Remember how in Ferguson no one was saying who actually shot Michael Brown? The city closed ranks and there was violence and fire. And then remember how in the recent death of Walter Scott in South Carolina, largely due to unexpected video evidence, everyone knew which officer fired the fatal shots (sickeningly, into the back of a fleeing man) and that officer was arrested and charged, and it was peaceful? Guess which strategy left parts of Baltimore aflame last night, with multiple police injured, dozens arrested, looting, etc. It’s 16 days since Baltimore cops arrested 25-year-old Freddie Gray, and 9 days since Gray died from a spinal cord injury sustained, somehow, during that arrest. No one knows what happened, or who was involved, and Baltimore’s become the latest community to see decades of tension unleashed. Schools are closed today. The governor’s called a state of emergency. For the first time I can remember in this wave of protests, reporters are being attacked. It is an ugly thing, and while there’s no one way to handle tragic and deeply disturbing incidents like Gray’s death, Baltimore’s police have done what every shred of evidence over the last eight months suggests you should not.
And since we’re starting with the big national news anyway, here’s the NYT‘s live update feed from the arguments over same-sex marriage scheduled before the US Supreme Court today. It is such an important event, and pretty much no one on the correct side of the debate is sweating it. The court is widely expected to outlaw gay marriage bans throughout the land.
Hey, the Trail Blazers still have the shredded tatters of a season to clutch onto! Portland ground out a victory at home last night, putting its first-round playoff series with the Memphis Grizzlies at a still-insurmountable 3-1. I’m not sure that I believe, but I’ll not knock you for keeping the faith.
No basketball-fan feeling is more readily accessible or resonant for me, still, than the defiant/futile Fuck You This Is Ending 4-1 emotion.
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) April 28, 2015
Again and again over the years people have tried to undo Portland’s antiquated commission form of government (we’re the only big city still holding on), and to establish a system where leaders are elected by district rather than citywide (which could make it easier for viable challengers to emerge). It never works, but some East Portlanders say they’re going to take another crack.
The latest source of controversy as Oregon works to shape its marijuana laws: New limits on the number of plants medical marijuana farmers will be allowed to grow. These limits have been bandied about for a while, but a new proposal that goes further has people crying foul.
“People with money are going to keep moving to Portland, and I’m worried sick that a lot of families are not going to be able to continue living here.” Something you don’t want your city’s top urban planner telling the Metro council.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is just scandals throughout, apparently. Two jail workers have faced charges for sex with an inmate. Now three deputies are on leave, after an e-mail detailed a litany of sexual misconduct claims against them.
That elderly man in Seattle arrested by a (now-disgraced) police officer for using a golf club as a cane? Suing.
The drone highways above your future head begin in Portland.
Not that sad to see 82 degrees go away for a while. It’s gonna be one of them hot summers.
If you want anything but canoe dance videos with your Tuesday/Friday GMNs for the foreseeable future, I don’t know what to tell you. I am helpless before this artistry.
“Performing to ‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls”: https://youtu.be/mnlyWkWJ9rA