It’s been five months since Portland City Council, at the urging of Commissioner Nick Fish, rolled out the red carpet for a year-long “overnight sleeping” pilot program that would allow limited numbers of homeless Portlanders living in cars or campers to find nighttime refuge in the parking lots of sympathetic churches and nonprofits. And now, […]
Homeless
Posted inArtsy
Bud Clark Commons Wins National Design Award
Bud Clark Commons—whose day center and shelter have served thousands of homeless Portlanders and others in the year since it opened—feels like a rarity in the world of government-built social services buildings in that it’s not a miserable, cramped place to do business. On the outside, it fits well against Portland’s skyline, and inside it’s […]
Posted inCops
Final Settlement in Suit over Portland Camping Ban Draws Near
Months after reports emerged of a tentative settlement in what’s become a years-long federal lawsuit challenging Portland’s so-called “camping ban,” the Mercury has learned that Mayor Sam Adams and another city commissioner—whose name probably rhymes with “ticklish”—are scheduled to sit down with attorneys for the six homeless plaintiffs today in hopes of blessing a final […]
Posted inCops
Video Released in Shootings of Two Homeless Men
I missed this earlier today, but Portland police announced they’re still investigating the near-fatal February 22 shootings of two men sleeping under the Morrison Bridge—releasing private surveillance footage that shows, for the first time, the car that cops believe was involved in the shooting. The men, Carter “Joe” Hickman and Albert “Allen” Dean, had bunked […]
Posted inCrime
Men Shot Under Morrison Bridge Still in Hospital
A couple of things to clarify in the ongoing story about two homeless men who were shot and wounded by a passing vehicle while sleeping under the Morrison Bridge on February 22: Despite statements issued to reporters and community members in the wake of the shooting, Carter “Joe” Hickman and Albert “Allen” Dean never stayed […]
Posted inCity Hall
City Hall Camping Protest Organizer Arrested
The Kernel! Remember Kernel Loose-Nut? He’s the fellow I wrote about a few weeks ago, the organizer behind the anti-camping-ban vigil at Portland City Hall (complete with a religious tent!) that’s heading into its fourth month He called me this afternoon to say he’d been arrested last night outside city hall, after he joined a […]
Posted inCrime
Cops ID Two Homeless Men Shot While Sleeping, Offer $1,000 Reward
Portland police have identified the two men who were shot in a drive-by attack while sleeping beneath the Morrison Bridge early Wednesday, and say both are still in the hospital but expected to survive. A $1,000 reward is being offered, through Crime Stoppers, for information about the shooting. New details include that one of the […]
Posted inCrime
Homeless Men Shot Under Morrison Bridge Had Been Turned Away from Packed Old Town Tent Refuge
The two homeless men shot this morning in what police suggest was a random drive-by attack had been staying “on and off” at Right 2 Dream Too, organizers of the Old Town tent refuge told the Mercury this afternoon. But the men had been turned away when they tried to sleep there again last night—after […]
Posted inCrime
Drive-By Shooting Injures Two Homeless Men Sleeping Under Morrison Bridge
Police this morning sent out word of a senseless, violent crime targeting a pair of homeless men: On Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 5:12 a.m. Portland Police officers assigned to Central Precinct responded to a call of a shooting in the 100 block of Southeast Belmont Street. Arriving officers made contact with two men who […]
Posted inCity Hall
Why the City Hall Camping Vigil Is Allowed to Keep Its Tent
Photographs by Denis C. Theriault Nameless keeps warm Wednesday morning at the camping-ban prayer vigil outside City Hall. For nearly three months now, since December 1, a dynamic man who prefers the moniker Kernel Loose-Nut (but who also answers to Moses Wrosen) has done his best to keep alive a 24/7 prayer vigil outside City […]
Posted inHomeless
Police Make String of Arrests for Squatting in Vacant Houses
Portland Police announced yesterday afternoon that they had recently arrested five Portlanders, age 23 to 29, for living illegally in two empty homes off NE Killingsworth and North Minnesota. As the foreclosure crisis continues, I’m sure we’re going to see more reports like this one. With empty, foreclosed homes dotting Portland, people looking for a […]
Posted inHomeless
“Sleep is a Human Right!” Homeless Protest Camps at City Hall, Packs Council
Every protest needs an adorable tiny dog in a t-shirt. Homeless advocates got started early on their Wednesday morning protest to urge city council to waive the fines on the Right 2 Dream, Too tent city—really early. Last night at 10pm, about 70 protesters met outside city hall, setting up a free coffee stand and […]