FROM THE OREGONIAN 

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Portland police arrest two in violent home invasion robbery
By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian
January 08, 2010, 5:11PM

 Portland police made two arrests in an unusually violent and fairly sophisticated home MCSOKenneth Brandoninvasion robbery in which robbers declared, "We're Woodlawn Park Bloods!" as they bound the victims' hands and feet at gunpoint, ransacked the home and cleared out electronics and a marijuana grow operation.

A third man is being sought.

It started with an ordinary knock on the front door of a Northeast Oneonta Street home about 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 14. Two roommates were inside watching TV.

When one opened the door, a stranger punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor. The intruder barged into the home, followed by two other men, according to police reports and court records.

As one of the intruders held a .45-caliber handgun, the other two ordered the occupants of the house to get on the floor. They bound their hands and feet with zipties. 

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  Photo tease on slide show is illustrative CC http://www.flickr.com/photos/acme/ / CC BY 2.0

FROM THE OREGONIAN

The total damages from an explosion and fire in a Land O'Lakes Purina Feed grain elevator in industrial North Portland on Friday night amount to $90,000, fire officials said today.

The fire, which occurred near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers, was recalled late Friday, but firefighters remained through the night to watch for flare-ups, authorities said.

Portland fire Lt. Rich Tyler said the grain elevator's estimated value was $25 million. Of the estimated losses, the grain consumed by the blaze was valued at $35,000 and the overheated machine that triggered the blast was worth $5,000, he said.

Land O'Lakes Purina Feed officials have yet to return phone calls to discuss the blaze and its possible effects on the facility's operations.

Emergency dispatchers received reports about 6:40 p.m. that a machine on the third floor of the silo, 15840 N. Simmons Rd., had overheated and caused a grain dust explosion, said Kim Kosmas, a bureau spokeswoman.

 

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As aniticpated, the Columbia River Crossing planners are beginning to scale back the mega bridge and freeway project intended to replace the aged Interstate Bridge and improve congestion in North Portland and Vancouver.

FROM THE OREGONIAN

The Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River would shrink from 12 to 10 lanes and that, along with other changes, could save up to a net of $650 million, project officials said Thursday.

The cost range now would be $2.6 billion to $3.6 billion -- down from the $3.1 billion to $4.2 billion that had been anticipated.

Columbia Crossing officials have briefed government and business leaders, including Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Vancouver Mayor Royce E. Pollard, about the changes over the past 10 days. The revised staff plan will be presented Dec. 4 at a meeting of key stakeholders, including the two mayors.

GS.00020689B_PT.BRIDGE.jpgView full sizeThe highest-profile change is cutting the number of lanes. Actually, the idea is to reduce the overall width of the bridge's two spans, but the new design still would one day allow expansion to 12 lanes, with narrower shoulders. The new bridge would replace the old green six-lane Interstate Bridge.

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An interesting bit in today's Oregonian about Oregon Ballet Theatre's new project that brings high culture performances to local pop cultural venues.
Photo Teaser by Raparnova http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayparnova/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

FROM THE OREGONIAN

Uprising brings Oregon Ballet Theatre to the nightclub crowd
By Marty Hughley, The Oregonian
November 09, 2009, 6:14AM

When Oregon Ballet Theatre performs in its regular home, the Keller Auditorium, it's not unusual to hear loud, enthusiastic cheering at the end of a piece, maybe even a few excited whistles. What you won't get is shouts of "Down in front!" and "I want to see the pretty ballerina, too!" Or find empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans on the floor at the end of the evening.

But then, that wasn't exactly Oregon Ballet Theatre on the little stage at Mississippi Studios last week. It was called Uprising, but bold as it was, it was more like bridge building. A project initiated by OBT soloist Candace Bouchard, it brought together a half-dozen of the company's up-and-coming dancers with Portland indie folk band Horse Feathers for a fruitful experiment in artistic collaboration and audience outreach.

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FROM WWEEK
"Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson has just withdrawn his proposal to build a new Triple-A baseball stadium in Beaverton.

FROM KGW

"PORTLAND, Ore. -- A major cocaine trafficking ring bust involved an accused drug kingpin, dozens of guns and a Portland restaurant detectives think was used to launder the money.

Federal agents and local gang investigators arrested 19 people, seized pounds of cocaine and more than $100,000 in cash during their 10-month long investigation. In all, 24 people have been indicted in the case, and police expect to make more arrests.

Monday morning, agents and Metro Gang Task Force officers laid out the evidence in "Operation Gang Strike."

Officers said 58-year-old James Yoakum ran a large Crips gang cocaine-trafficking ring and used a Northeast Portland barbeque restaurant as a front to launder his money. Yoakum's son, Jaricho Ray Yoakum, was arrested in Portland on a robbery and attempted murder warrant out of Los Angeles.
Agents also arrested Lonnell Demarcus George, the suspect in an August 20 Northeast Portland gang shooting."

READ THE REPORT AT KGW
OREGONIAN REPORT BY MAXINE BERNSTEIN

FROM THE OREGONIAN~ Nikole Hannah-Jones

"October 22, 2009, 12:25PM
Lew Frederick has been chosen for the Oregon House District 43 seat. Consultant and former journalist Lew Frederick will replace former Rep. Chip Shields, who was appointed to the Oregon Senate.

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners went with the Democratic nominating committee, which gave Frederick a majority of its vote.

The board selected Frederick in a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Jeff Cogen and Deborah Kafoury casting votes for Karol Collymore. Collymore ran unsuccessfully in September for the appointment to the Senate District 22 vacated by Sen. Margaret Carter."
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FROM WOODLAWN NA BLOG, photo by the Sentinel
TAKE THE nPOD POLL
"The Woodlawn neighborhood was fortunate to be involved in a visioning process with the city. The result was the Woodlawn Triangle Master Plan [read more here], a plan created by over 100 engaged neighbors to help guide our neighborhood’s growth.

I think the name of that plan is important, and it was a consciously chosen name. Lately I’ve been hearing our neighborhood’s retail district referred to as the Dekum Triangle, and while that’s an accurate description given that our retail is mainly on Dekum, our vision plan chose a different name. In the planning process, a neighbor (perhaps it was historian Anjala Ehjelebe) brought up the point that it would be wonderful to choose a name that honors our neighborhood, more so than honoring only the street that runs through our neighborhood. We weighed the options, Dekum Triangle… Woodlawn Triangle… rolled those names around, had discussion, and collectively the people at that meeting (the two large meeting had around 100 and 50 people, respectively) decided to go with Woodlawn Triangle."
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