Good morning, Portland!
Hopefully you had a glorious Earth Day yesterday and held back from littering for a full 24 hours.
P.S. Earth Day is only 48 years old. Here’s what the world looked like <a href=”https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/earth-day-then-now-history-science-spd/
“>when Earth Day was first created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, champion of the earth.
Here’s what else you may have missed over the weekend:
Ahoy, Arsenal: On Saturday, military fans (including Governor Kate Brown and Mayor Ted Wheeler) gathered on the shores of the Willamette to celebrate the new warship dubbed the USS Portland. On the other side of the river, a group protested the celebration, using the moment to oppose U.S. intervention in foreign wars—or, any wars.
Ride or Die: Portland Police have been driving ATVs up and down the Interstate 205 multi-use bike path and the Springwater Corridor delivering warrants and arresting homeless campers. While officers aren’t ticketing people for camping, its another way to further criminalize the homeless. When’s the last time you’ve seen officers going door-to-door in your neighborhood running background checks?
Waffle House Shooting: A naked man entered a Nashville Waffle House early Sunday morning with an AR-15 rifle and opened fire on its patrons, killing four and wounding several others. The 29-year-old suspect could have wounded many more if it wasn’t for James Shaw Jr., 29, who charged at the man and wrestled the gun away from him, effectively stopping the shooting. The suspect is still at large and may be armed. He has a history of mentally erratic behavior, like entering a restricted area near the White House and asking to set up a meeting with the President, and believing Taylor Swift was stalking him. In response to the shooting, Nashville Mayor David Briley has called for a ban on assault-style weapons.
Secret Service Party: Four former presidents and four first ladies attended the funeral of former First Lady Barbara Bush on Sunday, resulting in a remarkably heartwarming photo. President Donald Trump was not in attendance, which is usual for a sitting president—but I’m sure Barbara’s ghost was STOKED about it. The funeral also produced the only known photo of Melania Trump looking merry in recent years. Surprising no one, it’s Obama’s fault.
Find someone who smiles at you the way Melania Trump smiles at Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/uHS8MvsMXA
— Grace🇪🇺🇬🇧 (@Commonsenseb0t) April 22, 2018
Troyer Passes Away: Verne Troyer, best known for his roles in the Austin Powers and Harry Potter films, <a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/obituaries/verne-troyer-dead-mini-me.html
“>died Saturday at the age of 49 (Trivia! He was a year older than Earth Day). He was one of the shortest men in the world. It’s still unclear what caused Troyer’s death, but some have tied it to his recent stint in rehab for alcoholism.
In Other Death News: The oldest person in the world passed away Saturday. At 117, Nabi Tajima was older than “modern-day Australia,” which sounds cool, but I’m also unclear about what that means. RIP, girl.
Unexpected North Korea News: On Friday, Kim Jong-un announced North Korea would no longer be needing to use its nuclear weapons and will be closing a major nuclear test site. This comes days before a scheduled summit meeting with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea. No one’s quite certain what prompted this sea change, but ABSOLUTELY NO ONE is questioning it.
Lil’ Prince: Royalty Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has given birth to her third child, a baby boy. Its name remains a secret, but we’re gunning for “Baby McBabyface.”
Nothing Compares 2 Prince on VHS: Years before Sinéad O’Connor turtlenecked her way to fame, Prince composed and recorded “Nothing Compares 2 U” — and the 1984 video of the original studio recording has been made public.
For years now that 205 bike path has been vandalized, trashed and abused. I know people are homeless and that is sad. But this is not criminalizing homelessness this is protect a path for what it was built for. Do you know why we do not build the Sulivans Gulch path, because it will just be trashed like the 205 bike path. Create several public safe camping space that has security and ban it on all other public property.
Alex, please research the experience of the folks that live in the modest apartments and modest homes in Lents and the level of criminality they experience from some of the campers. You write as if there is only one side to homeless camping, and that is not very good journalism. Residents of the corridor have included child sex offenders like Katherine Dawn Harris, white supremacist prison gangs and other dangerous people. Homeless women are raped on the corridor- but you give short shrift to their danger because you are so heavily invested in the “homeless good- housed community bad” narrative. If you cannot figure out why there are warrant checks in the Lents homeless camps and not the surrounding apartments, then maybe there’s a problem with your reporting. At the very minimum it makes the areas safer for housed and unhoused women.