I learned everything about RFK by studying the wise words of WCF. Sir, you impugn my honor. As my dear grandfather Lindbloch said, before they sprung the trap, “You can’t cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump.” youtu.be/mHgv4McMJUk?...

A Portland Community Votes to Invest $13 Million in Its Carnegie Library As part of a taxpayer-approved ballot measure, North Portland Library is one of three Carnegie Libraries renovated in Multnomah County, Oregon www.carnegie.org/our-work/art...

Visited Oasis today, Portland’s new outdoor day shelter / safe space, managed by Urban Alchemy, located 6th NW Hoyt. Quiet, calm, safe, minimal, secure. I saw no criminal activity inside. Toilets & handwashing, open space for a day tent, water & snacks, picnic tables, all very good on a sunny day.

#Mariners #TridentsUp🔱 The Etsy Witch!

It's exhausting to be Black & Latina in America. For two different but equally painful reasons. And in a city & state that is miserably "color blind" & culturally incompetent, I'm expending so much energy every day to keep a smile on my face & stay motivated to do the work I care deeply about.🪫🤕

A prerequisite of 250 valid local registered signatures would have knocked out three quarters the field in the 2024 Portland city council / mayoral race. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Having toured solitary units across the state, I can tell you that pictures never quite convey the injustice. These cells are smaller than they look. They’re hotter than they look. They’re louder than they look. And I’m only in them for fifteen minutes.

Lawsuits citing an Oregon law that requires cities to be reasonable in regulating homelessness are two for two after Grants Pass settled a claim earlier this month. While the city won its eponymous Supreme Court case last year and Trump escalates threats, lawyers say, cautiously, the law is working.

“This simple interaction defies more than a century of history in Portland.” www.opb.org/article/2025...

🗞 In the new issue of Street Roots: TriMet in need of state funding to avoid major cuts, Oregon Pro Wrestling School's philosophy on connecting with an audience, and more. Find a vendor in your neighborhood: streetroots.org/vendors#locate

I used to rail against the "Greyhound Cure" and certainly it's been abused (most famously by Rawson State Hospital in NV which shipped 100s of patients out of state), but used judiciously and with a reliable family member seeking reunification, why not? www.wweek.com/news/2025/08...

Ageist. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

No Elk Zone.

I have my qualms with addiction MDs, but this is a terrific interview with Amanda Risser of Central City Concern about fentanyl use in Portland at the moment. www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Handsome electric fire truck stopped off for coffee at Stumptown.

The Trump administration’s attitudes on mental health echo some of the worst impulses of the 19th century. www.truthdig.com/articles/mag...

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THOSE BURNSIDE BUMS Good snapshot of the clinical and economic drivers of homelessness and chronic illness – alcoholism and mental illness – pervasive in Portland’s inner city in the 60s–70s and true today. I was just getting started. www.oregonarchive.org/wp-content/u...

if only it were that easy. Real life doesn't fit on a placard, and democracy *also* requires education, community, and ethics.

Thinking about the passing of Nancy King, Portland jazz legend, and everything she taught me about being an artist. Here's the first story I wrote about about her--on one of my old arts blogs, Art Scatter. It was just the beginning. artscatter.com/general/putt...

Summertime, time to go out.

"Sathoff told [IA detective] Rovinelli he saw Clark reach into his pocket... But Rovinelli wrote there was no evidence to support Clark was going to stop running away from officers or engage them." Chief Day and Mayor Wheeler didn't discipline Sathoff. www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...

I wrote a review of NOT QUITE HOME for Street Roots a couple of weeks ago; now author Temple Lentz will be in conversation with Central City Concern CEO Andy Mendenhall Sat August 16 7 PM @ Bold Coffee & Books, 1755 SW Jefferson in Portland. Review - lnkd.in/g-WUeBb2 Book - templelentzbooks.com

By far the law enforcement agency in the Portland area which uses the most lethal force per capita is the Clark County Sheriff's Department. www.columbian.com/news/2025/ju...

Back today to this hellhole of justice to hear from attorneys from the city of Portland and likely new attorneys from the US DOJ about what they’re doing about the killing of people with mental illness by the Portland police. Like Damon Lamarr Johnson.

A short history of crisis stabilization efforts here in Portland as we prepared in 2009 to prepare to open what is now the Legacy Unity Center. www.streetroots.org/news/2009/08...

THE MOON AND SIXPENCE by Albert Lewin in 1942 isn't for youngsters or those who find sociopathy tiresome, but the script and soundtrack are excellent, and Herbert Marshall is always excellent. And Devi Dja - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi_Dja. And this wonderful trinket, voiced by Steven Geray,

Ichiro Suzuki, #HOF #Mariners #Baseball

In Oregon, poor patients are supposed to receive free care at hospitals instead of being sent to collections. So why did a judge say it was OK for a hospital to send one of those patients to a debt collector? The case points to cracks in patient protections. www.streetroots.org/news/2025/07...

40+ years too late for the dance.

Memorial service for Damon Lamarr Johnson will be tomorrow morning in Grenta Louisiana. www.davismortuaryservice.com/obituaries/d...

Grant is still on the job.

The only question about the pardon is when will the deal be announced. A contemporary indulgence. A right of kings.

The death of Damon Lamarr Johnson is nothing short of a preventable tragedy. This requires a full investigation. In 2026 the Police Union contract is up for re-negotiation. We will need community to be fully engaged so that we can hold our police accountable if they've been found guilty.

Basically Damon Lamarr Johnson is Sonya Massey. A thread. A peek at what's ahead. 1/x

Whistleblower suit alleges Multnomah County’s mental health system turned into ‘the wild west’ www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...

Wyden did something extremely good

Seeing Mark Morris perform in Seattle in 1983 when he was starting to mess around with Balkan dances was a high point in my aesthetic experience. If you’re in NYC, see this, or at least watch his L'Allegro, made from Blake, Handel and Milton. An American treasure. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/a...

Condolences to the surviving family of Damon Lamarr Johnson from Portland City Councilor Loretta Smith. www.portland.gov/council/dist...

A managed shelter is ALWAYS better than an unmanaged shelter. Portland released data showing crime has NOT risen in the months following the opening of two overnight-only shelters opened earlier this year. Go Team Wilson! @mayorkwilson.bsky.social www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Police restraint tactics questioned after Portland man’s death in custody www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...

The Mental Health Alliance issued a demand to the City of Portland today, in the absence of a police accountability system, for an unlimited and independent investigation of the death of Damon Lamarr Johnson. www.mentalhealthalliance.org/wp-content/u...

Went to see Superman 2025 on a big screen and found it predictably boring. I think it’s made for people who watch 2 or 3 movies a year, yet maintain high expectations.

Tense! Taut! Terrific! All exactly correct. Hemingway, gangsters, mid-1920s fatalism, hideouts, high contrast, stick-ups, crazy camera angles, chase scenes, plot twists. 1946 Mark Hellinger. Don’t confuse this with the inferior 1964 Lee Marvin / Ronald Reagan version.

🚨 ALERT 🚨 Multnomah County DA Nathan Vasquez bypassed the grand jury and cleared a deputy in a fatal police shooting—with no public testimony, no transcript, and no accountability. Just a memo, a video, and a statement. That’s not justice. That's not transparency. And we won't be silent about it! 🧵

Well, the police unions got what they paid for out of DA Vasquez. All of a two weeks’ worth of an investigation into the shooting of man who appears to have ultimately been shot while running away. Nothing to see here, folks.

What is your favorite film with fewer than 50k logs on Letterboxd? Four that come to mind: . The New Devil of Hellsbottom (1964) . Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse (2013) . Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer (2013) . In Our Garden (2002)

No particular order. Comment: first 25 years of film of the last century overall were better - more innovative, more creative, more intriguing, more beguiling.

Tonight.

I'm liking this language, anticipation, and urgency. I'm all onboard with @mayorkwilson.bsky.social content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ORP...

I’m holding a town hall meeting today, June 17, in Hillsboro. Doors open at 5 and the meeting begins at 6. Please do not bring large bags or backpacks.  I look forward to hearing your ideas and questions.