For the third time in a row, a Portland mayor has opted not to seek re-election. Mayor Charlie Hales surprised a great many people yesterday by announcing he’ll hang up his time in public office after one term. In Hales’ telling, the realities of a grueling campaign would have made it too difficult to do his actual day job. The announcement means Ted Wheeler’s the clear frontrunner for mayor right now, but also that others might well take this opportunity to jump into the fray.
So what’s this say about Portland? And the job we’ve carved out for our top elected city official? The O looks at why Oregon’s unique—and oft-criticized—commission form of government might make the day-to-day rancor modern day mayors face too much to put up with.
The White House swats aside FBI Director James Comey’s repeated assertions that the nation’s cops are scared to do their jobs amid a national climate where confrontations are frequently filmed.
And like clockwork, a new video of a cop unafraid of being filmed appears! In this case the cop, unfortunately, was unafraid of being filmed violently slamming a female high school student to the ground in Columbia, South Carolina.
So TSA agents at PDX apparently forced a 90-year-old woman to take off her blouse and bra?
Portland’s creeping ever closer to coveted—possibly needlessly fast—Google Fiber Internet. The company has begun hiring employees in town.
Spying on North Korea is tough, so what to do? George W. Bush’s answer—used for years by President Obama—was to recruit a tiny missionary organization to act as a spy ring.
Also in intrigues on the Asian continent: The US Navy’s in the midst of a strange and fascinating intimidation ballet with China in the South China Sea. There are fake islands involved.
Looks like Ben Carson is creeping into Republican presidential frontrunner status, easing past Donald Trump. At least according to one poll.
Ugh. Now ISIS is strapping prisoners to the antiquities it’s blowing up.
Rains are here, y’all. Let’s get used to it.
The Commission form of government, with election of all members at-large, rather than by district, has long been known as racist and has largely been banned in southern states; Portland is an embarrassing holdout.