This is late, but it's morning still. It's late because I was typing of this story about a homeless camping crackdown police are planning beginning next week. It appears to be the most-focused effort to clear out campsites—in this case in much of the Central Eastside—since Mayor Charlie Hales ordered sweeps around City Hall in 2013.
Pembina's dreams of a $500 million propane terminal in North Portland may not be dead, after all! Suddenly Commissioner Nick Fish is raising the possibility that Portland City Council might have to vote on whether or not to approve a zoning change that would allow the terminal. Fish is asking the city attorney for an opinion. As we've reported, city code language around this is pretty vague. Even if a vote is required, it's unclear if there are three votes to approve the change. If there's a vote and it passes, though? Keep a weather eye out for pleasantly alliterative "Fossil Fuel Fish" signs.
I've noted repeatedly that Hales' proposal to spend $2 million on a private indoor track and field event sticks out in a budget otherwise largely devoted to basic services. Hales pushed back when I asked him about that expenditure, saying it would bring the eyes of the world to Portland. The Oregonian takes a closer look at the proposal.
Tough luck, Oregon schools with Native American mascots. Gotta pick another fearsome moniker to call your mighty sports teams. I've always thought "Wasps" is underused. Sure it carries connotations of privilege, but if I see a wasp I get the hell away from that wasp. That counts for something... HOLD UP. I just did further research, and every school affected by the ruling should immediately change its mascot to the Mud dauber (aka "Dirt Dobber" or "Mud Wasp") and watch the competition tremble before them. Free advice, schools with formerly racist mascots.
When's the last time you thought about former First Lady Cylvia Hayes? A judge in Salem says some of her emails are, indeed, private. Not all, though!
Yes, Ireland! The Emerald Isle is the first nation to vote to legalize same-sex marriage, and by a comfortable margin.
Forty-nine shots fired by a white Cleveland police officer at two cornered, unarmed black citizens—including 15 close-range shots through those citizens' windshield well after other cops had ceased shooting. You're free to go, officer.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership junk show rattles on. A push to give President Obama (and his successor) sweeping authority over the secretive 12-nation trade deal will move to the US House, after a fraught trip through the Senate. Oregon's senators played fairly large roles on either side of that debate, with Ron Wyden one of Obama's bigger supporters, and Jeff Merkley deeply skeptical. The so-called "fast track" legislation has an even tougher challenge in the House (US Rep Earl Blumenauer is one of 17 Democratic members to support it).
Clouds.
I.T. is easy, y'all.
