Lithia Motors doesn’t just want Terminal 1 for its $10 million. It wants Portlandia. The massive, Medford-based auto retailer is now one of seven entities [PDF] that have active bids to purchase the much-discussed Terminal 1 from the City of Portland, after a local developer’s push to bring a homeless shelter to the Northwest Portland […]
$$$
Posted inNews
Why Are Cops So Displeased with Their New $12.6 Million Crime Reporting System?
IN CLARK COUNTY, Washington, it became known as the “RegJIN effect.” Sheriff’s deputies just north of the Columbia River had been told for years to expect a game-changing crime reporting system that would allow them to seamlessly share information with pretty much every law enforcement agency in the region. And that system—the Regional Justice Information […]
Posted inHousing
Chloe Eudaly Says She’ll Push for an Emergency Rent Freeze When She Takes Office in January
Commissioner-elect Chloe Eudaly Chloe Eudaly’s an old hand when it comes to tenants’ rights rallies. Her frequent calls for stricter rental protections—such as an end to no-cause evictions, and a temporary rent freeze—are one reason voters pushed Eudaly to an unlikely win over Commissioner Steve Novick on November 8. That victory made Commissioner-elect Eudaly’s appearance […]
Posted inCity Hall
The Wall Street Journal Hates Steve Novick’s Plan to Tax High CEO Pay (Which Novick Loves)
It’s no surprise that local business interests oppose a proposal from Commissioner Steve Novick to penalize companies that pay their CEOs exorbitant sums. In a recent hearing on Novick’s idea to hike fees on companies that pay CEOs at least 100 times the median employee’s salary, a Portland Business Alliance (PBA) representative said the rule […]
Posted inNews
A Terminal 1 Shelter Lease Would Have Been Well Under Market Rate, Thanks to City Council Resolution
If plans to place an emergency homeless shelter at the city’s surplus Terminal 1 property would have moved forward, the property would have been leased at well under what city officials have said is the going rate. According to a copy of a tentative lease agreement between the Bureau of Environmental Services (which owns the […]
Posted inNews
Want to Buy Terminal 1? You’ll Have Two Weeks to Make an Offer
Dirk VanderHart Now that a proposed homeless shelter at its 14.5-acre Terminal 1 property is off the table, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) is itching—once again—to get the land of its hands. First, Commissioner Nick Fish has to convince at least three of his council colleagues to pass a resolution [PDF] tomorrow, rescinding […]
Posted inDrunk
Local Bars Might Sue the State Over Smoking Patios
In this week’s paper we reported on what’s been a surprising and unwelcome development for Portland bar owners in recent months: In January, as part of several tweaks to its administrative rules, the state of Oregon quietly changed the rules for legal outdoor smoking areas. In the spring, bars began to receive notice that their […]
Posted inNews
City Council Just Retreated to a Closed Meeting Space to Pass a New Police Contract
Protestors chant in Portland City Hall, as police block off access to the third floor, where City Council met in a closed-off session. Dirk VanderHart For the third week in a row, anger over a new contract with the city’s largest police union sent Portland City Council into chaos this morning. But this time, Mayor […]
Posted inNews
The City Auditor Is Knocking a New Police Contract, But Mayor Charlie Hales Is Pushing Forward
A banner outside Portland City Hall last week, as City Council took up a new police contract Dirk VanderHart Activists and local civil rights organizations aren’t the only ones asking Mayor Charlie Hales and the rest of Portland City Council to put off a new contract with police. Following a highly charged hearing last week—in […]
Posted in$$$
Up Late? Need a Condom or Toaster Oven Stat? Give goPuff a Try!
Courtesy goPuff So you’re up late, and you’re thinking, “Man, I need a condom and/or a hookah. But all the local condom and/or hookah stores are closed! MY LIFE IS OVER.” Well, fear not because a new delivery service just arrived in town called goPuff, which promises to deliver super necessary products to your domicile […]
Posted inNews
Cops Love Their New Union Contract. Police Oversight Advocates? Not So Much
Portland police officers have never loved a union contract like they love the one Portland CIty Council took up this morning. According to Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner, the union’s membership ratified the contract terms with more than 95 percent last night. Not only that, but 91 percent of the union’s membership showed up […]
Posted in$$$
Elon Musk Wants to Colonize Mars; Would-Be Martians Should Be Ready to Die on the Journey
Today, Elon Musk unveiled his plans to colonize Mars using tech from his SpaceX company. See there, in the video above that looks like a clip from an especially dour and pretentious piece of space Oscar bait? That’s the solar-powered spaceship that will supposedly carry humans to the Red Planet, where they would spend the […]