HATE CRIMES <<Sean Milligan said he was on a walk with his dog near a restaurant in Northwest Portland’s Slabtown district when he heard a man shout “I hate Asians!” at a group of Asian people who had just scurried inside. The man followed that up by throwing patio chairs, dishes and drinking glasses at …
Tag Archives: Measure 110
9/3/23 News Update
DRUGS <<A majority of Oregon voters believe its law to decriminalize drugs should be repealed, according to an August poll. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 registered Oregon voters found that 56% support a complete repeal of Measure 110, a ballot initiative that decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as heroin, meth …
8/20/2023 News Roundup
HARDESTY <<An apology letter to former Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty was issued earlier this week by Mayor Ted Wheeler on behalf of the city of Portland, as part of a legal settlement with Hardesty. Hardesty, who served on the Portland City Council from 2019 to 2022, sued the city and police union in 2021, …
6/24/2023 News Roundup
PRIDE <<[Baker City Mayor Matt] Diaz recently posted a meme on Facebook with an image of four Pride flags positioned to look like a swastika. The meme’s caption read, “When you join four pride flags you become ultra pride.”>> The Baker City Herald reported that it received several letters to the editor demanding Diaz’s resignation. …
6/17/2023 News Roundup
HATE CRIMES <<A man has pleaded guilty to hate crime charges for threatening to use his vehicle to hit an Idaho library worker who defended a transgender coworker, as well as two women he believed were lesbians, according to court documents and the U.S. Justice Department. Matthew Alan Lehigh, 31, of Oregon, on Thursday entered …
5/27/23 News Roundup part 3
DEFUND THE DA <<On May 16, District Attorney Mike Schmidt went to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to ask for more money in this year’s budget, citing a report showing his office was 26% understaffed. “We’re pretty to the bone,” he told the board. WW has obtained the staffing report, which was completed in …
3/31/2023 News Roundup
SWATTING <<U.S. authorities on Thursday said they arrested a Washington state man who made more than 20 “swatting” calls around the country and in Canada, prompting real emergency responses to his fake reports of bombs, shootings or other threats. Ashton Connor Garcia, 20, of Bremerton, used voice-over-internet technology to conceal his identity as he placed …
3/25/2023 News Roundup
COPS AND QUEERS <<The announcement last month that Portland had earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 municipality equity index raised a few eyebrows. For one thing, the index claims the city’s police force has something it doesn’t: an LGBTQ+ advisory council. It shuttered in January 2022. The Human Rights Campaign gave …
3/9/2023 News Roundup Part 2
RACIAL PROFILING <<Jordan Dinwiddie, Eberechi Onyenze, Ramone Palmore, Nathaniel Poe and Larry Wright say they were discriminated against for shopping while Black.>> Dinwiddie is one of more than a dozen clients on whose behalf the Kafoury & McDougal law firm is filing lawsuits in Multnomah County Circuit Court in the coming weeks. The lawsuits name …
1/20/23 News Update
JANE’S REVENGE <<Multiple regional FBI offices, including the one in Portland, have begun offering a $25,000 reward for information as part of a nationwide investigation into series of arson and vandalism incidents at reproductive health care centers last year. Three of the 10 incidents were in Oregon. The other seven targeted facilities were in Colorado, …