Portland’s process for reforming cops’ use of force isn’t off to a terribly promising start. At a public hearing of the community board helping oversee the process last night, some audience members jeered at an hour-long presentation by the police department, calling it a PR campaign. And when the public did get a chance to speak about their experience with police? A mix of frustration and hopeful comments. Oh, and the concerns of a local attorney—who’s part of the board overseeing reforms—who said the entire process is being corrupted.
Portland’s water fight isn’t over, it’s just quieter these days. The latest skirmish: Angry ratepayers suing the city want to know how the sewer bureau is spending millions targeted at cleaning up the polluted Willamette. The city’s saying they shouldn’t worry about it.
Everyone knew Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith was getting a sweet raise last year. What wasn’t so clear, including to members of the school board who vote on these sorts of thing, was that other schools administrators were getting cushy raises, too.
Sorry, unruly teens! You’re probably just gonna have to sneak lime-flavored rum around in Sprite bottles like the rest of us did. The Oregon Legislature appears fully willing to outlaw powdered alcohol, amid concerns about teenage access. The Senate passed a pre-emptive ban yesterday. The House will take a crack next. Because it is very hard for teens to get alcohol these days, and we would not want to jeopardize that.
The second-richest man in the country. A noted philanthropist. Man, how does Warren Buffett do it? Well, partly by tricking poor people into purchasing mobile homes with startlingly predatory loans, according to a new investigation in the Seattle Times.
So, the US has a tentative deal with Iran: a lifting of sanctions for concessions in the country’s problematic nuclear ambitions. It might be seen as President Obama’s one shining foreign policy success, if it works. But guess what? This country has a Congress, and it’s pissed, and might attempt to put the brakes on the whole thing.
It’s becoming more and more clear the co-pilot in that tragic and troubling Germanwings crash intentionally took the plane down. He’d been researching suicide and cockpit door mechanisms online in days before the crash, and the plane’s black box shows he accelerated toward the ground and disabled speed warnings.
Much as the University of Houston tried to hide this fact, it’s paying Matthew McConaughey nearly $150,000 to deliver a commencement speech. ALL RIGHT x 3!
This is how you survive two months stranded at sea, people. Fish and rainwater and discipline. It’s not rocket science. You’re acting like it’s rocket science.
Come on, weekend. I need this.
I NEED THIS.
Jesus, it’s been a couple of rainy days after a winter where the snowpack is completely screwed. You don’t “need this.” Go visit California if you have such a hard on for drought.
And I need my skin to stay on my face. YOUR NEEDS ARE IRRELEVANT, DIRK.
I WAS TALKING ABOUT A COUPLE DAYS OFF, EVERYBODY. Jesus, indeed.
Sorry, Dirk. Every time somebody says anything about GOOD or BAD weather, it tends to remind me that I am an unnatural abomination and should find a cave to live in. So I use the pseudo-anonymity of Blogtown to express years of seething spleen against all y’all ectotherms. A bit troll-y, I guess.