Good morning, Portland. These links are begging to be clicked.
Out in print yesterday, make sure to check out Dirk VanderHart's piece on outgoing Mayor Charlie Hales' legacy on homelessness in Portland:
Depending on your point of view, Hales might be a weakling who laid out a red carpet for the homeless and coddled illegal encampments sprouting up around town. Or he might be a double-dealing tyrant who allowed his cops to arrest people for merely trying to live, and who ordered up the largest camp sweep in the city’s history.
Either way, there’s a good chance you’ll remember Hales for how he addressed the homelessness crisis that Portland will be grappling with for years to come
An investigation by the city ombudsman details a major flaw in the city and county's emergency reporting system: If you called 911 on a cell phone and hung up or got disconnected while on hold, they have no idea you called. They're supposed to call you back. In 2015 alone, it happened more than 18,000 times.
"The Portland City Council held it's last meeting in its current form" yesterday, we reported."Its final decision? Ceasing investing city tax dollars in all corporate bonds. At last for a few months."
Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler will take office on January 3. Some details on early plans:
In an interview this morning, Wheeler told the Mercury that he's going a different direction than Mayor Charlie Hales as he prepares to take office. Rather than running every city bureau until the end of budget season—as Hales' staff did in a Herculean five-month effort—Wheeler says he'll first give commissioners bureaus, then snatch them back once the council begins budget talks in March.
Weed delivery is coming to Portland. Nice.
Some good news for Oregon football fans: RB Royce Freeman and LT Tyrell Crosby are coming back to school. An early victory for new coach Willie Taggart.
The extremely ugly Yard apartment building off Burnside was sold to a Bangkok-based company for $126.68 million.
A Gresham man with a horrible neck beard was arraigned yesterday, accused of shooting and injuring an eight-year-old girl in the backseat of another car in an apparent road rage incident.
There were two train vs. car crashes last night. First, a train hit a semi-trick in Northeast Portland; nobody was hurt, but it knocked power out for some people. Later, a MAX train hit an automobile downtown, seriously hurting the driver.
Guns and drugs were found at a Southeast Portland house occupied by a suspected Krude Rude Brood gang member. Seven people were arrested.
The Portland Tribune on Portland businessman Roy Jay"retiring" and moving to New York amid a probe by the Oregon Department of Justice.
The Trail Blazers are struggling. They've lost eight of the last nine games. SB Nation calls the Blazers "the league's biggest disappointment so far."
And finally...
Cindy Stowell's amazing Jeopardy run ended last night. She won over $100K for charity. Rest in peace, Cindy. https://t.co/IgBTkClUaEpic.twitter.com/a3kEHro4LG
— SB Nation (@SBNation) December 22, 2016