Mayor Charlie Hales will tap a clutch of criminologists from Chicago and South Carolina to make sure Portland’s complying with police reforms, the Oregonian says. Back in September, the team, led by University of Illinois, Chicago Professor Dennis Rosenbaum, gave the least engaging presentation of the three finalists, and it was clear they’d be monitoring things from afar. The saving grace is the involvement of former Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz, who will act as the researchers’ eyes and ears, and the main liaison who tells it straight (hopefully) to local authorities.
Down with the Sugar Shack! Activists in Cully have jumped at the chance to snatch up a local strip club for $3 million. They’d like to rid their neighborhood of the scourge that is the Sugar Shack—kids can see it!—and replace it with a community center. Laudable enough but, uh, guys?
Best wishes to the apparently elderly woman whose undisclosed “medical emergency” (she went “totally limp”) briefly paused commercial spectacle at the Moda Center last night.
I haven’t written a GMN since last weekend, and I just want to say GOOD JOB, America, for cleaning house on election day! You really stuck it to ol’ limp-resolve Obama in the “White House.” Things are finally on the right track. Woo! Oh, and unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2008.
Regarding those elections, they’ve forced Hilary Clinton’s hand. She’s been a presidential candidate for months now. But she’s finally (probably) ready to admit it.
Today, in Countries I Admire:
AUSTRALIA! For straight-up booting a touring American pick-up artist because he’s a sleazy jerk.
RUSSIA! For its bald-faced reprisals against American companies as payback for US sanctions. And for the fact that some of those reprisals (McDonald’s is being forced to stop serving certain foods because of allegedly inaccurate calorie counts) make sense.
Then Russia gets snatched right back off the list, for (allegedly) sending more than 30 tanks, a bunch of trucks, and a swarm of troops into Ukraine in support of separatists.
An ex-Navy Seal has gone public, swearing HE was the guy who killed Osama bin Laden—NOT the point-man in that dark Abbottabad compound, and NOT anyone else. And all the sudden, Seal Team Six is getting delightfully catty.
The Dutch are a stalwart and brilliant people, and may have the answer to treating deadly, antibiotic resistant staph.
Our next attorney general: Potentially a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn. If so, Loretta Lynch would be the first African-American woman to hold the country’s top law-enforcement position.
SUN(ish)!
This is the only video for me today. It’s not necessarily safe for your workplace, and it takes some… turns. I urge you to watch it in its entirety. The song will leave your head eventually.
I’m glad the neighbors are trying to buy and repurpose that atrocious Sugar Shack property, but I have my doubts that they’ll be able to secure financing if avoiding default means either wrangling dozens of neighbors to pay up every month for years and/or having a dozen key neighbors be willing to pledge their own homes as collateral. This sounds like a job for private developers, who should be happy to see a lot of interest in the location, and could potentially provide/rent a portion of the property for community use.
Hacienda and NAYA leaders taking over the Sugar Shack are phenomenal people. Have faith.
(No one needs a money laundering strip club next to a Latin@ family service agency in the most diverse neighborhood in Oregon)
Are “uh,” the “guys” you’re worried about the strip club patrons? Because. KOIN is intentionally dumb and condescending, something you played into to the detriment of the community needs NOW. Please write a full story on this focusing on the cultural leadership, not dismissive irony.
Let’s see – if someone put 20% down on that property ($600,000!), they’d borrow $2.4 million for the rest. On a 20-year loan at 4.5%, principal and interest would be $15,184 per month. Annual property taxes are currently $29,091, so the actual monthly payment would be $17,607 per month before property insurance or utilities.
The building has 26,000 square feet, so to cover that payment it would have to rent for 67¢ per square foot.
I think the building is split into several small shops? A quick Craigslist search for small retail locations shows a per-foot range between 68¢ and $1.
So the pricing seems accurate, at least. I haven’t been able to find any commercial financing with less than 20% down, but anyone willing to invest that amount should be able to break even month-to-month by renting out the building.
What a pipe dream.
That Latino Family center moved in after the Sugar Shack was already there. So they , least of all, should be bitching about it.
FrankieB (aka Frank Biggs): Man, you sure know a lot about all the strip clubs and prostitutes in Portland. Do you have a frequent-flyer card?