After cops and protestors clashed outside City Hall on Wednesday, I asked Don't Shoot Portland's Greg McKelvey what he thought came next. He wasn't totally sure. Now it seems he is. McKelvey penned a lengthy "open letter" last night vowing his group would protest until Mayor Charlie Hales resigns (he's on his way out in January anyway). The group is also promising a recall campaign against Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who voted in favor of the new police union contract that's at the heart of this strife. Commissioner Nick Fish, the third vote to ratify the contract, is apparently not facing backlash.
A sample of the interactions that have activists fired up:
Protect & serve WHO @PortlandPolice?? Instigation of violent #PoliceBrutality at #pdx city hall #dontshootpdxpic.twitter.com/oacRwnICWE
— Profen (@profen) October 13, 2016
Here's a piece on some of the differences in the city's police accountability movement, inspired by a recent shouting match between two of the movement's leaders, Jo Ann Hardesty and Teressa Raiford.
The guy who's offering up $9 million to purchase the county's unused Wapato jail facility is a former flower delivery guy with a history of talking big, but offering very little evidence he can make something happen at Wapato. That news courtesy of the Trib which has been going all in on figuring out exactly who "Garison Russo" really is.
The latest in the useful Oregonian/OPB collabo on Measure 97 looks at whether the massive corporate tax hike would cost consumers money. It would. No one's sure how much.
There was a fatal hit-and-run crash on deep SE Division last night. It's a corridor due for attention under a Vision Zero "action plan" city council just pushed off.
Speaking of traffic violence, have you read our story about the odd tug-of-war going on between activists and the Portland Bureau of Transportation over a SE Portland crosswalk?
A year in, TriMet's MAX orange line isn't even really close to hitting the 17,000 weekday riders the transit agency envisioned. Partly because gas got too cheap, TriMet says.
City Council candidate Chloe Eudaly wants to send out mailers featuring art by well-known cartoonist Joe Sacco, the Trib reports, but is hurting for the cash to do so.
"This is in the swamp of crazy that has been fed over and over and over and over again." President Obama has a few months left in office. He is not playing re: Donald Trump.
By the way, you've read the letter the New York Times' attorney sent to Trump's attorney in response to a lawsuit threat, right?
Also: It turns out Trump repeatedly rebuffed his campaign staff's attempts to look into his background for red flags and embarrassing gaffes. Smart leadership.
It's windy, and oddly sunny outside my window right now? You might not have power.
