Ugh. This is terrible. Portland Police have just announced that two men reported being assaulted near the Hawthorne Bridge on Sunday, a crowd of guys beating them because they were gay. Here’s the full description from police: On Sunday May 22, 2011 at 8:30 p.m. 23 year-old Brad Forkner and 25 year-old Christopher Rosevear were […]
Crime
Posted inDrunk
Dan Aykroyd Is Either Well Insured or Bad at Business
While we have yet to taste the wonderment that is Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Skull Vodka—there’s really no excuse, we should be drinking it right now—it looks like some thieves have taken a whole bunch of it off the market. TMZ reports: “Dan Aykroyd is the victim in a MASSIVE vodka heist—we’re told over 21,000 bottles […]
Posted inCrime
Council Okays Cash for Mayor’s New-Look Drug-Free Zones
Where the drug crimes are. Mayor Sam Adams, late in a crowded city council agenda, won crucial council support for his “Illegal Drug Impact Area” plan today, securing $250,000 that would be split between adding a foot-patrol beat downtown and paying the DA’s office for another prosecutor to help manage the new program. Approval was […]
Posted inCrime
Think Out Loud On the New Drug-Free Zones*
*Technically, Illegal Drug Impact Areas For anyone who missed it this morning, OPB’s Think Out Loud‘s excellent discussion on Mayor Sam Adams’ plan to reanimate a tweaked version of the old Drug-Free Zones will be re-broadcast at 9 tonight. It’s also available as a podcast here. You’ll remember the old zones were cast aside in […]
Posted inCops
Gun Exclusion Zones: Only “Fresh Convictions,” Mayor Says
Mayor Sam Adams this afternoon clarified one of the major unresolved questions hanging over his plan for three gun-crime exclusion zones in Portland, sidestepping an expensive and potentially unconstitutional hurdle: Only newly convicted gun offenders—not current convicts—will be required to keep away during the duration of their parole or probation. The police bureau also announced […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Wow, This Product Still Exists?
Couldn’t they at least have the decency to re-title it The Original Snoopy Exercise in Futility Machine? Or The Original Snoopy Elbow Grease and Frustration Factory? Or The Original Snoopy Frosty Child Labor Palace? Or The Original Snoopy Ha-Ha-Hope-You-Didn’t-Actually-Want-A-Snow-Cone Plastic House-Shaped Box of Disappointment? Or The Original Snoopy Summertime Fuck You Jamboree? I mean, really. […]
Posted inCrime
Mayor Sam Adams: “This Isn’t Your Grandmother’s or Grandfather’s Drug-Free Zone”
I called it in February. Not that it was a hard bet to make. Mayor Sam Adams, meeting yesterday with Old Town and Chinatown neighbors over complaints about rampant drug crime in the area, finally announced a new plan to tackle the issue that, at first blush, looks a lot like a re-institution of the […]
Posted inCrime
Club 915 is for Rent
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has only suspended—not canceled—the license of the bar responsible for two deaths and 17 other “serious incidents” over the past year, but now it looks like the owners are moving on: DCT Any takers?
Posted inCrime
Exclusion Zones and Portland’s Black Neighborhoods
Yesterday’s post looking at the boundaries of the city’s (still-unenforced) gun-crime exclusion zones, and the data used to determine those lines, brought a solid point from commenter Number Six: I can’t see all the details on the map, but the northern zone looks like they have managed to capture the historically black neighborhoods of Portland […]
Posted inCrime
Drawing the Lines Around Portland’s Shootings
In this week’s news section, I wrote about some of the logistical questions still tying up Mayor Sam Adams’ ambitious plans to enforce gun-crime exclusion zones in Portland, months after the Portland City Council unanimously approved them. But one of the things I didn’t dive into as deeply was the location of the zones themselves. […]
Posted inCrime
You’re Better Off Bringing Your Teeth to a Knife Fight
The state appellate court published an interesting ruling today, clearing up a question I’m not sure I’d ever thought about: Should your teeth—if you use them to, say, gnaw on someone’s ear—be considered a “dangerous weapon” under Oregon law? Saying yes would open chewers and biters to first-degree assault charges—with a mandatory minimum sentence (thanks, […]
Posted inCrime
Whoa, MAX Train Stabbing!
Things got crazy during rush hour on the MAX yesterday. At 5:15 pm, Portland Police responded to a report of a stabbing on a westbound MAX train: Officers spoke with dozens of witnesses and learned that the suspect and victim began arguing on the westbound MAX train. The suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed […]