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) Interim Director Jonna Papaefthimiou. “There’s a desire to take measures to reduce the risk, but it seemed like the first step in any rational action plan was to get more information.”

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Bly residents Tim and Dee McCauley survey the charred wreckage of their chicken coup on July 22, 2021 in Bly, Oregon. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images

• The security guard who shot and killed Freddy Nelson Jr. in a North Portland parking lot earlier this year was not licensed to carry a gun, an OPB investigation found. The incident is emblematic of a larger issue of Portland businesses turning to private security firms who can act like police officers, but with minimal oversight.

• Bold claim alert: Old is M. Night Shyamalan’s best work since The Sixth Sense.

Review from @EclecticHutch: In the case of OLD's tragic characters, every passing minute becomes an hour, an hour becomes a year, a year becomes a decade, and a decade becomes a lifetime.

Somehow, M. Night Shyamalan makes it work.https://t.co/6ISkNM5SWF
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) July 23, 2021

• COVID cases are on the rise again—Oregon has seen a 208 percent increase in new daily cases since July 1. Oregon health officials attribute the rise in cases to the July 4th holiday, the relaxing of safety requirements amongst unvaccinated people, and the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

The CRC to present recommendations to City Council about cops' repeated violence toward peaceful protesters. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! If I only once could hold you (no, no, no), and remember how it used to be. If only I could scold you and forget how it feels to be free. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

• A new report from the Citizen Review Committee (CRC) that will be presented to City Council has recommendations for Portland's police after their violent reaction to peaceful demonstrators over the past year, advising that cops should permanently ban tear gas and other chemical weapons, wear regular uniforms instead of military gear, and use force only as a last resort. They (correctly!) add that such tactics "heightens, agitates, or exacerbates existing tensions with the crowd such that it creates additional risks to the safety of officers and community members.”

The Crowd Control and Use of Force Workgroup of the Citizen Review Committee has put out a press release announcing the Portland Protests 2020 Findings and Recommendations Report.

Check it out here:https://t.co/DVKVs01X2q

— Candace Avalos (@candaceforpdx) July 22, 2021

• More details on the case of the person who was shot and wounded by a Portland cop at a NW Naito convenience store this week: The officer has been revealed to be Craig Lehman who is... well, how about that? The very same officer who was taken off the protest response team because he was under investigation for allegedly assaulting demonstrators and the press during last summer's protests. Such a small world! (Our Alex Zielinski has more.)

• As the delta variant (responsible for 50 percent of all new infections) sweeps through the state, Oregon health officials and Gov. Brown aren't ready to impose new statewide protective measures, BUT! They do recommend that the heavily infected counties "consider implementing temporary measures such as masks and physical distancing.” Now that some Republicans are finally (FINALLY!) recommending that everyone should get the vaccine, maybe they'll actually do it?

During Kavanaugh's pre-Supreme Court investigation, the FBI handed 4,500 tips over to Trump's White House. Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• More details on the case of the person who was shot and wounded by a Portland cop at a NW Naito convenience store this week: The officer has been revealed to be Craig Lehman who is... well, how about that? The very same officer who was taken off the protest response team because he was under investigation for allegedly assaulting demonstrators and the press during last summer's protests. Such a small world! (Our Alex Zielinski has more.)

It’s been almost 35 hours since PPB Ofc. Craig Lehman shot someone in a downtown Portland convenience store and the bureau has yet to release any information regarding what weapon the person allegedly had or if efforts were made to deescalate prior to the shooting.

— K. Rambo (@k_rambo_) July 22, 2021

• In more "bad cop" news (will it ever end?): The state Board on Public Safety Standards & Training has stripped West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus of his police certification, and fired Sgt. Tony Reeves for their involvement in the wrongful, bullshit arrest of Portland's Michael Fesser as a favor to a "fishing buddy." UNNNGGGHHHH!

• Members of Portland's very secretive Arlington Club—which has been around since 1867 and whose membership is wildly wealthy and politically influential—tried to strong-arm D.A. Mike Schmidt into prosecuting protesters practicing their First Amendment rights, and while they weren't successful, this story really shows how persuasive these power brokers can be and how far their influence reaches. (*looks suspiciously toward Mayor Ted Wheeler*)

• Southern Oregon's Bootleg fire has grown to a mind-boggling 400,000 acres (!!), but firefighters are making progress and have the blaze 38 percent contained.

The Bootleg Fire was 399,359 acres and 38% contained as of Thursday morning, making it the third-largest wildfire and second-largest forest fire to burn in Oregon since 1900. https://t.co/YKgLKLg2gr

— OPB (@OPB) July 22, 2021