On Thursday, January 22, the Hollywood Neighborhood Association and KeyBank came together to discuss the planned destruction of the Pagoda Restaurant 3839 NE Broadway to make way for a new bank. KeyBank rep Patrick Flanagan and land-use planner Garrett Stephenson from Group Mackenzie announced upfront that the Pagoda was a goner. Neighbors will now brainstorm ways to incorporate the spirit of the colorful restaurant into the new bank.

Eve Weir, a hair stylist and Hollywood native, left the meeting in tears. "The Pagoda is my favorite building in the city. It's beautiful. It's just such a cool building, full of chintzy glamour," she told the Mercury. "It's not just a Hollywood problem," one neighbor lamented, "it's a Northeast problem. I don't see why we need another bank. We have seven." Make that eight. LOGAN SACHON

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The Hollywood District is under consideration to be the new home of a statue commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons TV show. The proposed statue will be an 11-foot-long granite version of a plastic model that was created as part of the ad campaign for The Simpsons Movie showing the whole family on the couch with a space for guests and picture-takers to join them. Early etchings from Simpsons creator and Portland native Matt Groening may line the back of the couch.

"As the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Hollywood Theatre, Film Action Oregon [FAO] views this as a wonderful tribute to Mr. Groening, a member of the Portland creative community who has done much to impact our national culture through his visual art, literary, television, and film work," says Ellen Bergstone Beer, FAO's executive director. LS

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Last weekend, installation of bulletproof glass windows began in new Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman's corner office at city hall, which faces onto SW 5th. Unlike Mayor Sam Adams, Saltzman, who was given responsibility for the police bureau last October, does not have a standing security detail accompanying him at all times, so his office has been working with the cops to up security, without Saltzman's office having to pay for bodyguards out of the taxpayers' pockets. Saltzman's chief of staff, Brendan Finn says: "We had a security review of our office when Dan became police commissioner, and that was one of the recommendations, so we're moving forward with it." MATT DAVIS